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Shannon Hudson With 9Round Fitness

by

9Round
Franchise Marketing Radio
Shannon Hudson With 9Round Fitness
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Brought To You By SeoSamba . . . Comprehensive, High Performing Marketing Solutions For Mature And Emerging Franchise Brands . . . To Supercharge Your Franchise Marketing, Go To seosamba.com.

9Round

Shannon “The Cannon” Hudson, founder, and CEO of 9Round Franchising, LLC, is a former IKF Light Middleweight Kickboxing Champion of the World. He trained under legendary boxing trainer Xavier Biggs, brother of 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist Tyrell Biggs.

After over 70 bouts in the ring, competing in Canada and Europe, Shannon could not find a place where the average person could be exposed to the “Top Secret” training of some of the best fighters in the world. That is where his vision for 9Round began.

He knew that if he could take the grueling workouts he did in the ring, and create a non-intimidating, convenient circuit workout format, then the average person could enjoy the benefits of boxing and kickboxing without getting hit.

Shannon is a family man himself with two children, so keeping the workout short but still effective was key when creating the 9Round concept.

Shannon and his wife, Heather, opened their first 9Round studio in 2008. Since then, the brand has grown to more than 750 locations across 42 states and in 12 foreign countries.

Shannon is fully involved in the day-to-day operations of the business and constantly works to bring the best support to 9Round franchisees and the best workout experience to 9Round members.

He released a business book entitled Zero to 100 in early 2016, which is a candid memoir of the journey from one 9Round location to the first 100 locations being opened. This book made Shannon a best-selling author on Amazon. Shannon enjoys public speaking and motivating others by thinking outside the box.

Connect with Shannon on LinkedIn and follow 9Round Fitness on Facebook and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • How 9Round responded to the pandemic and helped franchisees get through the shutdown
  • Evolve faster when you have crisis
  • Strategy for continuing to develop additional comprehensive support for franchisees
  • Overcoming challenges in business

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Welcome to Franchise Marketing Radio, brought to you by Akosombo Comprehensive, high performing marketing solutions for mature and emerging franchise brands to supercharge your franchise marketing, Go to SEOSamba.com.That’s SEOsamba.com.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:32] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Franchise Marketing Radio, and this is going to be a fun one today on the show, we have Shannon Hudson with 9round fitness. Welcome, Shannon.

Shannon Hudson: [00:00:42] Hey, thanks for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:43] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about nine round fitness. How are you serving, folks?

Shannon Hudson: [00:00:48] Well, we serve people by helping them punch and kick to get in better shape with kickboxing fitness program. And we we use kickboxing as the vehicle to make people feel better and just live a better life.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:02] So what’s your backstory? How did you get involved in fitness and in kickboxing?

Shannon Hudson: [00:01:06] Great question. My older brother, almost nine years older than me, started martial arts when I was born in nineteen seventy nine and I grew up basically in a karate school. I remember going to watch him do karate, and when I turned seven years old, almost eight, I started karate in the same karate school and just grew up loving it, started competing in karate tournaments, then went into boxing and kick boxing and turn professional. As a professional kickboxer, I won a world title in 2011. Up in Canada had a great career. I got to meet some really neat people. I got the fight on Chuck Norris World Combat League. As a professional, I got to do some really neat things and get the fight in Europe, representing the USA over there on the kickboxing event in Europe a couple of times. And you know, I wanted to create something that I could give to the average person, but take out the getting hit part and make it all about fitness and fun. And we created my wife and I created this 30 minute workout back in two thousand eight, and here we are 13 years later and seven hundred locations later.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:12] So now when you were making the transition from being a professional fighter to creating something that you know a regular person could enjoy and benefit from, was that a difficult transition to just mentally kind of wrap your head around, OK? Everything I’ve been doing and training for has been to succeed as a fighter in a ring, and now I’m going to take some of those techniques, similar techniques and then use it for a regular person to just kind of get in shape with mentally. Was that difficult for you?

Shannon Hudson: [00:02:44] Of course. I mean, you have to think we got the term we use as beginner friendly, right? So how do we take something that I took to a very high level and make it beginner friendly where anyone can do it? And that’s kind of the mentality you have to have when you want to scale something on the masses is to make it very beginner friendly. So that’s what we’ve done, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job of it. And you know, so so yes, it is challenging, but it’s a different mindset. Yes, sir.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:13] Now when you’re when you were first kind of playing around with the concept and you were focusing in on beginners and people that don’t want to be kind of the best fighter they can be, but just want to kind of start moving and play on the ground with their grandkids. That’s a different kind of audience and clientele that I’m sure you were surrounded with. Was that hard for you to kind of kind of wrap your head around how to serve these kind of people that are just, you know, for them going to check the mail and coming back and not be winded is a big victory.

Shannon Hudson: [00:03:48] No, you’re so right. And it was challenging and it surprised us. When I say us, my wife and I, you know, because you think boxing, kickboxing, you think this guy? Tough stuff, kind of kind of thing. But when we opened it open the very first nine round location, two thousand eight, we realized, Oh my gosh, females are a big part of this. And today, demographically, we’re 60 to 70 percent female age 30 to 40, and it really surprised us. Can this can younger people in older people do it? Absolutely. But that’s really that’s a real sweet spot for that. And my wife, Heather is a big advocate for it and believes that one of the reasons is females want to feel empowered and they they do feel empowered, punching and kicking where maybe guys like you and I, Lee grew up wrestling and roughhousing. And maybe, maybe females didn’t do that as much, but it surprised us on who this what? Who’s attracted to this? And you know, we’re very now we’ve learned so much and we’re very grateful for it. But it was surprising and very different than we thought originally.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:54] So then when you were starting out, did you have to kind of format the classes a lot different than maybe you initially drew them up?

Shannon Hudson: [00:05:02] No. You know, that’s funny. You say that the nine stations, the nine different rounds are still the same equipment, same same type of round, but we do different drills on the rounds every day. The workout changes every day, so we didn’t have to change anything as far as the core format of the model. We’ve definitely improved since then. We have full time workout programs in-house that program all these workouts for the franchise owners out there. And you mentioned the word classes it’s. It’s funny you say that because we really don’t have classes, the 30 minute sessions is a circuit that’s running pretty much all of the most of the day. And when a member shows up, they can just pop in the circuit whenever they whenever they get there, which makes it really appealing for very busy people so they don’t have to make a set class time.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:49] So you don’t have to be there at noon, you can come at any time and then just jump in and you where you start is where you start and it takes about 30 minutes to complete.

Shannon Hudson: [00:05:58] You got it. You nailed it. It’s like a conveyor belt. It’s perfect.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:01] And then now, what about from a franchisee standpoint? Is your ideal franchisee like kind of that fitness wellness person? Or could it be anybody?

Shannon Hudson: [00:06:10] It is. Well, it’s a couple of things that the director of the studio, which which is the face of the business and that might be an owner, operator or it might be a manager, right? So like Lee, if you wanted to hire. I don’t know you, Lee, and you didn’t want to be in the day to day, then you would hire a manager to run the studio who would be into fitness. Yes, and love people and love being the face of the business. If you were the owner operator and wanted to do that as your job right, you would be in there and you would be. And we definitely want you to love fitness. One of our values is you have to love fitness. You have to love people. This is a people business and you’ve got to be to connect with people. So, yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:50] So somebody on the team has got to be that face for the nine round fitness studio.

Shannon Hudson: [00:06:56] You got it. You have to have a driver in there that drives the business. That’s the day to day is the face of the business, kind of like I’m the face of the franchising company, right? I go to the events I’m on, I’m on the radio shows with you, right? So, so yes, you have to have that person that has that passion for it because that energy and that excitement is attractive and that’s what you want.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:17] Now, when a person takes on this, are you looking for that owner to be kind of just that fitness wellness person that’s serving that local community? Or at this stage, are you looking for kind of I need empire builders who is going to take over a market that’s going to, you know, take over a large territory. And so therefore, I’m looking for more of the professional franchisee who maybe has other franchises that are aligned with this from a customer standpoint. But then they can weave this into a make a really dynamic portfolio.

Shannon Hudson: [00:07:50] Yeah, great question. Actually, we’re looking for both. We will take both, you know, we love the smart business operator. That’s very advanced in franchising. In fact, we have several that own other concepts, not fitness, but they are multi unit owners and they do very, very well with they get franchisor. They understand it’s about systems and building people and training people and developing them. So, so yes, however, we we love the dynamic, passion driven person as well that’s willing to join a team nine round and willing to be coached and trained and follow a system. So the answer is we will do. We will take both of those.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:28] Now, how did kind of COVID impact the business in terms of a lot of locations weren’t allowed to have face to face? Were you the way you’re set up? It sounds like you might already kind of have some social distancing as part of just the makeup of the fitness center. But did that really impact you or were you able to navigate that pretty well?

Shannon Hudson: [00:08:48] Well, yeah, it impacted us a lot. I think restaurants and fitness centers and gyms really got hit the hardest, I think. But you’re right, our model is set up. You know, our stations are minimum seven eight feet apart. So the social distancing piece is actually pretty easy for us to do. But again, physical people breathing hard huffing and puffing. Yes, it did cause a lot of operational issues. But you know what? We we capitalized on that. We created an in-home at home workout. We have an app called Nine Room. Now, a lot of nine round franchise owners are selling this piece as an at home only workout, and they’re being able to take the revenue from that or include it in the membership to make the membership more robust and more well-rounded. So you have an in-studio membership, but you also have your app or you can plug on and turn it on at home or on all the apps the Roku, the iOS, the Android. So you know what? We built a studio at our headquarters to film these workouts in, and we have all the fancy lights and cameras and we’re on all the apps. So, you know, in great crisis comes innovation and different technology that’s advancing, and we’re proud to be a part of that and lead the way in that. So. So yes, it impacted us. It’s been hard. It’s not been easy. You know, we’re in 17 countries, too. So that throws a whole nother wrinkle in because the U.S., you know, half of the U.S. is vaccinated and the and doing better with with COVID, we’re handling it better. But now there’s, you know, the the variant and then you have the other countries or not as far along as we are for, for example, Australia, a lot of them are on total lockdown. We’re getting ready to open up our first location in Vietnam, but we can’t the whole countries lock down all of a sudden. So has it been hard? Yes. But you know, some good things have come out and with innovation that has come out of it.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:41] So now what has it been like for you as an entrepreneur, somebody who came up as a professional athlete and is now kind of growing this massive global franchise network? Any advice for the folks out there, maybe with an emerging brand themselves and how they can, you know, they aspire to where you’re at right now?

Shannon Hudson: [00:11:03] Absolutely. You know, the advice is don’t let the business outgrow you write a lot. A lot of founders sometimes, you know, founder and CEO are two different things. And I’ve so far I’ve been very blessed. I’ve been able to learn the CEO piece in the business piece and I’m still learning it every single day. Don’t get me wrong, but a lot of founders don’t continue on to become the CEO and operate the business, operate the chain at this level. So if you are one of those people, you have to decide. The advice is do you want to learn how to run the business or do you want to just be a founder and not really be in the day to day operations of running a business? I’ve decided, yes, I want to be the operating the business, so I enjoy it. I love it. I enjoy building a team and learning business systems. And so those are things you have to decide if you if you want to do so, whatever the decision is, commit to it and don’t let the business out, grow yourself and rock and roll.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:02] Now, do you think that you might have somewhat of a competitive advantage being an athlete at the highest level like you have been and you have been surrounded by coaching and great coaches and leaders that you just see that as part of the team is having a coach or a great leader. So therefore you kind of gravitate towards that role. Or maybe you look for people that have those qualities.

Shannon Hudson: [00:12:28] Oh, hundred percent. I mean, being competitive, be a competitive fighter or being a professional athlete has helped me be competitive in business. And I think anyone and I think everyone is competitive to a certain extent, but I take it even further. I like to win. I like to beat my kid and Mario Kart, too, you know, and playing video games. So I’m just competitive, right? So yes, and you have to you have to have that drive to win in business. You have to be competitive. I mean, it’s a competitive world. And I look I have trainers still today that that in business trainers, coaches and also physical trainers and coaches. So everyone needs a coach. Everyone needs to be held accountable. Everyone needs to be pushed to go as far as you can possibly go. And absolutely, it’s helped me. Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:15] Now how do you help your franchisees as coaching involved as part of what the franchisee gets is their access to kind of these great leaders that you get to benefit from?

