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Lissa Miller With Truist

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GWBC Radio
GWBC Radio
Lissa Miller With Truist
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Lissa Miller is the interface between Truist and the diverse supplier community. She is responsible for working with its lines of business and functions to expand the company’s utilization and development of qualified minority, women, veteran, disabled, LGBT-owned small businesses and ensure that the bank complies with federal guidelines concerning diverse supplier inclusion procurement activities.

She brings with her more than 20 years of collective experience and expertise in Supplier Diversity, Procurement, Sales and Logistics.

Connect with Lissa on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Her favorite GWBC leadership moments and experiences
  • Her vision for GWBC’s future and what’s next in her career
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, and today we have a great guest, Lissa Miller with Truist. Welcome.

Lissa Miller: [00:00:29] Hi, Lee. Thank you. And thank you for welcoming me. Glad to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:33] Well, I’m glad you’re here as well. For the two people out there who don’t know, tell us about Truist and tell us about your work as Chief Supplier Diversity Officer.

Lissa Miller: [00:00:42] Sure. Truist is a super regional bank based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and we have a myriad of banking products to serve people in those communities where we operate. And our purpose is to inspire and build better lives and communities. And one of the ways that we do that is through our Supplier Diversity and Sustainability Program, which I lead as Chief Supplier Diversity Officer.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:12] So, can you talk a little bit about, from an enterprise organization like Truist, why is having a chief supplier diversity officer important and what kind of work are you doing on a day-to-day basis to help in that area?

Lissa Miller: [00:01:26] Well, I don’t know if my role is so important, more important than our initiative, but our initiative is really to make sure that we’re reaching out into the community and including diverse and small businesses to be a part of our overall supply chain. And so, what that means is we’re intentionally working with organizations like the Greater Women’s Business Council and WBENC, The National Organization, as well as others to make sure that we understand those certified diverse businesses that are out there that could be potential supplier partners for Truist and providing us with products and services, and also making sure that we also give back to these businesses by helping them develop and become greater and obtain more capacity to do business with other clients, whether they’re in the financial services sector or other sectors of this great American economy.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:22] And that’s an important thing for the small business folks out there to understand that Truist might be in banking and finance, but they have needs across the board in lots of areas that aren’t banking and finance.

Lissa Miller: [00:02:35] We do. We do. We actually utilize a myriad of diverse businesses in the areas of technology, staffing, legal, marketing, construction, real estate, general and administrative. So, you know, it’s endless, really, of the types of products and services that we need, not only for our operations and our teammates, but also in the communities where we operate. And then, from that perspective, we also have our strategic suppliers who may have subcontracting opportunities to utilize these diverse businesses as well.

Lissa Miller: [00:03:13] So, annually we actually host our tier two Supplier Diversity Business Summit, which we hosted in-person for the first time this year in Charlotte, in our headquarter city, and we had over 250 who attended that. We had workshops, training, networking sessions, leadership came and spoke. And so, it was a really great event and it really enabled us to deepen those engagements with diverse suppliers who we may have been talking with on the phone or via email, or just connecting them with our strategic suppliers to learn of any upcoming opportunities with them or with our sourcing team at Truist.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:54] Now, what drew you to a career in supplier diversity? How did you find out about it and how did you pursue it?

Lissa Miller: [00:04:02] Well, it actually happened several years ago when I was at another organization and I was not in supplier diversity. I was serving on the diversity council representing my business unit. I was actually in sales. And we had a supplier diversity project because the company had not stood up a supplier diversity program before. They were looking at it, wondering what it was, why do it, what’s the business case. And so, I was on that project team, and as a result, gained a lot of knowledge and insight about actually what supplier diversity was.

Lissa Miller: [00:04:39] And I became quite interested in it. It really made a lot of sense to me for corporations like Truist and others, large corporations, to be able to have programs of this type and to be intentional because many people do not know that there are a lot of very capable businesses out there who are smaller, maybe, that they can potentially do business with.

Lissa Miller: [00:05:03] And so, you have to be intentional about actually finding out where they are, because they may not pop up on advertisements on your radio or T.V. or in social media, but they’re out there. And you really need to understand which organizations have done their due diligence to vet these suppliers, to make sure that they are who they say they are, and then join those organizations and avail yourselves to the network of certified and capable, diverse suppliers that you could potentially be doing business with in your organization.

Lissa Miller: [00:05:37] And that just gives you more innovation, more diversity of thought to some of the some of the services that you may be offering or products that you may be offering, definitely the cost benefit is low as far as the benefit is really high. The cost is low in most cases. And so, you know, I think supplier diversity professionals really have to debunk that myth that doing business with a smaller company may cost more because that is not the case. Actually, we’ve achieved cost savings, but we’ve also achieved innovation and just new ways of thinking about certain things that we may be looking to do or certain programs or products that we may be wanting to offer.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:23] Now, is there any story you could share about kind of the impact it makes when an organization like Truist partners with a smaller firm, a diverse firm. Is there anything that stands out to you when you look back at your career and say, “Hey, this really made a difference to that organization that we partner with?” But, also the ripple effect of, you know, their family, their community, it can really make a world of difference for these smaller companies.

Lissa Miller: [00:06:52] Yeah. I’m glad you spoke to that, because I think over my career I have seen that in action. I have known diverse supplier companies that had started out, basically, at ground zero and saw the passion and the hard work that they put in to really building their business. And that’s what America is all about, right? You come in, you have a dream, you have a vision, you may be scared but you step out and you do it, and you don’t know what tomorrow may bring, but you just keep going at it.

Lissa Miller: [00:07:27] And I think from my career, I have seen that and I’ve seen these companies grow exponentially, but it was not without sacrifice, it wasn’t without hard work. But the one thing I noticed with a lot of these businesses that they were able to really hire from the communities that they’re located in. They have very loyal employees that are really like family to them. And so, I think when you look at that and you think of all the families that they were able to support, it really says a lot about these business owners. And so, I really tip my hat to them.

Lissa Miller: [00:08:05] You know, I’ve been a serial entrepreneur for some of my life as well, and dibbed and dabbed in certain adventures and entrepreneurial exploits, and it’s hard work. It is not easy. It’s not for the faint of heart, I can tell you. And so, I’m impressed by these businesses who were able to bootstrap themselves and get to the point where they can support hundreds of families and lives, and kids going to college and kids getting married, and all of that just because of the dream of the vision that they had to start their business and the passion and the hard work that they put into it over the years.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:47] Now, why was it important to you to not only become part of GWBC but also to join the board and take a leadership role?

Lissa Miller: [00:08:57] Well, I always like to get behind organizations that I think are doing really great work. And that was definitely the impetus for me to join the Greater Women’s Business Council. I mean, Roz and her team are just fantastic. Roz is the ultimate leader from my standpoint, and so being able to support her and the team and just the board of directors who are really a great group of people who have, you know, the passion of helping women-owned businesses at the core of their heart.

Lissa Miller: [00:09:28] And I think it’s something where if you want to make an impact to an organization, you really have to get actively engaged. And that means, you know, join a committee, join the board, join something where you can provide some of the key working for corporate America to these nonprofits because they need your help. And not because they’re not capable, it’s just that there’s a lot of work to do.

Lissa Miller: [00:09:51] And so, I actually serve as the Chair of the Mentor Protege Committee. I don’t even know how many number of years it’s been now. But I gained so much pleasure in helping that committee to identify women-owned businesses to be able to be mentored by either corporations or larger women-owned businesses. And so, you know, I’m all for giving and making sure that I’m using all of my talents that I can to help others. And that’s a good way for me to do that by serving on the board and being a part of that committee.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:28] Now, if you were going to pitch maybe some women-owned businesses right now that aren’t members of GWBC, what would you say would be kind of the top, maybe, one or two reasons why they should really consider getting certified and getting involved?

Lissa Miller: [00:10:48] Well, certification has its benefits. It’s not the only arrow in your toolbox to be able to help you really target a client and land a contract, but it is one of the major arrows that you can use. And I think getting certified really helps you have a good conversation with a company who is really interested in increasing their spend with certified women-owned businesses.

Lissa Miller: [00:11:24] I can tell you that I have had instances over the last several years where we thought we were doing business with a certified woman-owned company, and at the end of the day, found out that they were not certified, so we were very disappointed and had to not identify that company as a certified women-owned business.

Lissa Miller: [00:11:46] And for supply diversity professionals, that’s really at the core of what we do as far as making sure that our data is correct, that we’re presenting certified diverse businesses to our internal business units or stakeholders. And when we don’t have that comfort feeling, we’re not really advised to share because, you know, we’re not sure if there is some fictitious information going forth or if someone is really trying to get under the wire as a certified company and is not certified. And so, I think it just makes supplier diversity programs in general more comfortable, feeling that the businesses that they’re dealing with are authentic, that they have integrity, and that there’s nothing to hide from that aspect of the ownership part of it.

Lissa Miller: [00:12:37] So, I think certification for Truist and other companies that are really trying to be intentional about working with diverse businesses, that is the way to go so that you can make sure that your company can be marketed to these entities and be brought into programs like supplier diversity initiatives that really focus on engaging with you, developing you, expanding your capabilities, and making sure that they’re utilizing you or they’re at least having those conversations.

Lissa Miller: [00:13:11] And what people don’t seem to realize as well is this is a small community sometimes, and so when we hear about a good supplier, certified diverse supplier, we oftentimes share that information with other peers who are looking for similar services. And so, especially in the financial services space, we have a lot of best practice sharing that goes along. And we oftentimes ask each other, “Well, can you give me a referral to a good certified diverse business that does a certain thing?” And so, it’s not uncommon for us to do that just because, you know, financial services is such a very regulated industry. And there’s a lot of risk mitigation that takes place as far as when we look at any supplier.

