Business RadioX ®

  • Home
  • Business RadioX ® Communities
    • Southeast
      • Alabama
        • Birmingham
      • Florida
        • Orlando
        • Pensacola
        • South Florida
        • Tampa
        • Tallahassee
      • Georgia
        • Atlanta
        • Cherokee
        • Forsyth
        • Greater Perimeter
        • Gwinnett
        • North Fulton
        • North Georgia
        • Northeast Georgia
        • Rome
        • Savannah
      • Louisiana
        • New Orleans
      • North Carolina
        • Charlotte
        • Raleigh
      • Tennessee
        • Chattanooga
        • Nashville
      • Virginia
        • Richmond
    • South Central
      • Arkansas
        • Northwest Arkansas
    • Midwest
      • Illinois
        • Chicago
      • Michigan
        • Detroit
      • Minnesota
        • Minneapolis St. Paul
      • Missouri
        • St. Louis
      • Ohio
        • Cleveland
        • Columbus
        • Dayton
    • Southwest
      • Arizona
        • Phoenix
        • Tucson
        • Valley
      • Texas
        • Austin
        • Dallas
        • Houston
    • West
      • California
        • Bay Area
        • LA
        • Pasadena
      • Colorado
        • Denver
      • Hawaii
        • Oahu
  • FAQs
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Our Audience
    • Why It Works
    • What People Are Saying
    • BRX in the News
  • Resources
    • BRX Pro Tips
    • B2B Marketing: The 4Rs
    • High Velocity Selling Habits
    • Why Most B2B Media Strategies Fail
    • 9 Reasons To Sponsor A Business RadioX ® Show
  • Partner With Us
  • Veteran Business RadioX ®

Exploring the Business RadioX® Journey with Lee Kantor

January 21, 2025 by angishields

HBR-BRX-Feature
Houston Business Radio
Exploring the Business RadioX® Journey with Lee Kantor
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

This episode of Houston Business Radio highlights Lee Kantor’s journey from an advertising and journalism background to founding Business RadioX®, a network dedicated to empowering purpose-driven entrepreneurs and fostering local business communities.

Business RadioX

Lee-Kantor-Business-RadioXLee Kantor is the founder of the Business RadioX® network, helping purpose-driven entrepreneurs serve their local business communities for over 18 years.

Dubbed “NPR for Business,” the network has produced thousands of podcast episodes featuring top leaders in entrepreneurship, business, and marketing. As the host of Atlanta Business Radio since 2007, Lee leads the longest-running local business podcast, spotlighting influential voices in the Atlanta community.

Lee specializes in guiding business professionals, especially introverts, to launch impactful second-act careers or grow their businesses. With a step-by-step approach, he helps them attract ideal prospects, serve their local business ecosystems, and generate new revenue streams.

A graduate of the University of Florida, Lee is also an alum of Seth Godin’s altMBA program.

Key Themes:

Origins of Business RadioX®:
Lee’s early podcasting experiments, starting with Dr. Fitness and the Fat Guy, inspired the creation of a platform centered on storytelling, connection, and service.

The Power of Podcasting:
Lee emphasizes podcasts as tools for building relationships and serving communities rather than promoting oneself.

Introversion as a Strength:
As an introvert, Lee developed unique, behind-the-scenes strategies to grow his business, focusing on relationship-building moments.

Impact Through Community:
Stories, like Amy Otto’s transformation into a community leader, showcase the value of Business Radio X in elevating voices and fostering trust.

Adaptability in Studio Operations:
During the pandemic, the network expanded to virtual studios while retaining a preference for in-person setups for deeper connections.

Vision for the Future:
Lee aims to establish 1,000 studios across the U.S., enabling more communities to benefit from storytelling and collaboration.

Influences and Inspirations:
Lee cites works by Seth Godin, Rory Sutherland, Bob Moesta, and Will Guidara as shaping his approach to business and hospitality.

Takeaway:
Business RadioX® is a platform built on serving others, cultivating relationships, and creating lasting impact for local businesses.

Connect with Lee:

Website: BusinessRadioX.com
Email: lee@businessradiox.com
LinkedIn: Lee Kantor

Transcript-iconThis 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: Trisha Stetzel here, bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio. I have the distinct honor and privilege of hosting Lee Kantor, founder of Business RadioX® on the show today. Lee, welcome to the show.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to be here.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh my gosh. Long time coming. Right. I think I learned something new about you every time you connect. I’m so excited to have you on the show and really talk about, you know, the beginnings and how we got here and what you’re doing to continue to grow this amazing space, uh, that you’re in and that I’ve been, um, blessed with being a part of over the last several months. So can you take us back to the beginning? Like, what inspired you to really create Business RadioX and give a little bit of your background and how you got here?

Lee Kantor: Sure. Um, my background is I have a degree in advertising and it’s from University of Florida. And what makes the University of Florida advertising program interesting and different, maybe from other advertising programs, is that it’s based in the school of journalism. So my background has been kind of journalistic slash advertising and the kind of the melding of those two practices. So that’s really influenced how Business Radio X kind of does business and how it was born from those kind of two. They seem separate, but there is a big overlap. And in today’s social media world, the area is getting grayer and grayer when it comes to PR, advertising and journalism. So that’s really kind of the origin story begins there. But from a business side, um, the first time I did any type of this work, like podcasting, internet radio, that type of thing that started when I had a fitness center. It was called Neighborhood Fitness, and I was doing this with a friend of mine that was a fitness expert. He has a degree in exercise physiology. He’s a chiropractor, he’s trained professional athletes, and my background was advertising marketing, and he was the day to day running of the kind of boutique personal training studio. And I was the marketer behind it.

Lee Kantor: And, um, early on, we figured we had an opportunity to do an internet radio show that we called Doctor Fitness and the Fat Guy. And this was at the very beginning of that type of technology, and we started podcasting it. And the guy who was running that studio was not happy that we were podcasting. It was brand new. He had never heard of podcasting. He’s like, why are you doing this? And he was running his business kind of like a small, uh, radio station. And we saw podcasting as a way to take our content and then share it with the world, because anybody could download a podcast anywhere in the world. So we were taking every every episode. We would burn a CD of the show, I would bring it home, and I would edit out the commercials that he had placed in there, and we would then, um, put it on. Um, at the time, Apple was the only place to put podcasts, so that’s where we would put it. So and then we had a show that we were podcasting. So we were very early at the very, very beginning stages of podcasting with this show, Doctor Fitness and the fat Guy.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow, I love that. What a fantastic story. Like your background is so, um, diverse yet focused, uh, when it comes to having, you know, your superpower really being in this marketing advertising space. Um, something that I happen to know about you is, uh, you’re a bit introverted, so it’s interesting to me, Lee, that you decided to move in this in this direction. So can you talk a little bit about your behavior style? Because I know that’s something that you’re interested in and how that really led you to Business RadioX.

Lee Kantor: So what happened was so I always not always, but a lot of times I’m, I work with extroverts and I’m the introvert and they are usually kind of the face and the, you know, the public facing part of the business. And I’m the person kind of behind the scenes and I’m totally okay with that. That’s like, that’s why the business isn’t called, you know, Lee Kantor radio, it’s Business RadioX. It’s like, I’m okay with not, um, people not knowing how involved or what I do. That’s I’m not doing this for an ego reason. And because of that, um, I think I have a unique angle on why podcasting works for us and Business RadioX then it doesn’t work for the vast majority of people who try podcasting on their own, because I think they’re coming from a more look at me standpoint and not how can I best serve the people that are important to me, which I gravitate more towards that. Um, so what happened was early on with, uh, Doctor Fitness, we were doing this and, and my business partner, Doctor Fitness, named Adam Shafran. He became known as Doctor Fitness. He got offered a job in Alabama and running chiropractic centers. And now he has a successful chain of chiropractic centers in Alabama. And that was birthed because of being Doctor Fitness.

Lee Kantor: He got on TV as Doctor Fitness. He really leveraged Doctor Fitness as a way to differentiate himself. And obviously, you know, there’s lots of chiropractors out there, but there’s only there was only one Doctor Fitness. So that really helped him in positioning and growing his business as the fat guy in the equation. It didn’t help me as much. At one point I was if you googled fat Guy, it was I would show up with, um, Peter from family Guy. Those were the two top, uh, results on their fat guy for a period of time. Um, so what I learned from doing Doctor Fitness, the epiphany happened, uh, when we were looking for guests. And I sent an email out to, uh, brother and sister team in Washington. I had read about them in on the Washington Post, and they had a Trivial Pursuit game that was about fast food. And I’m like, oh, that’d be a good guest on our show, because our show is kind of silly, but we talk about fitness and business things. So I sent him a note and it said, would you like to be a guest on our show Doctor Fitness? And in less than an hour, uh, the guy said, sure. What do I have to do? And for me, having a background in advertising, I know sending a blind email to a stranger and them replying that quickly is unusual.

Lee Kantor: And that is usually what we’re trying to accomplish when we’re doing any type of copywriting is to get a response in a positive manner very quickly. And I’m like, wow, that worked pretty quickly. So then I told my business partner and he’s like, you got this person in an hour. And then all of a sudden it became a competition between us of who can we get and which level of, uh, of, uh, celebrity could we get on the show? And it was happening at rapid speed. So we were getting on people. They were coming on the today show to talk about their DVD or their book, and then they were coming on our show. We were just part of the wellness and fitness, uh, kind of book tours or DVD tours at the time. Uh, early on, and because of that, we became a super highly rated podcast. And, uh, we were our guests were as good as anybody’s guest when it came to wellness and fitness. We had the who’s who. We had Jack LaLanne, if anybody remembers him. Uh, he was kind of an old school, uh, fitness expert. He came on, he sung to us his signature song. We had all the people from Biggest Loser, which was a popular TV show at the time.

Lee Kantor: We had every single one of their fitness trainers on our show. We had, um, celebrity authors and we had people that are famous today. Uh, Michael Pollan, uh, was on our show. Uh, we had, um, Denise Austin, who’s still kind of relevant even today. Um, so we had the who’s who of fitness during that window of time on our show. And, uh, it was a great experience, and it was because of this blind email that was. Would you like to be a guest on our show? And that’s really that was the epiphany for me in a local business standpoint is why do I have to? Um, why can’t I use the show to help a local person stand out locally and be kind of the micro celebrity for their niche? Um, would it work in that manner? And that’s where Business RadioX was born. That’s where the first show was called Atlanta Business Radio. That’s where that show was on, uh, born. And that show is still running today, and it’s and it’s probably the longest continuously running local business show on the planet because we were so early on in this media. I can’t believe there’s many others that are still doing it, and have been doing it continuously for probably close to 20 years now.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. That is amazing. You’re such a fantastic background. So, Lee, this what I find about this platform is it really is about giving back to the community. And you have even shared some things with me about why you continue to keep this in place. So what I heard you say is that we can use this as a tool, some of us in particular industries, as a way to source leads or prospects and have a good conversation with them. And that’s one of the ways that I’m using it. But I’d really like to expand more on the idea of putting this in place to serve the community and really help others. It’s not about you. Not about Business RadioX, as you said, it’s about the community. So you’re actually bringing people together in person and have been doing that for a very long time. Describe a studio setting for me.

Lee Kantor: Sure. So our studio settings, um, they started out in a coworking space, and it was an office in a coworking space, and that was the first time we did this. And that’s how Doctor Fitness started. We we, uh, once we left that, uh, internet radio station, we moved to our own space. And so while I was doing Doctor Fitness and I’m like, I just do Doctor Fitness once a week. I have all this equipment, I have all this stuff. Is there stuff I could be using with this during the week? So I’m like, well, why don’t I start a local show, Atlanta Business Radio, and um, and just start bringing people into the space and interviewing them, uh, in that manner. And that’s how that was kind of born. So I had all the equipment, I had all I was already paying rent. So why not use, you know, just use it more often. Doing a similar activity. So that’s how Atlanta Business Radio was born. And that’s really how Business RadioX was born. So I was doing that. And then at a different executive suite company came up to us and said, I really love what you’re doing. Can you move over to our place? Because I see the value in this, and that’s where it started, kind of, um, really sinking in that, hey, this is really good for those people, too. I don’t have to pay rent necessarily, because this executive suite companies like move here and then basically gave us a free space because they saw the value on us bringing all these business people.

Lee Kantor: They were getting traffic of the right people into their space to look at it. And so that’s how that kind of came about. So all of a sudden now we were helping we were partnering with an executive suite company, and they were seeing the value they would when they would tour the location. They’d come by our studios like, oh, we have this here, this, um, internet radio stations right here in our space. And if you, you know, come on. If you sign with us, we can help you get on that show. And we saw kind of the business case and the value we were providing to that entity, and then it just grew from there. And then, um, I was going to they called it the organization was called Power Core here, but it was an offshoot of BNI. And um, it was those kind of, um, you know, them, the networking, the, uh, where you’re it’s peer to peer. You go around the room, everybody stands up and does like kind of a minute speech and they talk about, uh, their business and then they share leads amongst each other. And that’s what I was doing is just trying to get, um, you know, trying to sell shows on this new studio that I had here in Atlanta.

Speaker4: Wow.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay. So I want to connect the dots because earlier you said you’re an introvert. You really built this so that you could be on the other side, right? And not out Advertising face to face and asking people for something. So tell me more about this idea of this cold email or outreach that you sent out.

Lee Kantor: No, I think that’s it’s an important step in this, uh, on the kind of evolution of the business. So I knew that this was a powerful tool, this email. Now, I was doing that in a national way because that was we were getting guests from all over the world. Really. And, um, so we were doing that virtually. Business RadioX in Atlanta, business radio specifically was all in studio. There was no call in that wasn’t even a choice. Like, we didn’t let people call in. They had to come in person. So we kind of made them come in person because we saw the value of face to face. That was the value we were providing to our clients and to myself as a way to prospect for new sponsors and show hosts. So I was doing this power core thing, and I was, um, you know, I was really leaning into it. I was taking leadership roles in the organization. I was a coach. I was showing people how to leverage it, but I internally wasn’t enjoying it. I dreaded going to the meetings. I when I had to do my seven minute long form thing, I would it would give me so much anxiety every time standing up and doing the little elevator pitch would give me anxiety. So I really didn’t enjoy it. But there was a woman in there that was really. She loved it. She was an extrovert. She kind of reminded me of you a little bit. And her name was Amy Otto, and she was selling Aflac insurance, and she was kind of new to Aflac.

Lee Kantor: And they told her, you got to join this kind of a thing, and you got to go to chamber meetings, and you have to do all this stuff. And she was kind of struggling because and she was getting frustrated because she’s super personable and everybody loves her. And she’s just a super great person. And she was not getting the traction she would have liked as quickly as she would like. And so I’m like, Amy, please be my co-host on Atlanta Business Radio. I’m not going to charge you anything. Just be the co-host and you’re already going to all these meetings instead of going to the meetings and saying, I’m Amy with Aflac. Just say you’re Amy, co-host of Atlanta Business Radio, and invite them on the show and just see if that changes anything. And so that changed everything. Now all of a sudden, she’s not the insurance lady who people were kind of avoiding. She has something of value to them. And and she started getting people who weren’t calling her back or kind of, um, you know, acknowledging her are now like, how do I get on the show? How come you had Mary on and you didn’t invite me on? And like, her positioning in the marketplace changed dramatically. And, um, I mean, I could tell you the biggest success story that I remember vividly, uh, that happened because of her is she invited the in in metro Atlanta, there was a period and it’s still going on where a lot of these unincorporated suburbs were spinning off their own city, and they were forming their own city government because they wanted to be away from Atlanta proper.