Shannon Hudson: [00:13:28] I mean, we think it’s the most important thing we can do as a franchisor is the training, and that’s also teaching, so our people are what we call them. Franchise business coaches have to be good at teaching franchisees. We do regional trainings. Everybody has a franchise business coach in-house. We were out there, a corporate rep, when they open, if they’re struggling, we’ll go see them. We have annual conventions, we have online training modules that they go through online universities, they go through. I mean, it goes on and on and it’s something that continuously has to evolve and it’s very, very important. And people call it training, but it’s really teaching, you know, training and teaching basically the same thing. You have to be teaching and become a good teacher. So everyone here needs to really work. We really work hard on our communication skills, are teaching ability or teaching skills, and we’re saying what the franchisees need. We have a franchise advisory council. We’re asking them, Hey, tell us, like, what training do you need on marketing? So we’ll find that we’ll develop it. If we can’t find it, we’ll make it so. So you’re right, one hundred percent. I think good franchise systems out there have great training teaching programs, and it’s very important

Lee Kantor: [00:14:41] Now for the folks that are in a local market. What separates kind of the rock stars from the kind of middle of the pack? What are they doing in their local market to really be successful and serve and really nurture the relationships that you need to have in order to serve a local community?

Shannon Hudson: [00:14:58] Great question. It’s all about execution franchising. We have the playbook done. It’s who can execute the best. And a lot of people don’t understand that marketing is one of the most important things you can possibly do. It’s why I’m on this radio show right now. What am I doing in marketing, right? Because I mean, a great example that I tell everyone is McDonald’s. They don’t have the best product, but they sell more hamburgers than anyone in the world. Now why? It’s that? Why is that was the marketing they have. I mean, it’s the marketing they’ve done years and years consistently over and over and over. So in the community, you have to execute, you have to be out in the community, be the face of the community. You need to be the nine nine round guy or girl or gal out there. You have to be the face and and it has to be consistently done. Do we want a great product? Absolutely. Do we give a good product? One hundred percent. But without the marketing, no matter how good your product or service is, if you don’t do it and do it consistently, no one’s going to get helped by it. Get served, as you like to say, and I like that terminology, we’re serving right. We keep that attitude, keep marketing. That’s how you win in this business.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:10] Now what do you what are you looking at as you continue to expand? What are the next, you know, the end of this year and next year look like for you guys?

Shannon Hudson: [00:16:18] Yeah, great. Great question. We’re hopefully going to open in three new countries Vietnam, Indonesia and Qatar in the Middle East. We have a pretty big presence over there in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia. We have almost 40 locations in Saudi Arabia. We’re going to continue with our app. We’re doing some new technology inside our studio with screens, workout screens, coaching screens by the workout stations to help give the customer a better experience. So a lot of innovation, a lot of exciting things happening. And you know, we’re hoping to finish the year strong and start 2020 too strong because, you know, New Year’s is coming a big time of year for us, New Year’s first quarter of twenty twenty two. So we’re just ramping up staffing up here. We have more on the Home Office staff. We have more team now than we did before COVID and I’m very proud of that. So we’re excited to continue growing and continue kicking well.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:13] If somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team, what is the website?

Shannon Hudson: [00:17:20] Easy nine round. That’s the number nine. Are you? And we’re looking forward to getting as many people punching and kicking as we can.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:29] Lee Well, congratulations on all the success, Shannon, and you’re doing amazing work and we really appreciate it.

Shannon Hudson: [00:17:37] Well, thank you, sir. I appreciate it.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:39] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll sail next time on Franchise Marketing Radio.

Joanna Tress With Mattanna5DX

by

Joanna Tress
Coach The Coach
Joanna Tress With Mattanna5DX
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Matthew and Joanna Tress is a married couple celebrating a life of purpose and passion by liberating the performing artists within themselves and sharing that sweet freedom by helping others do the same.

They are the founders of Mattanna5DX.

While they are not professionals, they have performed at public and private events consistently for the past 30 years. You’ll get a taste of their “secret sauce” of bringing dreams to reality when you participate in one of their virtual or live events.

After hosting workshops, music nights, and showcases over the years and touching hundreds of lives, they’re taking it all to the next level for you. They’re here to facilitate, collaborate and motivate.

Connect with Joanna on Linkedin.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Coach the Coach radio brought to you by the Business RadioX Ambassador Program, the no cost business development strategy for coaches who want to spend more time serving local business clients and less time selling them. Go to brxambassador.com To learn more. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:33] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Coach the Coach Radio, and this is going to be a fun one today on the show, we have Joanna Trece with Mattanna5DX. Welcome, Joanna.

Joanna Tress: [00:00:44] Hello, I’m so happy to be here, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:46] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about Mantegna. How are you certain folks?

Joanna Tress: [00:00:52] Well, Matina, five, is actually short for the Matina five dimensional performing arts experience. So we are a collective of people age thirty five and older here in Orlando, Florida, or wherever. All over the world, they would like to sing, dance, act, play an instrument or express themselves creatively in a supportive judgment free zone. Or we’re having fun and helping one another overcome whatever obstacles we might have when it comes to getting on stage or in front of the camera as a performing artist.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:30] Well, it’s interesting that you’re targeting this kind of a little bit older group that may be a lot of performing arts folks go after I was recently interviewing someone and they told me this interesting fact, and you’re probably can resonate with this when they talk to children that are like preschool, kindergarten, they ask, Who’s an artist? Everybody raises their hand. But by the time they’re in fourth and fifth grade, only a handful of people raise their hand anymore when they’re asked if they’re an artist. And at some point, people are starting to self-select out of the arts. And, you know, only the the one person that can draw well considers themselves an artist, and everybody else says they’re not an artist anymore. And I thought that was really sad, and I’m excited to learn how you’re kind of rekindling that artistic spirit in, folks.

Joanna Tress: [00:02:21] Thank you so much. It’s definitely needed because in particular, the performing arts with the dance lessons, the band and the chorus at school and community theater often target the children, and we’re busy investing time and energy and resources into helping our youth develop those skills and then see where that takes them further on in life. But for many of us, when we’re grown up, we’re at the height of our careers. We’re taking care of families, even older parents, et cetera. We found that our experiences in the performing arts have gone to the back burner or nonexistence or whatever. Hopes, dreams and aspirations we had as a young person have sort of died. So we want to rekindle that and let people just have that missing piece of their life or build and be able to delve into their art and just really feel alive again, happy and satisfied with where they are because they’re being their authentic self.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:23] Now, how did this idea kind of come about? Is this something have you been involved in the arts your whole career or is this kind of a second act for you and your team?

Joanna Tress: [00:03:34] Right? Well, this is where I started off with what high school and college performances make my first professional demo back in nineteen ninety three. And I’ve been in multiple bands and a community, theater, productions and things over the years. And then I taught kids as well. So I’ve seen both sides of the experience where I taught young people as far as singing stage presence and beginning piano. And that is where I realized that, well, wait a minute, I want to do things now. I want to have fun and I could continue to do community theater. But there are a variety of options. Now I’m creating a new option that is going to to help someone who maybe doesn’t have the confidence or the skill level doesn’t know how to plug into the arts. My I have a gateway to that and we’ll do our own thing, and folks can add that to their resume and their workshops and things that help them get to where they want to be. So really, we make dreams come true. People have all kinds of creative concepts and ideas, and we can collaborate on them and make sure we find a way to make it happen.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:51] So why do you think so many people kind of self-select out of this performing arts? Is it because they feel like, Oh, you know, my window is closed, I’m not going to become famous? So then why bother? Or there’s too much rejection? They’re never going to pick me. Like, what are some of the reasons you found that people kind of opt out of the arts at, you know, at a certain age?

Joanna Tress: [00:05:13] Yeah. And it’s all of the above. People respond to a survey that’s on our website, and some of the responses include that when they were young, their parents want them to focus on academics even though they had an interest in the art. So sometimes it’s that family pressure or the family business and for them, for a particular career path and they don’t see where it can fit in. For others, there was an accomplished young woman who studied opera for years could sing and play the piano, et cetera, have even put out a record. But then she had an accident, and that that drastically dramatically affected her ability to sing. It was an injury to her face and put her in intense pain, so she put that on the back burner for years. So a lot of times it could be health related. It can be just the responsibilities that we think are we don’t have time. It’s those who feel that they’re not good enough, that they don’t have anything to offer, that they won’t make it. You get rejected so many times for certain auditions and and then you just sort of want to give up. So it’s a combination and everyone has a story. And we actually delve into that so that we can frame our experience. That’s keeping us away from what we love to do and really create a bridge that we can cross over. All right, that was then. This is the next chapter, and here’s what we can do now.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:44] So now what are the five dimensions for Montana five d x?

Joanna Tress: [00:06:50] Well, the five for performing arts that I mentioned as far as creative expression, playing an instrument, acting, dancing and singing, while also we want to make sure every time we get together that we’re immersing ourselves with our five main senses. So we’re going to have something that excites the eyes. Something you can touch and feel physically, tactically. Of course, what you can hear with your ears, which you can smell and what you can taste, especially when we have our live experiences. You know, even if you were giving a goodie bag, it’s going to have something to indulge your senses so that you’re completely immersed in that experience. That’s why we call it five dimensional. And of course, the fifth dimension is also magic, so we’ve got a little sprinkle of that, too.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:39] Now what is the experience like for someone who wants to kind of join forces with you or participate in some of your activities?

Joanna Tress: [00:07:49] Ok, well, the first stop is W W W Dot Matan Lee Kantor, that’s M82 A and a dot org Mactan, a double t double edged sword because that’s where they’ll see what we’re about, and they’re invited to take our initial survey to see where they are. We follow up. We have a secondary survey to get more specific and then we have a free 30 minute consultation to let them know what we can do for them, how we see them. And then of course, we invite them to one of our events online, virtually by Zoom, of course, first. And of course, what that leads to after know, sometimes there’s an open mic element. Sometimes there’s a creative writing and even meditation element. Sometimes it’s an assessment. We have an actual process step by step, but ultimately we want to get together and put a live show on for the community to buy. Tickets have sponsors just all of us delve in and and present a customized show based on each person’s interest. So every show we’re going to do is different.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:08] And then so it’s primarily for people in the Orlando area.

Joanna Tress: [00:09:12] Well, the live events, yes, you’ll come to Orlando for the live events, but of course, the virtual events and we’re getting together on Zoom. I’ve attended many successful events online. That’s, of course, because of COVID. That’s we’ve transitioned to so we can all still share and participate in the workshop activities and even have the spotlight in that group setting. We’re all pretty comfortable with that now, and you’ve got to start somewhere so virtually we can serve the world and then go for that special thing. Got to come to Orlando, and it’s the big time comes over when we get COVID under control, like next year. We look forward to that.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:54] So now are you partnering with other organizations that are involved in the performing arts or would like to be?

Joanna Tress: [00:10:01] Absolutely. I I have organizations that I love and support, like the Tim Aqua Arts Organization here in Orlando. I went to a live performance before the shutdown and blew my mind. There is a collective with recording studios and stages small stages called Jacob JIC. I’ve attended their events and support them, but we are really open to all of the places that have been used that have an audience that we can help and nurture. And we’re opening that up. So we participated with where we attended Orlando Fringe. We’d like to volunteer next as Theater Festival. So really, we’re just getting involved we can and getting the word out. That’s really what I’m doing. The podcast circuit for the radio is to spread the word, to get more people to join us, so we have more to work with.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:04] Now do you find that there’s some kind of maybe businesses that would like to have you maybe do a luncheon, learn or do some education to kind of instill that creativity and that artistic kind of culture into their organization?

Joanna Tress: [00:11:20] Absolutely. I am open to that and I am working on reaching out to businesses for that. Next week actually is my first lunch and learn, so to speak. It is at a a place for the healing arts, so they focus on on total health and wellness with natural things, maybe alternative or homeopathic, whatever you want to call it. And I was invited to attend their staff meeting because we can talk about the therapeutic qualities so they have plenty of clients who would love to have this creative outlet and to really show how it incorporates into your overall mental, emotional and physical health too. So we’re just starting with that next week.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:09] Now you talked about the events you do virtually and in person. If someone goes to your website, is there some samples of that? Can they kind of get a feel for what an event looks like or sounds like?

Joanna Tress: [00:12:23] We don’t have the samples yet. I will. When I connect with someone, I can share testimonials with them that I have on other websites. So experience that I have had and gotten positive feedback, things like singalongs and music nights that are posted. And so it’s not trying to be secretive, but we try to streamline things and we’re really inviting people to connect with us and then we have so much to share from that point. But we want them to get in touch with us and share a little about themselves as well, because the more feedback that we get from those who visit Montana, the more customized we can have to really make this experience what people want and need. You sell them what they want and then you give them what you need. That was the advice I’ve got recently.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:16] Good stuff. Well, congratulations on all the success if somebody wants to learn more one more time with the website.

Joanna Tress: [00:13:22] Yes, WW w dot Mattina dot org. That’s M a t a and a dot org, m a t a and a dot org.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:36] Well, Joanna, thank you so much for sharing your story today.

Joanna Tress: [00:13:40] Oh, I loved it. I appreciate the opportunity. Thank you so much.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:45] Once again, that’s Montana Dawg. Joanna Trece. Thank you for sharing. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you. Thank you. All right, this ad Lee Kantor, we will sail next time on Coach the Coach radio.