Lissa Miller: [00:13:58] And so, you know, if you’re working for one of the financial services companies, we love it and we love to hear how you’ve been able to impact that company positively, because then we can have more confidence knowing that if we brought you in to help us with the particular project, you’d do the same thing.

Lissa Miller: [00:14:19] So, certification is great, and I think any company that meets the criteria to be a certified business, especially a certified women-owned business, should take the effort or make the effort and apply to get certified and go through that process because it can only help you.

Lissa Miller: [00:14:36] I think, you know, becoming a part of the GWBC and just getting engaged is another way for you to get your business and your products or services in front of anyone who’s engaged with the GWBC. But it’s not only coming to events and participating, I mean, that’s good as well, but people do business with people that they trust. And so, if you’re in an environment where you’re working or you’re volunteering or you’re on a committee or you’re on the board, it really gets people to get to know you better and have those conversations with you and trust you because they know that (A) you’re dependable, (B) you’re authentic, (C) you have a common purpose. And so, it’s a win-win situation – win-win-win situation actually because I think it just gets you exposed to more people that can talk about you to others than you know of.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:39] Yeah. GWBC offers so much in terms of making connections, being that bridge between the smaller organizations to the enterprise as well as creating opportunities to collaborate amongst the WBEs so they can work together, join forces.

Lissa Miller: [00:15:59] I see a lot of that happen also. I mean, it’s great. You know, a lot of times business owners, they’re very lonely, right? They’re working on their business a lot, they don’t have time to network and socialize, and it creates a silo. And I think, you know, joining an organization like the GWBC kind of breaks down that silo and helps you be able to collaborate, even partner with companies that may be doing similar things of what your company is doing. There are a lot of playbooks out there for how companies can team up on different contracting opportunities, so that is not unusual either.

Lissa Miller: [00:16:39] I think, you know, companies really need to look more to do that type of thing to increase their capabilities, to do business with larger organizations. But this is the avenue and this is a place where you can do it at the GWBC to meet other like-minded women-owned businesses with whom you can partner with.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:57] Now, if you were giving advice to a peer maybe that works in another organization, how would you pitch the GWBC board opportunity to them if they were looking to join a board?

Lissa Miller: [00:17:10] I would say that they should consider joining the GWBC because it’s a great way to enhance their professional development. And I always talk about this to everyone about any board, and I serve on a number of boards, but I think serving on a board gives you a very good perspective of the organization that you’re supporting. It gives you that inside view of the organization and lets you understand what those opportunities are, what those challenges are, what are those areas that you can potentially bring your skillsets to, to help the organization to advance.

Lissa Miller: [00:17:55] And so, I think it’s great to be able to have that insight, but also the camaraderie that you build while you’re on the board with board members and understanding who they are, getting that opportunity to network and just share. You know, sometimes it might be a griping session, who knows? But just sharing some of the things that you may be going through, asking questions. A lot of times board members will ping each other and ask questions about how did you do X, Y, Z. So, it’s just a great atmosphere to be able to serve with like-minded, passionate board members who are all about promoting the organization, and so it makes you feel like you’re part of a team, which you are.

Lissa Miller: [00:18:42] And, also, I think having a role or taking on responsibility also helps with your professional development. I know over the years it’s helped me a great deal. Sometimes you don’t get that professional development at your place of work or you may not have time to get it at your place of work, but if you’re serving on a board, you will definitely be asked to do a bunch of stuff. So, that may take you out of your comfort zone, but it’s something that definitely will help you in your professional development and your experience.

Lissa Miller: [00:19:14] A lot of times, you know, what I’ve been doing is sharing best practices across organizations. I see one organization does something special or get something well done on this side and they may have another opportunity on the other side, I’m sharing that, not the name of the organization, but just some of those best practices just to understand that just because you’re on one board doesn’t mean you can’t share best practices across the boards that you’re on or across the committees that you’re on to make all of these organizations better. So, I just think it’s a great avenue that people should consider. And especially with the GWBC, we are looking for potential board members, so please reach out to us and let us know if you’re interested and available. We would love to have you.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:59] Looking forward to 2024, is there any events or programs or trends you’re seeing in the marketplace for GWBC?

Lissa Miller: [00:20:11] Well, I am super excited, of course, that the GWBC will be moving into their new office space pretty soon in the next few months. And so, that’s going to be super exciting. I’m really looking forward to that. A whole new model being added on to the organization as far as that space is concerned. Also, a whole new model with how we engage with women-owned businesses.

Lissa Miller: [00:20:38] So, a lot of super exciting, great things are coming in 2024. I don’t want to let all of the cats out of the bag right now, but I just think 2024 is going to be a great very impactful year for the GWBC. And so, I’m really looking forward to all that will unfold and all the new programs and things that will be offered.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:00] And then, is there anything that you can share about what’s happening in your career? Any exciting news?

Lissa Miller: [00:21:08] Not right now. We are at the end of the year, really trying to look at how do we go into 2024 with more gusto. We’ve had a very challenging year this year as far as all the conversations going on about supplier diversity. And so, we’re doing a reset right now. We’re trying to really just see how we can increase our impact in 2024, look at those areas of opportunity that we weren’t able to attack this year and really go after the next year.

Lissa Miller: [00:21:42] We’ve already got our conference schedule in mind, looking at all the major conferences that are coming up. Of course, we will be at the WBENC Conference in Denver in March, and so we’re really looking forward to being at the conference and participating, exhibiting and meeting all the the WBEs out there. We have lots of things going on in Q1.

Lissa Miller: [00:22:09] I think we’re just focused on really wrapping up this year, making sure that we have all our analytics process that we’ll be implementing next year to really understand how well we did. And then, just really galvanizing to go into 2024 with gusto and with energy and really trying to get some things accomplished that we may have not been able to accomplish this year due to time constraints. So, it’s just really at this time of year, it’s more reflective and planning strategically for how we’re going to go and approach the new year, and I think we’re on the right path there.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:49] And I can’t emphasize enough that if you’re a minority or a woman-owned, veteran-owned, disabled-owned, any type of diverse underserved group that wants to work with these enterprise level organizations, it’s so important to get certified to be vetted so that they can really go and partner with you because they want to. This is not something that that they’re just begrudgingly doing. They want to do this. And you have to be certified in order to really get a seat at the table there, I think.

Lissa Miller: [00:23:25] Well, yeah, I mean, it’s really important. We were talking about this the other day, not every small business is certified as a diverse business, but there are a lot of diverse businesses out there that have not gotten certification. And so, the issue is when these supplier diversity and sustainability teams try to find these businesses, they’re very hard to find, and so that’s why we’re members of the national organizations like the National Minority Supplier Development Council, the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, the National Gay and Lesbian – National LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce – they changed their name – the U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce.

Lissa Miller: [00:24:08] So, that’s why we’re a part of these organizations, the veterans organizations, we’re we’re a part of them or we’re partnering with them because we want to understand who their network of certified diverse businesses are so that we can make sure that we reach out to them when an opportunity comes up. If they’re not certified and they’re not in those databases, then we’re not able to find them, so it’s very critical.

Lissa Miller: [00:24:36] And I know I’m speaking to the choir right now, Lee, because I know you know it and I know it, but to others who don’t know it and who may be tuned into this channel, please know that getting certified is very important for corporations like Truist and probably to the Fortune 1000. And so, like I said before, it’s not the only tool that you use.

Lissa Miller: [00:24:57] And I always tell people this, these diverse businesses, I say, don’t lead with your certification when you contact us, but let us know in that conversation that you are certified. Because what we’re evaluating you on is your service, your capability. Are you a supplier that we need right now in our supply chain? What are your core capabilities? What do you do best? How do you do it? Who do you work with? We want to know that upfront. And then, after that discussion, we want to know if you’re a certified diverse business.

Lissa Miller: [00:25:32] So, please do that. It helps make our jobs a lot easier. And we’re able to understand and communicate with you what our sourcing process is so you can know if there’s opportunity upcoming or not or how to get in that process and see in the next year or so if opportunities will be available for you to participate.

Lissa Miller: [00:25:55] And just know that not every company can use every single diverse supplier that’s out there. There are limitations because we may not have adequate spend or need for so many diverse businesses in a category, but there are other peers that we speak to all the time that we can refer you to who may have opportunities. So, keep that in mind. We would love to do business with everyone, but unfortunately that’s not possible. But we would love to refer you to those peers that we’re in contact with all the time to make sure that your company and your capabilities are in front of them as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:34] So, if somebody wants to connect with you at Truist, or learn more about your supplier diversity programs there, or maybe just want to learn more about GWBC through you, is there a way to connect with you or LinkedIn or email?

Lissa Miller: [00:26:53] Yes. You can email me directly. You can email directly at lissa, L-I-S-S-A, .miller, M-I-L-L-E-R, @truist, T-R-U-I-S-T, .com.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:06] And if anybody wants to learn more about Truist, truist.com is probably the best place to do that. Lissa, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Lissa Miller: [00:27:18] Well, thank you so much, Lee. I really enjoyed the conversation.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:21] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on GWBC Open for Business.

Sushumna Roy Jalajam With Softpath System LLC

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GWBC Radio
GWBC Radio
Sushumna Roy Jalajam With Softpath System LLC
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With over 20 years in IT management, Sushumna Roy Jalajam co-founded Softpath System LLC, an award-winning firm IT and non-IT solutions provider to Fortune 1000 corporations across the nation.

She is responsible for the company’s operations and sets the vision for the staffing and technology strategy while leading a team of more than 800 employees committed to unparalleled service and value.

She is very active within the business community and civic organizations with a passion for enhancing the potential of small and diverse businesses.

Connect with Sushumna on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Her favorite GWBC leadership moments and experiences
  • Her vision for GWBC’s future and what’s next in her career
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, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Sushumna Roy with Softpath System. Welcome.

Sushumna Roy: [00:00:31] Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be here with you, Lee, today.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:34] Well, I’m so excited to learn about Softpath System. Can you tell us a little bit about how you’re serving folks?

