Business RadioX ®

Jeremy Shapiro With Bay Area Mastermind

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Bay Area Business Radio
Bay Area Business Radio
Jeremy Shapiro With Bay Area Mastermind
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Leah-Davis-Ambassador-logo1In his role as a mentor and coach to entrepreneurs at Bay Area Mastermind, serial-entrepreneur Jeremy B. Shapiro helps small business owners make the transition from “solopreneur” to “business owner” – an important distinction that many entrepreneurs can easily miss when working “in” their business instead of “on” their business.

Since 1998, through structured masterminding, one-on-one coaching, and consulting work, he has been helping entrepreneurs discover the core strengths in themselves and their business, and realize their true potential combining passion and expertise to grow their businesses and attain the freedom they deserve.

Connect with Jeremy on LinkedIn and follow Bay Area Mastermind on Facebook.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • Self employed vs. a true business owner
  • Most common mistakes founders make when trying to scale their business
  • How entrepreneurs can prevent the all too common “burn out”
  • The difference between working IN your business and working ON your business

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in the Bay area. It’s time for Bay Area Business Radio. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:18] Lee Kantor. Here, another episode of Bay Area Business Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Jeremy Shapiro with Bay Area Mastermind. Welcome.

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:00:29] Thanks so much for having me. This is great.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:31] I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about Bay Area Mastermind. How you serving folks?

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:00:36] Yeah, what we’re doing is we’re helping out our local Bay area entrepreneurs, business owners and founders really connect and get together for a full day of working on their business, as opposed to the day to day work in their business. And that lets our members connect, scale and really grow together.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:51] So what’s the genesis of the idea? How did this come about?

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:00:55] Well, I’ve been part of mastermind groups myself for decades. Some groups are remote. You hop on a plane and fly somewhere exotic for a few days, you know, a few times a year, other times more casual, sort of weekly, like accountability calls or get togethers. And those haven’t really served the needs that I was looking for in my businesses and the structure we put together for the Bay Area Mastermind of meeting once a month for a full day right here in downtown San Jose, lets us get into what’s really going on in our own businesses and uncover the blind spots for each other, and provide that expertise and peer advisory that comes from hanging around with like minded, growth focused, lifelong learners.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:31] Now, for folks who aren’t familiar with the concept of mastermind, do you mind sharing a little bit of a primer on what it is and how it kind of came about?

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:01:41] Yeah, the topic or the idea of a mastermind really came from author Napoleon Hill when he published this Think and Grow Rich book back in 1938. One of the titles he had there, chapter ten, is called The Power of the Mastermind, The Driving Force, and this really is where he exposes this idea of titans of industry getting together and helping each other out. And this structure lets individuals uncover the blind spots for each other and provide that real peer advisory. As an entrepreneur can get lonely at the top, you don’t really have that kind of honest, candid feedback you need from customers, from vendors, from family, friends and so on. So when you’re with other folks who are also in that same boat on that same journey, you can get that unbiased, real feedback. People who don’t mind asking the tough questions and don’t mind lending their superpowers and deep areas of expertise to help you get unblocked and move forward in life and in business.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:37] Now, it sounds like you’ve been kind of experiencing several different iterations or variations of a mastermind. Tell me about how you were able to kind of pick your favorite parts, or maybe the most effective that you found, and then build this into kind of your unique spin on a mastermind, like for the person who doesn’t understand or really maybe of experienced the variety, you know, like you mentioned, there are some that are kind of leads clubs. Some are just about, you know, support and accountability. Some are really, you know, noncompetitive people trying to grow their business. There’s there’s a lot of flavors to this. And talk about how you were able to kind of cherry pick your favorite parts or best parts that you find most effective into your the one that you’re doing.

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:03:23] Business owners have long had groups available to them, just like the ones you’re describing. From leads, groups and networking groups to referral groups to just networking groups and social events and everything in between. A mastermind is really special and different from that, and when we look at what the best parts are from the sort of various formats and styles of mastermind groups out there, what I’ve found really matters is one that you’ve got the right people in the room with you, right? You don’t want to be the biggest fish in the pond, as it were, and so far ahead of everyone else that you can’t get much value from the group and the experience they have to share. And on the flip side, you don’t want to be the smallest guy in the room where you don’t have much to contribute or share with the group. So you’re looking for that like minded group of folks at a similar stage of business as to where you’re at, and we are really intentional about how we curate that and how we attract the right kinds of members to our group. Second, it’s important to us that within those members we have, like I shared, lifelong learners and people who are focused on self improvement, business improvement, and want to grow and scale and be the best version of themselves with the best version of their business that they can have. So within that, when we look at sort of the weekly cadence that typically is too frequent and those meetings are usually too short to really get a chance to deep dive into the heart of what’s going on in an individual’s business. On the flip side, the larger destination groups where you’re getting away for, you know, a week, once or twice a year, maybe three times the entire business can change.

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:04:47] So by the time you show up, people have sold their business, launched a new business. Things are drastically different over the course of, say, six months. So one of the best practices we found was that meeting cadence of once a month for a full day that gives us time to implement and execute on our accountability items, where we hold each other accountable. And it lets you actually make real change in the business, much more that you can make in a one week period and less than you do in a six month period. So that cadence, I found, is one of the best practices for how often to meet. And lastly, when you look at like the free groups or coffee accountability groups that maybe meet for 30 up to at the most 90 minutes once a week. Those typically have a higher turnover because they’re usually free to very low cost. And as a busy business owner, if you’ve got something recurring on the calendar showing up to talk to a few friends that you do every single week, sometimes the fires of the day become more important and so members don’t really show up. There’s not much skin in the game. It’s a very low barrier to entry. So by having an actual financial investment as well as the time investment, you’re able to find folks who find value in the group and each other and are willing to invest the time, as well as the money in being part of the right kind of group of folks just like them, who also want to grow and scale.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:02] So how many groups are you running?

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:06:06] Um, so it depends how we look at that. We have, um, we have our core groups that are for our scaling business owners. Um, this past year, we actually just kicked off a founders group as well for a much earlier stage businesses. And we also have folks we work with virtually, as well as folks that we, you know, we coach and consult in terms of an actual group size. What we found is you can’t let a group get too big. That’s the point where we actually want to split off and have a new group that’s not just an oversubscribed group like you’d find in sort of one of those destination groups, like we were talking about before, those you can have more members in.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:40] So now when you’re building the group or curating the group, what are some of the at least red flags for you? Like, you know, I’m sure you don’t want people that are transactional, that are, you know, kind of jerks, like you’re trying to create a group of similarly valued people that appreciate this experience and not, you know, one to dominate it.

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:07:06] Yeah, that’s spot on. Qualifying for the right people is really important. Everyone has their industry or trade groups they can go to to find more people who are just like themselves doing the same thing the same way. By consciously curating a diverse group, we get what I call the cross pollination of ideas, and this is where you get members sharing best practices in their industry with other individuals in a different industry, where they can really pivot and do something different than everybody else. So I’ll share an example I love in this space, you have an e-commerce company who’s selling purely online. They then hear about an offline retail business who’s doing direct mail. Right now you have one business who’s doing one style of marketing and a different business doing an almost opposite style of marketing. The two of them are then able to see what the other one is doing, ask questions about that, get access to resources, best practices, do’s, don’ts, and so on. So we’re looking for that range of businesses and range of superpowers and areas of expertise. In terms of characteristics, we want to make sure that our members are well read. They enjoy reading. They’re actively reading. We’re all lifelong learners. We’re all voracious readers, right? We are individuals who invest in ourselves, who go to conferences, who take courses, who are always learning and trying to be that better version.

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:08:20] So we screen for that. We’re also looking for folks who won’t just get value from the group, but who are able to contribute value as well. So part of our screening process we have for our test drives is we’re looking for what are those areas of genius, or what are those areas where a business owner is seeing success that they be able to lend some expertise in the group? It’s not just about there being, you know, a linear one person is ahead of somebody else overall and able to help others up. It’s a matter that everyone has different areas of expertise and superpowers. So when it comes to marketing, you’ll have some members who have deep expertise. Others have deep expertise in sales, others in hiring and retention, and others in finance and so on. So depending on what a member needs, we’re looking for that range of skill sets and that range of superpowers that can really help to have that that lively peer advisory. And we want folks who are open to being lovingly and respectfully challenged around their blind spots and are open to seeing the opportunities others see within themselves and within their businesses.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:19] So walk me through. Um. Say, I raised my hand and I’m like, Jeremy, I’m curious. Um, how do I get involved with this mastermind group? How do I, you know, throw my hat into the ring? What do I have to do?

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:09:32] What we found experientially. And this goes back to one of your questions earlier about best practices, is it doesn’t make sense for someone to join a group blind they’ve never been part of before, or had a chance to experience. On that same note, it’s unfair to a group to just tell them, hey, here’s somebody new who’s just in the group. So what we put together is our test drive process. So when someone heads over to Bay Area mastermind.com, you can start an application. And that application, even the questions that we asked during that, those questions themselves can be eye opening and can help you see some opportunities in your business for where you are and where you’re going. Once that application is in, we hop on the phone, we go over that application and better understand what you’re looking for in a mastermind group and see if there’s an opportunity to serve or to point you in a direction where someone can help you out. And if it looks like there’s there’s a good fit, we invite you to our test drive. So for a reduced fee, it lets you join us one time for a full day and really experience what it’s like to have a hot seat to to feel that joy and thrill that comes from providing insight and advisory to others and really experience that full day with us. And at the conclusion of that, if we feel that you’d be a good fit for the group, and if the group feels the same and you feel the group would be a good fit for you, then we extend the offer to join us and become a member with us longer.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:47] Tum now what is that day agenda typically, uh, how does it flow?

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:10:54] The biggest thing we do throughout the day, and where most of our time is focused, is on our member hot seats. Within each hot seat, there are four main things that everyone’s going to be covering for you. If it’s your first time test driving with us, it’ll be a little bit about who you are, what you do, and all that. For the rest of our members who are returning, they’ll be going over accountability items and what’s been accomplished over the past month. And then what everyone’s really sharing, and it’s in varying formats, but there’s three major points beyond that. One is what’s working, two is what’s not, and three is where you need help. So this is where, you know, we’ve had members share, for example, challenges that they’ve had with a marketing campaign that didn’t go the way they wanted it to, and they would love some feedback on why. Or they’ll share the lessons learned from that. You might find someone else who is sharing about a new hiring process they put into place that’s working really well, and walk the group through what that looks like. And what I think is really interesting is everyone who comes into the room usually has some big question, some big ask, some big block, and they’re looking for insight on that. And they go in with the idea of success is getting an answer to that question. But where I see the biggest aha moments, I see the pens scribbling the most. I see people’s eyes go wide and the smile creep across their face. That always happens during everybody else’s hot seat. It’s when other members are sharing what’s going on in their business, what’s working, where they need help and so on that you see those sparks really ignite, and entrepreneurs take note and ask those questions of digging a little deeper. See, these hot seats aren’t just a one way presentation. They’re facilitated conversations. And so it’s a chance for members to ask questions and get that guidance they need in their own business based on the experience of others who’ve been there and done that.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:31] Now, when you started this concept, how did you get kind of that initial group together? Was it just your peers or people you’ve just met over the years? How did you kind of build this from scratch?

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:12:43] Yeah, we were sort of in like the shadows for quite a while. It was people we know, people we connected with who shared this is really what they were looking for. And they’ve been they’ve been looking for a mastermind group to help them out. Generally, people who found us or knew about this had already read Napoleon Hill’s books, knew this idea of looking for a mastermind, or they heard about that concept somewhere else, and they then wanted to find a local to the Bay area mastermind group that they could join. And the Bay Area Mastermind is exactly that. So we filled a pretty unique gap that’s in the marketplace. There’s plenty of networking groups and founders groups and things like that to meet other people. But again, the focus there is usually networking. It’s not so much on the true mastermind concept of sharing what’s really going on in your business, both the wins and the failures. As an entrepreneur, it’s lonely at the top. There’s not a lot of folks you can celebrate your big successes and wins with. And the flip side, there’s not a lot of people you can share your real challenges and blocks with, and the mastermind group provides that safe environment to be vulnerable and share what’s really going on and have people celebrate your successes and help you out with your challenges.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:48] Now, having been involved with these type of entrepreneurs over the years, have you kind of learned some maybe do’s and don’ts for an entrepreneur to maybe prevent them from making some mistakes when they’re beginning to scale their business? Have you gotten any advice for those entrepreneurs?

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:14:08] A lot of entrepreneurs get started because they were a technician doing something at a different business, and they decide they want to go do it on their own. Right. This could be you’re a chef at a restaurant and decide you want to open your own restaurant. You could be a plumber and decide you want to open your own plumbing company. You could be an SEO expert working at an agency and decide to open your own company and so on. Right? That’s a common path that entrepreneurs take of hanging their own shingle. What they don’t realize, though, is that at some point you think you have a business, but you’re actually self-employed, and if you step away from the business, it would fall apart and the business is too dependent on you. So one of the first areas of growth that we focus on with folks, with their earlier stage, is this idea of moving beyond just a few team members they have and actually scaling up the systems and the people so that as the founder, as the entrepreneur, as the business owner, you can really step back from the business and have it continue to grow.

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:14:58] This lets you work on the bigger picture, bigger picture, vision, leadership, and the areas of life that you want to spend your time that the business should support. So to your question about some of the common, uh, things that come up, it’s often entrepreneurs being their own block, thinking nobody can do it better than they can, and not wanting to hire people to do the jobs they’re doing in the business. Um, and the second is not having the right systems in place to scale. And then the third big piece, I would say, is not having that peer advisory and that feedback to provide shortcuts and uncover those blind spots when you’re in a great peer group of other business owners, founders and entrepreneurs who’ve been there and done that, they can show you those pathways to get to where you want to get to sooner, because they found ten ways that don’t work and can share with you the one way that does. And you don’t have to go through all that yourself. You can really learn and leverage the knowledge of others.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:52] Um, do you find that people who don’t have mastermind groups or boards of advisors or anything like that, what’s the kind of the fear that’s holding them back in that area? Or are they just do they have some imposter syndrome? Do they think that they don’t have anything to share? Like, what is kind of the psychological rationale for not participating in something like the Bay Area Mastermind?

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:16:16] It’s fascinating to me how many entrepreneurs truly suffer from imposter syndrome. You know, the classic example is everyone sees the duck floating effortlessly across the surface of the water, not realizing all the turbulent craziness going on underneath the water, with the feet paddling in the water swirling and everything going on, they just see the duck effortlessly floating across the water. It’s the same thing often with Entrepreneurships. The outside view from the world is that a business owner is successful and doing well, and they’re living on Easy Street, and they have no idea what’s really going on behind the scenes and just how challenging it can be to be a founder and entrepreneur. And for many founders and entrepreneurs, they know just how difficult it is, and they lose sleep over the decisions they have made or need to make and the challenges that come from running your own business. But the outside world doesn’t see that. So there is an element for sure, of imposter syndrome and thinking there’s nothing to contribute yet when we actually look at a business and look at all that a business owner has done right, there’s usually a lot of deep expertise that an entrepreneur has that they have blinders on to. As entrepreneurs, we see the mountain in front of us, of all the things we need to do and all the things we need to get done, and it’s easy to lose sight of all that’s actually been accomplished. And so in a mastermind setting, we celebrate those accomplishments, and we start each meeting off by going over one really big win from this past month.

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:17:40] And when we take a look in the rear view, we can see just how much has been done. So in terms of what stops folk, stops folks from seeking out or joining a group, yes, for sure there’s a bit of imposter syndrome. And to that I’d say complete an application. Let’s talk about your business. I know there’s some wins there and some really important lessons learned, even in big challenges. And trust me, as an entrepreneur, you have a wealth of knowledge to share if you’ve made it. As far as calling yourself an entrepreneur, that’s really big. On the flip side of that, there can also sometimes be a bit of, um, believing you know it all and can do it all yourself. And this is usually the founder who thinks they can’t find the right people, who can do the job as well as they can, let alone better. And trust me, you always want to be hiring people who are smarter than you and better at you in each area of your business, and so if you think you know it all, then that generally means you’re not as open to hearing feedback from others. It also means you’re not generally open to asking the vulnerable questions about what can really help you out and getting unblocked, and that can prove challenging. So those kinds of folks don’t typically seek out that kind of peer advisory input. And they generally, if they do, um, can dominate in providing feedback and not being open to receiving any of it. And so again, that’s kind of what we screened for in that application process.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:58] Now, is there a story you can share of maybe somebody who came to the group as a skeptic or just said, oh, I’ll just try it. And but we’re not really 100%. It sold and then was able to get maybe some achievement or got to a new level, you know, as I don’t want to say a surprise, but maybe it it kind of did surprise them on the power of this kind of a group.

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:19:22] Yet thematically, I find these surprises always people are coming in looking to get unblocked in one area, and the delightful surprise is that they found their their their business family. They found others like themselves they didn’t even realize were out there. And they got insight into areas they didn’t know were even challenges within the business. We all have an idea of the things that we know. We sometimes think we know. Some of the spots where we could improve in areas of things we don’t know. But the biggest opportunities I’ve found time and time again are in the areas that we didn’t know, we didn’t know anything about. And that’s really where that period advisory can help out. So yeah, to your question about like individual stories, I can think back to one of our members who joined us and, you know, was on that fence of like, hey, let’s see what this mastermind group is all about. You know, they looked at, for example, coaching, they talked to coaches, they talked to consultants. They’d, uh, talk to some online communities. And they were curious sort of where a mastermind group fit within that. And their question sort of came down to afterwards of like really seeing the difference between group coaching and a mastermind group. But the value they found was not just in the facilitation, but in the openness and willingness of other members to to challenge some of those basic mindsets. So sometimes we’ll come up. The biggest limiting factor is an individual’s mindset in terms of how much they charge or what they’re worth, or what the value is of their customers. See, so we had we had one member who joined us who had his his billable rates relatively low, but thought for himself. He was pretty high. And that sort of he priced himself mentally based on what he thought he was worth.

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:21:06] And so the group lovingly challenged that and said, your prices should actually be quite a bit higher. And the response to that was along the lines of, well, when I get to X number of customers, then that will justify raising the price. And we said, well, that’ll justify it to you, but to your prospects, they don’t need you to have a certain number of customers. That’s just you getting comfortable with the idea. And so we were able to help as a group unblock that mental. Uh, limit and limitation of what his time was worth until he was able to go out there and raise the prices and like, right off the bat, that increases profitability in the business and not just top line revenue, just simply that little change we provided, you know, um, product feedback to businesses that are looking to launch a new product line. We had a member in our group who, uh, you know, when he came in, had one business model, which was successful. It was also kind of dated. And so as a group, we were lovingly prodding this, bringing the business model into a modern style, SAS, a software as a service platform, as opposed to the business model that was there before. Um, and that idea was met with some resistance. But when that member came around to the idea, a whole new business was launched. That business went on to double revenue every single year, and that became that next big business in the older business was suddenly the side business. And that’s just one of many, many stories we have of wins folks get from, you know, being part of the group and being open to the feedback and advisory from others.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:36] So if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team or get Ahold of that application, what’s the website? What’s the coordinates?