 

Vincent Moiso With VIS Aspire Inc

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Coach The Coach
Coach The Coach
Vincent Moiso With VIS Aspire Inc
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Vincent Moiso is a principal and President of Oceanside Glass & Tile and is also the founder and president of his own coaching business, VIS Aspire Inc.

He recently launched his alter-ego brand SUR•THRIVE•AL GEAR, as well as publishing his playbook for the entrepreneur and the hight performer, How to Survive the Wilderness.

Last year he collaborated on a new online course, the Complete Guide on Developing Tile & Stone Specifications with Architects in partnership with Ceramic Tile & Stone Consultants.

Fourteen years of his business career was spent as a principal partner and Vice President in an international tile and stone manufacturing and distribution firm.

With an MBA from Cal State Fullerton and a BA from the University of San Diego, Vincent has also taught multiple business courses at his alma mater where he serves as President of the Alumni Board of Directors for the University.

He has been a keynote speaker and presenter for industry events such as Coverings, Tile and Stone Expo, Kitchen and Bath Industry Show, Total Solutions Plus, USD School of Entrepreneurship, J Serra HS Business Magnate program and many other events.

Connect with Vincent on LinkedIn.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Coach the Coach radio brought to you by the Business RadioX Ambassador Program, the no cost business development strategy for coaches who want to spend more time serving local business clients and less time selling them. Go to brxambassador.com To learn more. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:33] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Coach the Coach Radio, and this is going to be a fun one today on the show, we have Vince Moyosore and he is with Vis Aspire. Welcome, Vince.

Vincent Moiso: [00:00:44] Thanks, Lee, I appreciate you having me on.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:46] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about vis aspire. How are you serving, folks?

Vincent Moiso: [00:00:52] Yes, I’m focused on on really small business. I’ll tell you this, it’s a funny statistic. Less than four percent of all the small businesses in the U.S. even make it to a million dollars, and most entrepreneurs don’t know how to even get there, and they certainly don’t know how to get past that point. So I help them scale, and I do it through a people first approach, and I’ve been doing that about eight years at this point since I exited from my previous business and just enjoy getting people to that vision of success.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:28] Now, can you talk a little bit about your journey from entrepreneur doing the work and, you know, being the CEO of your company and growing that successfully to then transitioning over to being a coach for other people to help them kind of experience similar results that you you experienced?

Vincent Moiso: [00:01:46] Yeah, you know, Leigh, I have no idea if this is typical or not, but of course, it’s one of those entrepreneurial stories where it happened organically. So I was I was in a flooring business distribution business for roughly over a decade. I had two partners in that business and I really was looking to grow the business in a different direction. So we just hit that point where somebody had to exit and I did so gracefully. And when I exited, I was immediately looking for the next thing, right? You know, typical entrepreneur. And and there was a business client of mine, longtime client of mine, that he needed help. And I was thinking about jumping into the business and taking some of that money and reinvesting. And it just didn’t pencil. So I looked at all the finances and put together a plan, and it didn’t look like that business was going to cash flow with me in it. And so I gave him the bad news, and then he looked at me and he said, You know, I, I could use the help. Like, I just I would love to do all this stuff that you presented to me in this plan. Would you consider consulting and coaching me? I kind of scratch my head and said, Hmm, that’s a business. And yeah, I would love to do that. So I did it, and he was my first client, and I took on two more right after him pretty quickly and I realized, Wow, I had this transfer of trust and that there were a lot of people that looked up to me and needed that help. And I really love coaching. Like, I’m just I. I have it in me. It’s it comes very easy and natural to me. And so I organically started. That’s when business fire started. I formed my S-Corp within weeks of that first engagement. And then the rest is history.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:40] So now when you’re working with a client in that in that manner, is it coaching where you’re just kind of that objective third party asking questions, helping maybe nudge, but not actually rolling up your sleeves? Or is it kind of bleed into some consulting where, OK, you do this? I’ll do this. You focus on that. I’m going to get a team working on this and then you’re kind of doing some of the work too. Or is there? Is it specific to that or is it kind of very engagement to engagement?

Vincent Moiso: [00:04:14] Yeah, it does vary, but it is the answer to that is both right. I am definitely rolling up my sleeves and get my hands dirty, and at least I have found with my clientele. You got to do it because there’s a lot of blind spots, right? And all of a sudden, you know, think of it. And most of my clients have been running their businesses for decades, right? And so they’ve got all kinds of blind spots, right? It’s their baby. They started it and they just they can’t see the forest through the trees, so to speak, right? And and I inherently, as I dig in to find those pain points and ask those questions, I’m absolutely coaching because I want them to find the way on their own, of course, because I don’t want to do it for them. Otherwise, I’m not really coaching, right? They’ve got to figure that out, and it’s something that they’ve got to continue to execute on long after I’m gone. That being said, I still have to roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty because some of it requires that you’ve got to really dig in deep.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:16] Now, when you’re working with folks, your background was in flooring, tile, things like that. Does it transfer to like, say, I have an ad agency or in my case, I own Business RadioX, I have a media company like is that something that’s transferable or is it kind of play better in the kind of the industry that you started in?

Vincent Moiso: [00:05:36] Yeah, great question. I love that question, and I did. I have to preface that with just some context. I did a short stint. I was lucky enough to be captured to do a reality television show called The Moment. And as a result of that show, I got to spend six months. I took a six month hiatus at the time to the University of Notre Dame. So I mean, couldn’t be two polar opposites, right? I’m running a flooring business and then I spent six months and I’m working with the football program and I’m working with the marketing department in athletics and meeting a lot of high, high end people out of the University of Notre Dame. And they all were looking at me as this treasured business entrepreneur guy that could come in and help them because they don’t they don’t think that way. And I was I honestly, I was tripping out. I’m literally scratching my head going, I cannot believe these guys at the University of Notre Dame are looking to me for advice and coaching. And it was it was the first time my eyes got opened to that whole concept, and I understood that the skills transfer doesn’t matter what it is a widgets or widget and you’ve heard that term before. It really doesn’t matter because when you strip it all out and you just start to talk about running a business and how to treat people right and how to retain key employees and how to do the things that are going to grow, scale and and and bring your business ultimately to success doesn’t matter what the business is.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:13] So now let’s let’s have you roll up your sleeves a little and talk about what are those first conversations look like when you’re talking with a new business owner that you know gets on your radar, you think it’s a good fit. You have kind of that initial discovery type conversation where you’re kind of explaining what you do there, explaining where they’d like to be. How do you kind of help them see the forest for the trees?

Vincent Moiso: [00:07:37] Yeah, I shut up and listen. By the way, so I definitely do not start the conversation by telling them all the stuff, my whole background and my CV. I figure if they’ve done their homework at all or I’ve been referred, I’ve either already got that transfer of trust or they’ve gone online and seen my resume. So I really shut up and listen, and I asked this one question Please tell me about you. Tell me about your business. And most importantly, tell me about the pain points in your business. So like, what is holding you back? And I just listen and I take notes and I’ll ask questions in between as things come up, because it might be they’re just struggling with some of their some of the people that are working for them. It might be. They just don’t understand how to read their financial documents. They’re not inputting, they’re not bookkeeping appropriately. It might just be I’ve hit a wall. I don’t know how to develop a sales forecast or plan, or they’ve never done a strategic plan session. They haven’t created mission or vision or values. You know, it’s I could go on and on. You’ve heard it before. Reality is is the best thing for me as a coach that I could possibly do from day one and continuing throughout any relationship that I have is listen.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:59] All right, listen, so you listen and they have a laundry list of challenges or things that are keeping up at night. How do you help them prioritize to say, You know what? Let’s start here because we have to start somewhere. You can’t, you know, kind of get them all at once. You’ve got to begin with one of them. How do you decide which is the one that is going to be the lever to unlock maybe the potential of this firm?

Vincent Moiso: [00:09:24] Yeah, I’m always identifying. So as I’m listening, I’m identifying where, and I do that through where I’m watching body language, listening to tone, where we spend the most time on. And I’ve already identified in that conversation a top three priorities. Then I repeat what I heard, right? And I say, here’s the top three things pain points, whatever you want to call them that I heard and now tell me really, which is the one that you want to spend the most time on. What’s the one that’s going to move the needle for you? And and depending on what that is, that’s really what we’re going to focus our time. So it’s just, you know, again, it’s just a line of questioning. But if I’m listening, if I’m doing my job and I’m really listening, then I’m listening for all those cues. I’m watching for all those cues, and I’ve already written down the top three now. So so the way that my process works is I’m only going to focus on those top three and sometimes only the top one as as a starting point. And I’m looking for a long term relationship.

Vincent Moiso: [00:10:26] And while I’ll do certain things like strategic plan sessions and other coaching that might only be in 90 day increments because I like to, I follow a very, very specific plan. I follow the 12 week year. It’s great, great way to do it, and I feel like we can. We’re better off. We’re more inclined to take things in small doses. So I work that way, but I’m looking myself for a long term relationship, so I know we’re going to hit that starting point, priority number one, whatever that is. And that might be the first thing we focus on in the first 90 days. And that’s all we’re going to focus on. But I’m know I’m going to break that off in tranches and move on to the next thing and have a long, long running relationship as long as I’m a fit. I mean, I know I know pretty quickly if I am a fit because I know what my skill set is and I and I don’t ever want to take somebody’s money unless I know I’m going to add the value that I’m promising.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:20] Now you mentioned that you kind of target three things. If you were to look back at all the people you’ve had this conversation with, are those three things similar across the board? Are there ten that you see a lot and then it could be anyone? It could be three of any of these five. You kind of going, do entrepreneurs kind of have the same problems?

Vincent Moiso: [00:11:42] Pretty much they all they all pretty much have the same same problem. First, two questions I always get right, because as it starts off kind of a little top level right, everybody wants to know how they pay less, how they can pay less taxes. And then the second question I get is how do I exit out of my business? And they don’t they don’t necessarily want to get out of their business at that point. They just know they don’t know what they don’t know and and they want to hear, is there an even an exit for me? And once I get past that, because that’s not really the pain point, right? Ok, great. If you if you really and truly want to build out an exit, great. Let’s figure out what’s going on in your business right now and we can determine what that is. I find that financials are typically number one, especially in the small business arena. And when I say small business, I’m talking in that I’d say my sweet spot is in that one to 10 million in revenue and say less than 10 employees on up to about 50 employees. That’s that’s those are the businesses that I really target. And then I have big impact on and they they struggle, really understanding how to read a P&L, how to read a balance sheet, how to forecast appropriately, how to plan appropriately and really how to reduce expenses to optimize profitability. That’s absolutely number one. People are number two. They struggle to manage people. They they struggle to manage themselves. And and therefore there’s a conundrum right of Wow, I’ve got this revolving door of employees and I don’t understand why that’s happening, right? And then the third is time, you know, everyone, everyone complains about not having enough time and or exhaustion, exhaustively working way too many hours. And so I tend to focus on those three things finance, financials, people and time.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:48] So now having done this, you put together a playbook to help entrepreneurs kind of self manage, I guess a little bit if they don’t. Have you around?

Vincent Moiso: [00:14:01] Yeah, or at least to get him started? I mean, ultimately, the the book that I wrote that will get released later this month is it gives you a taste of of Wow, I want to recognize these things that I can do and potentially on my own in the end. So as you get to part three of the book, I’m very explicit and very direct. You can’t do it alone. And anyone who thinks that they can is crazy. I mean, just I I was a collegiate athlete. I played football in college LA and I was I was talented enough to continue my career for about four seasons out in Europe. And you know, when I was most effective in my athletic career, I had a coach. I had a coach. And and what was so funny to me is I spent a decade as an entrepreneur, more than a decade as an entrepreneur, without a coach. And when I finally got introduced to the concept, I was like, Wow, I just reflected on when I was the most productive in my life, and it was when I had a coach and the moment I got a coach, it completely changed the trajectory of my business and the success within my business, and I continue to have a coach to this day. I’ve I vacillate back and forth. I’ve had two coaches at times because I wholeheartedly believe in the importance of having a coach and the success that that brings because we all need that level of accountability. So my book, while it does give a lot of nuggets and a lot of self-directed opportunity, in the end, you’re going to hear me loud and clear tell you that once you understand those concepts, get a coach, it will. It will get you to the next level that much faster.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:59] Yeah, there’s a saying that says if you think hiring a professional is expensive, try hiring an amateur. And if people are trying to be their own coach, they’re hiring an amateur.

Vincent Moiso: [00:16:09] Totally. I mean, it’s it’s so funny, I mean, you think of I mean, you’ve probably got a laundry list of success stories, not just in business, but I think of even athletics and you think of the top top athletes in the world and they have nothing but coaches around them. And so why is it in business that we think that we can just do all this stuff on our own? It’s kind of crazy when you think about it, and I always laugh, I laugh at myself for spending so long without one.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:43] So now in your kind of growth as a coach and you’re moving from, you know, your practitioner now you’re coaching other practitioners and obviously this coaching business is its own business. And then now you have the book. How are you seeing kind of coaching evolve through you in this team that you’re building around kind of your methodology?