Sushumna Roy: [00:00:41] Absolutely. Softpath is a 24 year old global award winning technology consulting and talent management company catering to commercial and government clients. Since we started our business, we’ve been providing our customers with the technology, guidance, and services to facilitate a successful lasting business transformation.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:04] So, what was the genesis of the idea? How did it get started?

Sushumna Roy: [00:01:08] So, opportunity presented itself, and I’m a second generation entrepreneur, and I saw there was a need for people, always. There’s always a need for people and decided to embark on that journey.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:21] And then, how has the industry changed over the years? I would imagine it’s changed quite a bit.

Sushumna Roy: [00:01:27] Absolutely. It has changed tremendously over the years. I think, you know, change is always constant and industry always presents opportunities for innovation. And where we were just meeting the clients directly and just delivering resumes for hiring, now it is integrated with cutting edge AI technology, machine learning, there’s a lot of data analytics in the process. We are harnessing that power to find the candidates, enhance our ability to identify the most qualified candidates swiftly, accurately. So, it has changed a lot, the talent market has changed a lot.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:10] Are you finding that the talent market is growing fast enough to meet the demand that the organizations and the enterprises need?

Sushumna Roy: [00:02:20] Not really. And there’s been a lot of changes, especially in the technology space, there’s a lack of talent. Even in the healthcare industry that we do cater to, in the pandemic, there was a severe kind of need that was there just to hire those healthcare workers. There was an immense burden on companies like us to fulfill the talent and the most qualified talent in a timely way, so that the healthcare organizations could service our communities. And we’ve seen a lot of difficulty.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:53] Is this something that you almost have to help your clients train that next employee? Like, do you get involved in that side as well or is it something that you’re having to go out and find people who really have jobs already?

Sushumna Roy: [00:03:08] So, it works both ways. We do find people from outside. It’s all time based, and their organizations are deeply invested because they know that retention is the key. There is an ROI in retaining your employees and training them. And a lot of organizations that we work with do see that, and they do invest in employee training. And it helps a lot to retrain them with new technologies or new skills. And we do also assist in some training programs, reimbursement fees, they fulfill their educational obligations. We do provide financial assistance so they can continue to stay and perform.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:50] Now, how do you, as an organization, kind of stay ahead of the curve? Because I would imagine you have to be a little bit ahead of all your clients in order to have the right fit for them. How do you know kind of which thing that’s maybe in the news is really the thing that’s going to be needed as opposed to something that might come and go?

Sushumna Roy: [00:04:10] So, you know, as an organization, we have our own pursuit of excellence. We are dedicated to expanding our footprint. Now, the business landscape is increasingly interconnected. We recognize the importance of being a part of that vision. And we have a vision to have strategic partnerships and collaboration that will enable us to serve the clients and candidates on a global scale, actually.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:36] Now, what trends are you seeing? Where is the area of the most growth of people requesting talent? Is it in AI? Is that an area that is blossoming?

Sushumna Roy: [00:04:47] Yes. AI, blockchain, it’s all digital transformation right now.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:52] So, when it comes to AI, do you have any advice for maybe that person that is working out there now that maybe doesn’t have the skills but would like to have the skills, what are some of the things they can be doing to be proactive so they can be kind of found by people like you that are looking for that kind of talent?

Sushumna Roy: [00:05:09] Absolutely. So, AI is no longer artificial, right? It’s as real as it can get. We know that artificial intelligence is going to change the way we do our business, change the way we work, even, in fact, some basic things, such as how we even run our homes, AI is taking over. And the fact that we get on that boat and understand AI is going to remove some jobs, but also create additional opportunities. And I think that is where the candidate should place a focus on, how AI is going to affect or impact their role or their job responsibilities, and what are the strategic advantages of that effect, and then how can they be viable and still be able to contribute to that particular work that they’re doing.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:59] So, get involved and maybe get some certifications and get some education and credentials and that’ll give you the skills that you need.

Sushumna Roy: [00:06:06] Absolutely. Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:06] Because like you said before, I mean, change is the only constant, right? You have to always be kind of pushing your limits when it comes to education and acquiring new talents.

Sushumna Roy: [00:06:20] Yes. Business landscape is always ever evolving. It may not be as slow as the industrial revolution, but this is going to be at a faster pace and we have to stay ahead. We must embrace change and leverage whatever technologies, emerging technologies are out there. We have to set those standards.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:39] So, now why was it important for you to get involved with GWBC in a leadership role?

Sushumna Roy: [00:06:46] Since 2008, I think, I’ve been a certified women-owned business and I was a part of the organization. And then, at one time there was an opportunity in the boat to serve in the Technology Committee. And our business is in the technology space, we do a lot of technology consulting. And I thought when the opportunity presented itself, my vision and my mission and values aligned with the vision and mission of GWBC, so I decided to take on that opportunity.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:25] Was that the first time you were on a board?

Sushumna Roy: [00:07:28] Oh, no. I have served on other boards before that, and I’ve served on multiple nonprofits.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:32] So, what’s your advice for someone that is maybe a founder or an executive in order to get the best out of their experience on a board? How would you choose a board to get involved with? And what are some of the things that a person should be doing in order to have a productive time on the board?

Sushumna Roy: [00:07:52] Absolutely. And I can speak for GWBC board, it’s a very active working board. If somebody is interested, the board committee, the colleagues and the board are extremely collaborative. There’s a lot of teamwork. There’s a lot of things that you can learn. And when I joined, I had a lot of enthusiasm and I’m going to contribute to the growth and success of this organization. And over the period of time, I have learned myself a lot. There was a lot of shared wisdom. I’ve had the privilege of working alongside some dedicated colleagues and they’ve been very visionary leaders. And I have developed some leadership skills along the way. I’ve made some great friendships that will stay with me forever.

Sushumna Roy: [00:08:38] And I think this is a great board to join and to develop your skills to grow your business. And you can actually see how the organization functions to enhance its mission or how they are aligned with the mission of empowering women, business enterprises with education, funding, be it technology guidance or innovation and networking opportunities. There’s a lot to get from this board. But I think time commitment is very crucial. This board is an active working board, I reiterate that, and it does take some time from your side and you have to be committed.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:19] So, what’s one of the most impactful lessons learned from being involved with GWBC?

Sushumna Roy: [00:09:27] Oh. Like I said, I’ve learned a lot from this organization. I developed some leadership skills and some great friendships.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:36] Now, is there any story that you can share, maybe, that you feel that your work kind of has benefited one of the maybe the WBEs or one of the folks involved in the organization, something that you can share.

Sushumna Roy: [00:09:52] Of course. Of course. So, I spearheaded the Technology Committee. It was instrumental in providing support to GWBC staff in assessing the technology requirements and needs. I have analyzed and recommended technology or cybersecurity resources to support daily operations. And during the pandemic, I was also instrumental in hosting some cybersecurity webinars, and that was very helpful.

Sushumna Roy: [00:10:18] And by not just being on the board, but being a part of the organization, I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate a lot with women business enterprises. We’ve had relationships that led to some business transactions and mentoring. So, I’m extremely proud of those opportunities that presented by being a part of this organization.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:41] Now, do you have any advice for maybe a woman-owned business that isn’t certified? Can you share some of the kind of key benefits for that person that is out there battling but hasn’t gotten certified yet?

Sushumna Roy: [00:10:55] Oh, yes. And I’ve always been an advocate for certification. Again, to just set the theme, certification does not give you an access to contract, but it’s a great conversation starter, you have a conversation. So, with the organizations like GWBC or the WBENC overall, they are on a mission to empower women business enterprises. They’re always looking out for opportunities to help you secure that conversation or that meeting with these corporations.

Sushumna Roy: [00:11:27] There is a level playing field, and so you have other women business owners that you’re competing with. But as long as you have your differentiators and you are able to provide your value, you’re able to secure business on your own merit. But this will give you that opportunity to showcase your talent, to showcase your business. And more than business, again, to develop your leadership skills, ample networking opportunity, great friendships, that women business enterprises can work with women business enterprises because it’s not always going to be easy getting the work from the corporation. But there are so many other tier two opportunities that present themselves.

Sushumna Roy: [00:12:13] And every organization, and include companies like mine, who are primes to some of the companies are looking to work with certified women-owned businesses. Because we all have our goals and our metrics and we are very comfortable because we know this organization certification has a lot of impact. It is very valuable. It is well recognized in the industry. It is not taken for granted. So, you add some things to yourself as a collateral to your own business, it authenticates that you’re a certified women-owned business, that you have some ability, some scalability to provide services to these organizations that are in the network.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:58] So, if you were to look in your crystal ball, what do you see for GWBC’s future?

Sushumna Roy: [00:13:05] Well, GWBC has been growing immensely. And if you have seen, even during the pandemic, there was an overall growth. We were host to the national conference here, host council to the national conference. There are about 700 or 750 members, certified women business enterprises when I got on the boat. And this year, I think it was over 1,200. So, you know the organization is growing. They’re doing a lot of programming. They’re constantly engaging women business enterprises. And they’re true to their mission to empower and educate women business enterprises. It’s for us to be a part of that pool, a part of that network, and take advantage of the opportunities that exist there.

Sushumna Roy: [00:13:51] For me, personally, I did not know there were so many opportunities before I got certified. Even after I got certified, it took me a couple of years to join and realize the full potential. So, you have to be willing to invest your time once you get your certification to harness that potential that’s available there.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:08] Yeah. I can’t emphasize enough that that’s the magic, the secret sauce, is to not just get certified and go about your business. You have to kind of lean into the organization and be active, volunteer, get on committees and volunteer for activities. You got to immerse yourself if you really want to get the most value.