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:22:45] Yeah. Head over to Bay Area mastermind.com. You can find out more about our group, what the meetings are like, upcoming events. You can submit that test drive application. And even if you’re not sure if the group is a fit for you, the application process itself will be eye opening in terms of the questions we ask, and that’ll give you an idea of what we’re looking for. And then from there, we hop on a call and go over that. And if there’s an opportunity that, you know, looks like it’s a fit for you, we’d welcome you to join us for a test drive. And if not, that’s great. We’ve got a ton of great resources that we can share with you to help you on that journey of entrepreneurship. We’ve been there before. We’ve been running the groups for quite a long time. We’re not going anywhere anytime soon. And you’re not alone on the journey. We’re here with you.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:24] Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Jeremy Shapiro: [00:23:29] Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:30] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Bay Area Business Radio.

Rob Lucido With Magnit

by

Atlanta Business Radio
Atlanta Business Radio
Rob Lucido With Magnit
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Magnit™ is a global leader and pioneer in contingent workforce management. Their industry-leading Integrated Workforce Management (IWM) Platform is supported by 30+ years of innovation, modern software, proven expertise, and world-class data and intelligence.

It enables companies to optimize talent and diversity goals while achieving operational and financial success. With Magnit, companies can adapt quickly to the evolution of work to grow their extended workforce with greater agility, transparency, and speed.

Rob Lucido is proud to serve as Senior Director of Strategic Advisory at Magnit. He has dedicated his career to helping organizations optimize their workforce and achieve their strategic goals.

With extensive experience in providing actionable insights and advice on talent management, recruitment, retention, and organizational design, he’s adept at delivering solutions that drive business results.

His expertise in market intelligence, data analysis, and workforce planning enables him to create customized strategies tailored to each client’s unique needs. As a thought leader in the industry, he has a proven track record of developing innovative solutions that help organizations stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly changing business landscape.

Professionally, he has over a decade of experience within the investment management industry, workforce analytics consulting with a particular focus on leadership, performance reporting, accounting and operations. He’s held senior management positions in financial operations, business operations and technology with a proven track record in Contingent Workforce Management and Financial Services, improving business processes and building high performing teams to deliver results.

Connect with Rob on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Introduction to his role and Magnit
  • Where Magnit gathers their data fro
  • What workers fall under the category of workforce extended
  • Big population of contingent workers and new hires in Atlanta
  • Trends in Atlanta’s labor market

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by On pay. Atlanta’s new standard in payroll. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:25] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio, and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, Onpay. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Atlanta Business Radio, we have Rob Lucido with Magnit. Welcome, Rob.

Rob Lucido: [00:00:43] Hey Lee, happy to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:44] I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about Magnit. How you serving folks?

Rob Lucido: [00:00:49] Yeah, sure. Uh, at Magnit, we are a third party organization that manages, really the entire non-employee workforce through software and services platforms and man, gosh, over 124 countries now for over 600 and fortune 202,000 companies. You know, really we manage what the extended workforce, which is known as, you know, freelance workers, the gig economy temp or short turn positions. And we manage that workforce across pretty much every sector in the business today. So really we kind of view ourselves as a global leader, a pioneer in the contingent workforce management space. And really at our core mission, we enable companies to optimize their talent, their diversity goals, and really helping them achieve operational and financial success through that extended workforce. And, you know, specifically for me, I manage a team in our strategic advisory department, and I have a fantastic global team of consultants. And really our objective is using our business intelligence platform, informing our clients through analytics and our leading market intelligence to customize data analysis for them, providing insights and best practices that pertain to that workforce and help them kind of navigate those hiring trends that, uh, top of mind for a lot of organizations today.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:13] Can you share a little context on, like, what for these larger firms, which I’m sure I mean, you mentioned that you work with quite a few of the largest firms in the planet or the country at least. What is kind of the ratio between their, you know, traditional employees that are their employees and their contingent workforce?

Rob Lucido: [00:02:32] Yeah. No. Great question. And it really varies from organization to organization. I think if you look at the, the, the broader economics of it, just recently, I think the most recent report around 2023, in the United States alone, 40% of the workforce today is probably that contingent labor. And so really what that workforce is, it’s, you know, it’s staffing agency, temp workers or crews working in warehousing, you know, self-employed data architects that are working on, say, like a project in it. You might have like a demand generation specialist being payrolled by like a third party payroll E and and then it can go into what we call SSW or statement of work. And that’s where you have a member or a team of, let’s say, engineering consultants working under a contract for a company, for their engineering department. And what this workforce does is it really offers greater business agility. There’s significant cost savings driven by this workforce, and you really gain an edge in talent acquisition through it. Uh, just as this ever changing workforce evolves, where individuals want to work on their own terms in a sense, and have the flexibility to move across business organizations and upskill their talent needs. And, you know, I’d say, uh, in today’s market, too, especially as we kind of roll out of this pandemic, you know, in the health care industry, a third of the industry is contingent labor these days.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:04] Now, are you finding that, um, let’s talk about young people in this group. Are they looking for more of this kind of contingent work, this gig work where they have flexibility, you know, they can have multiple projects simultaneously. It gives them a lifestyle maybe that they desire and not kind of tied to. I have to show up here, you know, Monday through Friday from X to X is that is that part of kind of why this is becoming more and more prevalent? Is that’s what the worker wants?

Rob Lucido: [00:04:37] 100%. And it’s a juxtaposition of of the evolution of this workforce because you have, you know, historical hiring practices that are are catching up to this young workforce that wants to work in this environment. You know, they they don’t necessarily want that stability of having the kind of day to day, 9 to 5 with the health care that comes with it. Uh, you know, there’s there’s benefits to this way of life. Uh, and one of that is the freedom to work where you want, when you want. Uh, you can, you know, in today’s market, a big push in recent years is, uh, the upskill of skills. And a lot of the workforce are garnering towards roles where they can continuously learn and upskill themselves for that next project. Uh, you know, that that next offering that can really enhance their well-being from a knowledge perspective as well as, you know, gain their workforce, uh, experience in that realm as well. Uh, and then there’s another lever to where, uh, you know, maybe there’s not a full time role open to companies that individuals want to work for. And the way in the door there, a lot of the times is through this kind of contingent labor taking a contract role. And companies will will use these contingent labor workforce as a kind of try before you buy apparatus, and you get a lot of better quality workers because of it. They know the business, and there’s a lot of benefits to the workforce and to the employer, employee, employer at the same time as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:10] So where does magnet fit into this equation? Like are you working with these, uh, large enterprise level organizations to help them manage their entire contingent workforce like they are working through you or you’re advising them, like where, you know, what is the scope of the work that you’re doing for these folks?

Rob Lucido: [00:06:30] Yeah, blend. Blend of both. Really. Um, we kind of take that burden off the employer to manage this workforce. Uh, we have a huge compliance department to make sure there’s no risk involved with the workers that they’re bringing on. We hold the relationships with those third party suppliers. Uh, we have a great client service team that interacts with that front line hiring manager that’s looking for this talent. Uh, a lot of times we partner with the procurement and talent acquisition teams within those organizations. Uh, at times helping them find that full time talent as well as contingent labor as well. Uh, we have so much data at our disposal. Uh, especially around pay intelligence. So allowing, you know, work, uh, work companies to really understand, you know, how much they should be paying for talent right now, what skills might, you know, increase the cost to get that talent? Uh, and so we’re a kind of one stop shop that offers that kind of full platform. Uh, and really takes the, you know, as I said before, the burden off that workforce worker industry to manage this workforce. And we hold the relationships and, you know, from end to end, uh, to really guide them through that process. And it’s a benefit not only to the employer, uh, but, you know, to their legal departments as well. Uh, you know, they don’t have to worry about who’s doing the background checks on that workforce. We help translate that as that. We help translate that as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:01] So what are some of the trade offs when it comes to hiring contingent workforce as opposed to your own employee? Like what are some of the kind of the things that might be beneficial? You mentioned flexibility and agility. Um, what are some of the things you lose by doing this?

Rob Lucido: [00:08:22] So for in today’s market you know that speed to talent right now there’s you know if you look at, you know, government releases of uh, the Department of Labor, you know, there’s there’s thousands of roles available out there, but the market is still tight, uh, because you have a large workforce that is retiring today. You have a large workforce that are being very stringent on where they’re going after roles. And a big shift in today’s, as I alluded to earlier, is that kind of shift to a skills based hiring model where, you know, historically, we’ve you know, you need that for a white collar role. You need that degree to get in the door to retain talent today. And where we help in regards to that is like a skills based advisory service. And the concept is kind of called like degree inflation today, where companies have been more willing to consider, you know, applicants that don’t have that college degree or minimum years of experience. You know, they they need that help to get that talent in the door to facilitate the needs that they have. So is this kind of shift towards skills based hiring happens? Uh, employers are really prioritizing candidates abilities and competencies over that formal education requirement. And, you know, as many industries are experiencing talent shortages today, especially in the IT and the healthcare space and skilled trades companies are really compelled to consider, uh, you know, how they source today. And that’s really how we help partner with our clients and advise them. Um, and really, I’d say I think, you know, based on recent data, 76% of employers today are using some kind of form of skills based hiring to find new talent. Um, and really, over the past year, if you look through, you know, industry leaders like LinkedIn, they’ve seen a 21% increase in jobs postings that are advertising skills and responsibility instead of qualifications today. And so that’s where our our knowledge base really helps partner with those clients to identify that talent and help them get that talent in the door.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:31] So what is kind of the pain they’re having where magnet is the solution? Where are they frustrated, um, to the point where they’re like, hey, we’ve got to bring those folks from magnet in because this is getting crazy here.

Rob Lucido: [00:10:46] Yeah, I think the. The burden that’s eased there is from a benefits perspective, companies don’t have to pay that statutory cost. So so there’s a savings on that workforce. You’re getting the same kind of skilled labor and not having to front that that statutory cost up front. So at times it’s a higher pay rate for for the workers involved. And that’s a tangible benefit to that workforce. And that’s why they kind of gravitate towards this. Uh, at the same time, the, you know, people aren’t coming in the door for the open roles that they have. And so organizations have to look elsewhere. Some organizations have their own internal to teams manage this, but I would say a large portion in the market have an MSP, a managed service provider. Just manage that business for them, uh, because, you know, their own internal talent acquisition teams and procurement teams have enough to worry about with their internal employee workforce. Uh, this kind of extended workforce, the partnership is really a benefit to both. And we just have, you know, tons of years of experience of working with all kinds of different sectors and bringing this workforce in the door. And so really that that reputation builds up. And we’re a known commodity, uh, globally to to help drive the hiring practices forward for a lot of these organizations.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:06] Now, um, how does it work from the employee standpoint or the contract worker standpoint? Are they allowed to work for any given company indefinitely, or is this something that look, according to the law, you can only be contract for X number of months before, you know, they might think that you’re an employee. Like, how does that kind of work?

Rob Lucido: [00:12:27] Yeah, there’s a lot of employment laws that kind of outline how you’re supposed to interact with this workforce. More often than not, uh, with these roles being more on the contract scale, they tend to last probably more so 18 months to three years. Uh, but at any time you can extend those workforce, uh, as needed. Um, it’s always a pipeline to that full time employee. You know, like I said before that try before you buy, you know, once that contracts up, a lot of times they’ll hire this workforce full time. Uh, they know they can do the work. I would say in the health care space, a lot of times you have, uh, a lot of traveling nurses that they’ll work 13 week contracts, and it’s a benefit to them because they get to travel from location to location if they want, for a certain period of matter of time and take on roles that, you know, they they’re knowledgeable and skilled in and have the certifications to do. And so it’s really a flexibility of of being able to work where you want, when you want.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:25] Now are certain you mentioned certain industries. I’m sure. Um, it and technology is one of them. You mentioned nursing. Are there certain industries that are kind of leaning into this more than others?

Rob Lucido: [00:13:37] You know, it’s probably been ahead of the space for for a long time. Um, but you have large biopharma clients that, that utilize this space. Um, you know, I’d say specific to the Atlanta market, you know, we’ve seen a just vast increase not only in the IT space, but in marketing and communications, um, as well as healthcare. Um, you know, data shows there’s a big influx of, of truck driver needs. And, you know, you know, that is a large growing population of contingent labor today, uh, trying to, you know, source those drivers to kind of keep that flow of commodities moving across the nation and globe.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:19] Are is your firm kind of a leading indicator? Can you get a sense of oh, I is is, uh, making a mark here like this. This is different. You know, are you able to see some of these things through your data?

Rob Lucido: [00:14:32] 100%. Yeah. And, you know, from from an employer perspective, you know, we look at all kinds of different areas, you know, PostScript and the employment process, uh, and, and proactively so, you know, when they’re looking for what are the most skills needed for today for, you know, like if we’re talking about AI, tech stocks to, you know, we go out to our pay and tell intelligence to provide those, uh, front line hiring managers and, and companies to know what they need to pay. What what is the percentage of increase on specific skills that you need to know? Um, and comparatively, you know, that’s where Atlanta is really great in the market today, comparative to those kind of similar sized metro locations, uh, you know, from a workforce industry, you know, their pay increases has been about 10% increase year over year, comparative to, you know, like Boston or San Francisco that have seen a large decrease. Uh, you know, Atlanta’s layoff rate has gone down this year, uh, comparative to the US overall. And so that’s where you’re seeing this influx of, you know, hiring trends coming into Atlanta and that contingent kind of freelance space. Um, but, you know, from a data perspective, we have, you know, the largest global contingent data set worldwide. And so I think that’s really a differentiator for us when companies work with us. I mean, we have billions of data points from hundreds of thousands of workers across, you know, 51,000 roles. And that’s covering trends across affecting recruitment, retention, staffing efforts. And and we what’s unique to us is we have a proprietary algorithm set with our data scientist teams where they cleanse, anonymize, analyze all this data and from internal and external sources. And so we use that to advise our, you know, hundreds of clients in our programs, uh, to have the best, uh, data in front of them to make informed decisions on how and why they should hire.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:36] So now, uh, regarding the Atlanta labor market, is there anything that kind of came up through your research that was like, oh, did not see that coming? Was there any surprises?

Rob Lucido: [00:16:49] Yeah, I’d.

Rob Lucido: [00:16:49] Say number one is probably the increase year over year. And we had almost a 40% increase year over year. And that’s really 60 percentage points higher than the national average. And so as I alluded to earlier, IT technology and marketing business development really were the kind of sole drivers of that increase. Um, but it’s Atlanta is unique in the sense that many people are attracted to Atlanta because of the region’s culture, the business productivity, the ease of travel with major airfares going through, uh, while the cost of living has increased, it’s still relatively low compared to other tech hubs like Austin or San Francisco, per se. And really, the benefit of land two is the cities surrounding metro region is a natural pipeline for talent, especially due to the proximity of universities like Georgia Tech or Morehouse. You know, there’s a lot of great diverse universities, as many organizations are trying to hire more diverse talent and get that talent pipeline into their organizations. That’s where Atlanta is really unique into that sense. I alluded to that. You know, the pay increase, you know, from a hiring standpoint, um, you know, not only IT and business development, but the healthcare industry is booming in the Atlanta market, and we’ve seen just an influx of RN roles, uh, in that area, especially, uh, healthcare software developers as well. Uh, and what is where businesses are more aligned to look in this area. It’s really because when you look at like a voluntary, what we call voluntary terms, and that’s, that’s workers that are leaving on their own accord from a higher from, from the metro regions. Atlanta had a 4.3%, uh, increase, uh, to 13.2, respectively. They’re one of the only metro regions to have an increase in that voluntary time perspective. And so what that says workers are staying, workers are gravitating towards this region.

Rob Lucido: [00:18:51] They want to work in the region and they’re staying longer on contracts. And so that’s what’s allowing companies to be more open. And, you know, searching for that contingent labor in region. Now, when I look at those kind of kind of two call outs that I called out earlier in the marketing area, uh, especially last year, there was a six times increase comparative to 2022. Now, rates have remained mostly flat over time for a marketing perspective. So, you know, you have roles like marketing manager and web editors who are, you know, increasingly being at risk of, you know, eyes exposure into the benefits of what it brings there. So, you know, everybody’s worried about AI right now taking jobs. And I’d say, you know, that. Well, that fear is palpable. I don’t think it resonates with the reality in the market today. That being said, you have a lot of workers that are utilizing AI technology today and partnering with AI and upskilling themselves with how to use it in their day to day. Those are the individuals that are progressing through the job, uh, for the job industry. And, you know, if I speak to it too, there are a lot of skill sets that are top of mind SQL software development, um, Java and Python and C scripts, all those workers are readily available with those skill sets in the Atlanta market, and you have a lot of folks going into the area because they have those skill sets. So it’s a booming industry, a booming location, and, you know, it’s only going to be growing in the years to come. As the metro region expands and companies and hubs start looking to, you know, really set foothold in the area.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:30] Now, how has the, um, it seems like now we’re getting a. A kind of a boomerang to the the remote workforce. Now there seems to be a return to work. Uh, companies are encouraging their employees to return to work. And then when this happened, I was it occurred to me, well, if I’m if I consider myself a remote employee, I really can’t be a remote employee. Truly, in the true sense of the word. If I have to return to work some days a week. Um, how how are you seeing that? Is that something that a big employers would like that to happen, but maybe it won’t happen? Or do you think that, yeah, it’s going to happen and then everybody’s going to have to adjust to coming back into the office every day.

Rob Lucido: [00:21:17] Yeah, it’s more prevalent, especially in the years ahead for sure. You have a lot of large institutions that are implementing, you know, a hybrid workforce where they have to be in office for a specific amount of time. Right.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:29] But if you’re a hybrid, you can’t live in Spain. You know, like you have to live in the vicinity of the office in order to come in a couple of days a week so that the idea of being remote is really well, you got to live close. That’s not exactly remote anymore.

Rob Lucido: [00:21:44] Yeah, 100%. And it kind of goes back to that. That talent shortage because you have a lot of the talent today that like the remote environment, and they’re not going to go after jobs if they’re not 100% remote. Um, now you have organizations that are offering sign on bonuses to, you know, work in that hybrid environment. Uh, you have more organizations that are being a lot more flexible at the same time as they push for areas internally that can be on site. You know, a lot of, uh, you know, like it roles, they can be remote, but then you have those client service roles that, you know, they they can be in a hub, you can work, uh, on site. I think the push back to that, that hope for a more on site flexibility is really, uh, a drop in collaborative, uh, thinking that many organizations feel has fallen off in that remote environment. And really, what’s kind of happened is while workers have enjoyed that freedom, I think you’ve seen a lot of culture impacts to business organizations that used to rely on that as a foundation of workers coming into the organization. And so that is the kind of way of thinking that is is still being ironed out today. You know, how do you drive that workforce to want to come back? What are the benefits you’re going to offer? Uh, in today’s world, you know, there’s a lot of expenses, especially in inflation of today.

Rob Lucido: [00:23:20] But but really, the affordability that that remote life offers is, you know, like child care and, you know, flexibility to, you know, not have to worry about those costs. So you have organizations that are thinking outside the box that are, you know, giving upwards of offering, uh, pets in the office to entice workers back. But, you know, having on site child care, they’re trying to find ways to entice that workforce back, uh, and taking on some excessive costs to do so. Um, you know, I think it’s, it’s more so prevalent in the, uh, financial operations markets where you’re seeing that push to drive back to the office and there’s a more willing of that workforce to do so. But that comes with an increased cost of that workforce. They’re asking for higher pay. They’re asking for higher wages to to work in an office setting. So I mean that’s going to be a trend that you see continue in the year ahead for sure. Uh, but but it’s a real challenge for organizations today to, to entice the workforce to want to work in that environment and really build back that culture that kind of got lost in that post pandemic life.