Vincent Moiso: [00:17:07] Yeah, that’s a really good question, I. The other thing I started a podcast this this summer to and my and my podcast is just a partner. My he’s a PhD, he’s also a coach. And we were sitting in our backyard having a beer. And, you know, it was five minutes of how’s the family? And then we immediately got into business, you know, so we laugh at each other all the time because it’s like you get to entrepreneurs in a room. What are they going to do? Well, they’re going to talk business, right? And and so we got into this concept of because we’re huge believers in transparency in the workplace accountability, communication being so critical, talking about email etiquette, just really simple things that I think people in any organization, just they they want, right? They want clear direction. They want communication, they want transparency, they want visibility, they want all these things. And so we talk about all these, all these topics. And I have a I have a lot of fun doing it. And the reason I bring that up and the question that you asked is I see myself evolving as I get into these concepts and I practice one hundred percent of what I preach. Otherwise, why would I why? Why coach it right? And I think what really differentiates me is I’ve been an entrepreneur for a long time, runs successful businesses and I and I practice one hundred percent of the things that that I coach. And I don’t coach on things that I don’t practice, and I think that’s where it’s evolving otherwise. You know what? I start to feel like the professor that I had that had zero, you know, back in college, my undergraduate study, you know, that had zero practical application of what he was teaching, right? And and and that’s that’s hard right. And I find that that my clients relate to me because they know that I’ve done it and what I’m teaching is has been put into practice successfully.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:10] Right. It’s not a theoretical. There’s kind of evidence behind every, every thought. Now, when a person comes to you, how much kind of self-awareness do they have to have to even kind of get into your orbit? Like, is this something that some they’re going to share with the friends? Hey, hey, you know what? I’m really struggling and they’re like, Oh dude, you got to call Vince. I mean, he really helped me like because to me, a lot of entrepreneurs have that kind of lone wolf mentality where they’re like, Look, this is my thing. I built this. I can do this, and then I’ll just try harder. I’ll just, you know, like it’s they don’t they have personal accountability in that they don’t want to ask for help and where it may be part of their accountability should be to another person, not just themselves.

Vincent Moiso: [00:20:03] I’m laughing the whole time you’re saying all that, it’s just it’s a great it’s a great example, and yes, there has to be some self-awareness and I can tell within five minutes if that self-awareness is there or not. So early on I made I made a lot of mistakes. I took on just about every quiet client. So there was there was quite a bit of that as I dude, you got to talk to Vince, right? And and I would just take them on and not really do the listening that I told you about Lee. So that part of my process has radically evolved and gotten so much better. And now I just listen where I think I threw up too much in those first meetings and then I would just take the client on. I have to know that they’re going to execute on what we talk about. Otherwise, I just don’t have the time. I just don’t. I mean, I’m the Lee. I took on one of my clients. I became the interim president of the business, so I’m turning a 28 year old business around right now. So the last four years I’ve been the interim president, took them through two acquisitions and now I’m really working, working on on creating an exit for that business and and the two other partners that are in it. And that takes time, right? So so I also have to be a purveyor of my own time and respect others time. And in doing so, I I’m very selective with the with the clients that I take on.

Vincent Moiso: [00:21:29] And so in that first meeting, I really have to know that their self-awareness, that they’re ready to do the work because if they’re not ready to do the work and they’re not ready to execute, I just I just can’t do it. I don’t have the patience for it. And I know that they’re not getting the true value out of the money that they’re giving me. And I’d rather be with somebody because I’ll tell you, you know, again, I’m going to use. I always use athletics football specifically. There’s no prouder moment than watching your team execute on everything you just worked on all week in a game, right? And same goes in business. There’s no prouder moment for me than to watch this company blossom and get the success exactly the way that we set it up for that. So if if I’m not going to, if I’m not going to get there with somebody and they’re not and they’re not ready to embrace that, I move on now and I made that mistake early, early on where I didn’t created a lot of agony and a lot of anxiety. And then you get into this mode of, Well, I’m just going to make it work, right? Well, no, it’s it’s a two way street. It’s just like having a relationship, right? It takes two to tango. And so if that other person isn’t ready and willing, then it’s not going to work.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:48] Now, can you share a story, maybe a success story in the and it doesn’t have to be. Oh, they made the most money ever, but maybe they were struggling with something. And maybe you help. Maybe it was a blind spot. Then you help them kind of overcome and they got to a new level. And for you, it was kind of rewarding. It was something that said, You know what? This is resonating with me in terms of my values, my philosophy, and this allowed me to really kind of let that blossom.

Vincent Moiso: [00:23:17] Yeah, my my favorite, my favorite client story. And they’re still my client. You know, now going on six years, I think roughly five or six years. But in the first year, they doubled revenue with me and the blind spot was they just they were they were in the mode. They had already been in business for eight years. At the time that that I came came in and they had no idea that they were just taking on. Every project was a design firm and they were taking on every project that they could and they just weren’t charging enough because they were basically fear based selling and fear based pricing. So their whole business was around fear. And it was great. I’m just going to grab and capture whatever I can. I’m going to be one hundred percent customer focused and great. It’s good to be customer focused in the healthy way. They were customer focused in the unhealthy way, so the customer was driving everything that happened instead of them being in control of their own destiny as as a business. And so you can imagine they were running on a hamster wheel and they just could not figure out how they could not get to the next level, raise raise revenue to where they wanted it to be. So I just got that the light bulb turned on by letting them see that they weren’t charging the right price.

Vincent Moiso: [00:24:47] They were allowing customers to rule the roost. They were not in control of what they were doing as a business and with each other. There’s three partners in that business and with each other. They had an established, very specific role and responsibility with each other. So as as simple as those concepts may sound, to many people, it was a total blind spot for them. And it was funny. For me, it was great because I shifted just those three simple things just the organizational structure, getting clarity around role and responsibility among the partners and employees, and then changing their pricing structure and then shifting how they communicate externally. And they doubled revenue in the first year. I was with them and I was just like, we were high fiving at the end of it. It was awesome, and I just loved seeing their success and their eyes open to what’s possible. And now as they sit, anything’s possible, right? And and the business that they’re doing in the clients that they have and what they’ve created is is great there. Ironically, they’re they’re looking for an exit at this point among the three partners. So I’m helping them through that. But that’s that’s definitely my top of my list as as one of the funnest engagements.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:06] Good stuff. Well, congratulations on all the success. If somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or get a hold of any of the resources that we talked about. Is there a website?

Vincent Moiso: [00:26:17] Yeah, just check out if they just go to Vince. So that’s the easiest and you’ll they’ll jump on to, you know, that’s the the parent company business buyer Inc.. So does Vince moist, super easy. And then you can check out my other site, which is more dedicated toward the launch of my book and everything surrounding that specific process. And that is sort thrive, U.S. start, thrive or thrive us. So either one of those websites will get you all the information you want.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:49] And that’s Vin CMO. I sohu.com.

Vincent Moiso: [00:26:53] You got it right.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:55] Good stuff, Vince. Well, thank you again for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you, Lee.

Vincent Moiso: [00:27:00] Thanks for having me on. I really, really appreciate it. That was fun.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:04] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on Coach the Coach radio.

 

Terri Harof With Workout Anytime

by

Franchise Marketing Radio
Franchise Marketing Radio
Terri Harof With Workout Anytime
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Brought To You By SeoSamba . . . Comprehensive, High Performing Marketing Solutions For Mature And Emerging Franchise Brands . . . To Supercharge Your Franchise Marketing, Go To seosamba.com.

Terri Harof is an inspiring leader with 30 years of senior-level expertise in sales & marketing and business development with global brands. As Director of Franchise Development and Chief Brand Believer at Workout Anytime, Terri’s responsibilities include driving the domestic & international growth of the brand.

She has been married to her husband Doug for 24 years and they have three amazing sons, 1 dog, and 2 cats.

Their days are spent cheering on their boys, traveling, entertaining, gardening, coaching, and teaching group fitness classes, which she has done since college!

Connect with Terri on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Marketing strategies to gain members post-COVID
  • Advice to other operators as they bounce back from COVID-19 challenges

 

Sallie Holder With The BRIMM

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SallieHolder
Coach The Coach
Sallie Holder With The BRIMM
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thebrimm

SallieHolderSallie Holder is a passionate and engaging speaker who gives audiences real-world examples and tactical tools to reach their greatest potential and earn more than ever.

The BRIMM stands for the Beyond Rock Middle Movement. This is a Company dedicated to moving the needle for female-founded businesses by providing the very best knowledge platform and database of business resources for the female entrepreneur.

She does this by showing them how to break out of “Rock Middle, TM” a phrase she’s coined, and the title of her book, Hitting Rock Middle, and Amazon bestselling book was named one of the “Top 20 Books that Will Change Your Business in 2021” by USA Today and Yahoo Finance.

“Rock Middle” calls attention to the middle place in career and life where most people get stuck and never leave, as growth from a place of success is hard and often discouraged. But Sallie fundamentally believes everyone deserves and is capable of achieving more happiness and success when they learn to “Be Bolder.”

She’s not just speaking from a theoretical perspective; she’s lived this philosophy herself by using it to break free of her own Rock Middle.

Sallie’s professional experience makes her uniquely qualified to speak to any audience. She earned her degree in Human & Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University and followed that with a law degree.

She then spent more than 10 years practicing labor and employment law with the third-largest L&E firm in the country, advising small companies and giants like FedEx and Michelin. She grew passionate about the growth of businesses and decided to break out of her own Rock Middle place to become an entrepreneur.

Sallie has spent more than 15 years helping businesses, entrepreneurs, and employees break out of Rock Middle, run six different companies in 6 different industries, and coached more than three hundred people around the world to reach a higher level of professional success.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Hitting Rock Middle: When Success Doesn’t Feel Like Success
  • Where to go when you’ve checked all the boxes on the road to success and it wasn’t what you hoped

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Coach the Coach radio brought to you by the Business RadioX Ambassador Program, the no cost business development strategy for coaches who want to spend more time serving local business clients and less time selling them. Go to Brxambassador.com To learn more. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:33] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Coach the Coach Radio, and this is going to be a fun one today on the show, we have Sallie Holder with the brimm. Welcome, Sallie.

Sallie Holder: [00:00:43] Thank you for having me, Lee, I really appreciate it.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:46] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about the brim. How are you serving, folks?

Sallie Holder: [00:00:51] Sure, the brim actually stands for Beyond Rock Middle Movement. It is a play on the word and the concept of rock middle, which is a, you know, a concept that I created when I was writing my book called Hitting Rock Middle. And it’s the idea that there is a middle place in our career and life where most people get stuck and never leave. And that growth from that middle class people find to be very difficult and often discouraged. And so I wanted to help more women within our community really elevate themselves from wherever it is that they are stuck within their businesses to a higher, more successful place.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:42] So what’s your back story? Have you always been involved in coaching?

Sallie Holder: [00:01:47] In a way, I started my career actually practicing law, and I practiced law for the third largest labor and employment law firm in the country and found myself helping employers with what I would refer to as kind of HR law, everything having to do with the employer employee relationship. And so I learned quite a bit there about, you know, how to effectively get employers and employees to work together and really was always fascinated with organizational development. So I left then practicing and became the chief operating officer of six different companies and six different industries. After that, all really focused on organizational health. And development and revenue growth and then had an opportunity from there to go into coaching female entrepreneurs, one on one found that was really my passion and then developed a real niche into revenue growth and helping them focus on understanding what drives increased revenue.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:55] So now, from a philosophical standpoint, there’s rock middle concept. It was that something that you just developed from based on your own kind of learnings? Or was this built upon someone else’s teachings?

Sallie Holder: [00:03:09] No, it was it was all based on what I really learned and experienced in my career. You know, I think a lot of us out there, probably a lot of your listeners have this same exact feeling that they followed an external model to success rate and it was what everyone else told me would create both personal success. Professional success is, you know, if I followed the, well, well-worn path. And so that’s what I did. You know, going straight from undergraduate to graduate school and law school and practicing law and earned awards and accolades and and still looked around and felt, you know, myself saying to in my head throughout, you know, all of the conversations when other people would come up to me and say, Oh my gosh, you must be so happy. I felt like I wanted to scream at them and say, No, I’m not. I’m really not. Do you know how to help me? And yet my response to them was always, Oh yes, everything’s great, right? And. And it wasn’t just because outwardly it looked great. It did not mean that it felt great internally, and I felt that real, you know, distance between what I showed the world on the outside and how I felt on the inside. And I didn’t want to live out of integrity like that any longer. And so I sought counsel for friends and relatives, other people who are successful in the business world, asking them, You know what now? And the majority of them unfortunately were telling me, This is just work. Put your head down, stick with it.