Lee Kantor: They wanted to be their own city, and they were unincorporated. And it was a huge part of the metro Atlanta area. So the first city to spin off was where I happened to live in Sandy Springs. And the second one was a city called Dunwoody, which is the suburb next to it. So the city of Dunwoody spun off and they elected a mayor and they became their own city. We did an episode that was the City of Dunwoody Special, where we invited the mayor, city council person, the city manager. It was a whole episode just about them because it was their year anniversary and they had just had their own police force. It was a big deal. So Amy invited them. They came on, they talked, and um, and it was all about them for an hour. And it was they were just so just so appreciative. At the end of the show, there was no more recording. We’re chatting after and they’re like, what can we do for you? This was great. Thank you so much for doing this for us. It’s so important to let people know what we’re doing and how we came about and all this. And Amy’s like, look, I sell Aflac. If I can get in to City of Dunwoody and just let them know how this works, that’d be great. And they’re like, well, we can’t give you any special treatment or anything, but, um, absolutely. You can come in and, you know, do a proposal.

Lee Kantor: So cut to she got that municipality and it opened up a whole bunch of municipalities for her. And it changed really the trajectory of her career there and selling insurance. And now her business has evolved dramatically from that point. But it was a game changing moment for me because I’m like, what salesperson would be able to get a mayor, a city council person, a city manager to their territory, to their office to talk in person and to have them ask, what can I do for you? Yeah, like from a sales standpoint, I’m like, this is a game changing moment for me as looking at it, because it had nothing to do with me. I was facilitating it. And, you know, my thing helped make that happen. But this was her working it in a way I couldn’t even envision. But it was so dramatic to me. I’m like, this is something that can scale. This could work in any market. If you do it in the way that she’s doing it, in the way that we kind of drew it up, where we’re here to help and support and celebrate the work of the people locally. And this is just we call them relationship building moments. We create multiple relationship building moments that separate a professional service provider from everybody else, because they’re the only people that get to do this. We are helping them do this thing that no one else can do, and then doing it in a way that’s just extremely powerful.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow, that that is an amazing story. And I’m sure that there are 10,000 others, right? Where people have been able to have conversations. And I know you’ve had a lot of conversations with folks. So, Lee, the way Business RadioX is set up now is there are licensed studio operators. Some of them are in person, as you described. Uh, typically in a chamber setting or in a space where it’s easy for people to access, right. And come in and have these conversations. Something new that Business RadioX has put out there are these virtual licensed studio operators like me, where I’m doing my interviewing from my home office. So can you talk a little bit about the not the transition, but the addition of these licensed studio operators from a virtual perspective?

Lee Kantor: Yeah. So that came about. I mean, really the pandemic is what kind of birthed that where we we were really stuck. You know, because our whole business model is this is in person. You got to come in person. And now the pandemic is coming. Come on. And they’re like saying you can’t meet in person. Like that’s that’s against the law now. So how do we kind of meet people where they are. And then so immediately we transitioned to virtual all of our studio partners, you know, basically got Zoom or Google Meet or, um, Microsoft Teams. And then they started broadcasting the same thing, but just virtually. And, um, so we didn’t want to ignore that. And we the, the benefit for us from having virtual is it allows us to spin up studios pretty quickly. You don’t need rent. There’s no it’s completely flexible. You know, you can do this, um, on your own schedule, in your own house and without any, you know, real equipment or anything dramatic. Um, so it allowed us to kind of open up the doors to new people. Um, but the core business is studios in person. But this does give you a different way to access, um, the people most important to you. And that’s really at the heart of it, is we want to help our studio partners serve the people most important to them. And, um, the sweet spot for us, ideally, is if the people most important to you are in your local community and you want to, you know, meet them in person and serve them that way, we can show you an in-person studio model. But if if you’re not ready for that, um, there’s this other model that works. I don’t think it works as effectively, but it still works effectively.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. I mean, there this whole idea of bringing people together in the same room is huge, right? Uh, for me, the virtual studio makes sense because I live 90 minutes from civilization, right way out in rural South Texas, and it works for me. And and just to plug for, you know, this whole idea of the reach out and giving back and what you get in return. I shared with you in stone that I had 15 introductory phone calls, uh, for people who wanted to be on the show in one week, and it continues to be that high. And in my industry, from a business coaching perspective, that increases, you know, my leads tenfold over all of the other things that I had ever done. So for me, this is a great space for me to be in where I can give back, serve the community, but also have conversations with my ideal client, which I think is so important. Uh, one of the questions I have for you before we jump into I have a little personal question for you, but before that, can we talk just a little bit about the difference between the podcast and the radio show? Because there’s a huge difference, I believe. Uh, you mentioned it, uh, parts of it earlier, but what in your mind, what is the difference between a podcast and business radio RadioX.

Lee Kantor: I think that most people are using podcasts to kind of position themselves as an expert or a guru, and the way they’re doing this is in a very self-serving way of, look how smart I am. Oh, here’s an example of how smart I am. Hey, have you ever thought of doing this thing that I thought of that’s so smart? And we find it, um, more effective to instead of focusing in on yourself or anything really to do with you, but focus in on the niche that you serve and the community that you serve, and then use it as a way to just build better relationships with people over time in a very relationship driven way, not a transactional way. And that’s really, I think, at the heart of what makes it work for most people that are affiliated with us. Because, number one, we’re being selective in choosing people who have kind of this heart of service. If you don’t have a heart of service, if you’re looking at this as a get rich quick scheme of oh great, here’s this little hack that I can meet lots of people and I’m going to do this thing and I’m going to meet them and then spam them. Um, that that’s not really who we’re after. That’s not. It doesn’t work like that. You really have to kind of have a pure heart, in the sense of serving people and really wanting to support and celebrate the work of people important to you. And then, oh, by the way, you have a day job and you might have a service that they might be interested down the road.

Lee Kantor: That is how we do this. That’s how we approach this, and that’s the people who do it that way benefit way more, and they benefit faster and they benefit, um, their clients stay with them longer because they’re just trying to help their clients. They’re just using the platform to help their clients, and then they’re benefiting, um, in the long run. And if you don’t have the patience for that, or if you don’t have the stomach for that or the heart for that, then it’s not going to going to work. Then, you know, find another place to do this or do it yourself. I mean, podcasting nowadays, anybody can do it on their phone. And you know, with AI stuff, you don’t even need another. You can pretend to have a co-host. Like there’s lots of ways you could do it. Now, the way that we do it is very service oriented, and it really helps position the person who is the host or the studio partner, or even the client host positions them as kind of the voice for business in the niche that they serve, and they become that indispensable cog in the machine because they’re helping tell the stories of business in their niche. And then if somebody wants to come on that show, they have to go through that person, and that person hopefully is going to sell them something over time. But maybe not. And that’s okay too. You know, we cast a wide net and we want to serve the whole community.

Trisha Stetzel: Right? Absolutely. And it really is about building trust, right? It’s about building that relationship so that down the road, if it makes sense. We can do some business together. And I think that is is very, very important. So, Lee, um, you’ve been doing this for a very long time, and you likely, uh, do a lot of personal improvement. Business improvement. So who inspires you or what books do you feel like have really been a part of your growth in this space?

Lee Kantor: Yeah. The authors, um, or thought leaders that really, uh, are important to me and have really influenced how I do what I do and the why behind what I do. Um, I’d say Seth Godin. Uh, from a young age, I’ve been a super fan of him. I was part of the alt MBA program that he developed a while ago, one of the early cohorts of that. And going through that, that was a really, um, intensive experience that I learned a lot that, um, that I still use a lot of the stuff today. Another person is a guy named Rory Sutherland, who wrote a book called alchemy, and he is a behavioral design behavioral science guy that was leading an ad agency called Ogilvy and Mather in Europe, in the UK. And, um, he’s one of my favorites. He has a ton of YouTube videos. If you go to any interview of him, he’s hilarious. And he really explains, uh, behavioral science in a way that makes a lot of sense. And, and that is different than a lot of the stuff you’re going to hear about how to do marketing and advertising. Another guy is, uh, Bob Moesta, and he has a book called Demand Side Sales 101, and he has a theory, it’s called The Job to be done theory, which is that people don’t buy anything. They they buy something to solve a problem or to do a job.

Lee Kantor: And that’s, um, you got to figure out what it is, what job are you doing for somebody else, and then you can market That them accordingly. And then lastly, somebody recently that I’ve kind of come across I think is important. Doing important work is a guy named Will Guidara, and he runs a restaurant called 11 Madison Park, and it’s been named Best Restaurant in the world. Um, but he wrote a book called Unreasonable Hospitality The Remarkable Power of Giving People More than they expect. And I think that that’s important, too, is, um, you know, some people say to under-promise and overdeliver and he believes to over promise and over deliver. So, um, raise the expectations and then surpass them. So don’t be afraid to do that. And if you want to stand out and be special because that’s what it takes in today’s world. I mean, I think consumers are a lot more savvy. They’re a lot more picky. They read a lot. They, um, you know, reviews are important in today’s world. So you can’t just, uh, it’s table stakes to deliver whatever it is you’re supposed to do. You better be doing something to surprise and delight people. If you want to be memorable and you want to be talked about and you want to kind of grow.

Trisha Stetzel: So, Lee, for our listeners who may be thinking that this could be a good opportunity for them to serve their community, or maybe someone just wants to share their story, what advice would you offer to them to get them started?

Lee Kantor: Um, just go to Business RadioX. Com and then, uh, check out our page and just poke around, listen to some of the shows that we’ve done, go into any community that’s near you and listen to some of the stories that are being told there. And there’s plenty of places on that page to connect with us, to partner with us. Um, we’re just really looking to grow. Um, my big goal for the organization, which we’re nowhere near achieving yet, is to be in 1000 communities and serving 1000 thousand communities. And I came up with that because there’s about 8000 chambers of commerce in America. And if we were in the top 15% or so, that would be 1000 studios serving those top 15, you know, 20% of the marketplace in the most active chambers. So that’s what we’re shooting for and we’re nowhere near there. So if you have a heart of service and you want to differentiate yourself in your local market, please connect with us and let’s see if there’s ways we can make that happen.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. Thank you Lee. And if anyone’s listening and wants personal experience on, you know, where, uh, where I’m at and how I’m using this beautiful tool in my business, I’m happy to share that as well. So lastly, Lee, uh, how can people connect with you, uh, or even learn more about becoming a licensed studio partner?

Lee Kantor: Yeah. Uh, connect with me on LinkedIn. Uh Lee Kantor. L e e k a n t o r and there’s thousands of hours of me on podcasts. You can just Google me on any podcast platform. You can hear one of the shows I do. I do lots of shows and I’ve done lots of shows over the years. Um, uh, or again, the website is Business RadioX dot com. My email is li l e e at Business RadioX dot com. I’m easy to find and easy to connect with.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. Lee, thank you so much for being on the show today. I appreciate the opportunity to interview you today, but I also even more so appreciate the opportunity to be a part of Business RadioX.

Lee Kantor: Thank you for all you do. Tricia, we appreciate you.

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

 

Tagged With: Business RadioX

The National Black Business Pitch: How Mentorship Transformed Khadijah Robinson’s Business Journey

January 21, 2025 by angishields

WIM-KhadijahRobinson-LynnReddrick-Feature
Women in Motion
The National Black Business Pitch: How Mentorship Transformed Khadijah Robinson's Business Journey
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

On today’s episode of Women in Motion, Khadijah Robinson, CEO of Aqua Waterproof Headwear, and her mentor Lynn Reddrick discuss Khadijah’s entrepreneurial journey. Khadijah shares how her frustration with keeping her hair dry led to the creation of stylish waterproof turbans and head wraps. She details her development process, market validation, and funding efforts, including her success in the National Black Business Pitch competition. Lynn emphasizes the importance of mentorship in Khadijah’s growth. The episode highlights the challenges and triumphs of launching a business that addresses real-world problems while offering valuable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Khadijah-RobinsonKhadijah Robinson is a solopreneur, owner and inventor of AQUA Waterproof Headwear. A patented line of luxury 100% Waterproof Turbans & Headwraps designed to protect your hair in style!

A true “Philly Girl”, she grew up in West Philadelphia and graduated from Temple University, Fox School of Business. Unsatisfied with existing options for keeping her hair dry at the beach, pool and in everyday inclement weather while trying to maintain her fashion style, she set out to invent a solution.

Thus, AQUA Waterproof Headwear was born. A unique line of turbans and headwraps that are 100% waterproof, stylish, breathable, soft, stretchy, and fit in a purse (take it anywhere). Aqua-Waterproof-Headwear-logo

Khadijah is a graduate of the Target Forward Founders Accelerator, Cohort 5, and currently a part of the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women Fall 2024 Cohort. She lives in Maryland with her husband, Shaleek and adorable mini poodle, Brown.

Connect with Khadijah on LinkedIn and follow AQUA Waterproof Headwear on Facebook and Instagram.

Lynn-ReddrickLynn Reddrick is an Assistant Vice President at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco who leads the Supplier Diversity Program and Business Partners team.

This team is responsible for developing, implementing, and administering the Supplier Diversity Program and collaborating with all business areas to source diverse vendor pools for all competitive procurement events for each of its six locations in the Twelfth Federal Reserve District.

Ms. Reddrick is an advocate for fair inclusion of diverse businesses in the procurement process, which in turn increases the Bank’s involvement in the economic development of these businesses and their communities. Ms. Reddrick also serves on the Board of Directors for the Women’s Business Enterprise Council – Pacific, Western Regional Minority Supplier Development Council, and the Financial Services Roundtable for Supplier Diversity.

Ms. Reddrick has nurtured the Supplier Diversity Program both internally and externally with diverse advocacy organizations for ten years. These efforts have significantly increased the Bank’s spend with diverse businesses, provided valuable technical assistance, and earned many awards from regional partners of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council and National Minority Supplier Development Council.

Ms. Reddrick was named one of DiversityPlus Magazine’s “Top 25 Women in Power Impacting Diversity” in 2016. She has also served as a Co-Chair of the Federal Reserve System’s Supplier Diversity Work Group since 2013.

Ms. Reddrick received her Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Business Administration degree in finance and marketing from Columbia University.

Connect with Lynn on LinkedIn.

Music Provided by M PATH MUSIC

Transcript-iconThis 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. And today’s episode is in the series that we’re doing with the National Black Business Pitch, and we have the third place winner and her mentor. We have Khadijah Robinson and her mentor, Lynn Reddick. Khadija is with AQUA Waterproof Headwear, and Lynn is with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Welcome.

Lynn Reddick: Thank you.

Lee Kantor: Now, Khadijah, I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Third place winner is pretty impressive, and we’d like to learn more about the AQUA Waterproof Headwear business that you are running.

Khadijah Robinson: Yeah, thank you. So, yeah, I invented waterproof turbans and headwraps. My name is Khadijah Robinson and I am the CEO and inventor of AQUA Waterproof Headwear. It is a line of stylish waterproof turbans and headwraps designed to protect our hair in style. So, I’m so excited.

Lee Kantor: Well, so tell us about the backstory. How did this problem occur to you and the solution that you developed?