Lee Kantor: [00:24:25] But this is an area where magnet can really help, right? Like, you have so much data, you have so much information, um, and you have so many resources to really help them manage this workforce in a way that you can create these win wins for the organization and the employees.

Rob Lucido: [00:24:44] Yeah for sure. And where that is impactful for us is we survey our entire population on a consistent basis to know what the workforce wants, to know what the hiring managers want, to know what the organizations want to know what our supplier base wants. And really what the data tells us today is there has not been a drop off in productivity. There’s been an increase in productivity. Uh, you’ve almost seen an increase in somewhat burnout for some individuals because they’re working more hours. Uh, just, you know, there’s there’s not that, you know, change of pace from driving to and from the office where you’re decompressing, you’re just powering through. So there are some intangibles that, uh, some workers need to work through. Um, but what we really do to advise our organizations and say, hey, I understand you have this need. You feel that there’s this need to drive back into the office, but, you know, we can tell them, you know, you’re going to get a higher percentage of talent, a better quality of talent that’s going to be able to do this work anytime, anywhere. Uh, if you’re really, you know, cost conscious right now, you know, there’s, there’s off shore areas that have this talent readily available that you can tap into. Uh, there just needs to be a willingness and openness to understand that that work can still get done without the need for them to be in, you know, what we call butts and seats.

Rob Lucido: [00:26:01] Um, but and I think the the push there too is really cost impact where you have a lot of organizations that signed, you know, decades long leases to, uh, businesses and brick and mortar locations that are sitting empty now. So it’s a lost cost for them, and they feel that that needs has to be filled with with the workforce in there. And some organizations are mandating it. And so it’s making it harder to find that localized talent. Uh, there’s, you know, you have to look elsewhere to see what talent is willing to move. In that sense, are you going to pay a moving fee for those individuals to move families to this new location? So it’s a collaborative push for us to help partner with them. You know, we try to advise them based on what their desires are. At the same time, you know, coming from a place of what we know, they’re going to get the best talent. That’s not always remote. Uh, it’s not always, you know, in-office as well. So there’s roles that are they have to be remote and there’s roles that are not. And so that’s where we help partner with those clients to make sure that they are being proactive about what their needs are. But being, you know, practical about how they’re going to be able to obtain that work.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:14] So if somebody wanted to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team, what is the website? What are the best way to to get Ahold of you?

Rob Lucido: [00:27:25] Or for us, it’s, uh, magna globalcom. And, you know, there’s a lot of great information on there that our company provides free of charge. We have some great market intelligence platforms to understand what the current trends are in the market, and a lot of great subject matter experts to get in touch with on whatever your workforce needs are. And, you know, thank you for the time I’ve been, you know, really thrilled to talk with you and and let everyone know what magnet can do today.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:57] And that’s magnet global magnet Globalcom. Rob, I really appreciate you coming on and sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Rob Lucido: [00:28:10] Thank you. Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:28:11] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.

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Leslie Licano With Beyond Fifteen Communications, Inc.

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High Velocity Radio
High Velocity Radio
Leslie Licano With Beyond Fifteen Communications, Inc.
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Leslie Licano, co-founder and CEO of Beyond Fifteen Communications, is an award-winning public relations strategist, renowned for her ability to spotlight individuals and companies as trendsetters, innovators and newsmakers.

As leader of client strategy, she steers her team toward breakthrough work through high-concept thinking while serving as chief counsel to the company’s extensive roster of wide-ranging clients.

Connect with Leslie on LinkedIn and follow Beyond Fifteen Communications on Facebook and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Key milestones and challenges the company has overcome
  • Beyond Fifteen is described as a progressive and full-service PR, digital marketing, and social media agency. How has the landscape of these industries evolved over the past 15 years, and how has Beyond Fifteen adapted to these changes
  • Strategies that she have employed to ensure Beyond Fifteen continues to provide powerful and goal-driven communications solutions for their clients
  • Some success stories or notable client achievements that highlight Beyond Fifteen’s commitment to delivering measurable results
  • With the rise of digital communication, how does Beyond Fifteen balance the use of traditional PR methods with modern, digital strategies to create a comprehensive approach for clients
  • Innovations or new initiatives that we can expect from Beyond Fifteen in the coming years

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:15] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Leslie Licano with Beyond Fifteen Communications. Welcome.

Leslie Licano: [00:00:27] Thank you. Happy to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:29] I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about beyond 15 communications. How are you serving folks?

Leslie Licano: [00:00:35] Beyond 15 communications is a full service marketing firm based in Southern California. Uh, we do paid, earned and owned media, really full funnel omnichannel marketing services, trying to bring people from the top of the sales funnel from awareness down through consideration and ultimately conversion.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:54] Now, I heard that now you’re you’ve just achieved your 15th year anniversary. So you’re you’re really beyond 15 now.

Leslie Licano: [00:01:02] Yeah, we have some big campaigns uh, to play with that this year because it is it’s pretty great. We were our name is all about that old Andy Warhol quote where once in your life everyone will have 15 minutes of fame. So we bring our clients, you know, beyond that 15 minutes to lasting recognition. But it’s a it is a real milestone. We’re we’re excited to celebrate.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:22] Now, can you talk about what got you into this line of work? How did this all begin and evolve?

Leslie Licano: [00:01:28] Yeah, yeah. You know, I wanted to be a journalist. I was a talented writer growing up and loved that way of expressing myself through the written word. As I got through school, I kind of realized, oh, journalism may not be be for me. And so on the flip side of journalism is PR, right? And it’s the, you know, helping the businesses get their stories heard, using the journalists to kind of help be that conduit, right, and to be a partner to those journalists as well. And so that was the path that I studied. And then that really started to evolve. Right. Pr has evolved a lot over the, you know, 20 years since I’ve been, you know, doing what I’m doing or 25 year, I think at this point and it’s evolved into a whole lot of digital marketing now as well. And so those skill sets just parlayed right over into, you know, social media marketing at first and then SEO services and then pay per click. And so now we’re doing full service marketing, starting with that skill set, you know, that began at the written word and began with, how can I get a client’s message translated in a way that, you know, media and consumers will see value, and also that really, you know, helps them meet their goals?

Lee Kantor: [00:02:37] Now, you mentioned that over the course of those, you know, couple of decades in this industry, things have changed. And to me, there’s been a blurring of the lines of like, where does advertising begin and where does PR begin? Or are they kind of now two sides of the same coin? How do you see kind of the difference between PR or communications company and an ad agency or a marketing agency?

Leslie Licano: [00:03:03] Yeah, it’s really just not serving people to do just, you know, one trick anymore, right? Where, you know, in past, you could just use PR that could be sort of the only, you know, thing that you’re doing, and you’d really move the needle. Now, I think there’s just so much noise. There’s so many ways to reach people. We need lots of different touch points in order to, you know, get people through the funnel to the conversion you’re looking for via sales or something else. So yeah, it’s changed. It’s changed a whole lot. Pr you know, it used to be, you know, you’re doing door drops, right? You’re bringing press kits to journalists, newsrooms. You know, we were faxing press releases. That’s just not how it works anymore. And so that that’s changed dramatically. I mean, now sometimes we’re even using social media to pitch journalists. We’re definitely using it to help identify stories on the on the digital side. You know, we began just thinking, gosh, we could get these PR messages out. Instead of having to rely on third party media, we could get them out direct to the consumer. You know, we can skip the middleman, you know? Um, and so that’s how we first started using social media, was really to kind of broadcast our message to targeted audiences or our clients messages, um, and, and quickly sort of realized, oh, that’s a two way conversation as well.

Leslie Licano: [00:04:20] And so then it becomes a whole, you know, a whole evolution. We added, um, social media advertising, you know, to be able to, uh, get to just the right person with just the right message. Uh, we still want to use the PR for that sort of broad mass appeal. Then we’re using social media to get 1 to 1. We’re layering in SEO so that we can answer the questions that people are searching and their their Google search bar. And that client can land on our, our content. The content still feels like the PR content that we did 20 years ago, right? It’s it’s high quality blogs and articles and listicles that are going to engage people. Um, so that that feels like traditional PR, but the way that we’re getting people to that content and getting people to kind of be aware of who our clients are, what they stand for, what they do, and why they’re a leader in the space that’s changed completely.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:14] Now, you mentioned that, um, this is kind of multichannel omnichannel. Um, how do you, uh, have these conversations with your clients? Are they coming to you initially with kind of looking at you with your PR hat on, or are they looking to just solve a problem of, hey, I need more clients, or hey, we have a new product launch and we’re having a difficult time kind of articulating, um, you know, what makes it different and special?

Leslie Licano: [00:05:45] Yeah, yeah. It varies. Um, so, so certainly we’ve had very specific challenges. We had a, you know, a publicly traded company overseas that wanted to, you know, meet the US market where it’s at. And so that’s a whole kind of thing in and of itself. Uh, we have people who come and say, hey, I just want to be in the news or I just want to, you know, fill my lead funnel for my new sales team. So we absolutely have people who know exactly what they want. Sometimes that becomes a bigger conversation because, again, it’s hard to do just one piece of any of this and have success. Um, there’s a lot of people who have been burned by Google ads, for instance, because they tried to do them themselves. You know, they didn’t know how to put in, you know, cross negatives or, you know, they didn’t know how to not cannibalize their own ad spend. Right. There’s a lot of things you can you can, uh, you know, kind of muck up if you’re a novice and you can just say, all right, I’m going to throw the baby out with the bathwater, and Google ads don’t work for my business. And that may be true.

Leslie Licano: [00:06:44] We have encountered times where that is the case, but more often than not, we say, let us give it a try for 90 days. You know, let us just get in there. I can see what’s going on in your account. We can see the errors that were made and how they could be, um, rectified. And we’ve had really major turnarounds that way. Um, and so, you know, a lot of times people, you know, think that they need one thing, they really need others, um, or they think, hey, it’s just an instant conversion from that Google ad. You know, people click, they’re going to come to me, they’re going to see I’m great, and they’re going to become a client. Um, and we don’t think about, okay, what about that mid-funnel content, right. The Google ads are at the top of the funnel. In the middle is all of that content marketing so that people know who you are, right? They’re not just going to, you know, shake your hand and say, okay, I’m in. Um, they need to really get a feel for who you are, what you do, why it’s important you know your stuff. You’re not just walking the walk. You’re talking the talk. Um, and that’s where that mid-funnel content comes in.

Leslie Licano: [00:07:42] And so, you know, if you’ve got someone who says, ultimately I want sales, but I just want this one top of funnel strategy, we’ve got to do some counsel in there to talk about, okay, well what’s going to pull them through. And are we going to do retargeting at the bottom of the funnel too, for the people who couldn’t make up their mind, you know, on day one, uh, which happens a lot, especially in B2B, right. If you’re doing. High ticket B2B marketing play. No one’s going to click an ad, see you and go, yep, I’m going to spend, you know, $30,000 a month on your service or, you know, whatever it is, it’s just not not how it works. They’re going to need some nurturing along the way. Um, so yeah, it’s become a more evolved conversation. We’re not, um, you know, what do they say? Like, if you sell, sell, uh, hammers, everything you see becomes a nail, right? So we can’t just say, here’s our solution, you know, um, you need it. Uh, we really have to, to do an audit and take our step back and see what’s going to make sense for each individual client.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:38] Yeah. And I think that a lot of people think that just because you’re messaging someone with the perfect message, which it might be the perfect message, they just not may not be in the mode to buy today, but they might be in the mode to buy in three months or six months. I mean, even the best product is or service isn’t going to work if the timing’s wrong.

Leslie Licano: [00:08:57] Yeah, yeah. And that’s where that retargeting really comes in. And some people, you know, experience it as creepy. And I think if you overdo it, it can be I know it was, uh, shopping for a rug recently, and I mean, the amount of rugs that are in my inbox or in my social feed right now, um, and just, you know, the fact that if I go onto any website, I see that rug, you know, it’s in the sidebar ads. Um, you know, that’s that’s sort of how the retargeting works, right? You wanted this at one point. If I expose you to it over time, you know, will you come back? Um, and there are companies that I think really overdo that to a point where it feels creepy. It feels, um, you know, just, you know, lay off already. If I want the rug, I’ll come back, you know? So we really try to time things well, too. And there’s, there’s algorithms and data in that that will help you kind of play it. Right. How many touches do I want? How often do I want them to be spaced out. And then the AI that’s integrated into some of those platforms will kind of help you like this is this is a person who has, you know, behaviorally, you know, their data shows that when they see something three times, they are more likely to swipe up to buy. And so you show it to that person three times. And this is a person who needs a week or two, you know, to mole. And if you show them something with longer stretches of time in between, um, then they’re better suited to it. And so the, you know, the advantages of AI being integrated into some of these tools, um, just can’t be understated. It’s it’s really up to the game for, for meeting people where they are, um, and, and helping to move people through.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:34] Now, um, how do you have kind of the conversation with ROI and metrics, like back in the day when they hired a PR company, they’d say, you know, I want to be on the Wall Street Journal or some big magazine, and you’d be like, well, we’ll try. And, you know, you work your relationships and contacts and hopefully that happens. What are the expectations in today’s world when it comes to, um, you know, metrics and ROI when it comes to this kind of work?

Leslie Licano: [00:11:01] Yeah, yeah. I mean, with with PR, it’s still really is about where do you want to be and can we get you there? You know, so it’s about your goals and our ability to help you meet those goals. Um, you know, we we use advanced measurement tools. We look at, you know, for, for PR, we look at a lot of the ad valuation as well. You know, if you were going to buy an ad in this publication, it would cost you, you know, X dollars, you know, but you’re getting it through earned media. And so here’s what that value is when you tally it all up at the end. So that’s that’s still pretty straightforward. Um, from a PR measurement side of things. Some of them you can tell like how much traffic, you know, came into the website from the PR. So that’s another nice metric. Um, but with the digital really the digital program is aligned to the client’s goals. So, you know, we have a big, uh, client that we basically serve as their, their full service, um, their marketing team. Right. We work almost like an in-house agency for them because we’re just we’re doing everything soup to nuts. Um, and they work through a distributor model. So their goal is to create awareness, um, and to get folks to this where to buy.

Leslie Licano: [00:12:08] And after that, you know, we can’t really track the conversion. And so they’re able though to, to use our where to buy data to see that it actually does correlate with their sales. And so now they’re really looking at our metrics of okay, you know, here’s how much traffic we drove to where to buy. And that’s going to correlate with next month’s sales figures. So that’s been a nice nice thing to look at. Um, but with folks where an immediate sale is the conversion, that’s a lot more straightforward. Um, and so really it’s about setting the CTA or the call to action to what it is that we want to measure. And then with digital, it’s it’s really straightforward. I mean, you can measure everything. You know, if I want awareness I can see how many people follow me, view my videos, engage with my content, visit my website. You know, so the measurement on the digital side is actually. Slate. A really neat thing, because then we can start making data driven decisions about what to do next, you know, based on on what worked. And we have all that data at our fingertips, which is really nice.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:14] Now, just because things are easy to measure doesn’t mean it’s the most appropriate thing to measure. How do you kind of help your client discern what is the right metric to be paying attention to, and and using that as the lever to help them get the outcome they desire?

Leslie Licano: [00:13:31] That’s a really good question. Yeah, we get a lot of folks who want followers, you know, or they want to be they just want to have more followers than their competitor. Um, and, and we definitely have to counsel away from, from those things that we kind of call vanity metrics. It’s just a number that feels really good, but it’s not going to help your business. Um, and it’s also much harder. Just on a side note tangent to get followers these days. That’s not how we consume media anymore, right? In the early days of, say, Facebook, you’d follow the brands you wanted to hear from. Now you don’t have to do that. If if I engage with that brand, if I even just linger for a moment on that Instagram video, the algorithm is going to know to serve me more of it. And so I don’t, you know, personally, I follow very, very few brands on, on Instagram. Yet I see lots of great ones and I swipe up to buy all the time, you know, um, and so I think just kind of making sure that the, the metric correlates with the business goals and that it changes as the business goals change.

Leslie Licano: [00:14:37] Right? So I think there’s a lot of firms that kind of look at this, set it and forget it program. Like we’re going to execute these five tactics on an ongoing basis. We’re going to measure these five KPIs. That’s it. You know that’s your program. Set it and forget it. Rinse, repeat. Um, and that doesn’t always work. Sometimes, you know, you find okay, I’ve got a lot of top of funnel traffic. And that’s what I was hired for. It was to generate top of funnel traffic. Great. I’m good. But if you haven’t talked to them about what’s happening next, you know, where’s it going after. Are you doing the follow through on it? You know, is it the right traffic? How can we tell? Um, then then, you know, you think you’re aligned with the business objective because you’re aligned with the initial statement that they made? Um, but really, you know, it goes deeper than that and it can shift over time. So I think staying engaged in a two way conversation about what’s happening, what it means, and what we do next, um, that should really never end. Um, in a, in a marketing engagement.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:35] Now, what’s the sweet spot in terms of an ideal client for beyond 15?

Leslie Licano: [00:15:42] Yeah. Um, you know, I think that the client that has a story to tell is pretty important. There are some, you know, heavily commoditized industries where there’s not a whole lot of innovation happening. Um, so it’s where it’s really difficult to set one brand apart from another and where there’s not a whole lot going on internally that we can kind of shout from the rooftops. Those tend to be a more difficult client. Um, for us, because there’s just, you know, there’s less to leverage. Um, the ideal client has a lot going on. You know, they’re busy. They’re they’re building relationships. They have exciting client engagements that they want to tell people about. Um, they’re innovating. They’ve got new products that have been upgraded or, you know, are exciting to the market, and they want to get those out. Um, so, so those, those clients that are, um, really feeling enthusiastic and are doing things that they’re excited about are the ones that that we get most excited about to the ones who say, yeah, there’s not really anything going on, but just, you know, I just need more business. Those are the tougher ones, you know? Um, depending on the, the industry. So we’re doing a lot in B2B right now. Um, a lot in high tech. Um, you know, that’s that’s always been a really growing market and one that we’re, um, excelling in. But we also love a great consumer brand. Um, we have a major tire brand, is one of our clients, and we started their Instagram and YouTube channel, I think, six years ago, and they’re now the number one tire brand on Instagram and YouTube with over 4 million followers, you know? So it’s really exciting, I think, to kind of span the gamut to have, you know, high tech client, to have an education, a law, a consumer product, you know, sort of really kind of mix it up, I think makes sure that, you know, no day ever gets boring and you can really apply the lessons you’ve learned across industries to helping helping other clients as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:41] Now, um, I would imagine a lot of your clients are already have some relationship with either marketing, PR or advertising firms. What’s kind of their frustration with them or where they’ve maybe plateaued in a result where they’re saying, you know what, why don’t we give at least some of the work to be on 15 and let’s see what they can do. So what’s usually that kind of point of entry for you on an initial client?