Sushumna Roy: [00:14:30] Right. And I’m really excited about the future of our organization. It is making great strides. I mean, we’ve survived the pandemic. We’ve shown what collaboration can do within the organization, the staff, the board, and the members that are involved, and the resilience that this has shown. So, I think there’s no looking back.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:51] Yeah. And I think the pandemic really made it seen that you really have to be part of a community if you really want to survive something like that. It takes everybody.

Sushumna Roy: [00:15:03] Right. It does. It does.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:05] So, if somebody wants to learn more about Softpath or connect with you, what is the best way to do that?

Sushumna Roy: [00:15:11] So, our website is www.softpath.net. I’m also there on LinkedIn. We have a page on LinkedIn. Either look us up online, reach out to us, we’re happy to help.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:23] So, what do you need more? How can we help you? Are you looking for more talent? Is that something that you never get tired of doing?

Sushumna Roy: [00:15:31] We’re always short of talent. We can take as many as we can, you know, send them our way. We welcome everyone to apply. And we encourage more diverse candidates to apply because DEI is at the core of our heart in the way we do our business. And we want to be a sustainable organization so we have a lot of emphasis on hiring diverse candidates, finding diverse talent for our corporation.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:57] Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Sushumna Roy: [00:16:03] Thank you so much, Lee. It was nice talking to you as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:04] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on GWBC Open For Business.

Sheena-Leigh Kennerly With Atlas Online Solutions

by

High Velocity Radio
High Velocity Radio
Sheena-Leigh Kennerly With Atlas Online Solutions
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Sheena-Leigh Kennerley is a seasoned marketing strategist and business coach who has been a driving force in the digital transformation of businesses. She currently serves as co-founder of Atlas Online Solutions, a marketing and advertising company specializing in lead generation. Based in Saratoga Springs, NY, the company is run by her and her husband Zachary Kennerley, a seasoned marketer with over a decade of experience.

Founded in 2019, Atlas Online Solutions offers a range of digital marketing services, including web design, search engine optimization, Google My Business setup and optimization, and paid advertising.

Over the years, Sheena-Leigh has played a crucial role in providing tailored digital solutions for businesses while consistently achieving exceptional results. Under her leadership, her team ensures that clients receive excellent services that are within their clients’ budgets, combining excellence with affordability.

In addition to her role at Atlas Online Solutions, Sheena-Leigh is the visionary behind the Atlas Agency Launch Lab, an accelerator program for new and established agency owners looking to jumpstart the growth of their businesses. This unique program provides one-on-one coaching, group coaching, and guest speaker sessions, creating a supportive community for aspiring agency owners.

The Atlas Agency Launch Lab is led by Sheena-Leigh, Zachary, and their team of veteran agency owners, all of whom serve as mentors and coaches throughout the12-week program. By the time the program is completed, the students build strong foundations in their agencies, master sales techniques, and create sales funnels that generate more leads and close more customers.

In an industry saturated with false promises, Sheena-Leigh takes pride in knowing her program delivers on its mission. Unlike other programs, Sheena-Leigh and her team don’t offer outdated information or guidance by leaders who have never actually run an agency before. Instead, they provide up-to-date, practical insights based on real-world experience.

After struggling herself in other accelerator programs that didn’t deliver on their promise, and spending thousands of dollars in the process, Sheena-Leigh intentionally designed the Atlas program to be a transformative journey that ultimately led its students to unparalleled success.

Connect with Sheena-Leigh on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • About Atlas Online Solutions and the services they provide
  • How can businesses make money quickly
  • Tips and tricks to making an online business (coaches, entrepreneurs, educators, agencies) thrive

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:05] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:14] Lee Kantor here, another episode of High Velocity Radio and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Sheena-Leigh Kennerly with Atlas Online Solutions. Welcome. Hi. Hey, I’m so excited to learn what you’re up to. Can you tell us a little bit about Atlas Online Solutions? How you serving folks?

Speaker3: [00:00:34] Um, so we’re a full service marketing agency, so we do a little bit more than what’s traditionally known for advertising and marketing. We do the regular lead generation and things like that. But we also do offer validation coaching, sales training. We help support sales team and upsells and things like that.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:52] So what’s your back story? How did you get involved in this line of work?

Speaker3: [00:00:56] Well, my backstory is actually a little bit different. My background is in disability services, and when I met my husband, he was he was working on Atlas Online Solutions a few hours every evening, and there was actually a few times where I told him it was a bit of a scam, but, um, marketing was not a viable business venture. And then when I was pregnant with our youngest daughter, it made more sense for me to step away from the 9 to 5 and work on the agency because it was growing quite, quite rapidly. And then I threw myself into it and realized it was kind of one of my strengths.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:34] So, yeah. So why why do you think you initially thought it was a scam? You were just skeptical of the power that marketing could, you know, persuade someone to take an action?

Speaker3: [00:01:45] No, I think it was more because when I was trying to understand it, I was looking at the courses and the training that he had done on it. And when I looked into the people that were offering the courses and the training, they weren’t authentic people. And that made me feel like they were selling a scam. Less about marketing being a scam and more about the business model being taught by these people.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:06] So just kind of the people that maybe are attracted and become these kind of gurus, they they might be selling more snake oil than actual solutions.

Speaker3: [00:02:16] Yes, yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:19] So, um, at some point, though, your husband was doing marketing for other people and they must have been getting results or they wouldn’t keep coming back.

Speaker3: [00:02:28] Yeah. No, they definitely, definitely were. Um, and. His experience is more the technical fulfillment and things like that. And he was actually doing really, really well. But it was not so much about the results it produces for a business. I think the results marketing produces for a business is phenomenal, and I wish that everybody was taught this in school, like how to be an entrepreneur, how to grow your business both online and in location and really, really expand that. It’s a skill that everybody needs and it’s definitely fantastic. But starting and running an agency, I found at the time I was quite skeptical about.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:08] Yeah, that part. A lot of people get bogged down and then they get overwhelmed and then they kind of quit, I think.

Speaker3: [00:03:15] Um, yeah, it’s definitely something that can lead to burnout if you’re not doing it properly.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:20] Now. Business. Who are your clients that when you sell the services to, are you selling it to kind of coaches, um, kind of people who are selling online or are you selling kind of to brick and mortar that, you know, the the bakery that’s trying to make more money in your, you know, downtown, like who is your ideal client?

Speaker3: [00:03:40] So we haven’t actually niched down, which is a little surprising. In this industry. We do work with brick and mortar and big firms and down the road mom and pop shops. But I think the majority of what I enjoy to do, and the majority of our business come from online entrepreneurs like coaches and educators.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:02] So let’s kind of help educate some folks and maybe give them some information that you’ve gleaned over the years. If you have an online business, say you’re a coach or maybe an online marketer, what are some of the actionable things you can do today that would positively impact your business?

Speaker3: [00:04:21] Well, one of the first things to do would be to create a database like you need to keep a track of every single person who’s ever been interested in your service, as well as every single client, um, and have that in a secure place. Because the size of your database directly affects the value of your business, whether or not you go to sell it or if you’re looking for a loan or things like that. So it’ll probably be one of the first things I ever did. And then the second thing would be to really dive deep into who your brand is. So, you know, what’s your personality, what’s your tonality, who are you in a brick and mortar situation that’s much simpler to find. I mean, you can walk into a cafe or a restaurant or something, and if you’re going to recommend it to somebody, you usually recommending it because of the ambiance and the service and things like that. If you’re online, it’s much harder to get that. Brand out there. So that would probably be. The second thing I would do is to truly understand what your brand is and then how to express that, because if you don’t have it in place, there’s no point in doing things like running ads and doing social media content and writing newsletters, because it’s not going to be anywhere near as effective. And you could just essentially be flushing money down the drain.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:39] So when you work with clients, are there some exercises you do or some questions you ask to help them kind of get a handle on what their brand is, what their positioning is, who the persona of that ideal client is.

Speaker3: [00:05:54] Oh, yeah. Yeah. So the first thing we would do would be to do an avatar or a buyer persona questionnaire. And we’re going to talk about not just who they are, like where they’re at in life and their demographic and whether or not they’re married and have kids. But we’re also going to talk about their feelings because there’s two things that make somebody buy something from you. One, you’re different. You know, they’re buying you and your point of view, not necessarily your service and your product. Um, and secondly. Whether or not you’re going to solve a pain point. And I know that that’s the word that’s used an awful lot. But if you don’t think that it’s actually valuable for you, then you’re not going to purchase it. So we need to know what’s there Monday morning problem and what’s the feelings around those Monday morning problem and what emotion and stress is that causing in their life? And then what is that secret fear that’s actually driving those emotions. And most of the time, that secret fear is probably, uh, loss of status or respect or something like that. So once you understand that, then we move into the, um, branding. And that’s when we talk about, you know, your taglines and what’s the impact that you have on the world, and what is the experience that people have when they interact with you in your business? What’s their buyer’s journey look like? Um, what what do they feel and what do they come away with and what do they achieve when they work with you?

Lee Kantor: [00:07:19] Can you share a story, uh, maybe of uh, and you don’t have to name the name of the company, but maybe how they came to you and where they were at, and then how after, um, being around you and your team that they were able to get to a new level.

Speaker3: [00:07:34] Yeah. Yeah. For sure. So, um, there was is, um, a woman who has been working as a content creator, I guess, in a way, she has quite a large following, and she’s doing very, very well on that. And her, uh, business coaching was more of a hobby to her at the time. Um, and she really, really wanted to see it as. A viable option for her and her family. And so when we sat down, you know, I was expecting to be able to have a marketing strategy call and actually, didn’t it evolved entirely into a brand and avatar call. And the minute we had, like, completed that, she was able to come back to me like ten days later and she’s like, right, I know exactly how to position my wording and exactly how to create this program, this course that I’m planning to do. And she did it. And then within six weeks of just having that avatar and that branding thing, she was able to make one post on her social media because she already had a large following and fill up her program. It was very, very powerful.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:44] So you’ve seen people, um, take action like that in just take one action and have a kind of real, measurable difference. Is there any advice you can give regarding how a business can make money quickly? Is there some do’s and don’ts?