Khadijah Robinson: Okay. Well, every great idea starts with a problem that you’re trying to solve, right? I was on vacation, and I wanted to look cute, but I also did not want my hair to get wet. I had extensions at the time, and I didn’t want my real hair to get wet and separate from the extensions, and I end up looking crazy. But my only option at the time was to put on a baseball hat because, you know, swim caps are tight and uncomfortable, and I still wanted to look cute. So, I was like, “Well, I have a baseball cap. Let me put it on.”

I put it on, went snorkeling. My hair, of course, ended up getting wet, and I spent hours redoing my hair when I got back to the room. And I said to myself, “There has to be a better way to do this. Something that’s stylish that I can, you know, wear and look cute and still protect my hair.” I got home, brainstormed and had the lightbulb moment and said, “Waterproof turbans and headwraps.” I did my research, it didn’t exist, and I just hit the ground running, trying to figure out how to invent it and bring it into real life.

Lee Kantor: So, how did you kind of start iterating when something doesn’t exist like this? Did you start with just a regular turban and then just said, “Okay, let me make it waterproof?” Like, what was the order of things?

Khadijah Robinson: Well, actually, I started off, it wasn’t a turban at all. It was like this… I got my sewing machine out. I don’t sew, but my mom had one, went to her house. I was like, “Let me just try to put something together.” So, I made this scarf-looking thing that kind of looked like a turban, but not really. And I was just trying to get the idea out there. Did a whole bunch of iterations with that, and I said, “Listen, I am not a seamstress. Let me stop acting like I can do this.” So, ironically, I ran into a seamstress who made my prom dress, like, in high school, and I saw her at an event randomly, and I was like, “Oh, my gosh, [Lily], I need your help. I’m inventing this turban, and it needs to be waterproof, and I have no idea what I’m doing, and I need your help.” And she was like, “Absolutely, I will help you. I will do the concept for you, and we’ll figure it out.”

And she is my angel to this day because I sat down with her, she did the concept, we did a couple of iterations, the whole… You know, it had to be waterproof. So, I had to make sure that the design actually did what it was supposed to do. And she did a draft pattern for me, and she even went to my first manufacturer with me and, you know, talked to them in technical terms to make sure that, you know, he was able to recreate what we needed them to recreate. And the rest is history.

The really hard part was actually trying to find the fabric. The fabric didn’t exist. There was nothing out there that was waterproof, stretchy, soft, breathable, all the things. And that’s actually the magic of our turbines is the fabric and the design. So once [Lily] helped me go to different fabric events and figure out how to talk to manufacturers to actually create this waterproof fabric, from there, we worked on the design, and then we went to the manufacturer, and I started the patent process.

Lee Kantor: Now did you ever, like, do like focus groups or how did you know that… like, I know this was solving your problem, but how did you know there was a market for it?

Khadijah Robinson: Absolutely. Okay. So, I totally skipped that part, right? Once I had the idea, believe it or not, I got all… Like, every family member and friend that I knew, I had them all sign NDAs and presented my idea to them. At the time, I had an actual simple concept that I could show, get their feedback on, ask them how much they’d spend on it, if this is something that they would want, and everybody thought it was the most genius idea ever. So, I had like three focus groups. And then, I also stood in front of hair stores in Philly and kind of like told people, you know, like just got a feel for what I… without telling everybody exactly what I was doing, got an idea of if this was something that was needed. And once I gathered all that data and that information, I took it back and I said, “This is something that the world needs.” So, I went full steam ahead with going forward with trying to figure out how to make it.

Lee Kantor: So, when you said, “Okay, this is a real problem that the market needs, and I have a great creative solution,” did you like go to try to raise money or did you have money? Like, how did you kind of get it off the ground? Because something like this seems like it would be kind of a heavy lift to get this off the ground.

Khadijah Robinson: Well, thank God I had a job. So, I didn’t have a bunch of friends and family to go to for help with financing it. And honestly, this was really expensive. Initially, I spent $40,000 of my own money to get this going, and I had my full-time job. But the smart thing that I did as well is once the first production run was almost complete, I decided to do an Indiegogo campaign. And instead of like doing the traditional crowdfunding, I used the Indiegogo as a pre-sale. So, put videos on there, did Facebook ads and Instagram ads, raised about $8,000 in a month on Indiegogo, and I used that money to help pay the balance of the production run. And then, it was on from there.

Lee Kantor: Now, what kind of drew you to the National Black Business Pitch kind of contest? Was that something you had? How did that get on your radar?

Khadijah Robinson: Interesting. So, I need funds, right? The small business owner in order to grow and scale, I’m at the point where I need a lot of money in order to get to the point in my business where I can actually go into mass retail. So, I’ve been applying for grants and all kinds of funding opportunities. I was doing a search on Instagram, and the National Black Business Pitch competition came up, and I was like, “Oh my goodness! This is perfect. I had never done a pitch competition before.” So I said, “You know what? Why not? Let me apply.” I applied early. I put my all in the application and my videos and I just wanted to, you know, hope for the best. And I was extremely… I couldn’t believe it when I got the notice that I had been selected to actually do the pitch, one of the 30 businesses. I was like, “This is crazy.” And yeah, I was… and it was just on from there.

Lee Kantor: So, what was it like to go through that? Because, you know, the first group of people were kind of friends and family, right? You kind of knew a lot of these people, but now you’re going to kind of strangers, and they’re judging your thing and giving you input. Was that uncomfortable? Did you feel like, you know, you grew from that experience?

Khadijah Robinson: Well, thankfully, I had been… You know, I launched in 2019. So, thankfully, you know, I knew that people liked the product. At least customers did. Now, as far as strangers that I have to pitch for funding, absolutely terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. But Lynn was… When I say amazing, absolutely amazing. The key to it is Lynn. Literally, even sometimes, we would stay on longer on the coaching calls longer, she did not hesitate, did not make me get off the phone early, did not stop me. And she just poured into me and gave me the best advice ever. And I listened. So, that was the key.

Even to this day, like I still have… I didn’t take down a bunch of my background. Only some of it’s gone because I did a pitch. I did another pop-up. So, I took some things. But I keep this stuff up all the time now on phone calls, on meetings, on everything, because it was just genius to just say, “Why don’t I have my turbines in the background?” And just the practicing of it all. So, I thank Lynn for everything. And I’ve actually since then – and thank you, Lynn to your amazing coaching – I, to this day still, listen, I want another pitch competition. Yes, with Black Girl Ventures and I came in second place, so, in Philadelphia. And I was just… I’m like… Listen, everything you taught me, everything Lynn has taught me, I have continued to implement. And it’s been working greatly.

Lee Kantor: Now, Lynn, how did this mentoring opportunity get on your radar? I think you’re… Are you muted? You might be muted.

Lynn Reddick: I’m here now.

Lee Kantor: All right.

Lynn Reddick: I’m here now. Yes. As far as participating as a corporate member of WBEC-West, I was presented the opportunity to participate in the National Black Pitch Program as a mentor, and I just jumped at the chance. WBEC-West is the best as far as connecting women-owned businesses with their corporate members. And I just love participating in their programs. And providing technical assistance is a passion of mine and something that I’ve been doing for over 20 years now. And I was fortunate to be paired with Khadija and her wonderful company.

Lee Kantor: Now, Lynn, do you have any advice for other corporates when it comes to mentoring entrepreneurs like this? You know, probably during your day job, you know, you’re not around this stage emerging business like this. Is there any advice you can share to your other corporates why it’s important to be doing this kind of work?

Lynn Reddick: Yes, absolutely. Anytime you can support a business as far as helping them grow, helping them succeed in going forward and winning that next contract, you know, being successful in pitch contests, then that just benefits everyone because as corporate members, we’re looking for those great, diverse suppliers that can participate in our procurement efforts and make the best efforts and compete with the other suppliers that are invited to participate. And the more that we can share our knowledge in terms of what… you know, of what we see as in terms of a successful pitch, you know, a successful way in terms of presenting themselves to really make the cut as far as being one of those suppliers that are invited to participate in procurements, the best there is.

So, I mean, as Khadijiah had said, you know, we had… I don’t know how many, 4 or 5 different sessions, maybe half hour, maybe they would go over, but we, you know, worked on mutual times. We talked about what each of us was going to prepare for for our next session. They were very, very productive. And I mean, you know, you can spare 30-40 minutes out of your day? Yes, you can. And you know, I just highly recommend it for all corporate members to be able to really impart their wisdom and, you know, what’s meaningful to them when they hear pitches from suppliers.

Lee Kantor: Now, Lynn, do you have any advice for these emerging entrepreneurs how best to take advantage of these type of opportunities to be a good mentee, to really be coachable and take all this information to heart? Because it is a great opportunity. The prize money is nice, but these relationships are the things that are going to pay dividends over the long haul.

Lynn Reddick: No, no. Yeah, absolutely. It’s really participating in programs. And so WBEC-West is a great organization, you know, to talk about where they advocate for, they certify women-owned businesses. They provide these opportunities to meet with corporate members through meetings, whether they’re in person or whether they’re virtual. It’s those types of organizations that suppliers should seek out. It gives them not only opportunity to meet with corporate members or opportunities to engage with other, you know, women-owned businesses. I mean, they’ve gone through maybe similar things, depending on, you know, how many years in business they’ve been in. It’s just a great opportunity to learn.

And you know, yes, you know, you may have to invest some time in a few meetings here and there but, really, the benefits of going to those meetings, the people that you meet, the corporate members that, you know, that can either guide you or give you advice is… I mean, it’s… I don’t… immeasurable as far as you’re doing, As Khadijah has said, you know, not only has she, you know, continued to do some pitch competitions. Here, she came in third for the National Black Business Pitch and she’s gone to another… you know, went to another pitch contest and has done even better. So, you know, her being able to pitch to other corporate members is only something that, you know, she’s going to be top of mind to many corporates if something comes up and they’re like, “Wait a minute. I remember Khadijiah,” or may remember AQUA Waterproof Headwear and you know, that really resonates with corporate members.

Lee Kantor: Now, Khadijiah, do you have any advice for other aspiring entrepreneurs when they’re putting together kind of a pitch like you had to do? Is there any do’s and don’ts that you can share in order to, you know, become a winner like you have?

Khadijah Robinson: Yes. If you are lucky enough to have a mentor and a coach, listen to them. Listen to them. Listen to them. Be a sponge. Be teachable. Again, I’ve learned when you’re pitching, having your product available, seen, shown, even if it services, something that says your name and what you do in the background is very, very helpful. I did get compliments on that. And I thank you, Lynn, for even taking me there and to help me do that. Also, practice. Practice, practice, practice. The day of, like when I first did my pitch, I had practiced so much that I was on. Then, of course, you kind of like… After you win, you’re just like, “Oh, it’s over. Let me do it.” But my advice is keep practicing your pitch every day just so that you don’t forget it, so that when it’s time for you to pitch, it just comes so easily to you that you can that, you know, it comes across naturally and it really resonates with the judges. So, definitely practice. Definitely, definitely listen to your mentor. And definitely have your products or services in the background. And just know your business. Like know what you’re talking about and be able to answer questions. Know your numbers. Know your business in and out.

Lee Kantor: Now, Khadijiah, what part of the National Black Business Pitch competition kind of is staying with you as most valuable or impactful as you move forward?

Khadijah Robinson: Well, I will say this and, again, this is a testament to Lynn. Even if I didn’t win third place, the training that I got on developing a pitch and actually being able to successfully execute it was so, so, so valuable. And I can’t put it into words because like I said, I have literally used everything I learned from Lynn as I keep going into pitch different competitions. And again, the one that I just did was my second one, and I was like, I can’t even believe I got second place. But it’s because of the confidence in understanding of pitching that I didn’t learn because like with this competition, there was no pitch deck. I didn’t have anything in front of me. All I had was what I know and what I was able to memorize and express in words, just only words. So, I will always, forever take that with me.

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

Khadijah Robinson: Money? No. Other than that, honestly, just ability to access people. Like Lynn said, if there are other companies out here who are interested in doing business with AQUA Waterproof Headwear or have different resources available, even as far as just, you know, a database of how to get into retail, you know, small retailers who are interested in doing business with smallbrands, the boutiques, you know, just to help me prepare to get into the mass retail space. But right now, it’s just the resources and access to opportunities that is going to help me immensely get to where I need to go. And I thank you all for that. Because actually, WBEC does a great job with that all around. So, honestly, just ability to help and provide resources and opportunities is very much appreciated. So, thank you.

Lee Kantor: And then, you’re on your way to become a certified woman-owned business?

Khadijah Robinson: I am. I am. And I just submitted everything for East Coast, so I am waiting for that. I just got MBE certification. So, that’s a big thing that I’m proud of. And I was just on a TV show called Buy It Now. It’s on Amazon Prime. So, if you can watch that, that’d be amazing because, Lynn, you’d be proud of me. You’d be proud of me for that. I’m not going to spill it. I’m not going to spill it. But episode ten of Buy It Now on Amazon Prime, you’re going to be proud of me.

Lee Kantor: And then, if somebody wants to learn more about AQUA Waterproof Headwear, is there a website? Is there a best way to connect with you and the product and the team?

Khadijah Robinson: Yes, my website is aquaheadwear.com. Just aquaheadwear.com. A-Q-U-A, Headwear, H-E-A-D-W-E-A-R dot com. And email me at hello@aquaheadwear.com.

Lee Kantor: And then, I’m sure on all the socials, they can find you there.

Khadijah Robinson: All the socials @aquaheadwear. So easy. A-Q-U-A-H-E-A-D-W-E-A-R on everything -TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, everywhere.

Lee Kantor: Well, congratulations on all the momentum. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Khadijah Robinson: Thank you. Thank you so much for the opportunity to talk to you today.

Lee Kantor: And Lynn, thank you for all you do to help the community get to new levels. Thank you.

Lynn Reddick: No, it’s my pleasure.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Women in Motion.

 

Tagged With: AQUA Waterproof Headwear

BRX Pro Tip: How Will You Spend a 1000 Minutes Today?

January 21, 2025 by angishields

BRXmic99
BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: How Will You Spend a 1000 Minutes Today?
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

BRX-Banner

BRX Pro Tip: How Will You Spend a 1000 Minutes Today?

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, one of the topics that’s on my mind a lot and I think on a lot of our listener’s mind, is, how to best invest your time. You’ve got some thoughts on that.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. A lot of people don’t realize, but everyday you get 1,000 minutes, 1,000 minutes of time to do whatever it is you’re trying to get done each day. The assumption is that you’re sleeping seven hours and you have 17 hours of waking time, you know, times 60 minutes, that equals about 1,000.

Lee Kantor: So, what are you going to do today to invest that time? How many of those minutes are going to go to your work? How many are going to your health? How many are going to your family? How many are going to your community? How many are going to yourself? How many of them are wasted on T.V., social media, arguing, complaining? A thousand minutes every day can move the ball on so many fronts if you invest your time wisely. What are you doing today to spend those 1,000 minutes?

Automate Your Way to Security: The Essential Role of IAM in Modern Enterprises

January 20, 2025 by angishields

SSBRX-Airitos-Feature
Sandy Springs Business Radio
Automate Your Way to Security: The Essential Role of IAM in Modern Enterprises
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

SSBRX-Bannerv2

In this episode of Sandy Springs Business Radio, Erik Boemanns talks with Bill Morse, a seasoned expert in identity and access management (IAM) with over 30 years of experience. Bill, who founded his own IAM consulting firm three years ago, discusses the critical role of IAM in automating employee onboarding and offboarding, enhancing security, and boosting productivity. He highlights the challenges of managing digital identities and the importance of principles like “least privilege.” The episode also covers Bill’s journey into consulting, the financial benefits of effective IAM practices, and practical security tips for organizations.