Sallie Holder: [00:04:49] You’ll get through this difficult period and you know, that’s just life. And I disagreed. You know, I said, there’s got to be something else. There’s got to be, you know, a reason why I’m experiencing this and that I ought to be able to create change from this place even if everyone else wants me to stay in this nice little box that I’ve created. I still want to make a change. And what I found is that a lot of people, when you are at rock bottom right, are absolutely wanting you to change right, they’ll come to you and say, Hey, get out of there. Let us help you. Let us give you a hand out up everything. But when you’re in rock middle right where you feel unfulfilled despite external success, no one wants you to change. No one wants to give you a hand up or out or, you know, help you in any way. They prefer that you stay exactly where you are because that is a well defined place. And and so, you know, I said to myself, if we could come up with terminology around this place, that would allow it to just be referenced. So it wasn’t so hard to explain, then maybe there would be more discussion around it. And if there’s more discussion around it, then it’s going to be more acceptable for people to create change from this place, too. And ultimately, that’s what I want is I want people to be truly fulfilled, happy and successful, and I think you can have all of those really.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:27] Now, do you think the challenge for people who are in this rock middle place is that? They’re grateful for where they are. They don’t want to curse that because they’re in some ways satisfied with where they are and they feel that it’s. Like almost asking too much of the universe to have more than this when they see so many people who don’t have what they have.

Sallie Holder: [00:06:53] I couldn’t agree more. Yes, it is, and it’s impressed upon them that you ought to be grateful for what you have and therefore you ought to simply stay there. But what I would argue is that look at what that concept has done to much of our world, right, that we have more people than ever, you know, suffering from mental health issues, depression, suicide, right? Just levels of unhappiness that we’ve never experienced as a society. So, you know, I would say that the current way hasn’t been working and that, you know, offering people a chance for you individually to be happy will only have a better effect on society that while you can be grateful for what you have created like a successful career, then you can parlay that gratitude into creating something different for yourself as well. Right. They’re not mutually exclusive concepts, right? But suddenly, because you want to create change, you are no longer grateful. Right. A plus B does not equal C. You can still remain grateful and decide to pursue something that fulfills your heart and soul. And I think when you do, then you share a level of happiness with the world that we need more people sharing, right? When you are pursuing your authentic potential and what your, you know, God given talent or whoever you believe is out there when you share what it is that you are truly meant to share with this world. There is a level of sincere joy that overflows from you that allows you to serve the world in a much better way than you sitting on your hands saying, I should just be grateful for AM.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:49] Now, are there some symptoms that you’re at rock middle? Are there some things that are happening that maybe you’re not defining as rock middle, but maybe to an outsider, it’s obviously you’re at, you’ve plateaued or you’re at some point of maybe you’re frustrated in certain areas. So are there some things in my life that’s going on that that you can help me realize, Hey, I’m at rock middle and maybe I should get a hold of the brim?

Sallie Holder: [00:09:17] Sure. That’s such a good question. I think that some things that really evidence this place of rock metal are things that you probably have experienced slightly. But what I find is the more you stay in rock metal, the more they grow. So what I’m referencing is you might have experienced a little bit of jealousy, say, as you’re on social media and watching other people write, potentially create the life that they have always wanted. You know, as that jealousy begins to turn into more into frustration and anger, right then that is a great indication that you are not living a life that’s authentic to you, right? The jealousy comes not from the place that you wish them ill, will. It’s that you envy rate and wish that you could provide the same opportunity as for yourself. And what I try to instill in the entrepreneurs that I coach is that you can you can make that choice at any point in life that you’d like to. It doesn’t matter what age your you are right this moment. And so, you know, if you’re feeling that that way, then what you’re looking for oftentimes is a permission slip to say, go for it, make the change right now. And then what they tend to counterbalance that with is, you know, well, that’s nice to say, but you know, I don’t have a plan or how would I even get started? And you know what would be my next steps? And that is exactly where we at the brim can come in to be able to guide you. We’ve been in your exact shoes. I know exactly the path to go from where you are now to creating the type of lifestyle and revenue goals that you’d like to achieve.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:15] So now how do you help your clients kind of lean more into this abundance mentality and kind of leave some of the fear mentality behind because it sounds like some people are afraid of giving up what they have, even though something better might be around the corner?

Sallie Holder: [00:11:36] Yes, absolutely. You know, I talk a lot about the fact I am I like focusing in on facts and statistics because I find those I think it must be my years practicing law, but I find those so convincing and compelling. And the fact is that your brain actually is hardwired to prevent you from taking risk. And so that always helped me to understand there was nothing wrong with me per say, right? I didn’t have some gene that prevented me from taking risks. I’m not either a risk taker or not. Right. It is a muscle that can be developed that I can practice and. And so what I like to start out with is that foundational understanding of what is prevented them from taking risks in the past and most of the time it has been, you know, their upbringing, their understanding of, you know, experiences that they have had. They deemed those experiences to teach them that risk taking is bad. And so just I, you know, if they’re doing this particular exercise on their own, which you are more than welcome to, a great way to get started is just simply to make note of, you know, times where you have concluded that taking a risk or creating change in any way led to a detrimental situation. And once we can break up again, that conclusion that taking a risk or trying to create change equals doing something bad or something bad happening to you, then we can replace that idea or thought with something that is positive, right? And interrupt that conclusion.

Sallie Holder: [00:13:28] So in actuality, the conclusion could have been that, you know, you simply didn’t have enough time available to create the type of change you were trying to create or that you didn’t have enough resources. It wasn’t that every time you go back to create change, it will always lead to something bad. It was that there were just certain pieces of the puzzle and puzzle missing at the time that can then be incorporated and included in your process so that the next time you go about creating change, it can be successful. So with reflection and analysis on the process, very often we can determine, you know what part fell, you know, fell by the wayside. And, you know, plug in the missing piece so that they can then achieve success. You know, and we go about goal setting with all of our clients at the very beginning, you know, of our work together, and it’s not a real traditional way of goal setting. I think that we have to break down our thoughts about what is achievable and what is not achievable. So we work on the mindset with regard to goal setting in in that part of our work together as well and then create a true plan of action that is then achievable, right? You know, has smart goals. It’s measurable. You can be held accountable to taking the actions to reach your respective goals.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:08] Now, I think you brought up a great point, and this is part of why I’m a big believer in journaling, because journaling allows you to kind of go back in time and assess your past and and kind of audit it and hold yourself accountable to it. And a lot of times it’s going to bubble up some facts that you might have forgotten that actually demonstrate that. There’s nothing really to fear that most of the time you make good decisions and that most of the time that things do work out and that sometimes in your mind and especially in your memory, we humans tend to remember some negative thing and give that a lot more weight than maybe some positive things that they just take for granted over time. So I think auditing and writing down and and kind of just looking at the facts like you described is a great way to allay some of those fears that are a lot of times irrational.

Sallie Holder: [00:16:08] I couldn’t agree more. You know, another great exercise is just simply drawing a T-shirt on a piece of paper, and on the left side, you write down the word facts at the top of the chart and on the right side, you write down the word feelings. And if you are to take some of those events that you concluded were, you know, negative, then put them through that analysis and ask yourself, you know, is that statement one hundred percent true? And if it is 100 percent true, meaning that there is absolutely no exception to it, right? And some of those statements could be wild things like I am not a risk taker or I am bad at business or I, you know and not good at numbers, right? People make all of these kinds of conclusions about themselves, but you cannot say any of those are one hundred percent true all of the time. I bet you can find exceptions to each one of them, and if there is one exception, it means it is nothing more than a feeling. And so if you can designate it then as a feeling and not something that is an actual fact, then you can move on from it, right? You can choose to let it go and rely solely on the facts which are much more likely to be.

Sallie Holder: [00:17:33] I learned a lesson from this particular event that I am capable of, you know, working with numbers. I simply have not done it often, right? That’s much more of the fact. So whenever I am challenging someone to begin to just open themselves up to new ideas or open themselves up to coaching, right, the fact versus feeling chart is a great way to kind of begin that process, too, because we become so entrenched in our own opinions because they we create them to protect us, right? Just as I was saying, you know, the mind wants to help you stay in your little shell and cocoon and and be protected. But that’s not what the soul wants, right? Your heart and soul wants you to explore and be free, and you know when you can kind of get a little bit more control on your mind by using a few of these tricks, then you can feel that true sense of the freedom and fulfillment that you really desire.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:39] Right? There’s a saying, I think I’m going to butcher it, but it’s like the a ship is safest in the harbor, but that’s not what ships are meant to be doing.

Sallie Holder: [00:18:48] So true, I do love that one. I haven’t heard that in quite a while, but I completely agree. I want everyone to be doing what it is that they feel they were meant to do, and I think we all have that. When you asked a moment ago about how do you know if you’re in rock middle, you know, we all have that sensation. I think when we’re not pursuing our, you know, our calling that we’re something is off right, it even can be the smallest little indication like the smallest little seed that’s planted within you. And it makes you feel like there’s a part of you that you’re not sharing with the world at all. And you just don’t know how to go about watering that seed and growing it and, you know, getting to follow the real, authentic version of you. And but there is a path there absolutely is. And if you don’t know anyone else that has done that before and created that type of change to pursue their passion from a place of success, I get that so often like, yeah, but I’m making six figures. Well, so was I right? I get it. It’s hard to leave the finances, but let me tell you, I’m wildly more successful now than I ever was practicing law. Was there a bit of a time of significant fear? Absolutely. But but when you’re doing the thing that you’re meant to do, it will always pay you back in far greater rewards than you ever will get to experience when you’re doing something outside of your own personal alignment.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:30] Now, you mentioned earlier that the brim is kind of the go-to place for women entrepreneurs. Is there a kind of a category of women entrepreneurs that this is best for? Is it for solopreneurs? Is it for small firms? Is it for large enterprises like what is kind of the sweet spot for someone to get the most out of the brim?

Sallie Holder: [00:20:53] Sure. Our sweet spot, we typically say, is the woman who is in her kind of that two to five year range in business that she’s already figured out exactly what she wants to. Do and has begun that process of creating, you know, some of her revenue streams, but she now is looking to really take it to the next level, right? Elevate it, grow it past that initial six figure mark to seven and even eight figures. And what I had previously found is there are so many people out there serving, you know, the the new entrepreneur, the one that just wants the startup or the side hustle or the hobby. And that’s fantastic if that’s what you’re looking for. But I didn’t find I couldn’t find a place for female entrepreneurs that were really looking to say, OK, I’ve already done that. I’ve done the initial things. I’ve done the initial work to, you know, create an LLC in QuickBooks and do all my different things. And now I want to really turn up the volume. How would I do that? And that is what where I find that we are the most helpful, that we’re able to help you evaluate how you got to where you are now in business and how you can then incorporate, you know, additional revenue streams, whether they’re creating passive revenue for you or how you can significantly raise your prices, how you can reach a larger audience, how you can effectively. Fly higher and delegate to a team, so and all of those things are very necessary when you are typically in that two to five year range, we are looking to to say, I want this to be a seven and eight figure business, but no one’s giving me the roadmap to make that happen. And I find that we do both through all of the, you know, programs that you get that are you have unlimited access to. But we also have weekly coaching that we do with our members as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:04] Well, if somebody wanted to learn more, maybe get a hold of the book or just check out the different offerings you have. Is there a website?

Sallie Holder: [00:23:12] Yes, it’s grow with the brim and that’s EPRI IMDB.com so they can head to that or I am always on social media. You can find me at Sally Holder and my parents just liked to throw a wrench in that. So that’s Sally old age old. So Sally Holder on Instagram or grow with the Realme.com?

Lee Kantor: [00:23:40] Good stuff. Well, Sally, congratulations on all the success. We really appreciate you coming on and sharing your story today and you’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Sallie Holder: [00:23:50] Thank you so much for the time, I appreciate you too, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:53] All right, this is Lee Kantor. We’ll see all next time on Coach the Coach radio.

Christopher Salem With CRS Group Holdings, LLC

by

ChristopherSalem
BRX National
Christopher Salem With CRS Group Holdings, LLC
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ChristopherSalemChris Salem is an accomplished CEO, executive coach, world-class speaker, award-winning author®, certified mindset expert, radio show host & media personality, and wellness advocate.

He mentors business leaders and organizations to scale their brands and business by raising their level of influence as trusted advisors.

In addition, he provides custom solutions for enhancing corporate culture, improving workplace communications, increasing employee engagement, and exceeding customer requirements.

His book Master Your Inner Critic / Resolve the Root Cause – Create Prosperity went international bestseller in 2016. He also co-authored the recent edition to “Mastering the Art of Success” with Jack Canfield. His weekly radio show Sustainable Success is part of the Voice America Influencers Channel.

Connect with Chris on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • How we think differently from a growth mindset impacts each team member’s level of confidence and self-esteem
  • How we think will determine how we will “Be”, then to “Become, then to “Do”, and finally “Have” different and better results long term

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Coach the Coach radio brought to you by the Business RadioX Ambassador Program, the no cost business development strategy for coaches who want to spend more time serving local business clients and less time selling them. Go to brxambassador.com To learn more. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:33] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Coach the Coach Radio, and this is going to be a fun one today on the show, we have Chris Salem with Chris Group Holdings. Welcome, Chris.