Speaker3: [00:09:02] Uh, yeah, yeah. The first thing to do is to nurture your current database. Um, the fastest way to make money without spending money is referrals, word of mouth and upsells. And so once again, it goes back to that database. Anybody who’s ever interacted with your business is much further along in their buyer’s journey. More likely to make a sale right now. So I would nurture them. Um, any current. Client that you have that is able and willing to make a referral. That referrals are way more likely to turn into a paying customer than if you are just to decide, do I’m going to do SEO or paid ads or things like that. These things are very, very effective, but they don’t make money fast. And yeah.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:49] So let’s kind of drill down on that. Like say you’re just starting out and you don’t have a big database. So your first step would be to build some sort of a database, some sort of an email list or some way to contact people in some manner. Uh, like how would you go about that on day one?

Speaker3: [00:10:07] Um, I would start with, once you’ve done your branding and avatar document, um, I would then start with starting cold email, um, doing LinkedIn outreach. So organic outreach and then funneling them to a place that they can see you and learn about you and your brand, whether that be a YouTube channel, a Facebook group or something like that. Um, we would start with building you a lead magnet and really just getting who you are out there, because it’s the fastest way to get database.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:37] So then you you have now the beginnings of a database, like say you have ten people on the list. Is that enough to start outreach or do you have to have a certain minimum number?

Speaker3: [00:10:50] Um, ten is definitely enough to start. It really depends on your offering, whether or not it’s been market validated, and how much exposure people have had to you as to whether or not they’re going to make a purchase right now. But ten is definitely enough to start getting paying customers out of.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:05] So then you have this ten. Now what is that like? Do you now have kind of a regular rhythm, a cadence of, uh, messaging? Like what would be your first, you know, couple of messages you would send to this list of ten that you’ve just, uh, built.

Speaker3: [00:11:20] Um, so it’s going to depend on how they came into you. Yeah. There’s a Google, um, study that was done. I think it was earlier this year called the 711 four rule. And it says that people need to be exposed to you seven hours of content across 11 different touchpoints, across four different platforms. So it depends on how they’ve come in into you and how much exposure they’ve already had into your brand. But the first thing I would do would be to make a call, just make a call to them and just introduce yourself and say, hey, thanks for showing interest in whatever it was that they bought, you know, brought it into them, wanted to introduce myself and then offer a free cool thing that they think is going to solve one of their problems. And it could be whether or not you’re hosting a masterclass or you are doing a live event somewhere, or you’ve built out a lead magnet that you think could be really helpful to their business, and I would invite them to take action in. The reason we would do that step first is because we don’t know where abouts in their buyer’s journey they are, and if we try and push them to a sale, we’ll probably turn them off you for good. So that would probably be the first thing we would do.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:23] So you would build out some sort of education or provide value first at no charge, and then move them deeper into this funnel to eventually sell them something.

Speaker3: [00:12:35] Yes and no. So the free thing content that I recommend people do is YouTube and live events. Um, if you want them to take on the lead magnet, I suggest you ask them to pay you maybe a dollar or something like that. Once people have paid you something that seems like a no brainer amount of money, then it’s much easier for them to pay you next time.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:55] So, um, let’s pivot a little bit to talk about how your work with agencies and I guess kind of emerging agencies, people who are either plateaued or frustrated. Can you talk a little bit about this Atlas Agency Launch lab service that you are offering?

Speaker3: [00:13:14] Yeah. So, um, Alice agency launch lab is kind of like an agency. Incubator. I’ve heard it been called, um. So as I said, I was really skeptical of the educators and the influencers that are out there in this space. When I first started, and with good reason. You know, we we actually ended up investing a lot of money into programs and into courses and, um. A lot of it either contradicted itself or actually didn’t work. Like, um, they tell you set up a Facebook ad this way and do it exactly this way, and you do it that way, and you end up flopping. And the reason being is that information was old. These people had had not actually run an agency themselves before in the past, or they had had it for a long time, um, and things like that. So, um, I had the skepticism already and then. Once we started actually gaining traction and doing make making this a success, people kind of come to you and they ask you, what’s the secret sauce? I guess. And the truth is, there is really no secret sauce. But, um, there is actionable steps you can take. There is knowing what’s going on in the marketplace right now. And.

Speaker3: [00:14:30] There is, you know, basically, you know, the five things you really just need 5 or 6 things you just need to have in place, and then that’s it. Like the rest of it is fluff and noise and it gets. It gets a little bit crazy. So we started helping people out. And then beginning of this year I realized, you know, I love helping people out, but I need an onboarding and an onboarding process. So we found out that this agency launch lab and once a month we take in a few agency owners, and we put them through our program. And we don’t just, you know, teach them with courses. We have a lot of one on one coaching. We have group coaching. We have some done for you services. Um, we have our we have our lovely brain spotter on staff with us, who’s also an agency owner. And she sits there and she helps them with every block they’ve ever had or the process. Emotions teach them how to take work and then leave work and walk away. Do you go to your family and things like that, which is really important when you’re an entrepreneur and we get businesses up and running within 90 days.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:30] Now, is this, um, is the ideal client for this somebody who is brand new to having their own agency? Or is this somebody who maybe have had an agency and are getting frustrated and they’re plateaued? Maybe, um, like, who is that persona or avatar for that ideal client for you?

Speaker3: [00:15:49] So for me, if somebody had exposure to some form of marketing in the past, um, be that, you know, they have a background in copywriting or a background in PR or a background in like they have to have had exposure to something before in the past for this to work, because I’m not teaching people to be button pushers. Otherwise I’d be changing my course curriculum every five minutes because algorithms change. I’m teaching people to be SEOs, and so if they already have a very small knowledge at least of something, then we can take them and go. And we’ve had a lot of success with people who are brand new and haven’t done anything and coming to us, and we’re getting them up and running. And we’ve also had a lot of success with people who are at, you know, six, seven, eight clients and they’re feeling stalled because they don’t know how to get from being a one man show to being a full on entrepreneur like enterprise. So we have two very unique avatars.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:50] And then, um, has that’s only been going on for a short time.

Speaker3: [00:16:56] So the launch time was actually only officially released in August. Yeah.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:02] So just a few months. Um, and, uh, have you had any success stories from there yet, or is it too early?

Speaker3: [00:17:10] Had quite a few success stories and it’s quite it’s quite inspiring. If you check out our YouTube channel and our, um, and our websites, you’ll find that some of our students then alumni have gone and shared their experience there. Um, for example, we have Philip who came in. He’s a high ticket closer with a background in copywriting. By the time he finished, he has five high power, massive name clients, and he’s doing very, very well. And he’ll tell you his story. He’d been trying to start and be an entrepreneur for a long time before he came to us, and he’d done a few courses, and it wasn’t until he, you know, basically walked into our Atlas Agency launch lab family that he was, you know, able to get himself going.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:56] So now, in your journey, um, is this work as rewarding as the work at the beginning?

Speaker3: [00:18:04] For me, it’s much more rewarding. Um. The thing I love most about running an agency is seeing massive change in people’s lives, and knowing that I’m helping my avatar business owners to not be burned and churned, to be able to trust marketers out there because I’m training them myself, and then knowing that I’m helping the people who will like my husband and I. When we first started and really, really desperately wanted this to work for our family, get what they need. It’s it’s fulfilling a need for me by doing this, and I love it.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:45] So if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you, your husband or somebody on the team, what is the coordinates?

Speaker3: [00:18:53] Um, you can reach out to us at the launch lab. Um, you can give us a call on (518) 851-8887. Or you can look on our YouTube channel where you’ll find out more information, or join our Facebook group.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:08] And Atlas Online Solutions. That’s kind of the parent company of all this.

Speaker3: [00:19:14] Yes. Atlas Online Solutions, the parent company. Atlas Agency Launch Lab, however, does have its own website, Facebook group and YouTube channel.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:22] Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Speaker3: [00:19:27] Thank you. Thank you very much.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:28] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on High Velocity Radio.

Emily Creek With Stable Kernel

by

Atlanta Business Radio
Atlanta Business Radio
Emily Creek With Stable Kernel
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Emily Creek serves as the Senior Director of Customer Insights & Strategy for Stable Kernel’s Market Research division. She is responsible for developing and executing strategic qualitative &quantitative research projects that benefit clients and their customers.

With over 15+ years’ experience gaining actionable insights, she has worked across a variety of B2B, B2C, and non-profit industries to refine and position brands, products/services, and messaging. She is passionate about helping organizations better understand their audiences and solve tough business challenges.

She holds a BA in Sociology & Psychology from Indiana University, a MBA in Marketing from Georgia State University, and a Principles of Market Research Certification from the University of Georgia

About SK Market Research

Award-winning brands and agencies rely on Stable Kernel Market Research to solve significant marketing and business challenges through custom market research and consumer insights. For more than a decade, SKMR has been helping clients in diverse industries achieve better ROI, improve revenue growth, and increase market share. Better insights, better decisions.

Connect with Emily on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Her market research work in the Atlanta community
  • How market research solve her clients’ biggest business challenges

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. 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 the Atlanta Business Radio, we have Emily Creek. She is senior director of Customer Insights and Strategy with Stable Kernel. Welcome.

Emily Creek: [00:00:47] Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:48] I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. But for those who don’t know, tell us a little bit about Stable Kernel. How you serving folks?

Emily Creek: [00:00:56] Yeah. So Stable Kernel is an Atlanta based software and development and technology company that has a market research division. So we not only conduct market research for software and technology products, but we also conduct tons of research for other industries such as food and beverage, construction, health and wellness, and many others.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:16] Now, market research over the years have kind of gone through an interesting evolution. Can you talk about just market research from maybe a macro level in terms of what it is like? How do you go about gathering the intelligence and the research you do as a market researcher?