Bill-MorseBill Morse has a 25-year career as an IT leader in the Financial Services industry including Chase, Prudential, First Data and Fiserv. ​

In January 2021, Bill started Airitos, providing Identity & Access Management (IAM) architecture and strategy to Fortune 500 companies across industries such as Financial Services, Pharma and others.​

In his enterprise career Bill provided IAM leadership through major events including Mergers & Acquisitions, Divestitures, and implementations of new HR Systems, access management and identity governance platforms.​ Airitos-logo

Today Bill uses this experience to advise companies on their own IAM journeys.

Connect with Bill on LinkedIn.

Transcript-iconThis 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: This episode of Sandy Springs Business Radio is brought to you by Mirability, providing unique IT solutions, leveraging cloud, AI, and more to solve business problems. Here’s your host, Erik Boemanns.

Erik Boemanns: Thank you, Bill Morse, for joining me today. I’m glad to have you here to talk to us about. We’re going to talk about identity access management, which is probably a term that nobody’s ever heard of. So we’ll dive into what that really means in a bit. But I wanted to start maybe just with a quick give yourself an introduction, tell, you know, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Bill Morse: Sure. And thanks for having me. My name is Bill Morse. I’m about a 30 year career doing different enterprise roles for a for large financial services companies. Towards the end of that time started to focus on what we call identity and access management. We’ll explain what that is in a in a second here. And then about three years ago, I started my own company doing the same thing, but as a as a consultant. So get to get to help, you know, several several organizations with some, some shared lessons. And that’s what we’re here to talk about. Awesome. Thanks for having me.

Erik Boemanns: Yeah. And so that company name is Aretos. Right. And it’s we focus on identity access management. And we will I want to talk a little bit later about kind of that journey to a founding a consulting company and, and some of the things there because that it’s always interesting as well. But, um, maybe just start with what does Aretus do? How do you help your clients? What is maybe even take a step back? What is identity access management?

Bill Morse: So we focus on, uh, so if you think of a large company, kind of, you know, hiring and firing, you know, potentially hundreds of people, you know, weekly, monthly, etc., we do is we help automate that whole process. And, you know, what we what we focus on is when you bring a new employee in, you don’t want to just give them a computer and joke around how it’s going to take a week to get them all the access he needs. You know, we want to get people productive on day one. And more importantly, when they when they leave your company either on their own or, you know, a mutual decision, we want to make sure they lose all the access that they have. And this this is much more important now than it used to be in the old days and the old days, you’d go to a building, and if you lost access to that building, you couldn’t get to any of the computer systems in it. But now, as you know, everything tends to be in the cloud. So what we do is automate what we call the provisioning and the deprovisioning of that access across all the different applications. So, you know, keep the the enterprise more secure, but also make the the resource more productive, you know, give them access to everything they need kind of on on day one where, you know, where possible. So if you, you know, we’re talking about large enterprises here. Banks and pharmaceuticals etc.. But you know, everyone kind of has this need right from the, you know, at the at the lowest level If you have a PC in your house and you want your you know your child to use it, you might create an account for that, for you know, for your child and say you have access to this, this and this, but I don’t want you messing with quicken.

Bill Morse: Right. So, you know, at all levels, there’s kind of this, this concept of of identity, right? Kind of prove who you are and then access management. So based on you being Eric and you know, your level of trust and training, etc., I’ll give you access to, you know, these things and, um, you know, the bigger the enterprise gets, the more complicated that gets. Right. One of the things we deal with is, um, called separation of duties. So, you know, maybe if you have this access over here, I shouldn’t give you that access over there. You shouldn’t be able to, you know, approve your own time sheets or, you know, write, write checks and then, uh, you know, make journal entries that kind of, you know, wipe away the fact that you wrote that checks and stuff like that. So, you know, it gets gets more complex the the more complex the business gets. Uh, but it’s basically the same thing as, as just, you know, that that that first use case of, you know, based on who you are. I only want to give you access to what I feel comfortable giving you access to. So that’s that’s I am in a in a nutshell.

Erik Boemanns: Gotcha. And I think something to point out too, is that not only when the employee starts and leaves, but even in the middle as they get promoted, as things change within the organization, they may also gain access. Because I’m thinking a lot of breaches happen when a person, an individual’s computer gets hacked through, you know, ransomware or something, and then whatever they have access to is the target. Yeah. And so if they have access to something that they shouldn’t have access to because they’ve either changed departments or it wasn’t poorly managed or was poorly managed, that kind of access control, I think, matters too. So it’s not just that beginning and end.

Bill Morse: No, definitely. There’s there’s a lot a lot of concepts. Some. So there’s a concept of what’s called least privilege, right. So you should get the least amount of privilege to do the job that, that you’re supposed to be doing. But in the industry we we have different jokes. Right. So we call people packrats. Right. If you’ve if you’ve been in an enterprise for a decade and change roles three times. You know, sometimes people are afraid to remove permissions because they might need you to kind of come in and help them out. That kind of thing. But, you know, over the course of, of a long career, you might have access to too many things. So that’s that’s one of the things that I am looking at, right. Do you, you know, have roles that can can conflict with each other over time. And, you know, as as people leave departments, they should lose access to the old department and just have the access they need for the for the new department they’re moving to. So great. Great point.

Erik Boemanns: Yeah. And so understanding the kind of complexity, like you said, as the organization gets bigger, they’ll have multiple systems, but even a small company now will have multiple systems and probably a a login and account in each of those systems. So the complexity may vary, right, depending on the organization size. Um, what is it? How does Airbus come in and help? What is kind of that first type of engagement if you will?

Bill Morse: It differs. So one of the things we offer is called a IAM maturity assessment and the use case. There will be typically a new CIO, new CISO. There will be a merger. There will be a divestiture. Something significant will happen, and someone will bring us in and say, hey, just just give us an inventory of what we got from an IAM perspective. Sometimes they have 2 or 3 products to do the same thing. So, you know, help us help us rationalize this to, you know, can we get down to one? Is there a is there a good reason to have two products to do the same thing? Um, a lot of times the the event will be, like I said, either a either a merger or a divestiture. So you’ve got to figure out, um, how do we combine these different user stores or split them out? And a lot of times with, you know, big organizations, the divestitures is announced. You know, we’re going to we’re going to spin this company off, etc.. But there’s a period of of, you know, sometimes a year where the, the company that was spun off still has to use systems at the, at the parent company that that spun them off.

Bill Morse: Um, but, you know, there’s a limited amount of stuff you want that that spun off company to have access to. Um, so we’ll kind of come in, look at the whole picture. Um, you know, a lot a lot of what we do, um, from an architecture and strategy standpoint, is draw pictures, right? Um, and, you know, the simpler the picture looks at the end of the day, the better. But typically it takes, you know, hundreds of interviews and a lot of research and stuff to figure out what does the enterprise look like. And then you show that picture to people, and it makes it a lot easier to say, you know, see this redundancy here? We’re going to get rid of this, this and this, consolidate it into that. This is, you know, the future state that we we suggest. And then we talk about how to get there. And um, again, the bigger the organization, the longer these processes take. Because, you know, systems that have been around forever, they they tend to grow legs, right? They’re used in ways people forgot they were used. So you really got to kind of, you know, go through and dissect these things carefully.

Erik Boemanns: It makes sense, especially in the divestiture where your point was exactly right, where you have a user base that’s now no longer part of the company, but still needs to access those resources. But I think something I heard you say, as you’re talking about that is the multiple systems. What do we even have? And we may have 2 or 3 systems. So I assume one of the outputs of what you’re doing is to actually help simplify, which then probably one could improve their security, but two has a cost saving.

Bill Morse: It definitely is. Yeah. And there’s there’s a couple of ways where I am can can help you save costs. So one of them is, um, you know, knowing who has access to different systems. So, you know, a lot of these cloud systems, you provision people, they they leave the company, you kind of forget to deprovision them. So, you know, going in and looking at your email provider or looking at your CRM provider, etcetera, looking at all the accounts that are still active that you’re still paying for and make sure you’re, you know, those people are still around. That’s that’s one of the, the easiest ways to kind of, you know, show some show some cost savings. Um, but on the, um, on the, on the what we call the harmonization side. Right. If you have three, three systems that do the same thing, you know, the goal is always to get, you know, down to one, you know, reduce your attack surface, you know, run one thing and run it well. Um, but we joke it’s a lot like painting a bridge. So it takes, you know, it takes a year to paint it. By the time you’re done painting it, they’ll merge with someone else. So now they. You know that. And that other company might have a, you know, a fourth technology. So now you have to kind of take a look at that, you know, hey, they’re using this other technology, you know, how are they doing with it? Can, can our technology do all the stuff that their technology does, that kind of thing.

Bill Morse: Um, so, you know, one of the things about IAM is it almost never ends, right? You’re always trying to get simpler. Um, from a, from a user access standpoint, we’re always trying to make it easy so that it’s, it’s role based. Right? So if you join the company and you’re a, you know, tax accountant one. Um, you should get access to six different systems to do your job. You know, by just by just by putting you in that one role. Um, so we have, we have concepts that we call birthright access, right? So as you, as you join the company, you kind of get everything you need just because you’re in that role. Well, these roles change, right? As you know, your CFO says, hey, we’re not going to use that tax platform anymore. We’re going to shift to this one. Now someone has to go in and see what permissions. Tax accountant one should have. So it’s kind of a it’s always an evolving thing. We always try to evolve towards a, you know, simplified, easy to manage model. Uh, but it’s uh, you know, it’s a journey.

Erik Boemanns: I think the other thing that I heard just now, if a person is leaving the company and you forget to de-provision their account, if you forget to delete them from the system, or you’ve got so many systems, you remember to do it on two, but you forget on the other eight. If you also are either interested in going through an audit, a security audit, like a soc2 or something like that, that’s something that the auditor is going to check. And then they’re going to have all sorts of questions about like, why is this person still in your system if they haven’t worked for you for six months.

Bill Morse: And so it’s an uncomfortable conversation. Exactly.

Erik Boemanns: So if you are thinking about that sort of audit or or already under it, having something like this looked at and and fixed is almost a critical item at that point. Yeah.

Bill Morse: Yeah, that’s that’s one thing we’ve seen. Auditors love automation. You know, they love the ability to, you know, push a button and run a report. Um, you know, even if the report has, has bad news on it that at least you can run it, right? It’s much better than, um, you know, having to make the auditor go go dive for it. My wife’s an auditor, actually. So there you go. She always tells me the, you know, the the friendlier you are with me, the better the audit goes. So I try to I try to put my clients in a way where they can, you know, kind of make the order. They’re happy.

Erik Boemanns: We talked about cost savings. We talked about some security benefits and a lot of business owners, when they’re thinking about security and they’re thinking about risk, it’s it’s cost that I spend to not lose more money, but it’s just still a cost center. It’s still me spending money. And this could feel that way to other than we said, there’s a few cost savings, but I think the an aspect of this that’s missed is that these can be a business enabler as well. So how do you see that in terms of identity, and how does it having a good practice around identity actually become an enabler, not just a cost?

Bill Morse: That’s a great question. Yeah. Since since I’ve been in this business we’ve almost joked about it, you know, can can security be a business enabler. Right. And you know, the people that just want to get some functionality out of it when the when the security department says, hey, you can’t do that. And here’s why. You know, there’s all these jokes, right? Where the department that says no and all that. So we, you know, we always try to say, hey, you know, we can be a business enabler. I think we’re finally getting to the point where people are believing that. Right? So when you when you wake up and your system is not ransomware, you know, when you’re when your website’s not defaced, etc., um, you know, hug your CISO. So, um, you know, we’re at the point now where like, like from an identity standpoint, I’ll give you some specific examples, right. You mentioned a minute ago that, you know, all these different cloud systems. You might have your own ID and password. Yeah. So if we go in and we enable them all for single sign on, we’ve made ourselves way more secure. Right? I know that if you don’t have access to the thing that you can single sign on through, then you lose access to all these things immediately. And I can worry about deprovisioning your account later on.

Bill Morse: But from a user perspective, I can now give you, you know, a portal where you can just click on all the access you have, all the apps you have access to, and kind of, you know, log in directly without worrying about, you know, an ID and password for, for each one of them. Um, so there’s, there’s, there’s different um, you know, another even even simpler. Right. People used to complain about, um, you know, I step away from my desktop for ten minutes, and when I get back, it’s locked. Now I have to log into it. Well, you know, with with, um, Windows Hello and touch ID, depending if you’re, if you’re a PC or Mac, it’s not that big a deal anymore, right? But now, you know, I’m authenticating you with a with a biometric, not just a simple password. So you’re more secure, and, you know, all you have to do is drag your smile, your camera, drag your finger across the fingerprint scanner so it’s, you know, it’s easier for the user and more secure, you know, and I do want your desktop to lock when you walk away. So there’s there’s several examples where, you know, you can be more secure and make the user happier at the same time.

Erik Boemanns: Yeah. And so happy users, obviously more productive users. And I think you start talking about fingerprint biometrics and the idea of password lists is is a topic that people may have heard about. And we’re so focused on making sure that that people have different passwords and strong passwords, and all of a sudden we’re saying actually just don’t even have a password. You’re going to be more secure if you just skip that step altogether, which I think also can result in more security and more productivity and lower risk as well.

Bill Morse: Yeah, yeah, shared secrets should, uh, you know, and that’s, that’s a fancy way of saying passwords and other things that, you know, you know, but someone else can, can guess or find out or whatever. Just a public service announcement, right? When we when we tell you to use a different password for every site, you know, there’s there are reasons that we’re we’re telling you that. Right? We can kind of scare the audience by, uh, you know, explaining that, you know, as, as, as, as sites are hacked and IDs and passwords are kind of, you know, discovered there is really simple technology that can kind of, you know, spray those IDs and passwords across every other website on Earth, right. So that’s that’s why we don’t want you to have the, uh, you know, the same password more than more than once. But another example of how, you know, security can make users happy. Um, they’re a very good password managers. Right. It’s trivial now to have a, you know, strong, unique password for every site, and you don’t even need to know it, right? You just, you know, unlock your, your, uh, you know, keystore on your computer and, um, you know, pass that, pass that password. So.

Erik Boemanns: So I’m going to pivot the conversation a little bit. I mentioned we want to talk a little bit about the business itself, consulting and how kind of what motivated you to shift to that mode of.

Bill Morse: I’ve wanted to have my own business since I was a child. So it was it was it was time. Right, right. Um, so I was looking for my next my next role, um, had several offers to take another kind of enterprise role, but I got one offer that was a, you know, an offer to come in as a consultant and, um, you know, working, working through the details, I realized this was my this was my chance to kind of, you know, come in, start my own business, come in as a consultant, um, you know, through through another consulting company that had the actual contract, but then try to build, you know, my, my book of business on my own. Um, so that was about three years ago now. Um, you know, I’m I’m enjoying the journey. So, you know, one of the, one of the things that, um, is kind of fun about it all is, you know, if you come from the enterprise side, where, you know, you’re supposed to secure the the ERP platform and the accounting platform and HR platform and all that, but you don’t really understand 100% what these things do. Now you’re running your own business, and you need an HR system and a CRM and an accounting platform and all that. So, you know, these days, um, you know, if you’re if you’re out there thinking about starting a business, I would say go for it because, um, you know, it’s a lot easier. You know, you can subscribe to all these things. You don’t need to stand up a data center, etc.. You know, all this stuff is kind of available. Um, you know, the more people that use something, the easier it is to find other people to, you know, ask for advice and etc.. So, yeah, you know, the process of getting this all started was, uh, was very exciting. And anytime anyone and I could go for a couple of hours about starting a business up and integrating all your systems together and all that. So if anyone wants to know more about that, please, please reach out. It’s one of my favorite topics.