Leslie Licano: [00:18:09] Yeah, I mean it’s either not getting results. That’s a that’s a big one. Right? I’ve been doing it and paying the money month over month. Um, but I’m not getting the business result I want. That’s, that’s, you know, that’s frustrating. Frustrating. Um, the other is just a lack of new ideas. Um, and so we really drive our team, right? You can’t rest back on your laurels. There’s never a point where we can stop hustling. And our, uh, I’ll tell you a little bit about our client contracts. A lot of, uh, companies will lock you in to, like, a six month or year long contract. We’re doing 90 days, um, on a rolling out. So that means we’ve always got to earn our keep, right? We’ve always. You know, we’re really only as good as our last month’s results. Um, and if those aren’t where they need to be, then it’s really easy for our client to disengage. And we did that intentionally because we don’t ever want, um, an unhappy client. Um, but for those who are locked in and they’re sort of writing things out until they can, can switch over and work with us again, it’s often a lack of results or just a lack of fresh ideas.

Leslie Licano: [00:19:10] You know, we we do beautiful 12 month plans, omnichannel plans that, you know, big Gantt chart that shows every month the omnichannel theme, all the different buckets of earned, owned and paid media that we’re going to touch on how they’ll all work together. I mean, you spend a lot of time creating these big old 12 month plans, but they can’t be set in stone. You know, they need to be living, breathing documents that react to what’s working and what doesn’t. Um, and, you know, have that flexibility. And also, if we see something really cool bringing that to our clients, hey, here’s an opportunity you should participate in. Here’s a speaking engagement. I know speaking is not in our scope of work, but I think you should have this stage, you know, really just staying excited. Um, and, and continuing to maintain the hustle, I think is a great way to kind of keep a client longer. Terme. And what we see, uh, folks coming to us kind of coming out of, um, lacking.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:06] Now, is there a story you can share? Uh, you don’t have to name the client, but, um, maybe the most rewarding where you were able to take a client that and exceeded their expectations and maybe gave them a result they didn’t even think was possible.

Leslie Licano: [00:20:23] Yeah, yeah, I think that the tire brand is one that we’re really, really, you know, very excited about, kind of that those numbers because 4 million followers just doesn’t happen in today’s today’s market for most companies. But you know, it’s also really fulfilling to work with smaller brands too. I mean, I think about beyond 15. Is my baby right. This this business I’ve been running for 15 years is how much does it matter to me that it succeeds or fails? I mean, everything, right? And so when you’re working with a smaller company too, you know, you know, they’re looking at that as their baby too. And so, you know, especially if they’ve got kind of a shoestring budget. And, you know, I, we had a client that had six months of budget and that’s really all they could do. And they were, you know, pinching pennies in order to do it as a husband and wife duo. And we built an award winning campaign. I got the Gold Produce Award for best Media relations program and won the Bulldog PR award. Um, and it’s, you know, for a for a company that’s just two people, you know, basically being able to build a thought leadership plan program that got them in like Askmen, MSM, Men’s Health. I mean, really just got I think it was like 60 some earned media placements and a readership of over 1.8 billion. It was it was a massive, massive success, um, and an award winning program for, for these folks who have just pinched their pennies to, to only be able to do six months. Right. And so that was really exciting and rewarding too. So I think there’s just a lot that’s rewarding about the work that we do in marketing. We’re helping other people’s businesses succeed every day, big and small. Um, and so it doesn’t get much better than that.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:07] Now, if you looked in your crystal ball about trends, maybe upcoming in the next year or two, in marketing and in communications, like where does I fit in? Where where do you see the most opportunity for folks out there to leverage some of the new technologies and what’s, you know, your opinion on what’s, you know, kind of going to make it and what may be just the fad.

Leslie Licano: [00:22:32] Yeah, yeah. I mean, there’s a lot of fads that come and go. I mean, any time there’s a new social media platform we’ve got to hop to and really, you know, become experts quickly figure out who needs to be there, who doesn’t. One of the recent ones was like threads, you know, there’s a lot of hype and it’s quieted down quite a bit. Um, there’s not a whole lot of action on threads. We’re not recommending a whole lot of clients, you know, go there. So, you know, a lot of times our recommendation is to kind of be ready, you know, have your strategy built, potentially dip a toe in. But, you know, it’s better to be amazing in the 4 or 5 channels that you can really own versus to spread yourself so thin, you know, trying to be everything to everybody, um, that you barely make a dent. So, um, you know, it’s hard with so many different things coming out all the time. Um, as far as what’s impacting us most, uh, right now and expected to the the whole conversion to Ga4, the Google Analytics, um, um, shift that has been a big, uh, a big deal for kind of how we’re doing content marketing, how we’re trying to structure, um, websites and tracking. Um, also at the same time, that idea of the cookieless future, uh, you know, I don’t know how much you know about that, but the, you know, first, the GDPR came up, right? There’s all this stuff about privacy, and they’ve been saying it’s coming. It’s coming for a really long time. Um, we almost, you know, worry about being the boy who cries wolf.

Leslie Licano: [00:23:56] We’re trying to prepare for this cookieless future that we keep thinking is around the corner, and the platforms keep delaying. But that’s going to be a big one. Um, and it’s going to really mean that we’ve got to think about more privacy centric methods for data collection and analysis, which we’re already doing, so that we are ready, um, first party data collection, you know, using more contextual targeting. Um, in our advertising, thinking about consent management platforms, thinking about collecting your own data. Right. Asking people to fill out a form fill. It sounds old school, but I think, you know, getting really good at that, uh, you know, is is going to be big when this eventually does come. Um, and then, yeah, AI is a game changer for sure. I’m excited to see what the next generation brings. I think it’s really important to use it responsibly. Uh, we just did a blog on that and kind of. Uh, what works and what doesn’t. Right. And and some of the stuff that’s coming out with right now is, is not real. You know, it’ll source, um, scholarly articles that were never written. And, um, it’ll do things that could get you in some trouble. Um, from a Marcom perspective, um, so I think, you know, using it to support you, but not to do your job for you is is really important. Um, and, and just, you know, being careful there. Right? You can’t you can’t be, um, relying on it as the be all, end all holy grail of truth. You know.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:28] Now, if you were giving advice to somebody, uh, maybe an entrepreneur that isn’t ready for you today, but might be tomorrow, what are some actionable things they can do in and around communications, you know, today? What are what? Some low hanging fruit for firms out there right now?

Leslie Licano: [00:25:47] Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the way that the most recent, uh, core algorithm shift on Google, uh, impacted things really has prioritized content, uh, especially content that answers the questions that people are searching. So I think writing articles, you know, figuring out what folks are searching online that has to do with your industry and that you can really speak to as an expert, um, and then developing that content and optimizing it on your site, I think, is a really, you know, that is kind of some, some low hanging fruit, because the more that your site is seen as a powerful answer to client or to the questions that people are googling, um, the better your authority is going to be and the more likelihood you show up at the top of the search, which is a huge goal for for many, many client businesses. Um, so I think focusing on quality content marketing, um, you know, writing some pieces on, on things that you are an authority in the field on is a great starting point. Um, and then, you know, down the line or even, you know, sooner if you’ve got the resources, can do a lot with that. I mean, we, we talk about how we can take a single piece of content. We can make a whole campaign out of it if it’s if it’s strong. Right. And we could slice and dice it up for social media content. Uh, we could use social ads to drive people over to it. We could pitch it to press as a byline article, you know, with your headshot and bio on it. Um, there’s just so much you can do with it. You can send it out in your newsletters or email marketing to kind of follow up with warm leads. Um, I probably a dozen other things that we would do to sort of slice and dice content to make it go further. So I don’t think that will ever be a wasted effort, especially the way that the search engines are moving, um, to have a body of work that you’re just building that way.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:39] So if somebody wanted to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team, what’s the website? What’s the best way to get Ahold of you?

Leslie Licano: [00:27:46] We would love that. Uh, it’s beyond 15.com with the 15 spelled out. Um, so beyond 15.com. Uh, we blog, by the way, so much we do our own blogging program. Uh, I think we’re doing four for a month right now, and we have been for a decade. Um, so a lot of the topics that you’re talking about right now, we actually have articles about on our website. So if anyone wants to dig into any of that, um, it’s likely there as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:28:16] Well, Leslie, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work, and we appreciate you.

Leslie Licano: [00:28:22] Thank you so much for having me on. I really enjoyed this, uh, this call.

Lee Kantor: [00:28:25] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.

Rachel Johnston With Sunset Social

by

Atlanta Business Radio
Atlanta Business Radio
Rachel Johnston With Sunset Social
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Rachel Johnston is the Founder & CEO of Sunset Social.

She is an entrepreneur and Georgia State University alumna. Rachel is a digital marketer, specializing in the fields of design and content creation, copywriting, event coverage, social media strategy, and social media management.

She has worked with companies in the industries of venture capital, technology, media, coaching, recruiting, finance, product-based businesses, fitness, travel, sports, food, healthcare, and more. She has also worked with various startup companies and on personal brands for entrepreneurs on social media.

Currently, she is the Founder & CEO of Sunset Social, a social media marketing agency that ignites the social presence of brands, guiding businesses and startups towards digital success.

Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn and follow Sunset Social on Facebook.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • What is Sunset Social and who do we serve
  • What is it like working with their clients (mainly Atlanta tech startups)
  • Some social media marketing trends & tips – mainly for tech startups
  • What does her journey been like starting a company less than a year post-grad (or as an early 20s founder) Or just general discoveries/lessons as a founder.
  • The power of discipline in your life – work and otherwise
  • Why creating a mindset of “action and decisiveness” is important

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:10] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by Onpay. Built in Atlanta, Onpay is the top rated payroll and HR software anywhere. Get one month free at on Paycom. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:37] Lee Kantor here another episode of Atlanta Business Radio, and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, Onpay. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Atlanta Business Radio, we have Rachel Johnston with Sunset Social. Welcome.

Rachel Johnston: [00:00:57] Hi Lee, thank you so much for having me. I’m excited to be here. Well, I’m.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:01] Excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about Sunset Social. How are you serving folks?

Rachel Johnston: [00:01:05] Yes, absolutely. So Sunset Social is a social media agency that ignites the social presence of brands, guiding businesses and startups towards digital success. So our journey started in January of 2022. So we actually just hit our two year anniversary, which is really exciting. Um, and since then, we have helped dozens of businesses and startups with their social media marketing. So a couple of things that we help our clients with are social media management is definitely one of our biggest services. We have startups and businesses coming to us like, hey, I don’t have the capacity to handle this, right? And they hand it over to us and we completely handle their social media channels from top to bottom. So that is definitely our most popular service. We also help our clients with social media event coverage. If they do have conferences or other types of events that they host, as well as social media ads. So those are our three main ways that we’re serving our clients. And we actually are also launching a new service next Thursday. So I’m excited to share more about that on LinkedIn in the coming week.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:18] Now, um, what was kind of the evolution of your kind of business journey? Did you start out, um, working in firms and then spun off on your own, or was this something like right from the jump, you were like, I think I can do this.

Rachel Johnston: [00:02:35] Right? Yeah. So I, uh, launched my business. I think I registered the LLC about four months after I graduated from Georgia State. Um, so that I think that was just like a leap of faith type of thing. I was like, I knew I wanted to start a business for a while, but I didn’t know exactly what to name it, what I wanted to do. You know, all of these, um, pieces, and you think you want to make it perfect before you start, right? But I just registered the LLC, chose a name, went with Sunset Social, and here we are. So that’s kind of how we started. And then in January of 2022 is when we started to take on clients and officially launched, uh, before that in college and within my first year of business as well, I was working for a awesome marketing agency also based in Atlanta, and that taught me a lot of what I know, um, before I started my business. So I started off as an intern in college and progressed with that company and then decided to launch my own quite quickly after graduating from state. So it’s been an incredible journey so far. Lots of lessons and learning and difficulties as well as any founder knows, but it’s been incredible.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:52] Now, when you were starting out, um, what made you think like, oh, I know how to do this. I’m really good at this. Um, you know, the social media marketing element of marketing, what kind of what were some of the clues that you had that, hey, I can do this. I don’t need to be part of a bigger firm. I have everything it takes in order to be successful.

Rachel Johnston: [00:04:14] Right? Absolutely. I think that a lot of that came from my experience at my previous agency job as well as in college. Um, and I was also honing in on my skills. This is something when I talked to, um, current students and do any sort of, you know, panels or mentoring with current students is I always encourage them to network on. Linkedin is one of my biggest things that I always say, network, network, network. Your network will take you very far and also hone in on those skills. Whatever you want to do, whether it’s social media, then you need to start working on Canva. You need to start becoming proficient at Canva. Copywriting, um, different, you know, tools for posting. You need to learn more about these social media platforms and the algorithms and all of those things. So that’s something I always say to current students. And that is also what I was doing, um, during my time in school. And then before I started my business, as I was really honing in on those skills. Um, but before we launched, um, and also a lot of help from mentors, I mean, mentorship is incredible. I have a lot of awesome mentors, which really helped.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:23] Now, when you were, um, kind of learning the ropes here, what drew you to the the start up community? What what what about that was something you were like, you know what? I’m going to lean into that niche and really try to serve that group.

Rachel Johnston: [00:05:38] Yeah, absolutely. So a really cool thing about having an agency rather than working in-house at a marketing company, is we really get to work with startups and businesses of all different industries, which is really cool. So we’ve got to learn a lot of things from our clients. And as far as the tech startup space, I think a lot of that had to do with my network. Again on LinkedIn, the network I was building within my years before starting the business, and also, um, Atlanta Tech events. I’ve attended a lot of those over the years, and so it kind of just naturally became, um, an evolution. And that became our what is currently our biggest client base, our tech startups. And so I think through my network and those events, it really just naturally, um, became kind of our home. Um, and we and we love the Atlanta tech community here. We have an incredible ecosystem, I would argue, definitely one of the best in the US. I know that that is a debate. But, um, I think that Atlanta has some incredible startups that come out of it, and we’ve really had the pleasure of working with some of those startups. So, um, it kind of just came to be there. My networking.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:57] Now, when you’re working with a startup, is there any, um, difference in the marketing? Like would a startup’s marketing, especially on social media, be different than like a hair salons marketing on social media?

Rachel Johnston: [00:07:11] Oh for sure, for sure. One thing with tech startups is a lot of them don’t have a physical product or something to show, right? So if you’re at a hair salon or if you’re a restaurant, those are all physical things that you can go and take pictures of. So you’ve got to get a little bit more creative with your content for sure. When it comes to tech startups. Um, and another thing I’ll say to that is two things I’ve really noticed with our startup clients that has proven valuable. One is LinkedIn, which I will speak on LinkedIn forever. I love LinkedIn, LinkedIn is incredible, and it is a platform that a lot of people do overlook, um, for their businesses. But I have seen from my tech clients, as well as other tech startups, that LinkedIn is a valuable platform for any tech startup. I will always say that because on there you have your B2B, you have your B2C, you have your investors and the accelerators that oftentimes startups are involved in. You have all of those things on LinkedIn. And I have seen with all of my clients, LinkedIn is a valuable platform. Um, and then also to when it comes to startups and marketing for startups, especially in the early stages, startups are very interconnected with the founders, right? People want to see the founders journey as well as the startups journey because they are so interconnected. So I do always encourage my clients as well to share about their personal journeys and, you know, connect that with the business because people love to see, um, things progressing.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:52] Now, when you’re working with startups, especially tech startups, how do you help them kind of protect them from themselves when it comes to their ability to communicate, um, elegantly about their technology and, and move outside of kind of a lot of times I’ve worked with a lot of tech startups over the years, and sometimes they’re so enamored with how clever their technical solution is. They have a difficult time expressing that in, in ways of, um, the true value that the consumer will benefit from that technology. So, um, how do you kind of help them with that translation from, you know, maybe tech speak to human speak when it comes to, you know, their what they’re working on?

Rachel Johnston: [00:09:42] Yeah, that’s a really good question. Um, one thing when it comes to social media is it’s all about community. And that’s why a lot of our, our clients come to us is they’re like, we’ve got the tech voice. We’ve got, you know, all the technology. I can build the product, but I don’t know how to market it and speak on it in a way that, like you said, kind of, you know, you still want to talk about the tech, of course, on social media, but you need to add in that community element to it and speak to the people like people, and not just, oh, I have this super cool thing. Um, you need to try it out and be too salesy. You also want to, you know, build a community, right? Um, so community building is huge on social media, and that’s something that we help our clients with is kind of, you know, of course, again, we want to talk about the technology and what you’re building and how it’s going to help folks, but also to we want to add that kind of human voice to it. And that’s what we help our clients with.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:36] So what does that kind of. Initial conversation for you. When you’re trying to prospect for a client and you run across somebody that is maybe super smart, off the charts technology wise, but has a difficult time communicating their value proposition, how do you first open their mind to, hey, maybe you do need help in this area because a lot of times they think they’re the smartest person in the room, that they have everything figured out, not just what their technology is. So how do you kind of become that bridge for them to really open their mind to go, hey, you know what, your technology is great. But if you can’t communicate this to anybody, it’s not going to you’re not going to be able to grow.

Rachel Johnston: [00:11:18] Yeah, totally. That that’s a huge point. If you’re not able to communicate it online or wherever you’re marketing, then it’s not going to grow. So, um, we’ve been lucky and we have incredible clients who are really open to hearing our opinions. And I think a lot of it, too, is just having these candid conversations with our clients and talking with them and saying, okay, what do you see? But here are our suggestions, right? We can do it your way. We can do it our way. We can do it kind of in in between. Um, here are our suggestions though, of what we believe is going to work. How can we bridge this gap and make sure that we are meeting your needs? Um, but also, um, using our expertise to, you know, make sure things are performing as best as possible.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:02] Now, what has been the most rewarding part of the journey thus far?

Rachel Johnston: [00:12:07] Man. That’s a good question. Um, the most rewarding part, I think that when you start to look at even the small wins and celebrating those, it really can become pivotal, because I think, especially as a solopreneur, I have a team now. But, you know, I am the singular founder, right? So it’s a lot of the time it’s just me on the day to day. And so I’m trying to personally, um, do a better job of celebrating the little wins, um, throughout the days and also looking back at how far I’ve come, because you can get so stuck in the day to day hardships and you might have something really hard go on on Monday, and by the next Monday, you, you know, it’s it’s the past, right? So you don’t want to get too stuck on things that in the end, is this going to matter in a week? Is this going to matter in a month? Right. So I’ve tried to have that create that kind of mindset within myself and also celebrate even the small wins on a daily, daily basis. Um, and look at how far I have come in just two years now.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:15] Um, is there any kind of tips you can share for a startup or somebody who’s thinking about, you know, leaning more into the social media marketing? Because at some point you you have to tell people about what you’re working. What you’re working on. So what are some things like that are actionable that you could share with a tech startup or anybody really, when it comes to social media marketing, is there some low hanging fruit that people can do just to to gain some traction?

Rachel Johnston: [00:13:46] Yeah, absolutely. I would say, you know, if you’re at the stage where you’re not ready to hire, you know, a social media team yet to help you, I would go back to what I said about LinkedIn. Just start on LinkedIn again. Linkedin, um, will but what.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:59] Does get start on LinkedIn mean? Like what are some things I could do on LinkedIn today that will help me tomorrow?