Emily Creek: [00:01:33] Yeah, what a great question. So we use observational research interviews, focus groups and online surveys to gather insights that help our clients solve business challenges and gain sort of a competitive advantage.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:47] So how do you kind of get this information. It seems like today people are hesitant to, you know, participate in polls. Or if they do, they’re just saying things just for reactions. How do you kind of glean what is, you know, the truth and what is what someone’s just saying?

Emily Creek: [00:02:05] Yeah, what an awesome question. So there’s a number of different techniques that we use first, and I can’t emphasize this enough. A really good market research panel provider is key. So there’s a lot of, um, panel providers out there that provide audiences that aren’t as good as others. And so we look to work with only the highest quality panel providers. In addition, we also create a set of screening questions to make sure that we’re really finding the right people for the right study. And then we craft questions in such a way that we’re really trying to get at real authentic answers. And so it’s sort of those three components together that allow us to get really actionable and, and honest data.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:48] Now, how how does it track when you do a research and you get information and you go, okay, based upon this research, this should happen. How often does that really happen?

Emily Creek: [00:03:01] Yeah, that’s a great question. So part of my job is not only to conduct the research. Right, but it’s to set the research project up from success from the beginning, and then make sure it gets seen all the way through the end. So we work very closely with our clients in the beginning to really understand what are their big challenges, their business needs. And then we craft a research study that specifically addresses those big needs. After the study, when we’re presenting the findings, the results, we’re making sure that we’re getting stakeholder buy in along the way and as well as in the results process. And then we check in afterwards and say, okay, how’s it going? Is there anything we can do to help to make sure that we implement these findings? And we’ve had a lot of success there. I mean, a lot of companies have come back to us over and over again because they find that the data we come up with and the action actionable recommendations really do work. And so we’ve had clients come back over and over again because it it does impact their business.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:55] So for a company that hasn’t done market research before or maybe has been frustrated with it, what are some best practices to, um, you know, do this the right way?

Emily Creek: [00:04:07] Yeah, that’s a good question. I mean, I think it it depends on. Where you are to begin with. So I think the first question that any company should ask is sort of what insights do they know about their current audience, their marketplace, etc.. Right. So what do they have? What knowledge do they have, and what questions do they still have, and what business problems are they trying to solve? Once you sort of have that initial landscape, then it’s finding the right market research partner to help you through it. Right? So there’s a lot of DIY surf survey platforms out there. And I think a lot of companies say, oh, we’ll just put out this survey. Right. But garbage in, garbage out, right. So you really have to find the right, um, you know, strategic partner to help you through that process and then making sure that throughout the process, you’re always conducting the research that drives back to that initial business need or understanding, um, whether it’s developing a new product, right, or really understanding an audience or trying to figure out a new way to talk to your audience, it’s really important to keep going back to that, to make sure that it’s actionable. But I can’t emphasize enough, you know, it’s very easy in today’s world to like, go to SurveyMonkey or whatever and try to nail out a survey, but that doesn’t always get you those really, um, competitive insights that will make market research really valuable.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:24] Is there an example you can share of, uh, maybe you don’t name the name of the customer, but maybe explain the situation where they went in and they, um, thought they knew something, and then they got the research and they were able to uncover maybe an untapped area or something that that really benefited them in a surprising manner.

Emily Creek: [00:05:46] Yeah. What a great question. So we, um, worked very closely with a vitamin and supplement company. Um, and they, um, really needed to grow their online sales as well as just other sales. And they were hearing from a lot of their stakeholders that it that certain key messages were definitely the way to go. Right. Um, and they were convinced some of them were convinced of those key messages, but others weren’t totally convinced of those messages. So what they did was they worked with us, and we conducted a survey and talked to their audience in a variety of different ways to understand sort of what are their unmet needs related to vitamins and supplements? Why do they take them? What’s most important to them? Um, and then in addition to sort of understanding those needs, we tested several key messages and we have these really cool highlighter tools that allow us to highlight portions of messages to understand what really works, what doesn’t work, and why with the target audience. We also have these other really cool tools that does a rank process that allows us to really understand which messages resonate the most, or will drive the most purchases versus other messages.

Emily Creek: [00:07:01] So we put together this study for them. Um, and it came back where there were two statements that were clear winners and they were not the current statements that they were using in their current campaigns, um, in fact, their current campaign messages were sort of falling towards the bottom of the list. In addition, the sort of general questions that we asked about, you know, what are their needs? They crafted new message messages to address those customer insights they didn’t even know were out there, those customer needs that weren’t even that were out there. So it was so exciting because then they crafted an entirely new marketing campaign based on this market research for the United States, and it significantly increased sales. And in fact, they were so pleased with it that they decided to replicate this study globally. Um, so we did a market research study in five countries in Europe, etc., to uncover those unique message points. And it revamped a marketing campaign based on that study as well. So huge success by really acting on the insights that they gathered from their their audience.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:05] Now, now you’re in market research and you see the value of market research. And these types of insights is there. When you see other companies out there that aren’t kind of leveraging the benefits of market research, is there some areas where you’re like, everybody should be doing this, why aren’t more people kind of leaning into this? This is so useful. Um, like what areas to you are kind of the low hanging fruit where companies should at least be kind of experimenting with market research in some areas.

Emily Creek: [00:08:37] Yeah, I love that question. Oh, and there’s so many great ways. So I think, um, I guess three main ways pop into my head. The first is around, um, product innovation. Um, you know, I think that reaching out to customers and talking with them and observing them in their natural environment provides a lot of interesting ways to, to meet those needs. You know, customers sometimes don’t always say what they need. But if you observe somebody in their home, right, watching them do their laundry, do their kitchen, you know, chores, whatever that. And you might see opportunities there that could really lend itself to a completely new product idea that you never would have thought of before. So definitely, using observational research for product innovation is is a great way, I think. Also, um, you know, marketing is another huge opportunity. You know, we do a lot of a B testing in marketing, but I think you could do a, b, c, d e f g testing in marketing and really, um, leverage market research to not only understand consumers, but segment your audiences to figure out which messages resonate the most with which audiences, at which time. So there’s so much research you can do to really improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. And then the third big thing, which is sort of more specific. But, you know, right now there is just more and more customer demand around sustainable products, sustainable production processes. And I think a lot of business leaders are just trying to navigate this growing space almost blind. Right. And I wish more business leaders would use market research as sort of a GPS for their sustainability initiatives. Right? So by understanding their customers expectations and priorities in this area, their employees insights on what could have the biggest impact in sustainability? Um, I think it really could drive, you know, new initiatives, more effective initiatives, and really allow business leaders to use market research as that sound, data driven decision maker, um, to move the needle on sustainability and addressing customers demand in this area.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:55] Now, is there a niche that you guys work in more than others? A sweet spot, or is this something that’s kind of industry agnostic?

Emily Creek: [00:11:05] Yeah, we work across really all kinds of industries. Um, there’s not really any industry we don’t love to work with. We work with a lot of food and beverage. We work with a lot of construction. We work with a lot of health and wellness. We. So really across the board, we just love any kind of business challenge, opportunity company who’s really interested in taking market insights and helping to advance their business.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:30] So what is it like to begin, uh, working with you? Um, is there usually you’re going in for a specific project and then it kind of evolves over time. Or are they coming in to say, okay, now we want to implement this holistic market research as part of just our go to market strategy.

Emily Creek: [00:11:49] Yeah, yeah. Great question. So we start in a number of different ways. Um, usually we start with an exploratory conversation to see, you know, what the client needs. And sometimes they know and sometimes they don’t know. And it’s through the discussions and the conversations that we have that gets us closer and closer to figuring out, okay, what is that North Star? What are we trying to work towards? Right. So then based on that conversation, understanding what the business objective is, right? Then we’ll go back and we’ll craft a research methodology that addresses that business objective. Right. Um, for just understanding the customers at a very initial level, it might be focus groups or interviews or things like that. For testing marketing copy, it might be an online survey. So there’s just a lot of different methods that we will look into depending on sort of what that research objective is. Um, and then we work closely with our clients throughout the entire process. Um, so helping guide them along the way, we work with clients who have an in-house research team, as well as clients who don’t have an in-house research team. Right. So we can be that scalable customer, you know, partner for any of clients who are just looking to sort of dip their toe into the market research or really dive in.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:00] Now, if you’re, uh, if someone listening right now has kind of a small business, a mom and pop, or maybe it’s a solopreneur, is there a place for them to do any market research, and what would you recommend, or any advice for them to leverage some of your learnings that are happening at an enterprise level, but maybe can work for them in this kind of small or small business model?

Emily Creek: [00:13:22] Yeah, yeah. So I think about my best friend who owns a restaurant and, you know, in a craft brewery. And, you know, we always talk about, oh, wouldn’t it be fun to do a big market research? And she’s like, Emily, I don’t have that kind of money. I can’t do it. You know, I’d love to know it. But what she and I have talked a lot about is her just talking to her customers, whether they’re sitting at the bar or in the restaurant or taking doing takeout, you know, just talk to them, see what’s important to them. And that can go for anybody who owns a small retail store. For someone who is selling products online, whether it’s, you know, anything. So you can find a way to interact with your your customers and just understand what’s important to them, you can talk to them casually, one on one, as a starting point. I think that does show the benefit of listening to your customers. Um, and any information can’t hurt, right? And so, um, so that’s the way I would start. And then as the business grows, I think it’s more and more important to to really dive in bigger. But it’s a great way just to start a conversation.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:21] But when you’re talking to your customer, a lot of times, I mean, they’ll say one thing, but their behavior will be something else. You know, like a lot of people say, oh yeah, healthy food. Yeah, we want more healthy food. But then the restaurant puts healthy food on the menu. And then, you know, everybody’s buying the bacon cheeseburger. Um, how do you kind of discern whether they’re telling you what you want to hear or that may look, make them look good as opposed to how they’re really going to act?