Erik Boemanns: You did mention one thing, though, that I think scares people the most about starting a new business. You should build your own book of business. So getting customers, getting clients that obviously once you get past that curve, having your own business is amazing. It’s fun. It’s getting to that first customer second, and then a repeatable process. Um, so do you have any secrets you want to share about how are you acquiring new business?

Bill Morse: So our so one of the things about identity and access management at the enterprise level is it’s, it’s difficult for a very small business to knock on, you know, a large bank or pharmaceutical store and say, hey, I can I can help you with your problems. Right. It’s it’s almost impossible. Um, but what we do is we, we call them our channels, right? So we partner with much bigger consulting firms that already have those relationships. And in the ideal situation, they don’t do IAM. So they might do ten other things for a for a company. And if they hear I am they’ll kind of call us and say, hey, we you know, we just heard that this company has this problem. Can you can you solve it? Um, sometimes we can’t. And I’m and I’m happy to, you know, stay in my uh, my wheelhouse. Um, you know, one of the things is, is people, um, often ask me, hey, is this guy your competitor? And I always joke, I’m too small to have competitors. You know, there’s enough business out there, um, that, you know, the crumbs that fall off the table from from some of the big guys are big enough to to, you know, run your own consulting firm on. Sure.

Erik Boemanns: So you’ve been doing this a few years now looking forward. What are you excited about?

Bill Morse: Am I excited about I, I personally want to get to the point where I’m no longer billable. Right. So we right now we have about a dozen people, um, you know, there there is work involved in, you know, going on podcasts. Actually, this is this is great. Thanks for having me. But there’s there’s work going out there, marketing, you know, running the business, finding, finding the next job, etc.. And, um, you know, when I stand up and say, yeah, I’ll get that spreadsheet to you next week, you know, I need someone to smack me and say, no, you can’t. You know, you’ve got other stuff to do. Like, you know, delegate that. Um, so 2025 is going to be the year where, you know, Bill is is less billable. The guys in the office are kidding about that, but also want to want to get bigger. We have some some revenue targets for this year that we think we can hit. Um, you know, I’m making it sound like it’s great. One of the scariest parts of starting your own business is, well, talking to other people that have a successful job into quitting it and coming along with you. That’s that’s the most terrifying part. Yes. So, you know, you got to remember you’re bringing other people along on this, on this journey with you. But it’s it’s been, you know, a lot of fun, very rewarding so far.

Erik Boemanns: That’s great. Um, so real quick as we are getting close to the end here, how can people find out more about Erdos and reach out to you?

Bill Morse: So we have a website just w WW. Com has a contact us link. That’s one of the best ways to to kind of get our attention. Um, we’re also on LinkedIn. Uh, we have, we have a page on uh, on LinkedIn. If it’s okay, we’ll put links to both in the, uh, in the comments and all. Um, and, you know, bring bring us your, uh, your questions, comments, concerns. You know, one of the things we, um, we really believe in is, um, you know, as an industry, as a society, etc., we’ve got to talk about these things. And one of the things I wanted to I want to talk about today is, you know, we, you know, if some someone wakes up and their system is ransomware, like I said a minute ago, it’s not something to be embarrassed about. It’s something to tell everyone about and tell them what you could have done differently so that we can all kind of learn from the experience. So, you know, if you if you want to tell me something I said here was wrong or if you want to ask for advice. Either way, you know, feel free to reach out.

Erik Boemanns: Yeah. And real quick, if you don’t mind spelling the company name as well.

Bill Morse: So it’s, uh, I r I t o s. So, yeah, some people do tell me it should be pronounced like like the bag of chips, but but it’s it’s it’s supposed to sound Latin sound.

Erik Boemanns: Yes. Not a snack. Um. So awesome. Appreciate that. I just want to close out. Maybe, um, what are three things that people could do as they today to make themselves more secure?

Bill Morse: That’s a good question. So we mentioned one of them. So, you know, talk to each other. Right. Learn from each other and and, you know, share your experiences. Share your your good experiences, but also your, your bad ones. So we can all learn from it. Um, have a healthy amount of skepticism. You know, so, um, you know, when you get that link that says click here, your package can’t be delivered or you got a wire or whatever. You know, think think twice about where it came from. Uh, you know, all the advice people give you. Check the URL, make sure it’s a known sender, make sure it’s a, you know, SSL cert, etc. but be skeptical when you’re when your bank calls you out of the blue and they’re asking you for more information that they should probably know already. You know, make sure it’s really your bank. So we all have to be skeptical. But we all we all have to tell each other about this so that we all understand, you know, where to be, where to be skeptical. And then if you’re, you know, if you’re a you’re a service provider, your bank, your insurance company or your travel agency, whatever. If they’re offering more security, take them up on it. Right. You should, um, you know, we talked about having unique passwords for all your sites, but if they offer what’s called multi-factor authentication, where, you know, you can’t log in without, um, you know, acknowledging a notification on your phone or that kind of thing. Take them up on it. Right. You know, it’s our responsibility to be as secure as we’re we’re able to be. If the vendors were working for our, um, I’m sorry, if the vendors were using our offering security, we should take them up on it. And if they’re not offering these levels of security, we should we should push back and ask for it be.

Erik Boemanns: Consider different vendors. Right.

Bill Morse: Right, right. Part of part of due diligence.

Erik Boemanns: Right, exactly. Well, thank you again for coming. I appreciate the time and the insight and look forward to next time.

Bill Morse: This was great. Thanks for having me.

 

About Your Host

Erik-BoemannsErik Boemanns is a technology executive and lawyer. His background covers many aspects of technology, from infrastructure to software development.

He combines this with a “second career” as a lawyer into a world of cybersecurity, governance, risk, compliance, and privacy (GRC-P).

His time in a variety of companies, industries, and careers brings a unique perspective on leadership, helping, technology problem solving and implementing compliance.

Connect with Erik on LinkedIn, Substack and Medium.

Tagged With: Airitos, IAM, Identity & Access Management

BRX Pro Tip: Healthy Communities Do This One Thing Well

January 20, 2025 by angishields

BRXmic99
BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: Healthy Communities Do This One Thing Well
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

BRX-Banner

BRX Pro Tip: Healthy Communities Do This One Thing Well

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor, Stone Payton here with you. Lee, what’s the key, man? What’s the best way to build and sustain a truly healthy community?

Lee Kantor: Yeah. I think that healthy, engaged, invested communities do this one thing well. And this one thing is participation. You really – if you have a community or you’re trying to build a community, you should be actively thinking of ways to drive more community participation. And that might start with something small, like getting small groups together to do something, and then try to expand that to as many people as possible.

Lee Kantor: But if your community is already doing things on its own, it’s a good thing to kind of invest in whatever activity they’re organically doing on their own and seeing what other resources you can add to it to get more of that participation. Because organic participation is always better than manufactured participation.

Lee Kantor: So pay attention to what your community does and wants more of and then help them get it. So that’s a great way to get more participation within your community. And like I said, healthy, engaged, invested communities have a lot of participation.

BRX Pro Tip: 4 Ways to Become an Indispensable Professional Services Provider

January 17, 2025 by angishields

BRXmic99
BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: 4 Ways to Become an Indispensable Professional Services Provider
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

BRX-Banner

BRX Pro Tip: 4 Ways to Become an Indispensable Professional Services Provider

Stone Payton: And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, one of the challenges, in my experience, in being in the professional services arena is, sometimes, our work is really characterized and thought of as a discretionary expenditure. What, if anything, can we do to actually move from discretionary to indispensable?

Lee Kantor: Yeah. There are certain things you can be doing right now that can help you kind of elevate yourself to that level of being indispensable, so that you’re not a nice-to-have. You’re a must have. The first thing you could do is specialize and showcase your superpower and your unique expertise. Be one of one, not one of many. Number two, keep showing up. Tenacity and persistence win over time and business is a war of attrition. Most people are going to quit too soon. Number three, provide excellent customer support and white glove service. Do the things your competition doesn’t want to do. And lastly, number four, keep getting better. Focus on continuously learning and improving, so you can stay ahead of your clients and teach them new things every day.

Empowering Veterans: Overcoming Employment Challenges with Work for Warriors Georgia

January 16, 2025 by angishields

SSBRX-Work-for-Warriors-GA-feature
Sandy Springs Business Radio
Empowering Veterans: Overcoming Employment Challenges with Work for Warriors Georgia
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

SSBRX-Work-for-Warriors-bannerv2

In this episode of Sandy Springs Business Radio, Lee Kantor and Rachel Simon talk with Patrick Rivers and Lacy Turner from Work for Warriors Georgia. The discussion highlights the organization’s mission to provide free employment assistance to veterans, service members, and their families. Lacy and Patrick discuss the challenges veterans face when transitioning to civilian life, such as translating military skills into civilian job qualifications. They emphasize the importance of personalized support, proactive outreach, and employer collaboration to help veterans secure meaningful employment.

Patrick-RiversCSM (Ret) Patrick Rivers enlisted on active duty in 1997 and began his Infantry Basic Training on Station Unit Training (OSUT) that summer with 2-58 Infantry Training Battalion at Ft Benning, Ga., graduating (11B Infantry) in October 1997.

After attending Basic Combat Training CSM (Ret) Rivers was assigned to Ft. Lewis, WA, where he served as a Riflemen, Grenadier and Team Leader. His other assignments include B co 1-22 IN (Regulars by God), Ft. Hood, TX, where he served as a Team Leader deployed in support of OIF I; A co and D co 1-187 IN (Rakkasans), Ft. Campbell, KY, where he deployed as a Squad Leader for both companies in support of OIF I and IV; B co and E co 2-60th IN (Scouts Out) where he served as a Drill Sergeant at Ft. Jackson, SC; D co 1-327 IN (Bulldogs), Ft. Campbell, KY, where he served as an Anti- Armor Platoon Sergeant, deployed in support of OEF X-XI; A co 1-327 IN, Ft. Campbell, KY, where he served as a Company First Sergeant; Military Science Instructor (MS II and III’s) with The Georgia Institute of Technology and Kennesaw State University; C co 3-13 IN (40 Rounds), Ft. Jackson, SC, where he served as a Basic Combat Training Company First Sergeant; 101st NCOA (Train to Lead) where he served as a Deputy Commandant, Ft. Campbell, Ky. and the Operations Sergeant Major for the 5-7 Cavalry Regiment (Garryowen), 1ABCT, 3ID, Ft. Stewart, Ga. CSM (Ret) Rivers then assumed responsibility as the Battalion Command Sergeant Major for 2-58 Inf Regt (Patriots) on Sandhill, Fort Moore, Georgia, the only gender integrated Infantry Training Battalion in the United States Army. CSM (Ret) then retired in October 2022 and is now a Regional Employment Coordinator in the Atlanta area for the Work for Warriors-Ga program.

CSM (Ret) Rivers’ military education includes Basic Leader Course, Advanced Leader Course, Senior Leader Course, SMC Class 68 (Ultima; By Example), Drill Sergeant School, Air Assault and Pathfinder School. CSM (Ret) Rivers’ awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star (1 OLC), Meritorious Service Medal (4 OLC), the Army Commendation Medal (4 OLC), the Army Achievement Medal (6 OLC), the Expert Infantry Badge, the Combat Infantry Badge, Air Assault Badge, and the Pathfinder’s Badge. CSM Rivers has a Bachelor’s of Science in Liberal Arts with Excelsior College.

Lacy-Turner

Lacy Turner is the Director of Work For Warriors Georgia (W4WGA), the Georgia National Guard’s free employment assistance program.

Since 2012, Lacy has been a part of the program and was instrumental in expanding the program from a two to ten person team with an annual operating budget of $1M. Under her leadership, the WFWGA program has participated in multiple state and national workforce initiatives.

WFWGA Candidates report that the program has improved their financial situation by 79% and decreased their stress level by 90%. For more information about the program, visit www.workforwarriorsga.org.

Lacy is a graduate of The University of Tennessee as well as Leadership Georgia (Class of 2023) and White County Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership (Class of 2022). Prior to WFWGA, she has worked for various nonprofits and in the financial industry.

Follow Work for Warriors Georgia on Facebook.

Transcript-iconThis 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, another episode of Sandy Springs Business Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today’s episode 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 Dot digital. Rachel welcome back.

Rachel Simon: Hi, Lee. Happy new year. Are we allowed to say that still or people are like.

Lee Kantor: What’s the the window? What’s the date.

Rachel Simon: That you’re not allowed to say it anymore? But anyway, it’s the first time I’m seeing you in 2020.

Lee Kantor: Happy New Year to you.

Rachel Simon: Um, I’m super excited about our show today, and I think it’s a great show to kick off 2025. 25. So we have two guests joining us from work for Warriors Georgia. So I’m happy to welcome Lacy Turner, who is the director, and Patrick Rivers, who serves as regional employment coordinator. Welcome.

Hi, Rachel.

Lacy Turner: Thank you.

Rachel Simon: So let’s kick off with tell us about your organization. Who do you serve? What’s your mission?

Lacy Turner: So I work for Warriors. Georgia is a free employment assistance program actually housed in the Georgia Guard. But we help veterans, family members, and service members on educating them and assisting them and connecting them with meaningful employment opportunities. So we want to really empower individuals and provide them with the tools and resources and support they need to really get a job that they are looking for that will work with them and provide growth opportunities with them so they can really find meaningful employment.

Rachel Simon: And is it are there specific challenges that veterans are facing when they’re moving from the military into the workforce.

Patrick Rivers: Rachel, there’s a lot of obstacles.

Rachel Simon: I’m sure that’s a big question.

Patrick Rivers: Yes, ma’am. From the transitioning. You know, you have soldiers that, you know, wore the uniform for ten, 20 years and, you know, not abreast of the, you know, the resources that we have, you know, in a civilian world, like work for warriors like me, when I was, I did 25 years in the army, and I had no clue that I worked for warriors. Georgia even existed until, you know, I connected with one of the coordinators for a veteran initiative that I was trying to establish, and I was like, man, I work for Warriors from Georgia. Actually. It’s a great program, and here I am now, you know, as an employment coordinator.

Rachel Simon: So if I could ask, when you were transitioning out of the military, what was some of the challenges that you were facing, kind of looking to find employment?

Patrick Rivers: I would say the big one is just trying to, you know, translate that resume from military terms to civilian. I think the second one is to is also not knowing the, you know, the jobs that are out there for, you know, military veterans.

Rachel Simon: Yeah, I think that transferable skills is a really important topic to talk about. So, you know, how can people who are leaving military service kind of think about transferring their skills into, you know, more of a civilian role?