Christopher Salem: [00:00:43] Pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:45] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about your practice. How are you serving, folks?

Christopher Salem: [00:00:49] Well, it’s great. It’s been an interesting year and a half, but it’s all been great. I’ve been as an executive coach in a corporate advisor trainer, also a professional speaker. We work with individuals one on one, both personal and professional development and helping them to scale their brands and businesses simultaneously and with companies. We really help work in building a winning team where we bring people together to leverage their strengths, offset their weaknesses, built an interdependent work environment where we use a growth mindset and core values as the foundation to bring that engagement at a higher level. And then we facilitate that through active listening, effective communication and transparent leadership. So this way it leads to not only higher engagement, higher retention, but more efficiency, productivity and, of course, profitability.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:41] Now you use the word interdependent. I’m sure that wasn’t an accident. Can you explain to the listeners why that’s beneficial?

Christopher Salem: [00:01:48] So what interdependent is? It’s the opposite of codependent. And unfortunately in our world, we live in a codependent society, meaning that we are dependent upon certain things or people to get things done. So what that means is that we fail in many ways to accept responsibility for our role in duties into making things more efficient. This can happen at the family level, at a community level and of course, at the business level. What interdependency means is that it’s like being independent where we own our role in duties, whatever that is in your business or your job title, or whatever that may be, and you maximize that. At the same token, you are also have a firm understanding of the other person or people you’re working with, their roles and duties. You have respect for yourself and theirs and how you can come together and leverage that at a higher level. So instead of that that you are dependent upon someone to just always be doing something for you, you can be the example and be a resource for others to do, do the same for them selves in their roles and duties. And this creates a higher level of engagement, and this leads to higher productivity and efficiency and any type of business situation.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:12] Now you mentioned earlier about the importance of active listening is the the level of empathy that is required in order to really kind of see the other, how the other side is benefiting or is feeling about something. How do you help folks with that? Because not everybody’s empathy gene is kind of working at the highest level.

Christopher Salem: [00:03:35] No, and you’re exactly right. Again, it’s conditions, right? We we we learn from what we learn from our environment. So a lot of these things go back to when we were children during our children development years. The reason why I know it was because I grew up in a codependent home and I learned being in a codependent home. I became a perfectionist. I also became passive and aggressive because of my own limiting beliefs. You know, these limited beliefs that went back to that disconnect with my father that wasn’t usually present in my life. And as a result of that, I went out of my way to please and enable people to do for them constantly. So I would get that validation. So, so in essence, empathy is something we have to be able to learn over time, and we learn this through others that are being the example and being a resource for us, meaning that they may refer us to watch a webinar refers to a certain article or blog, and through our our own communication and our behavior attitude, emotions that we keep in check and our course of action, people observe that just like a child observes their parent behavior and communication. And when we begin to make those shifts over time, so empathy is is being an example and being a resource for others to do the same for themselves, not pleasing and enabling someone. So empathy is something that we have to learn over time. And active listening is the result of really listening to relate and understand meeting people where they are in their current situations and be continuously to be that resource and that example to help them shift away from where they’re at to a better place where they could be more interdependent and then repeating that pattern that cycle to do for others in whatever capacity it is in your organization.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:25] Now, can you talk about your back story a little bit? You’ve mentioned some kind of aspects of it earlier, but how did you kind of build this methodology in this philosophy? It sounds like you have some scar tissue that helped that, but can you share a little bit about your journey to? Going from your your role, probably as a corporate or business person to now coaching others.

Christopher Salem: [00:05:50] Yeah, I mean, again, everything that I do as a coach and as a trainer and working with companies and business leaders individually. A lot of it goes back to not only my my own personal work experience, but also my just my experience, overcoming limiting beliefs and also being a perfectionist. I wrote an international best selling book in this particular area called Master Your Inner Critic. Resolve the root cause. Create Prosperity. And for me, I struggled for 30 years from operating from someone else’s values that were not my own. These core values that were somebody else’s, that was my father, because again, I needed his validation. They didn’t know that consciously. It was all subconscious. I was also, you know, my my way that my mindset was in the past, in the future. That was a fixed mindset. I operated from fear. It impacted my confidence level, my level of self-esteem, my ability to make swift decisions to take calculated risk and follow through with action. And because of that, I was always in this fight or flight state. And as a result, the only way I knew how to escape that over time was through certain addictive behaviors that also just compounded my issues. And being that passive aggressive and being a perfectionist didn’t help matters in terms of my relationship. So I constantly repeated this this vicious cycle of always being the victim of of of the expectations tied to outcomes that never came to fruition. So when I began, when I began to recognize that no matter what has happened in your life, even things that are beyond your control, it’s still our responsibility to own what we can control to make the changes to improve our own internal well-being.

Christopher Salem: [00:07:44] That’s going to allow us to be different to to become different, to then do different and then have better results. I had to change my way of thinking to be. And as a result of that, over time, I was able to shift away from codependent behavior to interdependent behavior and communications. I began to think in the moment rather than the past, in the future. It changed the way I was, was being to become to do and have. And of course, it led me from trusting the process of controlling what I can and what I know in the moment. Letting go of anything else that was beyond my control, that was somebody else’s emotions, behavior, attitude and course of action. Anything going on in the world that was in my happening in my industry, COVID, whatever that may be. And just focus in on what I could control and letting the results be a byproduct of that process. That change of thinking just really changed my entire life around in my business, and I began to see setbacks, challenges and obstacles as opportunities and blessings to become even more in my business and in my life. These are the things that I took, coupled with my skills and experience in working in other businesses that I take into my coaching and my training with organizations and business leaders alike.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:10] Now, if you were giving advice to other coaches, how do you kind of. Explain how you discern between therapy, coaching, consulting. Like, it sounds like there’s a lot of gray

Christopher Salem: [00:09:29] In the way. A little bit of gray, actually. Again, it comes down to the communication. People, I’m not saying therapy can’t help someone, but therapy is saying, OK, this is how you do it, you do this, this and this. But see, people aren’t necessarily going to listen when you tell them how, when or why to do something. Coaching. Effective coaching, again, everyone’s going to have a different definition of what coaching is, but effective coaching means that you are sharing, you’re not telling, you’re sharing. And empowering the person being coached to draw his or her conclusion, what that means to them in that moment. And they are learning to apply this for themselves over time. Through you being the example for them and being a resource as well. So it’s it’s a process that happens over time. So this is the difference between coaching and therapy in this viewpoint, and coaching is all about empathy and kindness. We’re not here. We’re not here to sympathize. To please and enable. We’re here to be a resource. Be the example and empowering people to learn to be accountable for where they are to move forward. So that’s how I approach my coaching, whether if I’m working with another coach to do that with developing their process to help their clients or if I’m working direct with a with a business leader or an organization. Same principles. It’s everything that we shared here.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:12] Now, having been in this business for a minute, can you share a little bit of how maybe the mindset of business leaders have evolved when it comes to coaching? At one point, coaching has been for a few a handful of people at the highest levels. Or maybe it was to fix somebody or thought to fix somebody that was having problems, but they were considered a high potential. Can you talk? Has it come to the point where coaching is now? Not nice to have, but almost a must have in in growth minded organizations?

Christopher Salem: [00:11:46] I think it’s imperative that coaching should be part of whether if you’re an individual or a business. I find that the organizations and people that have coaches that again are the example and a resource for them to grow are the ones that not only expand their personal lives and businesses to be the example, not in a resource for others, but it just helps them to achieve everything that they’ve aspired to do. We can’t necessarily do everything alone, but yet it’s still our responsibility to make that happen. But using the resources and systems and people that can help us to do that and we can learn to expand the way we think and to be more open, more transparent and and knowing that you know that you don’t have to be right in every situation. This is where we begin to learn and grow in how we again think differently, to be different, to become, to do and have different, better results. So and it’s also learning to have that consistency with developing a personal success foundation, having a set of daily disciplines and habits that are going to help not only change your way of thinking, but sustain it over time because it just like with anything, you do something more than ten thousand hours every day. It’s you’re going to get better at it. And these are the things that are going to help build that foundation to help sustain your, your personal success and as well as your business.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:21] Now, I don’t have any data to support this, but I would imagine, especially nowadays, when we’re going to a more remote work environment that having coaching as part of the culture of the organization would lead to organizations and people having kind of a just a more productive kind of work environment that’s helping everybody achieve what they have to achieve and also to help them get through something that they don’t feel like they’re on. In an island where, you know, when you’re remote, you’re not kind of having these serendipitous collisions that you might have in an office environment. But if you knew there was some threat of a coach that is helping people and trying to help you become the best you, I think you you’re going to have more loyalty to that organization and also probably perform at a higher level.

Christopher Salem: [00:14:14] No doubt about it. It’s so imperative again, if whether, if it’s virtual or in person, you know, a great coach understands that being the example of being a resource is to help another business leader, regardless of title, to become a coach within themselves to to be that example and resource for others. So it’s it is teaching others to become coaches in their own way, for others to then become coaches and then do the same and repeat that cycle. So coaching is an effective form of leadership. I mean, even to this day, that’s actually a leadership style. And many, many companies and organizations and individuals that are opening up are beginning to adopt that type of style. And, you know, sometimes it can be coupled with servant leadership and so on. And servant leadership isn’t about just going out of your way to please others first. No, because we don’t want to please anybody. We have to serve ourselves. You’re filling up your cup. So then you can then spill that over to others to do the same for themselves. So coaching is an effective way to. Help others become coaches in some capacity to keep creating more coaches. And it just keeps, you know, spreading the magic along the way, and I think every organization should have a coaching program that’s ongoing that’s going to help create, in this case, higher retention. And that’s going to lead to higher engagement, creating more interdependency, which will lead to higher production efficiency and of course, profitability long term.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:49] Now can you share a story? Maybe you work with somebody and explain the challenge they were having and that how you were able to intervene and help them get to a new level. Obviously, don’t name the name of the company or anything like that, but explain the kind of the challenge that they were facing and then how the actions you took and then where they ended up.

Christopher Salem: [00:16:09] Absolutely. Well, there was an organization that was in the health care space and this was about, you know, a company of about three thousand people. And we begin, you know, at the time, the person that I was working with was already bought into this process. This is a person that had had a strong discipline and a strong foundation of of of his own back to his military days. And as a result of that, we began to work with their management team because at the time there was a disconnect, there was miscommunication, very little engagement. There was a conflict that was brewing at various levels in different departments because of this lack of communication and lack of leadership. There was it was heavily codependent, by the way, and as a result of that, we had to start with one business unit at a time, starting with the management. And as we began to work with the management over time, we began to see the changes personally at that level. See, nothing will change unless somebody can personally experience it for him or herself. And as we began to do that and they began to see these personal changes, this began to reflect in their communication. They began to not base their communication on assumption and speculation and being judgmental and bias.

Christopher Salem: [00:17:28] They began to learn how to relate, to listen, to relate and understand versus respond. And they and as a result of that, that began to change the way people perceived things of what was being said through that communication, through that change in behavior. And they began to make those changes. So we began to see these changes happen in small doses and that we began to spread this from one business unit then to another and another and another where they began to see those changes. And as a result, we had KPIs key performance indicators that were in place to measure this. These changes, but also reflect how this was showing up in productivity, retention and profitability. And as a result, they began to see those changes over time and began to see the benefits of investing in this process over time. Because again, this doesn’t happen overnight. It’s like, you know, it’s like you have to undo things you’ve been doing all of your life, both personally and professionally. Then to kind of rewire, reprogram the way you think, then to be, to become, to do, to have. And this is as it has a ripple effect. That’s when you begin to see the changes and the results as a part of it.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:42] Now in your work, do you have a niche that you specialize in an industry or is your work kind of industry agnostic?

Christopher Salem: [00:18:49] It’s industry agnostic, but I tend to work with a lot of CPA firms because we have those issues that could be law firms that could be physician facilities like, you know, TSOs, dental offices and of course, small to midsize corporations where when you have about, you know, three thousand employees or less. Those are very manageable now when I’ve worked with a Fortune 500 company in this area. There’s going to be usually more layers, more red tape and a lot of times we may work with one business unit, but to kind of do an entire company would be a daunting task. I mean, I would have to bring in a huge team of people to do that, almost like the McKinsey’s of the world, but they’re the consultants. But at this level, I’ve had great success with small to midsize companies, right down to small businesses where we’ve been able to make those changes over time that committed to the process.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:42] Well, Chris, thank you so much for sharing your story today. If somebody wants to learn more, what is the website?

Christopher Salem: [00:19:48] My website is Christopher Salem. One word that’s Chris Top H.E.R. Essays. Please feel free to reach out there. You can also reach me an email at Chris Christopher Salem or feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. I’d love to get to know you and and learn about you and your business.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:11] Good step! Well, thank you again for sharing your story. You’re doing important work, and we appreciate you.