Rachel Johnston: [00:14:05] Absolutely. I would say if you’re a brand new company, I would start that business account on LinkedIn first. So again, a lot of your identity is still going to be tied up between the startup and the founder. But you need to create that business page and start building the business separately than just yourself. Of course. Add that on to your experience, your profile, and start pushing people towards that business page and eventually creating content on there and sharing about the business. Um, because what social media platforms work best for you depends very much on each specific startup, right? If your target audience is more on Facebook, then go on Facebook. If your target audience is more on Instagram, go on Instagram. We have clients where one completely works and one completely doesn’t, right? But LinkedIn, um, is the platform that I see works across the board, um, for all of our startup clients. So I would say don’t get too overwhelmed by, you know, should I be here? Should I be on TikTok? I hear a lot of people like, do I need to be on TikTok? And they’re like, scared of it, right. Um, and so I always say, you know, let’s just start with one. If you want to start with one, let’s start on LinkedIn. Um, and I would say create that page, add that to your experience. I actually just had a call with somebody very recently, and, and she had this new company and I was like, I can’t even find it on on LinkedIn. She was like, oh, I have it. Here it is. But it wasn’t connected to her personal page, so there was no way for me to find it, um, and things like that. So I would say, just start off with LinkedIn, um, creating content on there. Um, if you’re not ready to hire a team yet.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:42] Now, when you say creating content, what does content look like for a tech startup? Like what are some of the things they should be posting?

Rachel Johnston: [00:15:50] Yeah for sure. So we usually break up, um, content into different content pillars. So you don’t want to be too salesy. That’s something I always say is you don’t want every single one of your posts to be like, look at this thing. Look at this thing. Right? You also want to educate people. So one thing with a lot of startup companies is their product or service or whatever they have can be confusing for some people to understand. It’s not like, oh, I opened a restaurant, right? It’s like, oh, I created this new technology that does X, so there needs to be an educational piece behind that of this is why this is who we serve, etc.. And so education is a really big piece of content that I would say is important for startups. Um, you obviously do want to add in details about your company, be informative and a little bit promotional, um, as well as different types of content depending on what platforms you’re on. If you’re doing reels, um, if you’re creating graphics, um, the big thing with LinkedIn, though, that is valuable, is a lot of people, again, they get stressed out when it comes to Instagram Reels, TikTok videos. Linkedin is cool because stuff can perform really well if you just post text, you can just post. You know a post about your experience this week as a founder or on the company page about the product or whatever the whatever the case may be, you can post text only posts, you can post links. Hey, we just added this blog on our website. Here you go. Um, and with other platforms like TikTok and Instagram, again, you have to have photos or videos or whatnot. So that’s why LinkedIn is also a good starting point for founders.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:38] Now, how do you manage the expectations of your clients? A lot of people, you know, they they see these, um, things go viral or they see content get, you know, thousands or millions of impressions. How do you kind of explain to your clients that your numbers aren’t going to be millions? You know, they’re going to be hundreds, hopefully, or thousands. And, you know, the it’s it’s a little misleading. A lot of the stories that are written and, uh, success stories when it comes to this are throwing out of whack what a typical especially B to B, um, social media, uh, client would, would be generating. How do you kind of have that kind of, I think hard talk with the client.

Rachel Johnston: [00:18:28] Yeah. That’s another really good question because you do see that a lot. You see these, you know, social media gurus on social media and they’re like, I went I made my client’s stuff go viral or all these things. But, um, especially when it comes to B2B and, and, you know, start up clients, you’re starting from scratch. A lot of the times these people that are going viral are usually starting on accounts that are already at 50 K plus, you know, maybe even millions of followers. Of course, your content went viral, right? So setting those expectations and just saying to them like, hey, you know, our goal is not to go viral, right? Because at the end of the day, our goal is to, uh, well, it depends on each client, but it’s to create conversions, brand awareness, whatever the goal is. But a lot of startups, the goal is brand awareness. People don’t even know that you exist. We don’t care about something going viral right now. We need to make sure people know you exist. Um, because another thing too, with viral posts is sometimes it’s not even in your target audience at all.

Rachel Johnston: [00:19:29] I’ve had a post go viral on my personal account before, and it’s a lot of the times not even people in your target audience at all. So it’s really not helping you in the long run. So instead of looking at the likes and the followers, I tell my clients, let’s look at is it converting? Are we getting reach and impressions? Do we have brand awareness? Are we growing our community? These things are impactful. Um, at the end of the day, I’d rather have one person convert and buy the product or, you know, create an account or whatever the, you know, call to action is in a given week. Then, you know, 50 K people see it and nothing happens, um, from that. So none of them are in your target audience. So I’d rather somebody in your target audience convert and, you know, see and engage with your content than something go viral. So it’s all it’s all just about setting those expectations, like you said, and having that conversation about what’s realistic. Right.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:28] But it’s also it’s kind of counterintuitive because a lot of people have that kind of thinking of the law of large numbers. If if a 10,000 people see my thing, then surely somebody’s going to buy something or they’re going to convert somewhere. And so they always think bigger is better when really more precise is better, you know.

Rachel Johnston: [00:20:50] That’s true. Yeah, absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:52] You’d rather have 100 people who potentially could buy your stuff than you would a million people who were never going to buy your stuff.

Rachel Johnston: [00:21:00] Exactly, precisely. So yeah, it’s all about just having that conversation with them. And again, my clients are incredible. So, um, a lot of them, you know, take that well and understand that and are excited to see the performance that we gain for them.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:17] So now, um, within the tech startups, is there a niche within that or just anybody that has a tech startup is a good, uh, prospect for you?

Rachel Johnston: [00:21:27] Yes. So it’s interesting. That’s kind of just become our niche and who has come to us the most. But we are open to clients with businesses of really any industry. Um, we’re open to product industries, um, restaurants, things like that. I’m definitely open to that. Um, just because of my network and the events that I go to, a lot of that has, um, resulted in us having a influx of tech startups working with us. So we do not have a specific niche in those tech startups. We’ve worked with fintech, we’ve worked with some consulting tech, we’ve worked with, um, data Femtech healthcare, all of these different, um, things. And what’s really cool about that is, again, we get to learn completely new things, um, because of our clients that I otherwise wouldn’t probably be learning about, which is really exciting, and it constantly keeps you on your toes and challenges you as a founder and as a person. Um, because we’re constantly doing new things every day and learning new things. And at the end of the day, that’s life too. So, um, it’s a really fun experience. So no, we don’t have a specific niche in the tech community. We’re open to any.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:40] So what is the problem that your potential clients are having right now where you’re the the right solution?

Rachel Johnston: [00:22:47] Yeah, absolutely. So a lot of our clients currently are I would say more so in the Seed stage series A or B. So they’re newer. Um, we also have worked with some pre seed. So very new companies and a lot of them again they’re like I people don’t even know we exist. People don’t even know um that our company exists at all. So a lot of them come to me like we need help with brand awareness. Um, and something that we do that is unique to other agencies is when it comes to our engagement. So community management and engagement are huge parts of social media management. Um, so really what that means is community management is managing your current community. So what comments are you getting? What DMs are coming in, you know, what are the likes looking like? All of those things DMs, likes, comments, all that. Mentions. So that’s community management. You obviously want to engage with people who are engaging with you, but something we do that is unique is we do an extra layer of, um, engagement and we go out of our way to find your target audience, which is not always easy. Um, but we get to do that and, um, look for your target audience, engage with them so that they see us. So that’s a really key thing that we do. Um, that helps when it comes to our newer, you know, early stage tech clients who need brand awareness or like, people don’t even know about me. And if somebody is posting on LinkedIn, for example, about how they need this solution, or how about how they are in this specific industry, and we are engaging with that. That’s creating more visibility for them.

Lee Kantor: [00:24:30] Yeah. People don’t like to be a best kept secret.

Rachel Johnston: [00:24:33] Right? No.

Lee Kantor: [00:24:36] So. So if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation about with you or somebody on your team, what’s the coordinate? What’s the website?

Rachel Johnston: [00:24:45] Yeah. So our website is Sunset Social marketing.com and I am on LinkedIn. So definitely connect with me on there. I would love to connect with anyone.

Lee Kantor: [00:24:56] Well Rachel, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Rachel Johnston: [00:25:01] Thank you so much, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:03] All right. This Lee Kantor we’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.

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Marlon Williams with Atlanta Blockchain Center

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Atlanta Business Radio
Atlanta Business Radio
Marlon Williams with Atlanta Blockchain Center
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Marlon Williams is Founder at Starter Labs & Atlanta Blockchain Center.

He’s fluent in too many jargons to list. He was fortunate enough to study business and software, and he love the business of software…although the retired suits in his closet reek of a decade’s worth of hardcore networking and telecommunications experience as well.

So far, life has led him to the wonderful world of bridging technology, business, creativity, and innovation in ways that guarantees less sleep than most. It has also led him to become engaged in and supportive of community efforts to help bridge the digital divide and bring communities of technology executives together to vent.

Connect with Marlon on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • About Atlanta Blockchain Center
  • Atlanta Blockchain’s educational events around blockchain, crypto and Web3
  • About their upcoming cohort and how to apply

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by On pay. Atlanta’s new standard in payroll. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:25] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Marlon Williams. He is the founder of Starter Labs and Atlanta Blockchain Center. Welcome, Marlon.

Marlon Williams: [00:00:39] Hi, Lee. How are you?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:40] I am doing well. I am so excited to get caught up. What’s new at Atlanta Blockchain Center?

Marlon Williams: [00:00:47] Oh so many. Where do I start? Well, first, I think we have just been very busy at work with our incubator, which is the only blockchain, crypto and Web3 focused startup incubator in Atlanta. And over the past 18 months, we have incubated now 20 companies, all Atlanta based founders, by the way, and the mission behind that is to help show the rest of the world that Atlanta isn’t just a consumer of products in these emerging industries, but also creators and builders are here as well. So that is one of the biggest accomplishments that we’ve had since our grand opening. In addition to our events. I’m not sure if you recall, but we have educational events around blockchain, crypto and Web3 every single Thursday. So there’s over 100 plus events that we’ve done and the only Thursdays that we’ve missed, I’d have to admit, is Thanksgiving. But other than that, we literally have been delivering educational events to the entire Atlanta ecosystem. Free food. It’s open to everyone. Free drinks every single Thursday for a year and a half.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:12] Now what? Um, for the people who aren’t familiar, can you share a little bit about your vision and why it’s important to you to put Atlanta on the map when it comes to blockchain, and really invest in the infrastructure and the ecosystem that creates thriving companies that are, you know, need incubation and acceleration and partners and, you know, all that other good stuff that a good community leader is in charge of. Can you talk about kind of the overarching vision and mission?

Marlon Williams: [00:02:41] Yeah, I’d be happy to, but in order to understand that, I need to share a little bit about my parent company, which is Starter Labs. That’s the parent company of Atlanta Blockchain Center. So Starter Labs is a R&D research and development software company. We’re based here in Atlanta now. I moved it from Miami. And what we do is build various products in blockchain, specifically products that are at the intersection of fundraising and launching companies. So you can think about the core product offerings at Starter Labs as something of a kick starter in the traditional sense, the crowdfunding platform fundraising platform for blockchain. So I launched that project, uh, that product several years ago, and it was quite successful to the point where it became the number one crypto launchpad in the entire industry and facilitated over 60 different launches of of companies, uh, with $45 million in funding in crypto funding. And the majority of these founders had never met. It was completely virtual. This was at the height of the pandemic. Um, so my, um, my desire sort of shifted into wanting to apply a lot of that value to founders that I have met and that I know in real life, but particularly founders that are, uh, are affected by the current distribution of venture capital funding. I’m not sure if you know Lee, but in 2021, out of the 330 plus billion dollars of venture capital funding that went to startup founders, only 1% went to, uh, uh, diverse founders. So if you’re a woman, if you’re black, if you’re a minority building in this, uh, in this, you know, tech world, uh, venture capital isn’t your friend. So part of the mission of the Blockchain center is to utilize the strength of, uh, Starter Labs fundraising ecosystem to help identify minority builders. Um, and in the space that want to build in crypto, blockchain and Web3 to get them funded. And make a difference in, in their lives and and just change the world. And you know, we really would like to reduce that significant gap and venture capital fund distribution. And that’s a huge part of what we do now.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:48] Um, as, as, you know, having that kind of full time job, making all that happen for your clients and growing those businesses and then saying, oh, and my side hustle is I’m going to build this, you know, Atlanta Blockchain Center. That’s going to be kind of a place where these folks can gather and, um, you know, kind of create collisions and help each other and just get kind of their foot in the door. That in itself is a noble mission that takes, um, you know, so much energy and time and resources to pull that off. Can you talk about how, um, kind of you’re managing both of that because they both seem like full time jobs.

Marlon Williams: [00:06:34] You got that right. Well, you know, I’ve, uh, I’ve now 23 years of experience in software startups. Um, my very first startup was in 2003. And since then, I have built a lot of different companies around, uh, various industries, from health information technology to telecommunications, contact center, social. Um, I’ve just sort of developed this knack for building things, uh, building software in various industries and juggling multiple things at once, uh, sort of becomes second nature in my role today. So it doesn’t feel overwhelming. But you’re right. It’s it’s certainly two different, two different, uh, jobs altogether. One is, um, tasked with identifying, um, the next up and coming companies that are going to be disruptors and helping them get funded. The other is similar in that it’s also identifying, uh, up and coming builders and founders, but it’s much more mission driven because, you know, that’s the physical component of it. We, um, we have a community of individuals who come by the center every single week that, you know, if they’re looking for engineers, uh, to help them build or marketers or just to network with like minded individuals, we’ve sort of built a solid community around, um, the blockchain center and everyone see, uh, agrees with, um, our pursuit. Right. Which is Atlanta has so much to offer and is one of the most diverse cities in this country. And here’s a an industry where a mass generation, uh, a mass transfer of generational wealth is occurring. Yet there wasn’t a serious effort to educate the people around this technology and one of the most diverse cities in this country, it wasn’t a serious effort to. Um, to nurture talent around building products and services that are going to be, uh, defining the way that we work and play in the future. Uh, so everyone. Realizes that, you know, this need existed and we all kind of congregate around that. So. To me. Although they are two separate, um, companies, they’re very much. Uh, aligned with each other, so that makes it extremely easier to manage.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:43] Now, are you finding that people are, um, looking for opportunities to play on the blockchain and to to build businesses in and around the blockchain, especially, you know, those underserved groups that you mentioned that you’re that’s important to you? Are they kind of raising their hand and saying, you know what, I want to learn more about this. I think there’s opportunity there, uh, for people like me.

Marlon Williams: [00:10:11] Oh, man. Absolutely, absolutely. You know, um. You’d be you’d be surprised at sort of how many people are actually interested in this. I was just having a conversation the other day, uh, about why I personally believe the financial sort of speculative nature of crypto was the perfect, um, use case to capture everyone’s attention. Um, to demonstrate the capabilities of blockchain. Uh, because when you’re talking about finances, you know, and riches and all these other things, that gets people’s attention, right? Um, so that captured a lot of people’s attention. But what that is resulted in is further curiosity as they start learning about blockchain coming in from the crypto side, hearing about the wealth and the different, you know, um, sort of self-sovereign nature of it, but realizing that as they learn more and more that the underlying technology is transformative. So we meet people all the time, every single week who are coming to learn because they were, uh, attracted to the financial speculative nature of it. But as they, um, continue to learn and come to more sessions where we talk about the underlying tech and not just the financial applications or speculative applications, it sparks the curiosity even more and creates more and more interest. Um, so, you know, it starts with the attraction to finance, but it certainly, um, expands into, oh, wow. So I could own my own music, uh, and control who gets to listen to it or, you know, uh, get paid royalty automatically through this technology and not have ten middlemen to go through, uh, giving me a tiny piece of the pie.

Marlon Williams: [00:12:27] And so, you know, that’s that’s usually how it it unfolds. And I’ll share a quick stat with you, too. I mean, more than half of, um, we worked with Coinbase over the last quarter quite a bit. We held an event in Atlanta called the Crypto Town Hall, and it was myself and the chief policy officer of Coinbase, former mayor, um, Keisha Lance bottoms, and one of the majority floor leaders for the for the state of Georgia, all on the panel talking about crypto, right. And what it means to Georgia. And in that, we revealed that more than half of Americans heard about this technology, right. And they’re extremely interested in the technology. And it’s only going to increase continue to increase over time. Um, and in, in the, in the state of, uh, Georgia alone, you know, we have. It’s about 70. Um, I believe it was 70 plus percent or so of the the the the mining, the power for power for some of the miners here, uh, in the country is generated out of, uh, out of Georgia. And there’s some other interesting stats around blockchain and crypto and the state of Georgia that. Or are given hints that this industry is slowly growing and shouldn’t be ignored.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:02] And it’s it’s like you said, the, you know, maybe crypto or NFTs kind of get you interested, but the, uh, the growth, I think ultimately is going to be leveraging blockchain in, in more mundane places. You know, it’s going to. Right. Like it. You know, the headline might be crypto, but that’s not going to be kind of the nuts and bolts of how people are going to be using blockchain.

Marlon Williams: [00:14:30] Absolutely, absolutely. And and again, in a city like Atlanta where it’s so diverse, I mean, the, um, some of the stats around diversity, you’d find that, uh, college educated, uh, black Americans or much more interested in, um, crypto than their counterparts. They believe that it will have a positive impact on society, um, especially in a society where they feel they were negatively impacted by the current financial system. Um, that’s that’s one segment of the population. If you go to, uh, logistics providers, there’s, uh, a lot of individuals looking at how blockchain could transform their operations by increasing efficiency and transparency speed. Um, that’s another end of the spectrum. I gave a hint about, you know, musicians and how blockchain could disrupt that industry. That’s another aspect. I mean, the technology applies to all sorts of situations, from social impact to enterprise efficiencies to creating, um, you know, much more efficient world. And in various businesses, it’s just so transformative. And I, you know, I’m still shocked at why more centers like the Blockchain Center don’t exist across this country, right? There’s just not another technology that is as transformative as this. And of course, I’m biased. Uh, in in today’s world, you know, maybe several decades ago and prior. But in today’s world, I don’t think so. The AI is up there, but. Right.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:30] I think it’s one of those things where when something when people don’t understand it and it and they the part they, they even just kind of superficially heard of it sounds like it’s out there and speculative. Um, you know, they kind of lump the whole thing in there together. But I don’t think people understand that blockchain in the supply chain is real and functioning. And, um, it’s it’s just part of the thing. It’s like when in my background is in marketing. So when, you know, the web stuff and the internet happened, that was like a thing. And you’d have to say, this is internet marketing or, you know, and then it just became marketing because it was in everything or, or, you know, technology used to be a separate thing. But now every company is a tech company. I mean, everybody is. So I think it’s just a matter of time. And, and each iteration of these kind of new things, that time distance is shorter and shorter. You know, it doesn’t take as much time. I don’t think blockchain to be ubiquitous as it did, you know, for the internet or web or, you know, some of the earlier technologies.

Marlon Williams: [00:17:40] They are completely, completely. And it’s scary. It’s just getting faster.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:45] Right? And that’s the ironic part. I mean, all of this stuff makes things faster. Ai makes things faster, blockchain makes things faster. And it just especially older people have a hard time, you know, they don’t like change to begin with. And then the speed of which things change is just shocking. I saw somebody posted a list of like, um, businesses that were that started within the last 20 years. And it’s like every single web business you’ve ever heard of is on that list. And that’s just 20 years ago, you know?