Emily Creek: [00:14:50] Yeah, I love that question. And I think you might be a market researcher. I think, you know, not only talking to folks but observing them. Right. And so, you know, you can get a lot somebody saying something, you can get a lot from their facial expressions, their body languages, but also watching them interact in your store, in your restaurant, for example, you know, one of my favorite examples is, you know, somebody comes, sits at your bar. They like looking for a place to put their bag or their purse or their, you know, and and that is where the hook under the bar came in, right? Like people observing, no one ever said, I need a place for my bag. But people watched people try to find a place for their bag and then looking to put a hook under their their bar stool. So I think, yes, talking. But watching those nonverbal cues as well as their behaviors is, is really important.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:38] So if somebody wants to learn more about your offerings, what is the website? What is the best place to connect with you.

Emily Creek: [00:15:45] Yeah. What stable kernel.com. Also anybody can search me up on LinkedIn. Emily Creek. Um, I love having any kind of conversation. There’s no coffee. Us to just have a conversation. So if anybody’s interested in learning more about market research, I’m happy to talk to anybody. So definitely connected LinkedIn as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:02] Well, Emily, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Emily Creek: [00:16:08] Thank you so much.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:09] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.

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Kat Marran With Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta

by

GWBC Radio
GWBC Radio
Kat Marran With Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta
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Kat Marran is currently the Interim Chief Executive Officer for the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta.

She started her new role officially on July 12 and brings a wealth of corporate experience from a successful 29-year career at United Parcel Service (UPS.)

She recently retired from her UPS role as Vice President of Marketing where she led large marketing and supply chain programs, budgets, projects and teams both across the US and Internationally.

She has a positive reputation for bringing forth the best in her teams through competent and energetic leadership and creativity.

Connect with Kat on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • About Kat’s experience as a board member
  • Leadership moments
  • Her vision for GWBC’s future and what’s next for her
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: [00:00:19] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of GWBC Open For Business, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Kat Marran. She is the Interim CEO with Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta and is rolling off the board at GWBC. Welcome, Kat.

Kat Marran: [00:00:35] Hi, how are you?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:36] I am doing well. Well, before we get too far into things, let’s talk about the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta. How did that opportunity kind of bubble up for you? That seems like an exciting adventure.

Kat Marran: [00:00:48] It has been an exciting few months. It’s relatively new, but yet old for me. I’ve been on the board of Girl Scouts for about five years. And in June of this year, as things happened to have the tendency to happen, I was actually leaving UPS, which was my 30 year long career, to go do something else. And Girl Scouts popped onto the radar and I stepped in to fill a position as interim here since July.

Kat Marran: [00:01:15] And it’s been an amazing transition from a for-profit to a nonprofit. Lots of learnings here. Lots of things I get to put to use from my old career. But it’s a different dynamic and it’s definitely a different color. I’ve switched from lots of brown in my wardrobe at UPS to lots of green and blue at Girl Scouts, so it’s kind of fun in many ways.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:34] But you are attracted to those earthy colors, so it’s kind of on brand.

Kat Marran: [00:01:39] I am. I am. I’m a fall colored analysis, those who got to do that in the 80s and 90s, that’s for sure.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:45] Now, your background at UPS was in marketing, is that a big change from going to the C-suite from kind of a marketing lens?

Kat Marran: [00:01:54] It’s an interesting swing. But even at UPS and marketing, there’s so many different capacities that I got a chance to be a part of for 30 years. And it all comes down at the end of the day, I think, to leadership in the first place. So, I’m still leading a large team here at Girl Scouts like I did at UPS. It’s about the dynamics of how you see the bigger pictures. The best part about it, though, is I get to make more of the decisions directly.

Kat Marran: [00:02:18] When you’re in a big bureaucracy, as good as it is, there’s still a bigger boss. When you’re the the CEO or the acting CEO in an organization, you get both the fun and the responsibility of those decisions. So, that’s been the biggest difference. But marketing had created an environment at UPS for me to learn a lot about how the world works and how it plays out in different ways at UPS and around the globe and through operations, et cetera, that holds true here at Girl Scouts as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:45] Now, you mentioned you were there for 30 years at UPS, a large enterprise. In your career, at what point did you go, “You know what? I have to start getting involved with organizations like GWBC, like Girl Scouts. I have to take leadership roles”? At what point did that kind of click and say, “Okay. I have to kind of lean into this if I want to achieve my goals of moving up this kind of corporate ladder”?

Kat Marran: [00:03:12] It’s a really good question, Lee. And I thought about if I could do something differently, what would I do or how do I tell people. I will tell you, though, at UPS we always had a foundation of volunteerism and philanthropy. So, even from early days in my careers at UPS, I was always a volunteer. And within that context, I kind of always would build over time.

Kat Marran: [00:03:31] But specifically, it was probably in my back end of the year, so probably about seven years before I left UPS, seven to maybe eight years, I really thought about taking greater leadership positions out in the community. And I was encouraged by both bosses at the time, as well as colleagues who had been involved in some of these type of organizations, inviting me in to learn some of those things. And at that point, I enjoyed it so much that I maybe overindulged here and there by saying yes to too many, but that was a good thing because I get to learn where my line was. but it also made me reflect on why I didn’t do it earlier.

Kat Marran: [00:04:09] And so, that’s my message out to a lot of my mentees, or to a lot of younger people or women is even in those middle stages of your career, when you feel exhausted because you’ve got everything going on, you got family, you’ve got work, you’ve got everything, you got your head down doing everything, don’t forget about the areas around you and the communities who, number one, can use your expertise at whatever levels, and two, that you could develop faster when you put those things to use with those groups too. There’s lots of learnings out there.

Kat Marran: [00:04:37] So, had I to do it over again, I would have done it earlier. But seven years or so gave me enough experience and connections and networking to create my next journey as it stands right now with Girl Scouts as a matter of fact.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:50] Now, how did you kind of choose which organizations to lean into? Like, I’m sure somebody in your role at that organization could have chosen any organization, and they’d be happy to have you. How did you, yourself, kind of narrow down the list in order to choose the ones you did?

Kat Marran: [00:05:12] Lee, another good question. To me, it came down to a few things. One, the practical side of me looked at it and said, are there organizations out there that – this sounds maybe strange – I will not feel guilty about taking time away from work to go do them? And what I mean by that is I needed to see for myself that there was some overlap of activity to the day job as well as this volunteer piece or to this other leadership capacity.

Kat Marran: [00:05:40] So, a lot of times I fell into spaces like GWBC, quite honestly, because I was working at that time in a part of UPS where we were developing our marketing programs for diverse customer groups. And in that, there was a lot of intensity and a lot of time spent on women-owned businesses, et cetera. And so, my day job was that, and I intersected in some capacity outside of that with women organizations. It became a natural fit to me to see efficiencies, if you will, as well as a passion and a learning possibility.

Kat Marran: [00:06:16] So, my first decision on when and where was around practicality with a little passion. As I got into some of these and got more coming through, it became how do these other areas make me happy as well to be a part of? And can I make a big enough impact on it? So, that’s when the Girl Scouts came in. That’s when I got involved in a women’s angel venture group called Golden Seeds as well, because I started to think about how my expertise could push those even forward, and at the same time I could get something out of them that wasn’t in my day job in that sense.

Kat Marran: [00:06:55] So, financial learnings from the investment organization, working with girls, which was not my foray nor my experience. I don’t happen to have children, so this was another way to think about giving to the community, but giving to myself at the same time. That’s how it expanded over time.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:11] Now, when you first joined your first board, can you talk about how that went? What was your onboarding like? How were you kind of going to make your mark? Did you go in there kind of just, “Hey, let me just listen first and just kind of get the lay of the land” or did you come in saying, “Okay. These are the things I think we can do. There’s opportunity here.” Like, how did you kind of ramp up?

Kat Marran: [00:07:38] Oh, it’s funny, if you ask people who sat with me on that first board meeting, they would definitely not say I was quiet. But I will say that my first onboarding of the first board happened because I had a specific area of marketing, as a matter of fact, that was seen as valuable to that board, whereas the rest of the board came from different other experiences and different backgrounds. So, they were really seeking somebody with my background.

Kat Marran: [00:08:03] So, I didn’t go in immediately quiet. I did listen for sure. I tried to read as much as I could about the organization and get better affiliated with it and the other members of the board before the first board meeting. But I did feel like I was thrown into the deep end a little bit, but I’m okay, I can swim. And I knew that they had wanted me there to be vocal, to be questioning the traditional, because I was going to come from a different experience.

Kat Marran: [00:08:28] So, I think the onboarding could differ for each person depending on what the board chair and what the CEO talk to you about as well as to your purpose on there. Why you? What do they hope you bring to it? And then, if you know what that is, then you’re onboarding kind of comes in the right context and you’re not just floundering in that deep water, if you will.

Kat Marran: [00:08:52] And then, I think having a good board mentor assigned to a new mentee, if you will, of a new board member is really helpful to help, one, get that new person involved pretty quickly. But two, it actually keeps the efficiency of the board meetings running because, oftentimes, new people, by no fault of their own, they’re just trying to ask the logical questions that are coming up in their head, but they’re almost too basic sometimes. So, if you have a mentor who can really help them get through some of those pieces to the details of how the organization works, then you can really get to the governance factors that you need to do on a board meeting and be efficient about it, rather than getting into places that everybody else knows the answers to, but the new person doesn’t. So, it’s a fine line when you come on and you onboard a person. But I’ve learned a lot each time that I’ve gone on to a board as to how to get better at it.

Kat Marran: [00:09:42] There’s also third party organizations out there. I have not necessarily had lots of interactions with them, but there’s organizations like on board and some other women board associations who will help train women and people how to be on boards effectively and be most useful as quickly as possible. So, there’s different things to learn. My experience was kind of grassroots.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:03] And let’s talk specifically about GWBC, is there any memory or any thing that you did or the board did or the organization did that kind of left a mark that’s impactful or rewarding?