Christopher Salem: [00:20:16] Thank you so much for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:18] All right, this is Lee Kantor. We’ll see, y’all next time on Coach the Coach radio.

Salah Harrell With The Law Office of Salah Harrell, LLC

by

Atlanta Business Radio
Atlanta Business Radio
Salah Harrell With The Law Office of Salah Harrell, LLC
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SalahHarrellSalah Harrell is a native of Douglas, Georgia. She attended Georgia Southern University for her undergraduate degree and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Political Science.

In 2015, Salah began attending Howard University School of Law, where she received her Juris Doctor in May 2018. Salah joined a personal injury firm in October of 2018 as a law clerk and became an associate at the firm in May 2019.

In October of 2020, Salah started her own firm, The Law Office of Salah Harrell, where she specializes in personal injury and contract/intellectual property law. Salah is a member of good standing with the State Bar of Georgia.

Salah is also a member of the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys. In her spare time, Salah enjoys working out, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Connect with Salah on Facebook and LinkedIn.

About Our Sponsor

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Our award-winning customer service includes an accuracy guarantee, deep integrations with popular accounting software, and we’ll even enter all your employee information for you — whether you have five employees or 500. Take a closer look to see all the ways we can save you time and money in the back office.

Follow OnPay on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • Salah’s practice area and specialty
  • What makes The Law Office of Salah Harrell different from others
  • Why Salah became an attorney
  • How her services can benefit the general public

Shasheen Shah With Coherent Strategies

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Coach The Coach
Coach The Coach
Shasheen Shah With Coherent Strategies
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Author Shasheen Shah is the CEO of Coherent Strategies Consulting and Coaching.

For more than 20 years, he has delivered breakthrough results to successful leaders around the world, navigating business outcomes and the personal challenges that go hand in hand with the journey. High-achieving professionals from numerous Fortune 500 companies are but a few who have benefitted from Shasheen’s life-altering coaching skills.

Shasheen de-scribes his powerful new book, The Kid and the King, as “a one-part philosophical and three-parts tactical training approach to a very crowded leadership and personal development space, providing the reader with the best-field-tested strategies and exercises that have consistently produced results.

Connect with Shasheen on Facebook and LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • 5 questions of the Emotional Mastery Process

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Coach the Coach radio brought to you by the Business RadioX Ambassador Program, the no cost business development strategy for coaches who want to spend more time serving local business clients and less time selling them. Go to brxmbassador.com To learn more. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:33] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Coach the Coach Radio, and this is going to be a fun one today on the show, we have Shasheen Shah with coherent strategies. Welcome.

Shasheen Shah: [00:00:44] Thank you Lee, it’s great to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:45] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about coherent strategies. How are you serving, folks?

Shasheen Shah: [00:00:51] Well, the company Clearing Strategies is essentially a consulting and executive coaching company, if you were to call it anything but my primary role in my clients lives has been a trusted advisor. And typically these are CEOs and entrepreneurial CEOs that are growing and expanding their businesses, received a bunch of funding, may have had an exit. And you know, the kind of just look in the upper level, there are companies in their lives.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:21] So now what’s your back story? How did you get in this line of work?

Shasheen Shah: [00:01:24] It’s inarguable merger between my own work as a young man in the world at age 19 kind of found the world of personal development, and my work as an entrepreneur and as a consultant working for some large big box companies and somewhere around 2004 2005, after kind of working in larger corporations and on my own journey, I realized that. You know, business and strategy wasn’t the hard part. It was it was people that were the challenge and began talking more about the. Execute. Using strategies that CEOs were being challenged with. It wasn’t a strategy with the people in dealing with the people and having some of the more difficult conversations and handling those issues, and hung a shingle called Coherent Strategies at that time of the Newport Beach and had an opportunity to work with a couple of executive recruiting firms. And next thing you know, people started calling and I’ve been very fortunate been able to run a referral based company since then.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:36] Now, when you’re working with folks, especially when you’re kind of just launching a practice like yours, did you have kind of a formalized methodology? Did you just have some best practices that you learn from being a practitioner? Like, how did you kind of go about and coming up with the coherent strategy kind of way of doing things?

Shasheen Shah: [00:02:58] Yeah, it’s an interesting question. You know, there was a. It was a book that Hartman had written. The organization was called From Coherent, From Chaos to Coherence, and it really just struck a bell about conversations around alignment in general, and it was about personal alignment in our own brand and how we show up in the world and then alignment and strategy and look at teams and what was missing. It was a question of alignment. So. You know, I think it was a combination of much of the work that I’ve done in the past, there are various different organizations and programs and books that I’d read and a knowledge and kind of a knack for business strategy. So. I would arguably say the major skill set that I had at that point was really listening carefully and interviewing, well, interviewing the CEO and the company well and not really trying to offer a out-of-the-box solution, but trying to read between the lines and hearing what’s actually being said to address head on the concerns that were spoken and a lot of times a lot of the concerns that were not spoken by the leadership team.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:17] Now on your website, you use the words courageous inquiry. Yeah, sure, that was not an accident. It implies some kind of being the ability to be vulnerable and to be brave. And to be have some self introspection. Yeah, why is that important in order to be an effective coach or consultant?

Shasheen Shah: [00:04:44] Oh, I mean, you know, I think that was a statement more for my client. Client today that wish to get engaged with me, I think as a coach or a consultant, you know, if you can’t get down to. You know, the humanness and the individual person and get to that level of really understanding the back story behind how we got to where we are today. And my mom talking about like mommy and daddy issues and stuff when we were a kid and Johnny at the playground and all of that kind of stuff. If you are not willing to go there, I think ultimately it puts a cap on how much you’re able to grow and be an effective leader. You know, at the premise of my practice is, you know, if you can’t develop. You know, a level of compassion and love for your own self and your own journey. And some of the dramas and the quote-unquote traumas that you’ve experienced and we all go through them, you’re not going to be as effective as I think you can potentially be. And I say that with a footnote because. It’s arguable to say that what’s out there in the marketplace today are a lot of tips and tricks and strategies that I think are extremely effective. You know, you can walk across coals and pound your chest.

Shasheen Shah: [00:06:21] You can, you know, put things into a certain matrix and there’s some formulaic ways. There’s some discipline and accountability. And you know, there’s models and paradigms you can follow. And all of those, I think, are extremely effective. The. The part of my practice that became intriguing for me was really looking at the experience of life that that CEO or entrepreneur was actually having. And. You know, it’s kind of categorize the kind of the two principle personalities that seem to show up, and it’s either the dutiful good boy or good girl, you know, who checked off the boxes and did what they were supposed to do and gained the admiration of their peers and their society and moms and dads and family. And they’re, you know, fine young men and women. Or they’re there’s another version that seems to be more on the other end of the spectrum is more of the rebel who’s like, I’ll show you. You know, and I never got my fair shake or I didn’t come from the right side of the tracks or people made fun of me or told me I couldn’t do it and they didn’t have or whatever. And they basically set off in the left saying, You know what? I’ll show you what you think.

Shasheen Shah: [00:07:37] Let me show you. And both in both instances, they’ve they’ve produced inarguably, you know, incredible results, built companies and have beautiful things in their lives and live pretty cool lives. And yet the lens through which I got to see a lot of these lives were just it’s opened up this doorway to an experience of life that never really matched what I perceived that their life was actually like. And. That’s primarily the role that I have been playing, especially over the last five to 10 years with my clients is is cultivating kind of this more sustainable longevity of an experience of life because you think about all these people are their coaches and consultants or their business people, they’re just trying to grow and live these happy lives and the pathways there that they take. Sometimes that they these pathways are fraught with pitfalls. If if we’re not careful and a lot of the sacrifices made, you know, climbing up that ladder are sometimes unintended. And, you know, it becomes this very unsaid, I mean, one of my clients said, you know, he said to me, it’s like, Well, shall I say the least, I can afford you now. So he’s like, So what do we do? You know, so that’s that’s really where. Of my practices currently.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:01] So now do you find that they’re kind of leveraging your relationship and your coaching or consulting as a sounding board, as a devil’s advocate, as someone telling them hard truths? Are you there kind of to hold them accountable? Is it? And if that’s the case of any of those are true, what is typically the point of entry because all of those things are kind of. Tricky to market to the public.

Shasheen Shah: [00:09:35] Yeah, I. I can tell you guys are marketing, absolutely, it’s so funny you say that because it’s truly the reason why I haven’t been marketing myself. It’s been too tough a conversation to have with someone who has no context of who I am. And this is why I made a decision years two years ago to run as one hundred percent referral based companies. So typically no client will come through my door these days unless they’ve. Had some relationship with somebody that has gone through the work and and to answer your question directly, yeah, I mean, I even I would even say, you know, the idea of saying, you know, a coach, you know, consultant, I mean, it kind of makes me cringe a little bit sometimes when I hear that word because, you know, I mean, I’m a guy, I’m a human being, you know? And and the only reason I would say that people have kept me around and continue to call me and kind of tying back what you said about courageous inquiry is that, you know, I’ve gone there with them, you know, they’ve shared with me, they’re their their internal conversations. They’ve taken me back to the playground. They’ve taken me back to the I’m not good enough or I don’t belong or God.

Shasheen Shah: [00:10:52] My mom always wanted me or my dad used to get pissed off. And you know, I, you know, I you know where I grew up and how I grew up and my whatever my spiritual community, my neighborhood or whatever it might be that it’s influenced my life. And, you know, one of my clients has been with me. You know, I love what he says. You know, he’s been almost going on 10 years now. It’s like, Dude, I just love keeping you around. He’s like, You’re you’re a rounding error in my in my in my budget. And he said, you’re one of the most important pieces of it because in the, you know, typically I talked to someone once a week and I got a call from John periodically, and he and his whole thing is and it really helped crystallize what it is that actually happens in these relationships. And he says, Listen, I’m making multimillion dollar decisions, you know, periodically and to have someone in your corner, that’s not there to be a buddy. That’s not my wife or my husband. That’s not, you know, a quote unquote mentor, but like someone that I’ve trusted with all of this information about me and knows how I think when it comes to making important decisions, you’re damn straight.

Shasheen Shah: [00:12:00] I’m going to pick up that phone and call you and you know, you’ve saved me millions of dollars over the years. So he said, so for your fees, he’s like, It’s a no brainer for me. And it really crystallized that that’s I think all of us in our lives need somebody that’s not afraid to. Go there to challenge you and maybe uncomfortable ways, but doing that from a very informed place, and so the process of working with me is, I mean, we roll up our sleeves and, you know, we put on our boots and we walk around and, you know, kind of the fudge for a little while to see what’s there. And we pull all this stuff out. We lay it out on the lawn, let it air dry and we look around saying, Wow. Ok, I got it. Some of the stuff we can keep it, a lot of the stuff we can get rid of. And, you know, I think it’s through that process, that level of intimacy in the conversation that I would say provides the most value to the clients that keep me around.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:57] So now, I mean, that sounds fantastic, and I think everybody should have a person like you as part of the team. How, though, is it kind of sold like, do you? Is it a retainer? Is it something where they, you know, I mean, I don’t even know, like, I see the value. It’s not even a question of the value. It just had to communicate this to somebody and say, you need somebody like me around that’s going to, you know, trust me, just share all your stuff. I’m going to be there. I’m going to listen. I’m not going to be a yes man. I’m going to poke in all your ideas and you know, we’re going to be better together. But just trust me on this. Yeah, you can talk to, you know, 50 other people that have gone through it worked for them. I mean, but it just seems like a weird thing that someone signs on for. And I think but I think it’s brilliant. I mean, I don’t confuse my questioning for really interrogating you about this because I I want to be you. I would love for people to pay me to kind of hang out with them, to kind of really dig deep and and be empathetic and yet strategic and help them kind of get to a new level, you know?

Shasheen Shah: [00:14:13] So it’s a pleasure to meet you, and I know we don’t know each other, but you really are on the sweet side of it all, and you’re absolutely right. And. It is why, you know, the joke is, you know, it’s like, well, I’ve got a friend that I love, and she’s like, So what should I tell him? I said, You know what? Tell him to get on the phone with me, and we’ll chat for an hour and I’ll really find out what’s going on in that person’s life. And and it’s an interesting what how when we say it’s like, you know, I don’t know, get on. I don’t even know what he does. I don’t even know what she does. But you’ll either get it or it’ll be the click or it won’t click. And I’ll tell you something like, I arguably I don’t know. And this past year probably turned down more opportunities for coaching than I’ve taken on, and it’s primarily due to this one fact. And this is something I learned from one of the best salesmen of coaching. And, you know, because I was so perplexed about the sales process of coaching and for the coaches that are listening out here, you know, it really comes down to, I said, you know, listening and when when someone does find their way on a phone call with me, the number one thing that I’m trying to assess is that is there something at stake in this conversation for them? It’s like, you know, if this doesn’t change for them, you know, what’s the cost for them or is there something you know, it’s that pain pleasure? Is there some level of pleasure that they really, really want to achieve? And again, how I just want to make a million dollars or I want to find the love of my life for, you know, these these these blanket sounding good outcomes that they, you know, a lot of people will lead with.