Marlon Williams: [00:18:20] Oh, yeah.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:20] So it’s it’s just a matter. It’s not an if. It’s a matter of when, uh, when all this becomes ubiquitous and, and and this thing that you’re having a hard time educating and selling in, that people will be just like, oh, yeah, you know, where has this been? You know, they’re going to be, you know, wishing they had started earlier.

Marlon Williams: [00:18:41] Oh, yeah.

Marlon Williams: [00:18:42] Absolutely, absolutely. And, you know, in the meantime, we’re going to continue to work and build. Uh, and that’s what I love. I love, you know, being heads down. I’m not too much of a public facing individual. I know I’ve had to adapt to to that over the, over the years as my role increased from sort of like a behind the scenes builder to, uh, to someone who is also forward facing and interacting with, with clients and so forth. But I enjoy being the underdog. I enjoy building, um, you know, quietly, uh, into the future and, um, wait for it to dawn upon us, uh, only to, um, confirm that we were we were ahead. So I’m personally excited about the, uh, the work that we’re doing here in Atlanta. I think the, you know, um.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:43] Are you finding collaborators and partners? Um, is this because I know that was part of why you came from Miami to here was to to kind of plug into this ecosystem here. Has this been welcoming? I mean, what do you need more of and how can we help you?

Marlon Williams: [00:20:00] It has certainly been, uh, very welcoming, uh, overall. Right. And there are certain and certain pockets of, of Atlanta that are still apprehensive to block blockchain. And I think they’re going to continue to be until they’re forced to, uh, to react. But for the most part, the wider ecosystem has been very supportive. Um, especially places like Atlanta Tech Village with, with Ali Marriott and others, not so much. But, um, you know, again, sometimes we have to, uh, we have to demonstrate to others what they, they don’t know that that’s that’s been beneficial to them. Right? Kind of leading them into the future. Um, despite not knowing that, you know, it’s to their benefit in a large part of what we, we have been doing is, is, uh, is is like that.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:03] Now. So right now you a cohort just finished or you’re starting a new cohort. What’s going on now with the incubator?

Marlon Williams: [00:21:12] We’re in the middle of one now. Uh, and that one’s going to end. Um, end of Q1 and, um, you know, Q2 or Q3, depending on how many applications we get, we’ll be starting our fifth cohort.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:27] And so people can apply now. Right? Or they they have to wait.

Marlon Williams: [00:21:32] They can apply now. So if anyone wants to build they have an idea or they are building around blockchain, crypto, Web3, they can go to Atlanta Frame.io and apply to the incubator. Uh, we will assess the application. If we think that there’s something substance we can help, um, we will accept the application and they’ll start in the next cohort. Now, all of these, for now, we’ve been doing is all of all of these, um, these founders, all of their work culminates in a pitch fest, an annual pitch fest where at least one of them will win. Um, will get a check for $25,000. And, um, you know, we we anticipate increasing that, particularly during the bull market when there’s a lot more capital flowing in the space. So our goal is to fund almost every company that’s gone through our incubator in some capacity. But, um, you got to. You got to be serious. You know, you got to be serious about your idea, and, uh, we’ll we’ll assist in, um, some go to market strategies to building, development, coding, etc..

Lee Kantor: [00:22:47] So do you have to know how to do this, or can you come in there with an idea on a napkin? Like what? What level of an entrepreneur are you looking for?

Marlon Williams: [00:22:56] Yeah. You got to know how to if you if you if you don’t know how to build a product, you got to know how to, you know, build the business right and find people to help you build a product. But, you know, we’re not looking for just, um, idea folks. You know, I think there’s a place called ideas. Com for that. But in all seriousness, we’re, we’re we’re looking for people who are have already started on something, um, whether or not they have a product, but they’re, they’ve probably incorporated the company. They have a white paper, uh, developed. Um, they’re in the first stages, but they’re taking action, you know, taking action, doing something not simply ideating. So we prefer execution oriented, action oriented, uh, founders then than not.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:51] And then regarding the coding, is this something that I got to be, uh, Coding Ninja or is this something that I can learn how to better code? Like, what’s the technical background?

Marlon Williams: [00:24:04] I think it varies based on the actual product. But, you know, if you’re, um, if you’re not a coder, you should be pretty darn good at, uh, the non-technical aspects of starting a, um. A business and we could help you with, you know, resources for coders and designers and so forth if needed. Um, if you’re a coder, great, because coders can usually execute on the ideas that they have.

Lee Kantor: [00:24:33] So and do you still have the, um, co-working space?

Marlon Williams: [00:24:38] Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Marlon Williams: [00:24:39] There, uh, you get to meet with, uh, with us at the co-working space twice a week, and we, um, hashed out all the details of your startup. Uh, you also get, uh, free access to the co-working space in perpetuity as you become what we call an immutable founder, which is immutable in the context of blockchain, just means that it’s unchangeable. It’s forever, basically. So for us, all the founders that we accept are immutable founders. And you get an, uh, unlimited access to co-working space. Come here. You can, you know, sleep here, you can work here. You can just becomes yours to build.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:23] And then um, any you mentioned that 20 companies have gone through. Has anybody gotten funding?

Marlon Williams: [00:25:31] Yeah. Uh, in the last pitch fast, uh, fan funder, um, got a check for 25 K, and we have been helping them with, um, another potential raise. So they should be raising some additional funds sometime this year and in our next pitch fast, which is currently slated for late May, early June. Uh, another one of the founders are going to get a check. Um, and we’re also going to be helping, uh, helping them in others with funding this year. So we should see a lot more funding activity over the next, uh, 24 months for companies that have gone through our incubator.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:15] And I can’t emphasize enough that the blockchain center, this is industry agnostic. This is going to touch every industry. Like. So it doesn’t matter if your idea is in anything, you should be considering the blockchain center as a place to incubate it because it’s going to involve the blockchain, whether you accept that today or not.

Marlon Williams: [00:26:37] Absolutely. That’s right.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:40] So, uh, thank you so much for sharing your story and doing the work you’re doing is so important to the community. And I really hate that. You know, it’s one of those best kept secrets. There’s no reason that everyone shouldn’t know Marlon Williams and the good work he’s doing at Starter Labs in Atlanta, Blockchain Center. And I hope everybody invest some time into checking them out at Atlanta. Canijo going by there, going to one of the events. It’s very important for the Atlanta business community and the tech ecosystem as a whole to have Marlon be part of it. And thank you so much, man. I really do appreciate it. You’re doing important work.

Marlon Williams: [00:27:20] Thank you Lee. Thank you. And thank you, Atlanta Business Radio. We appreciate it.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:23] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.

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Jeffrey Rohrs With ActiveCampaign

by

Atlanta Business Radio
Atlanta Business Radio
Jeffrey Rohrs With ActiveCampaign
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Jeffrey Rohrs, VP of Brand Marketing at intelligent automation provider ActiveCampaign, is a creative, strategic, and experienced marketing leader with a passion for collaboration, innovation, and building dynamic brands in today’s fragmented media landscape.

He is an author, recovering attorney, bacon-lover, and Clevelander-at-heart. He has served as Chief Marketing Officer at Tendo, Filo, Jobvite, and Yext as well as VP of Marketing for Salesforce and ExactTarget.

Connect with Jeffrey on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • About ActiveCampaign and his role.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by On pay. Atlanta’s new standard in payroll. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:24] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio, and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, Onpay. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Atlanta Business Radio, we have Jeff Rohrs with ActiveCampaign. Welcome.

Jeff Rohrs: [00:00:43] Thank you Lee, great to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:45] I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about Active Campaign. How you serving folks?

Jeff Rohrs: [00:00:50] Yeah. So we help small teams power big businesses with intelligent marketing automation. Essentially, our platform enables companies to integrate with existing systems, whether they’re point of sale, whether they’re informational customer data, etc., so they can power more personalized, relevant and timely messaging at the moment that mattered. So some customers come to us and they use us for basic email marketing, but our vision is to always help them graduate up to, uh, increasingly better, more efficient, more agile kind of uses that are automated and working while they sleep. And that just simply allows those businesses to develop better relationships with customers, more responsive relationships. So if you’re signing up for a newsletter or if you’ve purchased something, you’re getting those responsive emails right away, regardless of the time of day. And it also enables you to kind of nurture folks and do communication strategies that drip out the information that you want about your business over time, so that you have a more educated customer base who is more appreciative and embraces the totality of what you offer.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:55] So what is kind of the sweet spot for your ideal client? Because I would imagine that, you know, every size business needs help in this area.

Jeff Rohrs: [00:02:05] You’re absolutely right. And our sweet spot, it really falls on that small teams piece of our message. We find that a lot of marketers, entrepreneurs, they might be multiple hat wearers. So we could be dealing with somebody who is a solopreneur, right? They’re the only one in their business on up to kind of the mid-market, where you might have a team of five, ten, 20, 30 folks, but inevitably they feel smaller than they really should be. They’re underfunded. They’re understaffed. They need to do more with less. And so we really kind of operate in that area across all different types of verticals. So we have customers in real estate, customers in franchising and multi-location, customers in health care and food service and e-commerce and education. So it’s it’s great to have a flexible platform because it suits many types of business applications. And with both the intelligent marketing automation platform and our CRM, we can do a lot of great things for folks as they look to grow their business.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:02] So when you’re saying small teams, so like the solopreneur, this isn’t a good fit for.

Jeff Rohrs: [00:03:09] No, it is actually a good fit. We’ve got a lot of folks who are, you know, the chief cook and bottle washer of their operation. Right. They’re interested in growing a business. It could be somebody who’s a content creator. We’ve got folks who operate yoga studios and other types of businesses where there are not a lot of employees. And the reason it’s great for them is because they can invest the time on the front end to set up the types of communication, cadences and integrations that power the different communications via the automation platform and just let that run their business, dipping in when they need to do new types of promotions or they have new types of offerings. Um, and then also we have a great and a very vibrant partner community who can offer services as well. So as the business grows, it might be growing in terms of revenue, but maybe that entrepreneur does not want to grow it in terms of employee count. They can look to hire help, uh, from our community as well. Uh, and then if they get to the point where they do want to add staff, um, we’ve got, you know, a number of certified consultants around the globe being a company that services, you know, uh, customers in about 170 countries worldwide.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:21] So let’s kind of drill down and, and help that entrepreneur that, that, uh, hypothetical yoga studio, uh, entrepreneur. So you’re, you know, you had this dream, maybe you work corporate and you say, hey, I’m going to open a yoga studio. So now I’m all in. I’m a yoga studio operator. And I realized pretty quickly that, um, in my head, I was spending a lot of time doing yoga and helping people with yoga and sharing my love and passion about yoga. But in reality, I have to get people in the door. So now I’m also a marketer, and maybe that’s not my, you know, go to skill set. How would I kind of leverage active campaign? Like what would you do on day one when you decided to open up your shop and, and to build out some sort of a marketing plan, leveraging all that active campaign has to offer?

Jeff Rohrs: [00:05:17] Sure. So you open up those doors. We’ve got a free 14 day trial, and we will onboard you with personal one on one training to basically set up the first types of email or other communications that you need to have going out to get your business underway. And that could be that you’ve got a website that you are perhaps selling subscription or memberships, and what you need is via whatever platform you’re using for the membership component. You need it to integrate with active Campaign to power those communications that confirm your membership, that then perhaps put you on a multi-touch kind of campaign to educate you about what to expect in your first visit to the studio, as well as how often you may want to come and what other services there are. So what we find is that when you’re that type of an entrepreneur and you’ve got that level of commitment, folks are pretty, pretty savvy as to how they want to communicate. And so those one on one trainings, combined with other educational things we do, like we have traveling study halls in cities around the globe where our customers and partners get together with our trainers over 1 or 2 days and actually get their hands on in the platform, learning how to do more and more sophisticated things with active campaign.

Jeff Rohrs: [00:06:35] But it starts with that first email. It starts with that first integration. Those are the keys to marketing automation. The integration is the heart and soul of it, right? So you integrate active campaign with something, let’s say a point of sale system. Now, something that happens in that point of sale system can trigger an email. That data from the point of sale system goes into your customer database. You begin to build a profile on which you can then trigger different messaging. So as that sophistication goes up, the training and the opportunities the individual has to learn increases. Well, some folks tend to outsource that. Maybe it’s a small family business and they want to have a brother or a sister or a son or a daughter, a husband or wife do that work. We often see that. But as the company gets bigger and they begin to hire marketing talent, that becomes a more specialized. And then we also see, as I mentioned before, partnership uses. So it’s an extremely flexible platform in that regard. It really depends on where the individual is in terms of their abilities and and whether they want to handle that stuff on their own.

Jeff Rohrs: [00:07:38] We find with a lot of kind of those savvy solopreneurs, they want to they want to get their hands on it because they want to control the messaging out of the gate. And then as it grows, they want to hand it off, and they want to automate more and more so that the business is running, you know, while they do the things they love. And that’s ultimately what marketing automation should do. It should make more time for the things you love, whether that’s, you know, surfing in the case of our customer, boat surfing, yoga, um, you know, that’s very much what he likes about, uh, having active campaign is it gives him more time on the waves, more time with his customers and the folks that he’s teaching how to surf. We’re teaching yoga. Um, for others, maybe they want more time in their business, uh, for strategy or training employees. So it’s really up to them. But the sky’s the limit when it comes to marketing automation, because as you add more systems, that’s more data. And data is just gold today to power those personalized communications.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:33] Now, do you still feel that email marketing, uh, should be, if not at the heart of but a large part of, uh, small to midsize business owners marketing?

Jeff Rohrs: [00:08:44] Absolutely. If it’s not, you are behind. Um, I have been in the email marketing industry now for, uh, over 25 years, and I used to do a presentation in the late 2000, uh, 2000. So probably like 2008, 2009 that I could still give today verbatim about email is dead. And what I would show people is articles from every year, and I could do it from every year since then to today, where somebody is declaring that email is dead and it’s not. It is the for many people, it’s the silent driver of the majority of their online revenue and their communications. And the reason is it is extraordinarily affordable. It is something that everybody has access to and checks, and it is not subject to the whims of ownership, as we’ve seen, perhaps with Twitter, where you have an owner come in, change the rules of the game, and now all of a sudden, people’s engagement dries up and they’re left holding the bag going, well, how do I reach my customers? Well, with email, you’re building a database of subscribers that’s an owned asset. The more subscribers you have, the more people you can reach, the more amplification you have and the more business opportunity you have. And so one of the cold truths of the last few years, I’ve seen many social media mavens who kind of shoot, you know, kind of, uh, eschewed, uh, email for other, you know, newer channels, kind of have the cold realization that they should have been building email lists, and now they are they’re going back to that. Well.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:17] Yeah. That’s something that I always recommend to my clients, is that you want to own kind of the ability to communicate with the people important to you. All these third party apps out there, um, that are encouraging you to create content and share stuff and build the following. At some point, they’re going to charge you to reach those people. And even if they’re not charging you right now, you’re not reaching the totality of your people that you’ve spent all this time and energy and money in, in putting on this platform. All you’re doing is helping them. Something a long time ago told me, if it’s free, then you’re the product and so on. All these on all these platforms, you’re really helping them get advertising dollars. You are the content for them that they’re making money off of you, and you don’t have any control over the people that you’ve been building up as followers unless you write them a check.

Jeff Rohrs: [00:11:20] You’re absolutely right, Lee. And that’s one of my favorite quotes in business. Uh, and I actually wrote a book ten years ago called Audience Marketing in the Age of Subscribers, fans and Followers. And it was all about this. It was about the fact that there are different types of audiences depending on the channel you’re in, and you need to understand when you’re building something on someone else’s land. That’s what happened with Twitter. That happened with a lot of different social media channels that ebbed and flowed. But if we look across the last 25 years, what has remained steady, the ability to go to a website, the ability to search and the ability to send and receive email now, we’ve added additional channels over those years. One of the ones that is now central to our lives is text messaging, right? Sms has grown dramatically. It has not eclipsed email when it comes to the communications around, let’s say, e-commerce discounts, subscriptions, newsletters, etc. but it is a critical cog in the machine and one that again, you can power with marketing automation when it’s the right channel to communicate. But you’re you’re really hitting around this important idea of owned audiences, which is what email is, which is what a base of of of text messaging, SMS subscribers is. And it’s actually kind of the foundation of a big event that we’ve got coming up for Leap Day, where we’ve linked arms with a lot of other, uh, B2B software providers in the industry, uh, to create an event that’s going to help, uh, customers and businesses of all sizes learn how to make more time.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:50] So let’s dig into this Leap Day extravaganza. That active campaign is, um, kind of headlining. Uh, tell us about the event and some of the partners, uh, and what what a person can expect.

Jeff Rohrs: [00:13:05] Yeah. So it is called the Active Campaign Leap Day Extravaganza. And it’s brought to you by Active Campaign Calendly. Uh, gold cast and the juice and calendly is synonymous with time because they are a calendar application that allows you to get much more efficient with scheduling by enabling people who want to schedule time with you to access your calendar. Gold cast is the platform for this virtual event, and the juice is a great B2B subscription. Uh, that. If you’re interested in B2B content about marketing, I highly recommend subscribing to them. The reason we’ve all joined together is like our customers and our partners. Everybody’s being asked to do more with less these days. And so that drive towards efficiency and productivity means that Leap Day is really the perfect day to be reflective on this, right? What is this year give us? It gives us 24 hours out of the blue. When you really take a step back and think about that. That’s kind of crazy in a modern society that every four years we just have to throw another day on the calendar in order to catch up. But we thought about it in, in a different way, and that was one of the promises of active campaign is efficiency. That’s intelligent marketing automation. Automate things so that you have more time.

Jeff Rohrs: [00:14:13] And so instead of doing a usual run of the mill conference, we’re pulling together all of these customers, all of these speakers, all these sponsors, and every single one of the sessions. All of this is for free, by the way, is going to be about how to make more time leveraging technology, strategy or process. And so there will be technology providers showcasing how you use their tools. We’ve got an author of a new book called Time Boxing about doing one thing at a time. Well, we’ve got great speakers from across the marketing universe, and this is 29 hours straight of content on February 29th. And the way we pull that off is the magic of time zones. So we are running effectively for your listeners from 4 p.m. eastern on the 28th of February until about 8 p.m. eastern on the 29th of February. And if folks want to register, it’s totally free. They just go to leap, Leap Day, dot live forward, slash Atlanta, and you can go ahead and register there. Folks from around the globe are going to be participating. And we’ve got content for entrepreneurs, marketers, folks who are interested in improving their career, interested in improving their SEO, their email, their marketing automation, their events. There’s something for everybody who is an entrepreneur or a marketer.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:28] So, um, how am I going to consume this content? Is this something that if I don’t if I miss it live, I can get a replay? Or is this like a perishable that, hey, you, you better be there or you miss out?