Lacy Turner: Yeah. So I think one of the things that our program has really identified is really a gap from the information and the military to the civilians. So we really work hard with our service members to really figure out one, what are they looking for? What is their experience and what are they looking to do long term? So for instance, they’ve done logistics in the military for 20 years. Are they lean Six Sigma certified? You know, do they have the civilian qualifications. And we really work with them to provide them with a lot of free training opportunities to really make sure that they have their skills, and then they can apply for jobs for which they’re qualified.

Patrick Rivers: And Lacy brought up a good point. Rachel, you know, we’re we have a lot of certifications in the military, you know, Air Assault School, Pathfinder, sniper and all those, you know, courses that you need to be that that soldier in the Army. Um, but you literally find out later on as you’re transitioning or afterwards that there’s certain civilian certifications that you need, like your PMP or your Sherm, you know, but, uh, sadly, we find out too late.

Rachel Simon: Are those things that if you had known when you were still in service that you could have gotten then or not necessarily. Yes, ma’am. Okay. So it’s also educating current service members on as you’re thinking about leaving the military. Here are some things that may help you in that transition.

Lacy Turner: Right. Like for instance, a lot of human resources, um, service members want to go and find air jobs, and when they go apply for them, they don’t necessarily have the civilian certification. So we have worked with society for Human Resource Management here in Georgia to help bridge that gap and get them their certifications that they need, usually using credentialing assistance. So then they can get their SHRM certification and then apply for jobs and become employable in the civilian workforce.

Rachel Simon: Oh that’s great. That’s great. It seems like there’s real opportunity for again, people from sort of depending on even if they’re thinking about leaving military service within the next 3 to 5 years being how do they prepare for that transition right now?

Lee Kantor: Um, can you educate the listener who didn’t go through the military, like, what’s it like when that day happens where you’re like, okay, now I’m a civilian because I don’t think the civilian side understands that. That transition is pretty abrupt, right? There isn’t a oh, here. Now we’re going to offboard you and onboard you into the civilian world. It’s kind of like, see you later. Bye. Right. Like that. You’re now on your own. And and these kind of services aren’t, like, obvious to you unless you start seeking them out.

Patrick Rivers: I think the military does a good job with, you know, preparing, helping you prepare for the civilian life, as far as you know, attempting to, you know, go to job fairs and do the homework to try to try to get those, you know, uh, knowledge from when you get out, you know, to obtain employment. I think it’s really up to the individual, you know, to put in the legwork, you know, to use the, you know, the resources that the military gives. Like, uh, I retired from Fort Moore and Fort Moore, Georgia. Uh, every Army, um, unit has or installation has SFL tap. It’s a transitioning program, right. And you’re actually allowed to start, you know, um, going to those job fairs for SFL type probably a year out. There’s also a program called the CSP that you can do internships and what have you. So that will prepare you to get out. So like I said earlier, I think it’s based off of that that individuals, you know, legwork whether or not they’re, you know, right afterwards.

Lee Kantor: And that aligns with the mindset of somebody in the military, right? They are proactive. They’re um, take personal accountability and things like that. There’s but like this program, you weren’t aware of this program until you found it on your own, right? It wasn’t obvious, right? And that’s kind of the challenge, right? You want to give the military veteran that bridge to an easier path without having to, you know, do some of that legwork.

Lacy Turner: Well, and we work to with the transition assistance programs and a lot of veteran service organizations throughout the state to really educate our population in Georgia of the opportunities that we have. So a service member, for instance, is looking to retire from active duty or complete their guard service six months out. So we try to really be proactive, get in front of them, attend a lot of different briefings, then say, hey, John Smith, you’re looking for a position. You know, let’s go ahead and start the the intake process. Let’s review your resume. Let’s see what you’re interested in. For instance, you might have been managing somebody for 20 years. Or do you still want to manage somebody or do you want a position where you clock in and clock out? So we really look at the service member, figure out what they’re looking for long term, their qualifications all in an intake process. Then we begin. Like Patrick mentioned, the resume review process. And we say, okay, do you still if you’re living in Savannah, do you want to stay in Savannah? Do you want to relocate to North Georgia? Really? What are you looking for? Your salary. You know, we do a variety of different intake questions to really get a pulse on exactly what the service member wants. So when that day comes and they’re separated from the military, then we can go in and say, hey, let’s complete the resume, get you your interview training, see if there are any Skillbridge program you can go into, and really set them up for success.

Lee Kantor: Now, are they taking advantage of it? Like what percent of the people are kind of leaning into all of these programs that are available, and what percent are just like, well, that was my last day, so now I got to figure this out.

Lacy Turner: So I think it varies on the person. I don’t have an exact percent, but I would say we have an active caseload, a very robust active caseload of service members and family members and veterans throughout the state who are constantly looking for employment. And that could be looking for employment, as employment is and they got laid off yesterday, or they’re coming up on retirement in the next three months. And they want to go ahead and start the conversation right now. So it really just depends.

Patrick Rivers: And I think what makes our program so good, Rachel, is that, you know, we have seven coordinators across the state of Georgia. So as opposed to a program that’s a national program, right. That you’re not very personable with that that candidate, we have that advantage. Like right now I have 46 active candidates that I communicate with, you know, on a daily basis, you know, to make sure the resume is good, to coach them in interviews and what have you. So we have coordinators in Augusta. We have coordinators in Savannah, uh, northwest, northeast, Atlanta, southwest, and uh, you know, so we’re able to get in there in the trenches and actually help these candidates personally.

Lacy Turner: Yeah, I like that you brought that up, Patrick, because I think it’s crucial to know that if a service member is looking for a position in Savannah, we’re going to connect them with the Savannah employment coordinator versus Atlanta, because that Savannah employment coordinator knows what’s going on within their map of within their. Districts of Georgia, and they have the pulse on the technical colleges, the training programs, the employers, the different economic climate of that area and really can understand what is a good path to walk down. And really one that’s kind of like a tried and true, you know, we’ve tried this hasn’t really worked. So let’s hang out down this one.

Rachel Simon: Yeah. That’s. Oh go ahead.

Lee Kantor: Do you work with the employer to help educate them on how to best leverage this opportunity with this potentially great employee? Because I think it has to work from both sides.

Lacy Turner: Absolutely right. It does. Do you want to talk about that, Patrick.

Patrick Rivers: Oh, yes. Lacy. So like with me right now I have I want to say 60 active, you know, employer partners and a preliminary thing is to, you know, go and, you know, do a face to face. Just last week I visited an employer partner, just we met on LinkedIn and he invited me for a tour. I think it was cross link. And, you know, we talk about our program. We talk about, you know, how we can best serve that candidate, you know, from work for Warriors Georgia with the employer your partner and we pretty much, you know, try to get to know what are their requisites for us, you know, to try to get that candidate in front of them.

Lee Kantor: Right? Because you want to do a good match so that it’s a win win for both sides where the the veteran has a place that’s going to embrace them and kind of help them speak the language that they need to speak. And the employer gets a motivated person that kind of has the right mindset to help them.

Lacy Turner: Right. I’m really glad you touched on that, because there are a lot of times I think with my team, I joke with them because they get so much into the weeds of businesses, so they go, they like to do site visits and really learn what the employer is looking at. For instance, if you if your shift or your time to report is 8 a.m. and you have kids that you have to get off the bus or put on the bus or whatever the case is, drop them off at school, then you know the clock starts backwards. So to be able to make sure you’re being a good employee, you know, we need to learn what are do you have a three kind of items, you know, that are non-negotiables within 90 days or, you know, is the parking garage a very far distance from the location that you report to? What is what are the benefits? What is the progression of moving on up and maybe obtaining another position with the employer? So really we do work with the employer. We learn exactly what they’re looking for.

Lacy Turner: The candidates are looking for the non-negotiables. For instance like if they have three strikes and 90 days, you know, so we can best equip our candidates and say, hey, you know, if this company really practices starting right on time because it’s a shift at 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.. So you need to make sure you know your life is squared away from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., so you can really be the best employee there, too. And we really do educate. We have a lot of different opportunities where we bring employers in to our units and actually can talk to our service members one on one. Or for instance, we’ve even taken a couple different employers out to the southwest border with us and talked with them and showed them done resume classes and employer briefings with some of our service members so they can get a head start and really kind of learn what it’s like to one be a soldier and then two, how the soldier can then learn about the company so they can apply for positions there as well. Yeah.

Rachel Simon: I mean, it sounds like such a truly comprehensive, uh, group of programs, both on, on both sides of, of that relationship. Right. So a question I had, you know, you had mentioned HR and like sort of transitioning from HR services in the military into the civilian world. Are there any other industries that are pretty like hot in your area where a lot of people are moving from their military service?

Lacy Turner: Yeah, I would say it. How about you?

Patrick Rivers: It for me in metro Atlanta, cyber security. And I would say also logistics.

Lacy Turner: Yeah I would say I would agree with that too, as well as general manufacturing different things like that as well.

Rachel Simon: Is there any industries that are a little bit of a surprise that could be a, you know, good fits?

Patrick Rivers: I had a candidate a couple months ago that threw me off. He was a UGA graduate and he had a biological engineering degree, and for me, I was new to the work for Warriors Georgia. And I was like, man, how do I get this guy hired? I looked into it, sent his resume to Emory, and he got hired a month later, and they saw his resume and they were like, whoa, we’ve never seen anything like this before. It was just, you know, and he was hired within two weeks.

Lacy Turner: And I think that’s really a good point, too, because Cho, for instance, people would be like, oh, it’s just healthcare, it’s just nurses or it’s just medical staff, but really, like they need security or, you know, um, marketing personnel. So really, when we’re educating our service members on different opportunities, we really have to look at the position that you’re looking for and then look at the company for what you’re interested in, because, I mean, you think of I think sometimes the mind defaults to, oh, it’s just healthcare. But healthcare can be so vast and the variety of different Um, positions that they offer. So really, we have to make sure our candidates are taking a good 360 perspective.

Rachel Simon: Well, right. And today, every company is a tech company, right? Right. Every company has a financial services department. Security services, security marketing. I mean, so there is just because it serves this group doesn’t mean there aren’t all these other opportunities internally.

Patrick Rivers: And since we’re talking to, you know, transitioning members and, you know, National Guard, you know, soldiers, I usually break it down to them in a military way, like you said, Rachel and Lacy, you know, like the Army, they have their functions, you have your HR, you have your, you know, your S2 security, you have your S3 operations, S4 logistics. So I put it in that language. It’s like, oh, okay. Well I’ll submit this application for this, this, this this company. They get it afterwards.

Rachel Simon: Do you have any of your candidates that are looking to start their own businesses?

Patrick Rivers: Yes, we do have candidates that are looking to be entrepreneurs.

Lacy Turner: And we refer them to like the SBDC, Small Business Development Center, um, small Business Administration, different groups like that to best assist them. Yeah. So.

Rachel Simon: Um, right. I mean, and we were talking prior to the show, there’s so many veteran organizations to collaborate with in Atlanta. I think that we’re pretty lucky here, and I don’t know if it’s like that. I mean, obviously you’re serving the whole state of Georgia, but specifically here in Atlanta, there’s a lot of different groups to kind of partner and take advantage of.

Lacy Turner: Right. And I think that’s one of the best things is that we’re all here to help the service member. At the end of the day, while we all have our own priorities. The end game is to help our service members find meaningful employment and a purpose that is outside the military.

Patrick Rivers: And I think, Rachel, you know, with my job, I think I like it so much because of I didn’t have that advantage of having to communicate with employers or, you know, having someone to mediate for me when I was applying for jobs. Um, with me, I have that I can talk to my employer or partners and say, hey, you know, this application was submitted two weeks ago. What’s the status? Um, I may have some employers that may take 2 or 3 weeks to answer. I may have some that may answer in two hours, but I will have an answer for that candidate to see. That way, they know where they’re at as far as employment. Hey, you didn’t make the cut, man or two. Hey, you’re currently your application or resume is in front of a hiring manager. You should get a call back today. Um, so that’s usually how it works with me, I love that.

Rachel Simon: So you shared your success story about your one candidate who was hired at Koa. Do you have any other stories that you are really proud of?

Lacy Turner: Yeah, I think we have a great story of the service member who’s in the Army Reserves, because, remember, we help. Even though we’re in the guard, we help all branches, all services and family members. So he was here, and then he moved out to the West Coast and then he relocated back during Covid. Was looking for positions applied. I’m not even kidding. You like probably 400 positions. We were working with them. We were working on interview skills. We were referring him being like, we we just kept hitting walls every time we would refer him to somebody or he would interview, and it’s like he kind of made the cut, but not specifically. And then one day we referred him for another position. I think he had like 4 or 5 interviews, and then it ended up getting like an $80,000 position with this great company that we work closely with. And it was just it was so successful and so exciting because we could hear the excitement in his voice, not just, of course, getting an $80,000 a year job, but just the sheer fact of I’ve tried. I’ve applied online, I’ve interviewed, I haven’t been successful. And now finally, I got the break and I got a great break that I’ve been looking for. So just things like that. And then the fact that they want to go in and they’re just so excited that they can now support their family and they can contribute to society and just really utilize their skills. It’s those moments like that where, in my opinion, Patrick, you might say something else, but when a service member is just like, thank you so much for helping me get a position that I enjoy. I like the company. You know, it checks all the boxes. It really brings satisfaction to our.

Rachel Simon: Our jobs. I mean, I can’t imagine why any employer wouldn’t want to be hiring veterans. Out of the military, based on just all of the traits that somebody has when they have dedicated. You know, many years to to service. So it’s one thing that I always suggest to anybody. Anyone that I’m working with on LinkedIn, if you if they served in the military, that needs to be front and center in their LinkedIn profile. Because I think it’s instant credibility.

Patrick Rivers: And, Rachel, you know, a part of my job as well. You know, I’m a big believer I was a former senior leader in Army. And, uh, my thing is, just because you wore the uniform doesn’t make you qualified. That’s just me as a former senior leader. So my job also is to vet those candidates. So I’m not sending someone unqualified in front of that employer partner, you know, because we’re talking about the company’s image and our image as well.

Rachel Simon: Yeah. Well, obviously. Yes. You want to have the right the right person and the right right in the right role. Um, you know, tell us a little bit more about like, advice you would give to employers as far as you know, why they should be looking to hire veterans, how they can and then how you can potentially help them to connect them with the right people.

Patrick Rivers: Well, Rachel, you know, again, coming from the Army, you know, I don’t know if you’ve heard the saying that we do more than anybody else by 8:00 in the morning. Right. We get up at 430 to get ready to go to physical training. You have to go to accountability formation before the formation to get accounted for. And then you have physical training. Then you go into the workday. I would say to any employer that wants to partner with work for Warriors Georgia, it’s like, you know, to hire a veteran or a Guardsman, anyone in the military, it’s a it’s a win win. You know, you’re going to get someone that’s going to give you 100%. You’re going to give someone that’s motivated, passionate, you’re going to have someone that’s really, you know, certified, you know, maybe not on paper, but just as a, you know, former soldier or Soldier or veteran that can do a lot more than the normal civilian or person.

Rachel Simon: So tell us a little bit from both sides, from both the, you know, the the individual who is looking for employment, but also for the employer, like what’s the best way to get started with your organization?

Lacy Turner: So I think the best way for a job seeker and employer, but a job seeker will start out with that is to go on our website at Workforce Warriors. Org backslash register, click the register button and then upload some information like Lacy Turner where they live in the state, and a variety like a resume, different things like that. And then once they hit submit, then it’ll be sent automatically routed to the employment coordinator that services their county, and then the service member should reach out to them within 48 hours and connect with them and start the intake process and really start the job search process. And then for employers, the same thing, they can go to our website at work for Warriors GAA and click the employer link and then register. And again their information will go straight to the Employment coordinator of where they are located. If they have a variety of different positions throughout the state. A couple of my employment coordinators will be reaching out to best serve them and go from there.