Shasheen Shah: [00:15:58] But when you really get down to it, if I can really get like, what’s going on and see that there’s someone there that has access to a deeper, emotional, reflective part of their personality and there is something they do want to make a difference or, you know, they want to be there for their kids or they want to make a difference in their parents’ lives or their communities at stake, or there’s something like that. It’s amazing. It’s actually not a tough sell. It’s just like, Oh, wow, then the question is, do I trust this? Guy shot. And, you know, is this is this the guy that I don’t even know what this guy who he is, I’ve never met, I haven’t even met most of my clients face to face and or at least I don’t initially, you know, now today it’s more Zoom and Skype and FaceTime, but it would just be a phone call and you know what you started off with. I think that this courageous inquiry is that you know what I would if I were to just, you know, able to say, Well, it’s what my client has said. It’s like, You know what? You know, what I appreciate about you is I never feel like I’m being talked at, you know, one of the things. That I will do in just about every call that I have, every time I have a call is be there with them with a real world example, if not in, you know, a distant past, if not in a more recent past.

Shasheen Shah: [00:17:19] Just that day, you know of where I got triggered and how I’m navigating the world. And probably the this is just reminding me one of the highest compliments I think I’ve ever received from a client was this woman who just wanted to just, you know, grow her strawberries and build a strawberry farm. And it’s just huge executive. And she said, You know what? She’s like, You know what? I call you? She’s like, You’re my permission. It’s like, I just feel like it’s OK for me to just be the version of me that I’ve always wanted to be. And it sounds so Pollyanna, even when I say it out loud right now. But that’s the truth. It’s like there’s just the sense of you go to a therapist and there’s this wall you can’t really share as a therapist with their client, your own personal stuff. So there’s that wall. So you’re sitting there in a therapist’s office, you know, talking and sharing all your stuff while they’re just sitting there looking at you, giving you some, you know, frameworks to work with or you go to a consultant and consult will give you tips and tricks and strategies and ways of thinking about stuff. But it’s rare to find somebody. But when you can combine both of those and be there with you emotionally, be there with you strategically and just kind of get in the sandbox and play around with some stuff, and I think that’s truly the magic of the relationships that I cultivate and my practice.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:36] So now is there a sheen for sheen?

Shasheen Shah: [00:18:41] There sure is. There’s a team actually for me to take the small village of people, but yes, I do. I leave her off of I own coach and I have a couple of other people that serve in that capacity for me on a on a spiritual side as well, on the metaphysical side and then just from purely just mentorship basis as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:04] So now let’s talk for a minute about your new book, The Kid in the King. Tell us about that. And what was the kind of impetus to write a book?

Shasheen Shah: [00:19:14] Yeah, great question. You know, and I want to answer this in a way, also for four other coaches and other people to hear as well, you know, because years ago it was you well, she seemed to have a book. You have a degree. Do you have a you know? Well, you know, you should write a book, you get a podcast going, get a blog going and, you know, get that going. You know, it’ll give you credibility. It’ll do this. And I was like, I just it just it made my stomach turn. I just wasn’t really good at any of those things. And I tried Twitter and I tried social media. And you know, if you look at my social media, it’s like pictures of like, you know, butterflies and sunsets and the moon and my dog and being outdoors and kind of more lifestyle in photography and. I remember one of my mentors said to me, it’s like he’s like, listen, I was like, I can’t think about writing like, well, whatever you do, just just make sure it’s a value and don’t. Be another hack out there, just don’t don’t don’t write a book to write a book. And so this book has taken me six years, and it started with this idea of looking at the individuals, the difficulty. It was managing individuals within an organization.

Shasheen Shah: [00:20:25] And I was in Vietnam and I remember presenting for this huge company, and I was supposed to be an English speaking event and there was like five different languages in the room and it was almost a train wreck. I mean, it was the jet lag that was the morning I had two translators. I would speak for one minute, they would speak for seven, and at lunch I was just like, OK, I’m done. I don’t know what to do. Luckily, I had the small group of people that as a feedback group and one of the things that. Resonated with them the most with this idea of at any given moment, there’s this king inside of us that really is capable of incredible things. And yet the other side of us, there’s this kind of childlike tantrum upset, you know, emotional sensitive side that kind of just gets in the way and can wreak havoc at the most unsuspecting times. And so here I was, getting translated and getting, you know, just I mean, a train wreck of a presentation and I decided to just go with the kid in the king and just did literally one of my first acting performances on stage at the Hanoi Hilton. No kidding. And in front of about 250 people and characterize these two different people.

Shasheen Shah: [00:21:42] And I use the phrase back then like, who is doing the talking? Was it your kid that’s talking? Or was it the king? And through that came this this idea that. What I witnessed. Well, the book had been called, you know, why two really smart people do dumb things, why is it that, you know, I’m talking to a guy that’s got multiple degrees from Harvard and Stanford? You know, it’s just killing it in the world, business and financially, but can’t speak to his wife and kids or has got some addiction to alcohol. Or he’s got, you know, porn addictions or whatever it might be. And he can’t just seem to right side the ship in certain areas, but it’s killing it in other areas. So it was in a way of addressing this duality that I believe all humans have to be and deal with. And it was also my opportunity and attempt to to just challenge the notion of this really masculine kind of, you know, style of of of of achievement that involved, you know, this this conquer and crush and, you know, discipline and accountability. And you know, you know, you can overcome this stuff. And and I would argue that all of those, like I said before, are super effective in maybe getting the ball to move down the field.

Shasheen Shah: [00:23:08] But man, they just can rob you of so much of the experience. And the problem, especially with leadership, is if you’re a guy or a woman that has motivated yourself through like self-flagellation, guilt, shame and just crushing it. Well, you’re not going to have the ability to motivate and empower others without pulling out that same hammer that you use and the number one issue that I’ll deal with with a lot of my clients is going to be. Well, I just can’t get them to do what I need them to do, and we look at their communication strategy and how they go about achieving the results they have was by just beaten, beaten down on that kid inside of him. So the kid in the king, that hidden inner struggle was, how do we effectively deal with this confusion between these two incredibly polar opposite sides of our personality? And instead of trying to crush and conquer it, the premise of the book is to really kind of not only, like, understand it, let’s take it. Let’s go beyond awareness. We got to come to expect it like we have to wake up every day and know that there’s this gun that’s on our hip. And if we don’t holster that thing and make sure the safety’s down and be aware of the fact that even if I bump into the wall the wrong way, that thing can go off and either shoot me in the foot or shoot someone else inadvertently and cause havoc, unintended right and an unintended way.

Shasheen Shah: [00:24:42] And so the idea of understanding this relationship differently. Finding a more, you know, a less adversarial and more loving relationship between the sides. Learning how to predict and see and anticipate that part of us coming down. You know, it’s like a pitch that’s coming high and outside, you know, you’re just not going to swing at it anymore. It’s like, I know what that looks like. I’m not going to take the bait. That’s where the kid and the king really was. That’s what the conversation of the kid in the King was really designed to bring forth is let’s let’s. Understand this in a different way, because if we really want to be effective, if we want to play the long game, if we want healthy relationships, if we want to have joy in our life, if we want to stop fighting and stop being so damn exhausted and tired, it got to learn to have some compassion and love for that part of us that got created when we’re just really, really young. So long answer, but that’s the heart of it.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:39] Now, is it written as a fable? Is it written as a business book? Like, what is the style of the writing?

Shasheen Shah: [00:25:46] I mean, it’s it’s so it’s I can I guess it would call like, you know, one part memoir, part tactical, you know, and maybe, you know, the other part is philosophical. So it’s a lot of, you know, one of the readers of the book early on, you know, I think one of the nicest things that I’ve heard said about it is like, you know, saying it’s great because you’re not talking about stuff. You’re talking about your own experience with these principles. And it’s just great. You know, it’s you out there surfing or skiing or in an avalanche or just traveling around. And it’s just kind of a hands on book. But it is. It is built with. It starts off with like a three minute exercise to just understand the duality, there’s an opportunity to understand the five questions of the emotional mastery process that I outline. There’s exercises about dealing with and writing a letter to your kid. We actually go there in this book. It’s like you write a letter to your kid, you name your kid and you write a letter. It’s quote unquote inner child work. I guess. I don’t know. I’m not. I’m not qualified to call it what it is, but it it goes there about your childhood experiences. There’s an opportunity to write a letter to your parents and really deal with any unreconciled anger, frustration or issues around things with your with your parents of origin or the surrogates that you had when you were growing up to really just polish off any little rust you may have.

Shasheen Shah: [00:27:06] And it’s not about being fine anymore. I’m I’m fine with that. That was a long time ago. Why are you making me write this letter? It’s about, you know, people that are really looking for that X Factor. So it goes to all of those places and then concludes with, you know, some more exercises of now that you’ve got that stuff out of the way, you’re not trying to be good enough and lovable, like, what do you really want? I mean, I think I mean, it’s funny for the coaches out there. I mean, you probably agree with this like the three hardest questions anyone’s got to answer for themselves. What do you want? Why do you want it and what are you willing to do to get it to really answer that question? What do you want? I mean, really authentically without being some like Sarah, I just want to save the world and I want to make an impact, I want to make a difference and you know, I mean, I think ultimately if we’re not really careful what’s underneath all that, I just want the world to think positively.

Shasheen Shah: [00:27:53] I want to look good. I want to sound good, I want to be admired. It’s really selfish at the heart of it. And so dealing with that and putting that into context, I think. You know, really allows for a different kind of expression to be available in the world. And that’s what this book takes on. It takes that on. So it’s it’s been ambitious and it’s taken 60 years. It took an entire rewrite during COVID because I read it and I almost threw up with my own writing because it was just bleeding and full of I was like, Oh my God, stop. It’s like, did my kid write that book? And so I got to rewrite it from the king’s perspective this last year. And, you know, I went through the whole thing with HarperCollins and all these different publishing houses, and it was like, Oh, we can get it out in twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four. I was like, You know what to say, print. So I hit self-published and it’s out there now, so I’m thrilled to have it out there. I’m proud of the work that it is. And, you know, I think it’s not for everyone, but if you’re ready, I think it can make a profound impact for you and the people that you love.

Lee Kantor: [00:28:55] Well, sashaying, thank you so much for sharing your story. And I just really appreciate how you’re trying to bring humanity back into business and to and just never forget that we’re all human beings. And to give each other grace, give yourself grace. And we’re all kind of I like to look at us. We’re all kind of experimenting and we’re all trainees and we’re all doing the best we can. And it’s OK to say that, and it’s OK to not know all the answers. No matter what you think, everybody thinks you should know it’s OK to ask for help and to have someone like you in their corner is a gift and it’s great talking to you.

Shasheen Shah: [00:29:37] Absolutely. You know, you’re a very intuitive interviewer, and I really appreciated the time today, thanks for the great questions the opportunity to share with the audience.

Lee Kantor: [00:29:45] Well, if somebody wants to learn more about your practice or get their hands on the book, what’s the website?

Shasheen Shah: [00:29:50] It’s Sina.com, it’s my first name, and all my social media is at Shashi, and let me spell it for you. It’s S.H. a s h e n as in November, Sachin dot com or at Chasin you’ll be able to find me and the book name is the kid and the king. The hidden inner struggle high achievers must conquer to reignite and reengage with life.

Lee Kantor: [00:30:15] Good stuff. Well, thank you again for sharing your story. We appreciate the work you’re doing.

Shasheen Shah: [00:30:21] Thanks, Doug. Take care.

Lee Kantor: [00:30:22] All right, this is Lee Kantor Willis, our next time on Coach the Coach radio.

Rick Goddard With The Southern Brewing Company

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Atlanta Business Radio
Atlanta Business Radio
Rick Goddard With The Southern Brewing Company
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It was started with a conversation and notes on the back of a napkin. Founders Rick Goddard and Brian Roth met in Washington, DC. while lobbying for the beer industry. They shared a passion for unique beers with local flavor and wanted to bring something new to Athens.

After five years of research and planning, they broke ground in August of 2014 then rolled up the garage doors to the public in May 2015.

Since the first batch came out of the tank three years ago, they’ve grown from less than ten employees to more than thirty. They’ve created over fifty unique beers with a variety of local ingredients.

They’ve done dozens of collaborations with wonderful folks from around the southeast and a few from even farther away. Through all of this, they’ve grown and learned. Most importantly, they’ve enjoyed every minute they’ve shared with Athens.

Hospitality is the cornerstone of the Southern Brewing Company. They are and always will be focused on relationships within the brewing industry and our community.

They’re passionate about crafting traditional and wild beers with local character while fostering collaborative learning and celebrating our families, our community, and our Southern culture.

Follow the Southern Brewing Company on Twitter.

What You’ll Learn in this Episode

  • Small Business – point of sale system
  • Business during COVID-19

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