Jeff Rohrs: [00:15:40] Uh, thank you for asking that question. Because in putting it together, the last thing we wanted to do was convey that you got to sit there for 29 hours straight. Now, I’m crazy enough to do that, but I got to make sure this thing comes off without a hitch. Uh, but folks are welcome to dip in and out throughout the, uh, the broadcast on the 28th and the 29th. And then we will be making it available on demand through the end of March. Uh, and that provides everybody with a chance to find the content that is of interest to them and participate in it and, uh, and ultimately get the value that hopefully they find several things that are going to help them be more efficient this year. I should note, though, that the benefit of participating in the live event is that many of our sponsors, many of our speakers, are going to be participating in the live chat. So they’re recording sessions, but they’re going to be in the live chat there to answer questions. And each of our sponsors is creating virtual booths so that, as folks say, oh, that’s interesting. I want to learn more. They don’t have to go search for it on the web. They can just move on over to the booth and they can ask and answer those questions. We’re also providing for our community of of customers and partners, uh, a help and education area, so that we can answer their questions right away. So it’s going to make for a really fun, uh, 29 hours, uh, of content. But yes, it will be available on demand and all of it for free.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:58] And if somebody wants to learn more about active campaign, where should they go?

Jeff Rohrs: [00:17:02] Yeah. For active campaign, just go to active campaign.com. As I mentioned at the top, uh, we offer two week free trial for new customers. You can come in, sign up, you’ll get, uh, one on one introduction to the platform and learn about it over those two weeks. And our folks will do their best to show you how it can benefit your business. And if it’s for you, great. If it’s not, we understand. And, uh, the the leap Day extravaganza is for customers, partners, and anyone doesn’t have to be a customer or partner. And again, that’s at Leap day dot live forward slash Atlanta.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:36] Good stuff. Well thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Jeff Rohrs: [00:17:42] Thank you very much and I hope you have a great day.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:44] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.

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Patrick Dierberger With The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

by

GWBC Radio
GWBC Radio
Patrick Dierberger With The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
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Patrick Dierberger is an assistant vice president in the Financial Management and Planning (FM&P) Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, responsible for financial management, accounting, and duties associated with the Bank’s financial reporting.

Working at the Atlanta Fed for 20 years, he previously held positions in the Payor Bank Services, Treasury Check Processing, Check Administration, and Unisys Information Security. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Auburn University and has completed executive development programs with Harvard University and The Wharton School.

Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • His new position as board chair
  • His favorite leadership moments as a board member
  • Where he sees the organization going in the coming years
  • Where his personal career is going, etc.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for GWBC Radio’s Open For Business. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:18] Lee Kantor here, another episode of GWBC Open For Business. I’m so excited to be talking with today’s guest, Patrick Dierberger with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Welcome, Patrick.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:00:33] Thank you, Lee. I’m glad to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:36] Well, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, that is an awesome place. Do you mind explaining for folks a little bit about what the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta does and how it fits into, you know, kind of the United States economy and business world because you hear about it a lot, but people probably haven’t talked to anybody with them before.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:00:58] Absolutely, Lee. So, thank you for the opportunity, first of all, and great to be here. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is the reserve bank for the Southeast section of the United States. We are responsible for the monetary policy, economic well-being of the Southeast economy. Part of our job is to ensure that we are monitoring what’s going on in the economy throughout the region, which is a large region. Our footprint is all of Georgia, all of Alabama, Florida, parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:01:34] So, we’re just the Sixth District part of the Federal Reserve System. So, we’re one of 12 reserve banks across the system, but our job is to monitor the economy for the Southeast. My job specifically is I’m the senior procurement officer for the Sixth District, so my job, my responsibility for our strategic sourcing function as well as our supplier diversity program.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:57] So, people hear about the Fed is raising rates or lowering rates, you’re part of that kind of world, right? You’re giving your input about what’s happening in your region so that the Fed as a whole can kind of make an assessment of where the economy of America is going. Is that part of what’s happening?

Patrick Dierberger: [00:02:16] That’s part of our responsibility, yes. And, again, I preface this by saying all my comments are just my personal views. They don’t necessarily represent the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta or the Federal Reserve System. But you’re correct in that President Bostic, who is our president, his job is to ensure that he is getting the economic intelligence throughout the region. That’s one of the great things about the Federal Reserve System is that we are a regional presence, so we’re able to make the connections with the community, the business community, just the communities that we all live in, and make sure we understand what is going on in those communities.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:02:52] And you can imagine, the Sixth District of the Southeastern United States has a very varied community of economies. A lot of different things going on in the Southeast, whether it’s tourism, agriculture, business, banking, so there’s a lot of business intelligence to be gathered. Our job is to make sure that we are providing that information to President Bostic when he goes and votes as part of the FOMC, the Federal Open Market Committee. That’s the body of the Federal Reserve System that decides the direction of interest rates.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:25] Now, in your kind of view, let’s talk specifically of Georgia, why do you think that Georgia has such a robust economy and has kind of weathered a lot of storms? Is it because of kind of the diversity of the different industries that are here? Does that play a role? Or is it like the port system and the airport and then the university system, like what are the kind of drivers in your mind?

Patrick Dierberger: [00:03:52] So, it’s not necessarily my area of expertise, Lee, but we have a lot of people in the bank, in the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta that really focus on that type of information. On my personal opinion, I will say that I think you’re absolutely right, the fact that we have a very robust and inclusive and diverse economy in the Southeast, there’s a lot of different industry sectors that are part of our economy. I think that’s part of it in terms of being able to react to changes in the economy and be able to withstand some of the things that are going on in the larger global economy or the United States economy. We have a lot of different businesses and industries that are part of our Southeast Region.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:43] Now, in your career, have you always been active in joining boards of different organizations?

Patrick Dierberger: [00:04:52] Yes. So, part of our mission in the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is being part of our communities, community outreach. We realize the importance of being engaged and being part of the communities that we live in. One of our programs here at the bank is ensuring that there are a lot of really talented nonprofit organizations throughout the Southeast and there’s a lot of talent within the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, so one of our programs is matching up individuals within our organization who express a desire to be part of that program of serving on nonprofit boards, winning just again, our talent and our time to help further the mission of some really deserving institutions that we’re able to partner with.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:45] Now, specifically to yourself, could you share some advice on choosing the right organizations to get involved with? Because like you said, there’s a lot, so how do you kind of decide where you’re going to put your energy and your talent?

Patrick Dierberger: [00:06:00] So, really, Lee, that depends on what you’re passionate about. I think that’s one of the main things you need to first take a look at is really think about what are some of the fields of interest or things that, again, really interest you personally in terms of service, what are the things that you’re passionate about. Because there are a lot of nonprofits out there that offer all types of services to the community. And I’m confident that if you find something that you’re passionate about in the nonprofit sector, there is a nonprofit board out there that is looking for assistance, always looking for time and talent to help advance that nonprofit’s mission.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:06:40] So, first thing is look for, again, what are you passionate about. And then, also, take a look at what do you feel would be aligned with what you’re trying to achieve, possibly professionally. So, I’ve learned so much from serving on nonprofit boards in terms of just leadership and just learning from others who serve on the board. There’s so much talent on these boards that it’s just an opportunity to learn. So, also think about what are some of the things that you want to get out of nonprofit service because, without a doubt, there’s lots of opportunities to develop your own skills.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:17] Now, can we talk a little bit about GWBC? Why did you initially get involved with them? And as your new position as board chair, kind of what’s your vision?

Patrick Dierberger: [00:07:29] Certainly. So, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has always had a strong supplier diversity program. And, again, as the senior procurement officer, one of my responsibilities is ensuring that through all our procurement practices that, again, we’re being inclusive in our sourcing practices. We want to make sure that we’re looking throughout the community for vendors that are able to provide the goods and services, that, again, helps achieve our mission on a daily basis.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:07:56] And there are a lot of great businesses out there. So, we’ve always had a supplier diversity program within our organization. So, it was just a natural extension of some of the councils within the region that it’s a great partnership both from a business standpoint of ensuring that we’re able to leverage our collective resources to advance both of our missions, either GWBC or the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. So, there was an opportunity to serve on the board and it’s a logical extension of just some of my responsibilities.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:08:30] And, again, we’ve been members of GWBC long before I joined the board. And, again, just really valued that partnership and just the opportunity to contribute to that organization. They do such good work for the women-owned business community. It is amazing the programs, the opportunities for women-owned businesses to engage each other, engage corporates such as ourselves to really ensure that we are maximizing the opportunities for corporations and for women business enterprises.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:09:06] One of the things as a Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, as we’re looking for diverse business enterprises, the certification process that GWBC offers really is a value to our organization. We don’t have the resources to self-certify, so we leverage the certifications of the supplier diversity council that we work with on a regular basis. And organizations such as WBENC and GWBC, they are the gold standard for women business enterprises. So, we see the certification from GWBC and from WBENC, we know we have the confidence that that’s the certification that we can leverage ourselves as we’re engaging these vendors.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:09:49] So, to be able to, again, work with GWBC to ensure that we are creating value for the women business enterprise community, our constituents, I think it’s going to be one of the things that we really continue to focus on. It’s always been a focus for GWBC, but we’re seeing some really interesting times right now, Lee, in terms of just changes in the DE&I space, some of the court rulings that have come down recently and just how that is going to impact organizations such as WBENC and GWBC, I think is yet to be seen.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:10:28] But I think without a doubt that collectively we’ll be able to navigate those considerations and make sure that we continue to provide that value as things continue to change, that we are working closely with the leadership of GWBC, Roz and her staff, which do just an outstanding job leading the organization. As well as the board of directors, who, again, just the talent that we have on the board is amazing. And, again, the constituency of GWBC, the women business enterprises that, again, are the customers, so to speak, but, again, making sure that they see the value of that certification on an ongoing basis.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:11] Now, where do you see the opportunity maybe for enterprise level organizations to leverage a relationship with GWBC? You mentioned that the Federal Reserve here in Atlanta has been part of the group for a while. What would you say to a leader at another enterprise level organization if you were trying to pitch them of, “Hey, this is a group you should really get involved with. This is really going to pay dividends.”

Patrick Dierberger: [00:11:40] The first thing I would consider is, again, what is the mission of that organization, what are some of the strategic objectives of that organization that will align with their partnership or just working with GWBC. So, I think that’s important to make sure we understand exactly what would that organization be looking in terms of what value are they seeking that would align with GWBC. And there’s a lot of value to be had. Again, there’s data out there that highlights the value of a diverse and inclusive strategic sourcing procurement process. We see that every day in terms of the value that it brings to us in our competitive bid processes. So, that’s the first question I would ask an organization is, What are you looking for in that partnership?

Patrick Dierberger: [00:12:35] The second thing I would say is, again, looking for that value proposition. GWBC offers an excellent value proposition to a corporation. I think just ensuring that we articulate that, clearly make the case for using the data. I think data is really important. There was lots of data that, again, points to just how a partnership with GWBC really contributes to the overall health of a procurement program.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:13] Now, let’s kind of look on the other side of the table. How would you pitch a woman-owned business out there that hasn’t been certified yet on the merits of going through a certification?

Patrick Dierberger: [00:13:26] So, first thing I would, again, focus on is the value that the certification offer. And there are various certification organizations out there. There are governments that self-certify. Here in the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, as we look at our spend, the procurement spend that we have on a regular basis, we do capture our diverse spend. That’s something that we want to ensure the integrity of that spend. So, that certification process is kind of the first step, if you will, of ensuring that we see a WBENC certification, again, that being the kind of the gold standard of one of the certifying bodies out there, we know with confidence that we can capture that spend as one business spend. That goes a long way.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:14:15] That goes a long way because we are, again, always wanting to make sure that we have a diverse and inclusive competitive bid process. And those certifications is the first step to help us identify those businesses out there that we know can bring a lot of value to our organization. As a women-owned business being able to leverage that certification, being able to leverage the network that WBENC, both the national level and GWBC as a regional partner organization, the network of relationships that you build being a part of those organizations, you can’t put a price tag on that.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:14:55] I just think of some of the programs that I’ve been involved in, such as the Mentor/Protégé program that GWBC offers, and just some of the connections that we’re able to build through some of those programs, the programing and, again, through the certification process, and just the the constituency of GWBC. As we all know, business is about relationships and being able to identify those opportunities to join organizations where you have a ready-made network of like-minded, organizations, whether they’re corporations or whether they’re women business enterprises, that are able to, again, support each other as businesses or as organizations looking to be successful. It’s hard to put a price tag on that, Lee, because there’s so many opportunities, some that I hadn’t even thought of, that will be out there. And being able to tap into that collective passion, talent, and expertise is extremely valuable.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:08] Yeah. I think it’s like in any organization that you get involved with, the more active you are and the more you lean into it and you volunteer and you have a presence, the more you’re going to get out of it. You’re going to get an ROI if you put in the work and really invest in it as a tool. It’s not like an ATM machine where you put a card in and money comes out, right? You have to do the work and you have to get involved if you want really to benefit.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:16:38] That’s a great point, Lee. And, again, you get out what you put in. And the great thing about GWBC is that there’s so many opportunities to get engaged with the women business enterprise community. Again, I just think of the one example I’m part of which is the Mentor/Protégé program, that’s just a small example of the programs, the events, the ongoing information that is provided by GWBC to its constituency that really helps raise awareness with the WBEs and the corporations.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:17:15] It raises the awareness, but also provides additional information, value added information for, again, processes and programs that we all have in our businesses, whether it’s access to capital, how to manage risk, changes that are going on in the economy, trends going on in the economy. All that information is provided on a regular basis, either through WBENC or the GWBC. And really being able to tap into those programs, but also as leaders of our organizations, being able to contribute to those programs in a meaningful way really just makes us all that much stronger.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:55] Now, is there a story that you can share since being on the board that may be memorable, a favorite, or rewarding moment? You don’t have to name the name of the organization, but maybe just kind of the backstory and what happened.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:18:13] So, it’s interesting, I’ll give you some background. When I was growing up, my mom, my mother always had a business. We had a grocery store for a while, we had a restaurant, and she was someone that always understood the value of relationships. And so, I learned a lot about, again, the value of relationships from my mother and I saw her build those relationships. And I always say she was the consummate salesperson. As I used to say when I grew up in Alabama, I’d say, she could sell ashes to the devil. So, she was the consummate salesperson and it really brought home to me the opportunity that building relationships provides, again, in ways that you may not even imagine.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:19:13] And so, I’ve been part of programs of GWBC. The example I think of right now is the Mentor/Protégé program. So, over the years of working with various WBEs and just having a meeting with the individual in my organization, just to see if there’s an opportunity possibly to raise awareness of this woman business enterprise, the services that she provides through her company. And maybe there’s an opportunity to do business with the bank, possibly. There’s never a guarantee, of course.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:19:46] But just through that meeting, suddenly there are other relationships, other individuals, or other people that either the WBE knows or the person that we’re meeting with knows. And being able to set up, again, new relationships, establish new relationships that are far more valuable than just the lunch meeting I had with that person and what I thought we’d be able to get out of that meeting. And that happens on a regular basis.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:20:16] I can think of one that we had just very recently to where that someone in the bank, but we didn’t realize that there was greater connections through other people outside of the people sitting around that table that have yielded far greater benefit to the WBE long term than I could ever imagine. And, again, just kind of points out the value of relationships, the value of connection, and the opportunities and the possibilities that are out there through those connections.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:51] Yeah. The impact is real. I mean, that’s going to have ripple effects beyond anything you can even imagine. And the impact you’re going to have on that individual, their family, the community, it’s really important.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:07] Is there anything you can share, maybe, that you’re looking forward to in the coming year with the GWBC as part of your role as a board chair?

Patrick Dierberger: [00:21:19] Yeah. So, I really appreciate the opportunity to serve in this capacity. Again, it is a great board that we have. My predecessors have big shoes to fill. Lissa Miller done an outstanding job. So, a lot of good work that we’re going to be able to build on as a board. And, again, in partnership with Roz and her outstanding leadership team as well.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:21:47] I think one thing we want to look at again is just the amount of change that’s going on within our community, diverse business enterprises, it’s fast-paced change and it’s a lot of change all at once. That’s impacting us as corporations that serve on the board and we’re able to learn from each other about how are we navigating all this change, how are we adapting to this change.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:22:17] And able to provide, again, that service or that leadership to Roz and her staff and, again, subsequently, through the programs and the events and just, again, ongoing value that we want to provide to the constituency, that’s going to be big. It’s going to be big, I think, this year. It’s just really understanding our role and, again, some of the tangible outcomes that we want to achieve as a board to help navigate the change that we’re all going through right now, that will be big.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:53] Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Patrick Dierberger: [00:22:59] Thank you for the opportunity, Lee. I really appreciate the time.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:02] And then, for the folks who want to learn more about GWBC, the Greater Women’s Business Council, whether you’re an entrepreneur that has their own woman-owned business or if you’re a corporate that wants to get involved, this is a great organization, and you can find more information at gwbc.org. This is Lee Kantor for Patrick Dieberger. We’ll see you all next time on GWBC Open for Business.

 

Rebecca Sylvain With Nannies and Kids United

by

Atlanta Business Radio
Atlanta Business Radio
Rebecca Sylvain With Nannies and Kids United
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Rebecca Sylvain, Chief Executive Officer of Nannies and Kids United. She was born in Miami and raised by an immigrant Parent in a traditional Caribbean Household. Her career in childcare began during college when she began baby-sitting independently for families of all backgrounds and sizes. After 5 years of experience getting to know family needs and spending time with children, she began to see a need in many communities for child-care services.

Understanding this, she soon set out to create a staffing agency where she could train and hire associates to provide professional child-care services to families and corporate employees. This started with her attending various networking events, building new connections with like-minded individuals and corporate representatives which eventually led to her expanding her knowledge of business and the child-care service industry.

Nannies & Kids United track record has landed them a corporate backup care partnership with care.com that has a platform of over 1 million sitters. The partnership provides childcare services to families and backup childcare services as a benefit for corporate employees.

Connect with Rebecca on LinkedIn and follow Nannies and Kids United on Facebook and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Creating a business from scratch, learning through trial and error, and thriving without a traditional college education
  • The benefits of networking with other entrepreneurs and attending business events and workshops
  • Struggles and backlash she faced after dropping out of school and having a lack of experience with business
  • Other excellent career opportunities in trades that don’t require a college degree or loans
  • Strategic insights on crafting a fulfilling and enduring career as a nanny
  • Finding the right nanny.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by On pay. Atlanta’s new standard in payroll. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:25] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Rebecca Sylvain with Nannies and Kids United. Welcome.

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:00:36] Hi, how are you?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:38] I am doing well. I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about Nannies and Kids United. How are you serving folks?

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:00:45] Yeah, sure. So, um, basically, Nannies and Kids United is a babysitting staffing agency that provides back up care services to employees that work at companies such as fortune 500 companies. So I currently have a partnership with Care.com, where we work with fortune 500 companies. And to provide this service, I started it when I was 23. I’m 29 now, so I was able to build it to a successful business and here I am now.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:18] So what was the genesis of the idea? How did this come about?