Rachel Simon: And it’s any size employer.

Lacy Turner: Yeah, any size employer, small or large. And we help all branches, all services, any rank as well as well as spouses.

Lee Kantor: Now you mentioned work for Warriors Georgia. Is there work for warriors around the country or is this just a Georgia centric organization?

Patrick Rivers: There are 16 work for warriors. And that’s why, like you said, you know, we’re respective to Georgia. We’re for warriors. Georgia. So there’s 15 others across the United States, I want to say as far north as Ohio and as far west as California.

Lacy Turner: So actually a comprehensive list is Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington. They Washington. They might not all necessarily name their program as work for warriors, but they all work with us and all part of the same idea and coalition as us. So and you can actually go on our website and see the variety of different states.

Rachel Simon: And is that from like under a national umbrella or are there.

Lacy Turner: All we all receive funding from the office of Secretary of Defense.

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

Lacy Turner: I think we want to make sure that our, your viewers actually are aware of our program and how to register on there. And if any employers are looking to fill some vacancies, reach out to us as well. Patrick, do you have any other suggestions other than that?

Patrick Rivers: Lacy, you cover that? Also, I think LinkedIn is a great tool, you know, for, you know, trying to, of course, networking. Um, you know, I’ve reposted jobs on LinkedIn from, you know, Non-employer partners. And then about probably a day later, hey, what is this program about? And we’ll talk about it then to become an actual, you know, employer partner. So partners. They become very interested in the program because I’ve actually had two candidates that were hired by someone that was not an employer partner based off of me reposting that for their job needs.

Lacy Turner: Yeah. And another thing too is we always like to work with our employers. For instance, bring them to yellow ribbon events when our soldiers are either coming back from deployment or going to deployment so they can kind of it’s like a mini job fair. Also, we, um, Patrick has done and a couple of my other employment coordinators have done some really great one on one, um, events with employers, for instance, where they might have like a mini job fair, for instance, we did it with Kia where they told us about some open positions. We sourced our candidates and helped them, helped our candidates tailor their resumes, and really did a lot of interview prep. We they brought Kia, brought the service members in for interviews and really got to know them and had a tour of the facility and then ended up actually hiring some candidates off of that job fair. So really like there’s a variety of different ways that we could work with our employers.

Patrick Rivers: We also had a phenomenal event that we did. I want to say it was last year in May at the Porsche Experience Center. Uh, we brought in like 5 or 6, uh, employer partners, and we had a couple candidates that were actually hired, uh, from that event.

Rachel Simon: Well, what about anything coming up this year? Is that wise.

Patrick Rivers: Respective to me? I have one next month, uh, with, uh, Napa. Uh, we’re doing an open house at their facility. Uh, you know, same thing that Lacy said we’re going to vet, you know, source our candidates, we’re going to vet, you know, resumes. And then that resume vetting is going to be the their ticket into that, uh, into that event. We also have the, uh, the civic leader flight in April, which, if you’re not familiar with that, Rachel Lee, uh, we’re going to invite, you know, uh, elected officials, our leaders across the metro Atlanta area or Georgia. Uh, we’re going to meet at, uh, Dobbins Air Reserve Base, uh, hangar five, uh, Clay National Guard Center. So we’re potentially going to have a, uh, employer panel. We’re going to have, uh, two big companies, you know, have that panel. We’re going to feed you, and then we’re going to give you a little safety training on how to board a Army military Blackhawk. Then we’ll throw you in that Blackhawk, and you’re going to tour around the metro Atlanta area. We did one in April. We had over 100 attendees, and we flew over Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Truist Park. We we saw the Atlanta skyline flew over Buckhead and then Marietta. So it’s a pretty cool event.

Rachel Simon: That is awesome. It is a really cool event.

Lacy Turner: And I think the best thing is we get to bring employers that might not necessarily have military experience in and show them what it’s like to a life in the day of a military service member, and then show them exactly how we’ve worked with different employers to really help our service members and our veteran population obtain employment.

Rachel Simon: That sounds like such a fun event.

Lacy Turner: Yeah.

Patrick Rivers: It is. And then we have another one that’s not really respective to us, but we’re actually helping with the initiative. So this past September, it was the military influencer conference that was held here in metro Atlanta. It was actually the first time they did it here in Atlanta. And now they’re going to come back in September again to do another one. So we were chosen or we were just, you know, to help spearhead the the job fair portion of that military infrastructure conference you’re going to have. I think Jon Stewart was the actual keynote speaker at this last one. So we’re going to have probably 40 to 40 to 50 employers come through. And, you know, job fair style. Uh, I think it’s 3 to 4 days at that event. We’re going to have a keynote speakers, a comedy night, and also a gala, you know, with awards for that event. And you have a lot of big name folks from the military and the civilian sector that actually, you know, participate.

Rachel Simon: Sounds like an exciting year ahead for for everybody.

Lee Kantor: Now, uh, Rachel, we always do a LinkedIn tip. You mentioned a little bit, if you were a veteran, to kind of the best way to leverage that, those kind of skills and maybe translate some of the leadership that you were doing as a veteran to the civilian. Uh.

Rachel Simon: Yeah, definitely. So I would definitely recommend to include military service in your experience section. Um, and particularly because I because I have had clients who have gone up the ranks when they were serving, making sure to include all of those different roles. Right. If you were continuously being promoted, um, thinking about the skills that you utilized and again, putting those in your skills section, and I really encourage in your headline listing that you were a veteran because, again, you can put your, uh, you know, where you served. If it was Army, Navy, Marines, whatever the case may be, or just say proud veteran or however you want to put it, but putting it in your headline, I think because when you go to connect with other people who served in the military, as soon as they see that, you’re instantly vetted, right?

Patrick Rivers: Yes, ma’am.

Patrick Rivers: Um, to add to Rachel’s point to is like, you know, uh, with with the resume, a lot of these resumes are being looked at by, let’s be real, you know, I. Right, right. And again, the benefit that we have here for Warriors Georgia is I’m able to actually send that resume to a actual hiring manager. Recruiter. I had a, uh, an issue one time with a candidate that, you know, she was told to apply for this job based off of that that company. Right. What they needed, she applied for it and within five minutes received a rejection letter. So I intervened. I got Ahold of that point of contact and she was like, wait, hold on. So I sent her the resume and then she was she got an interview.

Lee Kantor: Right. Because if you don’t know the keywords or the magic words that the algorithm is going to look for, then you can be put in the wrong pile. But if you know a human being, that’s an edge.

Lacy Turner: And I think that so many, um, you know, there are so many tools out there that help you with your resume. And every employer seems to want something a smidge different, whether it’s the layout or the skill section up top or the education up top, whatever it is. So really, by learning exactly what the employers are looking at and really getting kind of an advantage, I think has really helped our team be the best version of themselves.

Rachel Simon: Well, there is. You shared, you know, sort of the more the kind of phrase that more things get done before 8 a.m., you know, in the military. I think the other thing related to what you’re doing is that it isn’t always what you know. It’s who you know, right? When you’re looking for a job. And so you’re really serving such an important role as being that who you know, so that your candidates are not being rejected from a by eye scanners because their resume doesn’t match. Exactly. Like by being able to say, whoa, whoa, whoa, check this person out.

Lee Kantor: Because relationships are important and the impact you’re making is real. I mean, you’re affecting people’s lives every day, right?.

Lacy Turner: Yeah. I mean, our program, actually, on the guard side really is more of a holistic because we can help a service member get a job, but. And they can show up at 8 a.m., but if they have financial issues or transportation issues or need VA benefits, then it’s getting them. The job isn’t really going to help their overall picture. So really we focus in on our guard soldiers because we have a touch point with them and actually focusing on their well-being. So we can actually drill in and see, for instance, who needs VA benefits or education benefits, or maybe some other types of counseling that we can help. And then by utilizing that approach on the holistic side of things, we can really go in and help the service member be the best version of themselves and really get a job where they’re successful at. And the employer says, oh my gosh, thank you so much. Like, you’ve helped reduce my turnover, my, my cost to hire a new trainee and keep them on board. This service member is really working out for us. I really thank you and appreciate that.

Lee Kantor: And the website one more time for people who want to connect work for warriors.

Lacy Turner: Georg.

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

Lacy Turner: Thank you.

Patrick Rivers: Thank you, Rachel.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor for Rachel Simon. We’ll see you all next time on Sandy Springs Business Radio.

 

About Your Host

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

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

Connect-the-Dots-Digital-logov2

Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn.

Trust and Technology: How to Foster Collaboration in the Construction Industry

January 16, 2025 by angishields

WIM-VALConstultants-Feature
Women in Motion
Trust and Technology: How to Foster Collaboration in the Construction Industry
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

In this episode of Women in Motion, Lee Kantor interviews Valerie Crafton, founder of VALConsultants. Valerie discusses her consultancy’s mission to address inefficiencies in the construction industry by focusing on root causes rather than quick fixes. She highlights the importance of proactive problem-solving, organized data, and a culture of trust and continuous improvement. Valerie also explores the impact of AI on the industry, emphasizing that high-quality data is crucial for effective AI integration. The episode provides valuable insights for organizations aiming to navigate the complexities of project management and technology adoption.

VALConsultants-logo

Valerie-CraftonValerie Crafton is a seasoned consultant and project controls expert with over 20 years of experience in the construction and high-tech sectors. As the founder and CEO of VALConsultants (VALC), Valerie combines technical expertise, strategic insight, and a forward-thinking approach to lead every project.

Her career includes dirt to delivery experience through working on both sides from General Contractor to Owner side, where she represented Tech Giants such as Microsoft, Intel, and Google, where she managed large-scale construction projects valued between $300 million and $18 billion, spanning data centers, semiconductor facilities, and other complex infrastructures.

Valerie’s journey is built on a solid educational foundation. She holds an MBA in Project Management with a focus on Data Analytics and has completed advanced studies in AI for Business Applications at MIT, equipping her to integrate modern technology with traditional project controls. Additionally, she has a B.S. in Industrial Technology and holds certifications in LEED, AI, and Six Sigma Lean Greenbelt, underscoring her dedication to efficiency and continuous improvement.

A committed advocate for STEM and diversity, Valerie actively supports community outreach and mentors emerging talent. Her involvement with organizations like NAWBO, WBENC, and WiMCO empowers women and underrepresented groups in construction and tech. Through her children’s book series, That Construction Worker is My Mom, Valerie inspires young minds to pursue STEM careers, challenging industry stereotypes.

Valerie’s passion for innovation, combined with her dedication to empowering others, drives VALConsultants’ mission to set new standards in project controls and make a lasting impact on the industry.

Follow VALConsultants on LinkedIn.

Music Provided by M PATH MUSIC

Transcript-iconThis 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 Valerie Crafton with VALC Consultants. Welcome.

Valerie Crafton: Hi. Thanks so much for having me.

Lee Kantor: I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about VALC Consultants.

Valerie Crafton: Well, VALC Consultants was really born out of my experience of navigating inefficiencies in large scale projects, and the frustration of seeing some mistakes repeated due to siloed data and a resistance to overall change. And when I saw this critical gap in the industry, it was really driven by a lack of real time visibility. People were bringing technology in, but they were trying to make the technology fit something. They didn’t fit the problem, rather than understanding their problem’s root causes and then finding a tailored solution to fit that.

Valerie Crafton: And there really was more of a reactive approach rather than a proactive approach in managing projects, so my goal was to really create a consultancy that not only solves those problems, but empowers businesses to adopt innovative methods and thrive in a rapidly evolving environment.

Lee Kantor: Now, at first, were you working for another firm and then you decided to go off on your own or were you always kind of on your own?

Valerie Crafton: Yes. So, I have spent about half of my career in the field building and working in construction. So, I bring that dirt to delivery experience, and I recruit and bring team members on with similar experience, because I really believe that that helps us fast forward our clients to their future state. But, yeah, we spent half of our time in the field on general contractor side, eventually ending up on the owner’s side, representing owners working directly for Google, Microsoft, Intel, for example, and really starting to see the picture from both sides of the fence. And that really helped me develop what I knew was going to be needed as an improved consultancy.

Lee Kantor: And then, your focus is in the construction industry?

Valerie Crafton: Yeah, all construction and high tech, representing owners, contractors in creating project controls, lean project controls – I should say – preparing them to get their data organized so they can take on AI as an integration to their business, and then ultimately providing project control resources as well like cost managers and risk managers.

Lee Kantor: Now, you mentioned some mistakes that folks make or maybe some challenges they have when they implement large tech solutions, I guess they’re they’re buying something that maybe they don’t really understand how to holistically integrate it into their organization and you help them in that area as well.

Valerie Crafton: So, I usually start off with doing a forensic study that allows me to understand their pain point at a deeper level. For example, I have a story about technology that was actually brought in, and they were claiming that through this technology they were able to get visibility to red flags, that their schedule was behind, and that they could give them enough time to recoup that schedule. Well, my question really is why were you behind on the schedule in the first place that got you into that situation? So, we’re not really thinking about our root causes, we’re thinking about just basically Band-Aids that fix broken bones and that isn’t going to support long term adoption of technology.

Lee Kantor: Now, is that pretty common that people are just kind of putting out fires or triaging whatever is the thing that’s happening right at the moment, rather than kind of going a few layers deep to see what is causing these things to happen in the first place?

Valerie Crafton: Shockingly, I mean, really, it shocks me sometimes because I’m always surrounded by some of the smartest people in the world. But for some reason, you’ll have an entire team who doesn’t really see the root cause to the problem. It’s right there in front of their faces. They’ll even have identified it in, like, risk logs and so forth, but they don’t see it as a risk as an actual root cause to their pain points.

Valerie Crafton: So, what happens is, is they get to an end and then they find, they’re like, “Oh. The schedule is the problem.” I’m like, “No. The schedule is the — to your problem. Let’s talk about what was the problem.” “Oh.” “Well, let’s go back to the beginning. Well, look here, you identified very early on that you had a contractor who had never built your type of project before, never worked in that market. And they were doing design build. They were supposed to have had, you know, so many percentage of procured contracts completed.” And that’s where it really began within those first few months. And the fact that the entire team couldn’t even see that, and there was no real risk program set up that allowed them to escalate risk in a way to get in front of it. You fast forward, they were two years late.

Valerie Crafton: So, it’s interesting that when we get to end of the projects, what I’ve observed is they they will sit there, they’ll document it in a lessons learned, but it will die on the desktop or it will die in that project share folder. But nothing gets cycled back to the beginning so that we can implement it. No, we just keep moving forward to the next emergency. We don’t actually stop and pause and think about what we’ve learned and how can we make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

Lee Kantor: It sounds like one domino falls that triggers, you know, a hundred other dominoes, and they’re just looking at the last domino, and they don’t want to understand what caused the the first one to fall.

Valerie Crafton: Sometimes a lot of – I don’t want to call them excuses but reasons, and people genuinely believe it’s because I’m resource constrained. I’m too busy. I have teams who are green and have skill gaps. And that’s what I do, is I come in and let’s talk about what you think your pain points are.

Valerie Crafton: And I don’t think and from my discovery, it’s not typically about the people. It ends up being more about the fact that there’s misalignment between the cross-functional teams, or they’ve grown so fast as a business that what worked when the teams were very small and everybody communicated and knew what to do, and then suddenly fast forward, 5, 10, 15, 20 years and you’ve grown so fast and no one really spent the time to actually document and say, “Okay. Here is our best in class standard operating procedures.” They forget governance along the way, and there’s no continuous improvement built into the fabric of the culture or those processes.

Lee Kantor: Now, if an organization lacks that kind of self-awareness to kind of go back and examine these things, what are the symptoms that they’re having that motivate them to contact you and your team? Because it seems like that what you’re doing is trying to get to the heart of the things, and they may not have the self-awareness to see it themselves, so what would inspire them to contact you?

Valerie Crafton: Likely you’re starting to see resource turnover. You’re starting to see a loss of market share. If you can’t stand there and say why, why I’m losing money, why I’m not meeting schedules, and really get to be able to identify a root cause to that, and you’re repeating the same mistakes over and over and over, those are a lot of the symptoms.

Lee Kantor: So, when the leadership team is hearing kind of the same excuses over and over, that’s a signal that, hey, maybe we we need some fresh eyes on this, and let’s call VALC Consultants.

Valerie Crafton: That’s right, call VALC. Because when I come in, I’m looking at more than just the pain point itself. I will look upstream and downstream end to end, because at the end of the day, it goes back to a connection of handshakes. I like to say that I no longer build projects. I build bridges between silos.

Valerie Crafton: And so, a lot of times it’s because we don’t have all of the right people a part of the conversation upstream. And the folks downstream are impacted, and so the folks downstream have these pain points of things that are that are happening. And, again, it’s just processes and goals that work against each other inside the corporation.

Valerie Crafton: Also, building a culture where it’s okay. Rather than beat your people up, but celebrate that you’re willing to share your lesson and and teach it to others. Because I’ve watched it a dozen times where, you know, people are afraid, they won’t even put their name next to the lessons learned because they’re afraid of the backlash. They don’t want to share that. But it’s not just lessons learned, but it’s opportunities to improve. It’s an opportunity to improve, but it’s not just negative things, it’s positive things. So, if you don’t even have the negative stuff tracked, what about the good things that are happening on one site or one project that could be easily shared?

Valerie Crafton: So, if you’re implementing the right thing and you’ve got the right handshake approach in, and it’s set up with a correct escalation, and it allows you to instantaneously share with other teams and other projects anywhere in the world, that is when you start seeing real difference. I mean, if you think about your portfolio and having something like this and put in place and we only impact less than one percent, I promise you that’s in the millions of dollars.

Valerie Crafton: And I’ve done this type of analysis before and actually hold a green belt record on cost savings where just impacting one percent of a major corporation save them $1.623 billion that year. So, I know it ended up being more, but it can be a huge to the bottom line, not to mention the fact that you are now recouping lost opportunity that you weren’t tracking before, and that could be market share.

Lee Kantor: Now, it seems when you say this handshake approach where we’re just two adults having a conversation, and I’m sharing and I’m being vulnerable, and, hey, this didn’t work out, and I want everybody to know it and we can all learn from it, that sounds good in a conversation. But when it’s human beings and it’s their jobs on the line, like you mentioned the word culture earlier, if you don’t have a culture of trust and that it’s okay to take risks and make mistakes and share and learn, you’re going to have a difficult time I would imagine implementing something like this, because this requires trust and vulnerability, and not everybody signs up for that.

Valerie Crafton: It really does require that it comes from the top down. Really driven by the leadership and pushing it all the way down to the bottom, because otherwise it doesn’t get adopted. It takes time to get it a part of the fabric. But I’ve found that when I brought all the teams in to make them a part of the conversation, I ensured the handshake approach is implemented not just between human to human project to project stage gate to stage gate, but also between human and technology and technology. The technology, you know those. That’s where, you know, most consultants will stop short of just looking at, okay, here’s a solution for you. But I’m like, no, I want a solution that will impact your entire business and bring them together as one unit, not something that just is a quick fix. And it feels good for today.

Lee Kantor: Now, when you’re talking to leaders, um, do they have that kind of long term view? I know a lot of them give lip service to it, but a lot of folks just want that quick fix and get it off my plate and and move on. Like, I know it’s hard to find those best fit clients, but I’m sure they’re out there. But it’s not everybody, is it?

Valerie Crafton: It’s not. I mean, people have to be prepared for this. They have to have a growth mindset. You have to be willing to forward think, um, change is hard. It’s hard for a lot of folks. But at the end of the day, what I’ve discovered is everybody wants to change, but you just got to bring them in to the conversation because everyone’s perspective actually does matter. Um, they’re going to be standing and and because the reason why you bring someone from the outside in is because if you try to do it inside, there’s a lot of unconscious bias that gets applied, right? You want your you want to make sure your department’s taken care of at the end of the day. And I don’t think it’s intentional. It’s unconscious. Um, you want someone who’s, like you said, it’s fresh eyes, someone who’s actually walked in their shoes, knows where they’ve been and knows where they want to go. Um, and so that way we can easily connect the dots. You don’t have to spend a lot of time explaining to me what your job is, because I’ve been there and done that. I have experienced these same pain points. Now let’s talk about how this pain point is working in your department. So it’s it’s hard to implement, but we’re really, really good about it. We get we create a lot of excitement. And at the end of the day everybody wants to change. And adoption is at levels. By the time we’re done with our forensic studies, usually everybody is bought in, I would say at least 95% of them.

Lee Kantor: And then, um, what trends are you seeing? Um, you know, we’re talking all the time about AI. Um, how has that impacted the construction industry and how do you help your clients kind of get ready for this chaotic future that is rapidly approaching, if not already here? In a lot of cases?

Valerie Crafton: Yeah, it is definitely already here, and it’s been here for 200 years, which is really interesting. But we’ve been it’s just become very popular. And the thing that most people are concerned about is it replacing their jobs. Well, one of our biggest risks in the, in the industry is the fact that we don’t have enough skilled labor and humans are not going to be eliminated. We actually need the combination of AI and human to actually make it all work. Um, and where where my consulting firm comes in and helps them get ready for that. It’s really about, um, organizing your data in a way so that when you feed the machine, which we call machine learning, when you’re feeding that machine and it’s learning from the data, it’s not learning the wrong stuff. Right. And what happens is, is then AI spits out the report that gives you a false sense of security. You want to make sure that your data is organized in a way that is actually going to give you actionable insights that it’s really allows you to have a foundational approach and end up enabling you to make smarter business decisions, right. That’s going to improve your project outcome. It’s going to allow you to create repeatability long term.

Valerie Crafton: And I is so great at taking a lot of data. And humans aren’t great at that, taking a lot of data and actually analyzing it and spitting out information where the human comes in. And that is we need people who are used to looking at that data to understand that, hey, there is an outlier in this data. We should probably remove that and make sure we categorize our data and clean it up so that only the quality data is ending up in the results. So whether you know the financial field and medical fields are way, way ahead of the curve on this and they are just light years ahead of us. But the construction field that it is such a great way to understand your data, understand where your what your um where to focus your resources when you are already thin on resources. It’s a great way to set up a continuous learning. When you have folks, you need to upskill very quickly, right? So it has so many opportunities that allow you to do more with less. It is not taking away your job because we still need the human element to it.

Lee Kantor: But it does require you to upskill in some areas, right? Like it’s difficult for you to just show up the way you are and then leverage this technology.

Yes. Yeah, you.

Valerie Crafton: Definitely do need. And that’s what’s nice about it is it does create jobs too, at the same time. Right. Just like when social media came on board, you suddenly had to have a social media manager. It’s kind of like that.

Lee Kantor: Right? So I’m not saying that this is it requires some earth shattering, you know, skill set, but it requires some new skills. Or maybe some people that weren’t doing this kind of work now are the perfect people to be doing this kind of work because their skills map to what’s needed.

Valerie Crafton: Absolutely. There’s a ton of transferable skill there. And like I said, it’s about the people who can who’s used to reviewing that data, being able to see you read between the lines. Right. And so we can’t we can’t just take it for face value. We need to make sure that the results that we’re looking at are real, actionable results. And and the folks who used to do all of this manually, we still need them to evaluate it to make sure it’s spitting out accurate information.

Right?

Lee Kantor: I think people get kind of mesmerized at the speed in which it can find patterns, or it can find anomalies and it can find things. But if you don’t have good data to begin with, all of that’s kind of meaningless.

Valerie Crafton: Absolutely meaningless. So that is where you get, um, oh, what do they call it? Uh, trying to think of the.

Oh, the the.

Lee Kantor: Hallucinations.

Right. Yeah.

Valerie Crafton: You get the hallucination Data where, um, what’s what’s really interesting is I was built on a lot of news reports. So when you ask it to, um, evaluate a news report, it does a really great job. But something more simple, like a recipe, it actually does a terrible job because there’s not very much data it was trained on to understand recipes. So it just goes back to how we code it, how we train it, and the information that we’re feeding it will. And the more it learns, the better it will get. But you don’t want to build that learning on bad data.

Lee Kantor: Right? That’s why you need somebody on your team that has experience in kind of giving it the data. It needs to be effective and to get you to where you want to go, not to where the machine wants to go.

That’s right, that’s right.

Valerie Crafton: So I was speaking with a client the other day and, and I, we were talking about how we can actually apply a quantifiable value to each of their risks and their cost and change management. Um, database didn’t wasn’t categorized, and nowhere in the system could I determine what was the common trend for changes or why cost overruns were happening. There was zero categorization to it or coding structure that helped me kind of understand where my trends were with changes and cost overruns. Um, and, and so that was just going back and saying, okay, well, how can we reconfigure this database to, to then maybe go back a year and start putting them into certain categories, feed that to the machine and see what the results are. Then you just you might have to make a couple of adjustments, but you you get it right when you first implement it. And, and the next thing you know, you start seeing trends that you that you can really turn things around and make those changes mitigate it before they happen.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. That’s where I mean, there’s so much possibilities. And to have somebody like you on the team helping. I mean, it could really accelerate growth in ways they can’t even imagine.

Valerie Crafton: Yes, it is really exciting times right now. And and and understanding the history and being able to even come in and train teams and given the history of AI and how it all works, is very exciting for me. I love doing it. Um, and, you know, having the, um, AI Business Integrator certification through MIT, it has just been a very useful learning that my team brings to corporations to help kind of understand where has it been, where is it going, what can it do? What can it not do, and how do you need to get ready for it and then supporting them on that readiness?

Lee Kantor: Now, why was it important for you to become part of the WebEx West community. What did you anticipate getting out of it and what have you gotten out of it?

Valerie Crafton: Oh my goodness. So the the Witbank West, you know, getting the women owned certification has just been huge. It aligned me with a lot of corporations who are looking to bring in diverse teams. And interesting enough, they did a study at MIT and they talked about how a more diverse team created a smarter overall group. And and so corporations are taking that very seriously right now. And they’re looking for those certifications. So it is it is amazing to have that certification and be recognized on that level, not to mention the ladies that I’m surrounded by who are like minded, who are going through some of the similar things I have or I’ve already gone through as a business owner, being able to share those experiences back and forth and introduce each other to opportunities and teaming it is not. And let me just add to the top of that is all of the free education I get through Webbank is this been top notch? Absolutely top notch. I mean, I knew I was going to be a great CEO, but Webbank took me to the next level on what that meant.

Lee Kantor: So what’s next for your firm?

Yeah. I mean, the incredibly exciting for us.

Valerie Crafton: We plan to expand our partnerships, embrace more AI driven tools, of course, and develop proprietary solutions that push the boundaries of what project controls can achieve. And this includes, you know, becoming partners with, you know, technology like Smartsheet, where I’m able to build data tracking tools specific to client’s needs. And as we grow and focus, it remains on delivering tailored, innovative solutions while deepening our impact in our community and outreach with Stem advocacy. So my vision for Vousi is not only to set industry benchmarks, but to go and inspire a new generation to see the possibilities of construction tech and beyond to drive impacts globally.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Yes. Um, you.

Valerie Crafton: Can reach out to. My website is WW dot Val consultants. Val consultants.com. Or you can reach me at val c at val consultants.

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

Valerie Crafton: Yes. Thank you. I appreciate you too. Thank you so much.

All right.

Lee Kantor: This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Women in Motion.

Help us kick me off when I’m down. Oh, me. Oh, my.

 

Tagged With: VALConsultants

BRX Pro Tip: 5 Useful Rules of Thumb for Business

January 16, 2025 by angishields

BRXmic99
BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: 5 Useful Rules of Thumb for Business
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

BRX-Banner

BRX Pro Tip: 5 Useful Rules of Thumb for Business

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, we’ve been around the block. You’ve read a lot. I’ve read a lot. We’ve lived a lot when it comes to setting up and executing a profitable business. But if you had to boil it all down, are there just a handful of principles you would share with folks?

Lee Kantor: Yeah. There’s a few rules of thumb that I think are useful as you are kind of working your way through your business journey. I think, number one, start small, think big. I think it’s important to have big goals and big dreams, but always start small when it comes to executing. You know, test something, see what happens, iterate and grow. So, always aim high but always start small.

Number two sell what people will buy. I think a lot of times, people have an idea that they would like to sell, and then they get frustrated because no one’s buying it. So, if you focus on products and services that have market demand, life becomes a lot easier. And just make sure that you can deliver whatever it is you promise.

Number three, I think something that we learned and that a book we read that’s important to us is profit first. Always pay yourself first and then build all your expenses around what’s left rather than the other way. You have to pay yourself some sort of a livable wage in order to ensure that your business can support your basic needs. If you can’t do that, it’s going to be a struggle and it’s going to be difficult.

Number four, always try to increase sales and decrease costs. I mean, continuously working on growing revenue and reducing expenses is a great discipline to have.

And number five, I think in our business, we have learned this, and it is our true north that relationships are important. You should constantly be focusing on building and nurturing your network. And as they say, your network is your net worth. So, focus in on relationships and you are sure to have a successful business.

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • …
  • 1333
  • Next Page »

Business RadioX ® Network


 

Our Most Recent Episode

CONNECT WITH US

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Our Mission

We help local business leaders get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, their community, and their profession.

We support and celebrate business by sharing positive business stories that traditional media ignores. Some media leans left. Some media leans right. We lean business.

Sponsor a Show

Build Relationships and Grow Your Business. Click here for more details.

Partner With Us

Discover More Here

Terms and Conditions
Privacy Policy

Connect with us

Want to keep up with the latest in pro-business news across the network? Follow us on social media for the latest stories!
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Business RadioX® Headquarters
1000 Abernathy Rd. NE
Building 400, Suite L-10
Sandy Springs, GA 30328

© 2026 Business RadioX ® · Rainmaker Platform

BRXStudioCoversLA

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of LA Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversDENVER

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Denver Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversPENSACOLA

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Pensacola Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversBIRMINGHAM

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Birmingham Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversTALLAHASSEE

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Tallahassee Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversRALEIGH

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Raleigh Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversRICHMONDNoWhite

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Richmond Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversNASHVILLENoWhite

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Nashville Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversDETROIT

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Detroit Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversSTLOUIS

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of St. Louis Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversCOLUMBUS-small

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Columbus Business Radio

Coachthecoach-08-08

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Coach the Coach

BRXStudioCoversBAYAREA

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Bay Area Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversCHICAGO

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Chicago Business Radio

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Atlanta Business Radio