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:01:22] Um, I was a babysitter when I was in college, and I knew I always wanted more for myself. At the time I was doing modeling, and in my mind I’m like, modeling doesn’t pay. It’s not paying the bills. And, you know, I was running into creepy photographers, so I wanted to create an opportunity for myself versus depending on other people. And like I said, I was babysitting for different families. And that’s when like, you know, the idea came about. And so I remember I was sitting in my living room brainstorming ideas of what I want the name to be, and it just came about. I called it Nannies and Kids United, which stands for Uniting Families with childcare professionals as well who work with children. And so throughout the years, it hasn’t been easy at all, but it’s definitely been well worth it. And so once that idea came about, I decided to drop out of college. And that was the best decision I’ve ever made in my life.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:25] So now you have your babysitter, and where did you kind of pivot to the partnering with the businesses to help their employees, you know, handle that childcare challenge that a lot of them are dealing with? Like, did it go directly there to, hey, there’s a lot of business people here that their employees probably have a lot of childcare needs that I might be able to help with, uh, rather than, you know, putting them in daycare or putting them wherever they’re putting them right now. Yeah.

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:02:57] So when I first started, I didn’t know a thing about business. All I knew was everything and anything that has to do with childcare. So I started off by going to networking events filled with other business professionals. And what I would do is I would just pick other people’s brains, no matter if they were in trucking or credit, because at the time, I was focused more so on doing permanent placements, which was providing full time, part time nanny services directly to families. And that was going okay. I wasn’t really getting a lot of traction because having a nanny, um, if we’re being honest, it’s like a leisure and it’s it’s a leisure to have a nanny. It is. It definitely costs a lot of money. So by me going to networking events, I was able to piggyback off of ideas and it wasn’t like, um, you know, it wasn’t like these business owners were just like, you know, randomly giving me ideas. I formed friendships and by the friendships that I formed and us getting to know each other, um, that’s kind of how I was able to, like, get some ideas.

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:04:05] And so I remember I came across this guy and he said, have you ever thought of, uh, corporate corporate partnerships? And so he educated me on corporate partnerships on how, like a lot of employers, they need this service because, you know, a lot of employees are calling out because majority of the population of like, you know, employees that work for companies are parents. And so most of the reasons why they’re calling out is because of their child, or like the daycare is closing or school is out and they just need that. So, um, when he told me that, um, that’s when I decided to just go into corporate and that involved me doing a lot of cold calling, a lot of emailing. And by me getting that, doing the cold calling, I just needed that one. Yes. And, um, that one yes was through Care.com. And I was been I’ve been able to be able to have like, you know, a partnership with them where I provide back up care service. I dispatch nannies to their the clients that they work for.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:09] Now, when you had that opportunity, that one. Yes comes your way. How did you kind of go about negotiating the terms? Like was that pretty straightforward because they had a need. You had a service or was it something that you had a, you know, maybe pilot a little bit or kind of work together and figure some stuff out?

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:05:29] Yeah, it was pretty straightforward because prior to the partnership, you know, they definitely want you to have experience in the business. I was I’ve, I’ve already been in the business like seven years prior and I’ve already was providing like placement services to other, um, you know, families as well as like contracting, um, other babysitters. So it was pretty straightforward in terms of that. Um, and it made it a little bit easier because I already had experience in like, you know, the industry already because I, you know, I do assume if I didn’t have any type of experience, it probably would have been a little bit of a challenge to land that partnership. So, um, just me just going through the grunt work and just figuring it out just made it easier. But it was pretty straightforward.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:22] And it was because you had laid so much foundation prior to it that made it. You were ready for the opportunity when it presented.

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:06:30] Absolutely, yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:32] So then, um, how long did it take working with them to realize, hey, I think we’re on to something here. This thing’s going to really do well.

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:06:40] Well. So with Care.com they have they already partner up with nanny agencies. And so I would say it was more so an opportunity for myself and for my nanny agency. Um, versus like the other way around because they basically had the demand. Um, which was like, you know, the parents working at these companies that needed childcare. And then I had the supply, which was the babysitters. And so that’s kind of what created that partnerships. And like I said, they were already doing it before. And so I wanted to I decided I wanted to plug myself in, like, I can help with that need. Um, you know, and so that’s pretty much how it worked.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:29] So then. Then your business shifted to I got to have a good supply of nannies and and caregivers. Right. Like now I got it’s game on. Now I have to I would imagine now you’re at a point where as many nannies as I have are. A lot of them could start working pretty quickly if I find enough of the right ones.

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:07:50] Yeah, absolutely. I have over 100 nannies on staff in the state, and that’s combined with the state of California and in the state of Georgia, because there’s such a high demand, the day to day business, um, you know, with the team, like with my team, through Nannies and Kids United, we are constantly, always recruiting for babysitters and nannies all the time because it’s such a high demand. So of course, when I got that partnership, we pretty much had to amp up, you know, the interview process and amp up like, you know, just recruiting more childcare professionals because there’s such a strong need in this industry.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:31] So what are some of the qualities of a good nanny or a childcare professional.

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:08:36] Yeah. So some of the qualities would be someone who’s patient. Um, also someone who pretty much has like the understanding of certain child development when we hire childcare professionals. Due to my experience, I like to hire someone that kind of like has qualities of myself. I love children, I feel like it’s easy, um, with children, but someone who has like that experience, who understands, you know, patience is needed. Um, someone who has like a background in either working in the daycare facility. I never count babysitting for your parent, parents, children or relatives as professional experience at all. Um, always someone who has like a professional background, um, experience, whether that’s working for another nanny agency or, um, you know, working as, like a teacher. So someone who has that, um, of course, first aid, CPR certified legally, when working with children, you have to be first aid, CPR certified or willing to be trained for that. Um, not only that, but someone who’s reliable, consistent, um, who also to clean background check as well. So those are like the qualities that we look for and just someone who just we can depend on. Because with childcare, the last thing that a parent wants to hear is that their babysitter can’t show up. And so having someone that’s dependable and someone who has a track record of that is very important. That’s what we look for.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:13] And then how do you find them? Like how do they get on your radar? Is it mostly kind of referral from existing working nannies, or do you have some secret to get Ahold of these folks?

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:10:23] Yeah, so it’s a combination of referrals and doing advertisements. So I’m a part of a lot of babysitter groups. So usually when we’re recruiting or say aside from back up care, we’re looking for, you know, a permanent nanny, I personally like for the team to start internally. And then that’s when we branch out and we’ll either post on Facebook groups. Um, and a lot of our nannies that we have today have came from referrals because we treat our nannies great because it was started by a nanny agency. I definitely advocate for my nannies and how they get treated and making sure that they get paid well. And then, um, but a lot of advertisements.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:08] And then is there kind of a career path for the nanny, or is this something they’re going in there? It’s kind of like project work. They’re going to go in there, do a job for a period of time, and then kind of wait for their next job.

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:11:20] It’s a little bit of both because I do both backup care, which is, you know, on call last minute, um, there’s an option to do both because we have plenty of families that come to the agency and they want a career nanny, someone who’s full time. So this is something that you can work on a full time basis as a career, where, of course, benefits is provided. And then for other childcare professionals who just want this as like a temporary thing, that’s where backup care comes into play.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:50] So like if somebody just wants some part time work, they can say, look, I’m available between these hours on these days and then you just try to help them fill that time if that’s available.

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:12:01] Yeah, absolutely. The great thing about backup care is we are receiving requests on a daily basis. So if a childcare professional decides to apply to us and they said they just want something temporary or on a part time basis, that’s something that we can provide to them. And we let them choose their own schedule.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:21] So does it require for the nanny? They have to go and physically be in the location of the person. Is that. That’s the business.

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:12:30] Yeah, absolutely. They have to be in the homes of the families. And of course, each babysitter before they even step into the home of the family. They’ve already been vetted by us. Extremely.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:43] So what do you need more of? How can we help you?

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:12:46] So I would say, like, a great, um, client for me is another employer looking to provide this benefit to their employees. And then, of course, I’m always looking for reliable babysitters. So any babysitter that’s looking for full time or part time work, either in California and Georgia, you know, that’s where nannies and Kids United, um, is here to support.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:09] Now, when you say Georgia, Georgia and California, those are big states. Like, is it kind of, you know, from border to border of the states, like, or are they primarily in the metros?

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:13:20] Um, so they’re primarily in the metro. So for the state of Georgia, around the Atlanta metro area, um, within a 60 mile radius, and then with California, because California is so big, it’s in the Bay area, which is San Francisco, and that’s also within like a 60 mile radius.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:39] Right? So you don’t go into Southern California. You’re right now in Northern California primarily.

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:13:44] Yes, absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:45] And if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team, what’s the website?

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:13:51] Yeah, it is dot nannies and kids. United.com.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:58] Good stuff. Well, congratulations on all the success. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Rebecca Sylvain: [00:14:04] Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:06] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.

About Our Sponsor

OnPay’sOnPay-Dots payroll services and HR software give you more time to focus on what’s most important. Rated “Excellent” by PC Magazine, we make it easy to pay employees fast, we automate all payroll taxes, and we even keep all your HR and benefits organized and compliant.

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.

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Mary Ann Haskins With Flex HR

by

Atlanta Business Radio
Atlanta Business Radio
Mary Ann Haskins With Flex HR
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Mary Ann Haskins, Owner and Senior Consultant at Flex HR.

She’s an experienced Senior HR Consultant with over 30 years of experience in human resources and payroll. Her comprehensive background includes working for an entrepreneur to launch businesses from the ground up with one that went through an IPO on Nasdaq, successfully building or revamping HR Departments in both the private and public sectors, managing the HR component of mergers and acquisitions, and creating HR strategic plans.

She has worked at small organizations with fewer than 500 employees and at a much larger company with operations throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. She has both private and public sector experience. In December 2021, she stepped away from the head of HR role at a local Metro Atlanta city in Georgia after 12.5 years to return to consulting.

She has a very broad knowledge base that contributes to her successful consulting work, including implementing HR policies and procedures, compliance audits, management coaching, employee training, HRIS/payroll system selection, implementation, and enhancement, benefits administration, compensation analysis, recruiting, performance management, and employee engagement.

Connect with Mary Ann on LinkedIn and follow Flex HR on Facebook and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Artificial intelligence at work – policies to consider

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by On pay. Atlanta’s new standard in payroll. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:25] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Mary Ann Haskins with Flex HR. Welcome.

MaryAnn Haskins: [00:00:35] Hi, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:36] Before we get too far into things, tell us about Flex HR. How you serving folks?

MaryAnn Haskins: [00:00:40] Well, Flex HR has a group of professional human resources folks that can assist any organization from small to extremely large. We get phone calls from clients that just need some oversight on a project. Or perhaps they need us to come in and do an audit for HR and payroll purposes. We also have some clients that use us for their HR and payroll needs, so they outsource their entire department to us. So we really offer a lot of different solutions for clients. It really depends on what you need.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:13] I guess that’s where the flex comes in.

MaryAnn Haskins: [00:01:15] Exactly.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:17] So are you uh, PEO are you kind of taking over that role or is this in a more consultative manner?

MaryAnn Haskins: [00:01:24] My role is a consultant with flex HR. I work with a variety of clients, everything from veterinary clinics, manufacturers, private schools, a lot of variety there.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:37] And then what’s the type of work that you’re actually doing? Kind of on a day to day basis for them?

MaryAnn Haskins: [00:01:43] Uh, I’ve done things such as reviewing handbooks, putting together policies and procedures, training programs, been the outsourced human resources professional for the organization, help them recruit a new HR professional to lead their team. Help them revamp their structure, do a strategic plan. Lots of different types of projects. I have another client. I’m working with them on implementing a new system so my world is never dull.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:10] And is it like what? Are you typically a bridge to help them either triage a situation or to get them to hire a permanent person?

MaryAnn Haskins: [00:02:20] Again, it’s it’s unique for each organization. We have some companies that decided to fully outsource human resources and payroll to us, and we serve as their providers for their team members, which is great to the team members. We’re just one of them, and it works beautifully with other organizations. They bring us in on an intro to help them bridge until they can find the right person to fill an opening, and that’s not unusual.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:50] Now, when you are doing so many different things for the HR people at a given organization, whether it’s, you know, doing the role of HR or just helping them through a situation, how do how do you kind of market for that? How do they know to call you at at the time they have a need? If the need is is pretty much anything HR related?

MaryAnn Haskins: [00:03:13] Well, fortunately we have lots of wonderful clients over the years and we get a lot of referrals. We also have very good presence on the website. If you Google search for help with with human resources, I think we’re at the top of the list are pretty close. Our marketing team does a fabulous job there. You know, I feel like most of my clients have come to us through referrals or finding us in a in a moment of desperation, and our CEO does a fantastic job of assessing their needs and then trying to align them with the right consultant, with the right team to help them.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:50] Now, how do HR professionals deal with things that are new and disruptive like I like? Where can an outfit like flex HR help them manage kind of artificial intelligence when it relates to, uh, you know, work policies?

MaryAnn Haskins: [00:04:08] Well, I think in most cases that’s a topic that’s going to come up when we’re reviewing a handbook. I have had one client who asked about it, but this is still such a new thing. I don’t believe a lot of employers have stopped long enough to assess the risk that generative AI may be causing with their employees. Uh, you know, simple things like folks that are working for you, using something like a ChatGPT to write a report. So really, they didn’t create the work. And you may have violated some copyright rules or something. So you need to have policies in place for things like this to mitigate the risk. And there are different options you can take with how you approach those policies. So with our clients, we generally want to talk to them about it. You know, are you a group that’s likely to be using AI? And even if you’re not a group that’s likely to be using it, let’s talk about putting it in your handbook. So policy that makes sense for you.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:15] Now you mentioned some of the um, kind of risks that are involved. Like if, if someone if one of your clients was kind of a creative. Client that had maybe copywriters or was creating content on the web, and their people are using, uh, artificial intelligence. Um, that can open up a can of worms that the employer may not even think. Think about. Really?

MaryAnn Haskins: [00:05:42] Right. True.

MaryAnn Haskins: [00:05:43] You know, I’m seeing right now. And again, I’m going to preface this statement with everything in the world of AI is changing fast, and there are laws being put into place every time you turn around related to AI. I think in 2022, there were 17 states that enacted some sort of ruling on the use of artificial intelligence. So the world as we know it is ever evolving. And when it comes to policies, most of the policies kind of take three approaches. One of three approaches, they’ll say, okay, we’re going to allow you to use AI at work, but here are the guidelines. What you can and can’t do. The second option is you’re going to limit the use and give them a clear cut list of what’s acceptable. Okay. You can use your chat bot to help draft a letter or an email, but you cannot use it to create a report. You cannot use it to put content on the website. Um, then the other option that I’ve seen some clients take is just prohibited. You know, we’re not going to use it here. You can’t use your work email to create any accounts with any type of AI service, and it’s your choice if you use it at home. But don’t bring it into work. Don’t use it for any work related projects. So that seems to be where the three options are right now for these policies. Um, but then you have to write the policy that fits into which of those three paths you want to take.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:18] And then this is kind of an area where a flexor probably can help organizations, because I would imagine that you’re far more, um, fluent in the language of AI. Uh, probably more so than a lot of these clients are, because you are kind of trying to be proactive, active, and try to get ahead of this.

MaryAnn Haskins: [00:07:39] Well, I hope we.

MaryAnn Haskins: [00:07:40] Are, uh, we make every effort that we can. Um, and I think also, it’s not just an AI policy, it’s your culture. So part of anything that you’re doing when it comes to policies and procedures, yes. You have to write the policy to protect yourself from a legal risk standpoint, and you have to be sure you’re compliant with the laws in those states where you do business. But you also have to realize that every policy you put in front of an employee affects their view of you as an organization, so you’re telling them who you are, if you will. By the way, you word something and the approach you take to whatever the topic is, I dress code, whatever. So we do work a lot with our clients on handbooks. We see a genuine need for organizations to not just create a handbook. And ten years later, remember. Oh yeah, we’ve got that. Everybody signed off that. They’ve read it, but we haven’t updated it forever. You know, your handbook really, to me, needs to be a living document. And right now, in my personal professional opinion, I’m trying to encourage my clients to add something about AI in their handbook when they are reviewing it for an update.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:56] So, um, can you share some advice if you were to, uh, work in an organization that maybe didn’t have a handbook or it wasn’t as, um, robust as maybe you would like it to be, what are some of the actionable things they could do right now to improve their handbook and to make it, uh, that living document that you described.

MaryAnn Haskins: [00:09:18] Well, I’m always.

MaryAnn Haskins: [00:09:20] Surprised, and I’ve seen this professionally, both when I was in private sector, working as the head of HR as well as now consulting. A lot of companies have their handbook that was brought to them by their head of HR or maybe the CEO, and it’s actually their former employer’s handbook, and they just fit a few name changes and slapped an updated label on it and said, okay, here’s our handbook. You know, to me, the first thing every HR professional should do, as well as senior executives, you need to really read your handbook as if you were a brand new employee viewing your company, and so does it have information that’s needed in it that employees should know? Does it provide adequate guidelines in clear and simple terms that people can understand? Is it available to them? I’m a huge proponent of not having printed handbooks because those become stale. I love to have them on the hris system, so that an employee, at any point in time, can log in and pull it up and do a quick search for whatever the information is that they want to read. So if they’re looking to find out about, you know, FMLA and what notices do I need to give? Okay, I’ll just go to the handbook. And you want your employees to be comfortable and know where exactly that handbook is and to find the information quickly. The second thing on handbooks is you really need to train your supervisors on the information that’s in the handbook. Never assume that yes, they read it and yes, they understand it.

MaryAnn Haskins: [00:10:55] You know, the handbook also provides guidance for them in how to interact with employees, both in good times and bad. And so you want to be sure that that policy is representing how you want those supervisors to treat your folks. The same thing is true on I, um, another key thing with the I policies, make sure that you have a statement that lets the employee know, have no assumption that there’s any privacy if you’re using our Wi-Fi, if you’re using our equipment, we have the right to monitor what you’re doing. Don’t assume just because you’ve got a login and password that we can’t see what you’re doing, because we have an obligation to the organization to protect it. So going back to your question, you know, again, read your handbook. If you don’t have one, I highly recommend you call flex HR and let us help you create one. Um, any handbook is better than no handbook, but you need to make sure it’s compliant for your state. Uh, I personally and professionally have also, uh, just, you know, made sure that I set a reminder that at a minimum, I go back and reread the handbook every 12 to 18 months. I have a folder that I keep notes for when the next time it’s updated, things that I want to change, or maybe a new policy that I want to introduce. It’s it’s got to be an active, living, breathing document that the HR professionals think about on a regular basis.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:25] So if there’s a company out there that, um, maybe hasn’t thought about, um, refreshing their handbook or even, um, kind of dealing with the disruption that artificial intelligence is having in workplaces, and they want to get a hold of you or somebody on your team. What is the website? What is the best way to connect with you to have a more substantive conversation.

MaryAnn Haskins: [00:12:50] And just go out to flex HR. Com there is a contact us area there. Uh, we are also partnering with Shrm Atlanta. On February the 29th. We’re going to have an HR boot camp. So maybe the first place to go is to the boot camp and we’ll be there. You can meet us face to face and talk about your issues with us during the breaks. Uh, but we’re going to have some really good topics, including one of the sessions is on handbooks. So very timely.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:20] Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

MaryAnn Haskins: [00:13:26] Well, it’s been a pleasure, Lee. I really do enjoy speaking with you today and, uh, look forward to continuing conversations with anybody who’s interested.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:34] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.

About Our Sponsor

OnPay’sOnPay-Dots payroll services and HR software give you more time to focus on what’s most important. Rated “Excellent” by PC Magazine, we make it easy to pay employees fast, we automate all payroll taxes, and we even keep all your HR and benefits organized and compliant.

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

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