Kat Marran: [00:10:19] Many. I think the camaraderie of the boards that I worked on with GWBC was really unique in that it was a combination of corporate people as well as WBEs or women enterprises, women-owned businesses. And it was nice to see the interaction and the learnings from both sides, because we all come at things with our own expectations and history and experiences. But to be able to professionally think about it from another angle, I always value that in sitting in those board meetings or having those other side meetings or the committee involvements.

Kat Marran: [00:10:53] I will say the fun part was always our galas. We also are people who love to dance and get out there and have a good time. And that’s kind of nice to let your hair down. So, I always enjoy GWBC for bringing the fun out as well. I think Roz takes that very seriously. She’s got a good team that does that.

Kat Marran: [00:11:10] But I’d say the final piece, one of my favorite takeaways, is meeting with so many of the members of GWBC and the women-owned businesses themselves, and finding the spark that makes them excited and makes me excited. So, there were several of them that I’m still actually friends with today, and still helping in some ways for them to continue their business journey and where I can be of advantage for them. It’s kind of nice to kind of be that consultant when they need it.

Kat Marran: [00:11:40] But it comes back the other way, so some of them are now becoming more and more successful. And I’ve got one company that I’ve worked with for several years that came through GWBC, I helped them get settled in what they needed to do, and now they’re reciprocating. They’ve got some good things happening, so they’re offering some help to me at Girl Scouts. So, it created a continuous community, and that, I will value for a long time.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:03] Now at GWBC, I think one of the main benefits for the members are that kind of bridge to enterprise organizations. Is there any advice you would give maybe on both sides of the table there? Any advice for the enterprise level executives and companies to be partners with GWBC and also the WBEs to kind of make themselves attractive to those enterprise level organizations. Can you share maybe some advice on both sides of the table?

Kat Marran: [00:12:37] Oh, that’s good. From the partners perspective, again having come from a large organization but not necessarily being in the procurement side, I will say I’ve watched in the last six or seven years since I’ve been a part of GWBC a great advance on the corporate side, on the partner side, to really push their own organizations to be open to these diverse companies in all different kinds of ways, and to shake things up not just for cost reasons, but for quality reasons, and not just solely to fill a diversification checkmark. And that’s been great. The companies have been advancing and seeing that, and they’re able to play it back to themselves and to their constituents or their stakeholders.

Kat Marran: [00:13:19] With ESG being such a bigger and bigger conversation these days, I think it matters to corporates in a deeper way than it did 20 years ago. Supplier diversity is not just checking the box anymore. So, number one, I hope that all companies are thinking about that. And even if we start with that concept of a big company, now play it to the mediums, and even to the WBEs at some point, everybody should be thinking about their part to play and lifting the rest of the boats. And you’re never too small to have that ESG in your DNA.

Kat Marran: [00:13:52] So, I think I would position that most partners out there, regardless of size, should be thinking about how do they make sure that their procurement is fair, equitable, which may not necessarily mean that everybody gets the same shot, some people might need a little bit more help. Mentoring is a good way that a lot of the corporates do that. I know UPS has been doing that for a while as well. So, I love to see the partners become more than just a platform for application that they really actually reach out and help the WBEs to figure out what’s going to make a difference in their organization.

Kat Marran: [00:14:28] For the WBEs, outside of what I already said, which is they, too, can be a part to play in their own ESG component. I think the greatest thing that I saw really start to get off the ground is when WBEs are helping each other. The corporate timeline for procurement is almost so long and can be really grueling, and a lot of the smaller businesses put so much weight on them, they spend so much time and they end up either being disappointed after all that investment of time and energy and/or they get the deal and that’s scary in its own right. They get the deal and then they don’t get paid really quickly sometimes. So, all of that is a real burden on them until they get enough magnitude.

Kat Marran: [00:15:11] What’s the low hanging fruit is working amongst the WBEs directly. And so, my best suggestion to the WBEs is don’t miss the trees in front of you by looking for the big huge forest out there. Sometimes it’s better to take off the small trees and figure out how you’re going to work your way to that forest by working with other people who get you and to understand what you’re going through.

Kat Marran: [00:15:34] And I think that’s one of the most powerful observations I’ve started to see of late, that the WBEs actually are recognizing their network in mass can be stronger to some degree than that one big deal they might get from a big organization. And that they spend a lot of time working on it. So, it’s a balancing act, of course. Those would be the two key things I think I would bring forward.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:55] Now, any advice for a person out there that maybe was in your shoes seven years ago when you’re deciding, “Okay. I’m going to join a board,” why should they pick GWBC? What would be the best fit for somebody? Is it that they have, like you mentioned, the alignment of goals for the corporate and the alignment of goals personally. So, how would you kind of pitch the GWBC board opportunity to somebody?

Kat Marran: [00:16:25] So, if I get two hats, so if I happen to be a WBE, I think the benefit of coming to GWBC once you’ve got a little bit of grounding in those things I just talked about, how you work the network with other WBEs, how you understand the procurement process of big companies, being onboard like GWBC helps get those experiences magnified. And hopefully, if you’re ready to give back in some way or you’re wanting to lead a little bit more, then being on a board of GWBC is going to change the direction for the good and help bring those experiences to the programs that GWBC offers, the type of development that it creates, the intersection points that it has to have.

Kat Marran: [00:17:09] It needs to evolve in some degree, I think, beyond certification. And I think a WBE who sees that in a bigger picture will be highly influential and can make a bigger mark. I hope that it’s not solely they want to join the board to open up those corporate relationships, that some of that can help, but really it should be beyond that. It should be what else are they really ready to do to define how women organizations out there can thrive at faster and stronger levels. So, that would be the pitch to the WBE is ready to give to the bigger network.

Kat Marran: [00:17:40] For the corporates, if I was a person thinking out there, again, to me, it depends on your discipline area that you’re really interested in or what you’re trying to pursue. Any one of them, whether it’s marketing or finance or procurement or HR, et cetera, legal, all of them have to have a part to play in being on a board. And so, for your own edification of what your discipline means in a different context, outside of your day job and outside of your own company and industry, I think, is a compelling reason to go learn how to put it to use in a different way.

Kat Marran: [00:18:12] And so, for your self-development, a GWBC is all about business. It happens to be a nonprofit in its own definition, but it’s all about business, and all of those disciplines are needed and useful. And I think if you are thinking about your own development, that’s a good way to think about how you apply your skills uniquely and to open up some things that you hadn’t. And I think then you get to take it back to your organization as well to let them know here’s what you’re getting on this business board. And that’s influential as well, because it can open up some things internally for you that might not have been there because people were seeing you in the same capacity. You’ve now broken free of that by bringing a new version of yourself back into the organization, because you’ve seen yourself outside of the organization.

Kat Marran: [00:18:57] So, to me, that’s the benefit to a person being on the board. And then, obviously, what you bring to that board is all of those experiences, all of that network, all of that positivity. Anybody on GWBC is very welcoming to all of those experiences. So, it’s a good board to join.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:14] Now, in your role as Interim CEO of Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta. What do you need more of and how can we help you?

Kat Marran: [00:19:22] Oh, thank you for that question. There are so many great things that we do at Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta. We cover a very large portion of the state, we represent 34 counties and give or take about 35,000 members of both adult and girl members. So, when we think about the things that we need most, we need to make sure that we are still relevant to what the girls around our counties need, and so we’re building programs all the time. So, there is, of course, always a fundraising component of everything that we do.

Kat Marran: [00:19:55] But if I put that aside to people who might be listening to this call and beyond that, we really want to call out to anybody who was a Girl Scout in any place around the country, or who would like to learn more about Girl Scouts to come talk to us. Our anniversary is coming up next year, it’s 100 years of one of our camps here in Mableton, Georgia. It’s a 200 acre beautiful camp, but it needs some love, needs some attention. So, we want a big 100 year celebration of come back to Girl Scouts. So, definitely invite people to come back.

Kat Marran: [00:20:25] And we love volunteers of all ages and all genders. We don’t do this work that we do without a severe amount of important volunteers at all types incremental, seasonal or long term like troop leaders. So, we’re always looking for people who are interested in giving some time to these girls and helping them build the courage, the character, and the confidence that we need them to have to be the next leaders of the generations to come. So, any way you want it, we would love as much support for Girl Scouts as possible.

Kat Marran: [00:21:00] It’s a great pipeline, by the way, for entrepreneurs. Those cookie programs that everybody loves so much, they’re not just about the cookies, they’re about teaching girls how to build their own business. What’s a better way to get more GWBC members and then to get new Girl Scouts as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:17] Yeah, I think that the cookie program is one of the greatest ways to ease someone into selling, to teach them how to sell and to feel confident in selling. And that’s foundational for whatever they’re going to do later in life. I mean, I think that’s a brilliant program.

Kat Marran: [00:21:35] It is. It teaches them also how to handle rejection a little bit too. That’s a big part of sales, isn’t it? How do you pivot and how do you find another way to be comfortable in the no’s as much as you can celebrate the yeses as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:48] Right. Well, if somebody wants to connect with the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, what’s a website?

Kat Marran: [00:21:54] gsgatl.org is our website. That’s Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, gsgatl.org. Or they can certainly find me at kmarran@gsgatl.org and/or through LinkedIn, whatever works for anybody. Come find me, I’m happy to have the conversation.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:14] Well, Kat, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Kat Marran: [00:22:19] Thank you very much, Lee. I appreciate always having been part of GWBC and will continue to be an advocate for that group and for the WBEs in it and for my board partners. So, they to have all of my appreciation and admiration as well. I look forward to further conversations.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:36] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on GWBC Open For Business.

 

Aliya Bagewadi With Allume Energy

by

Atlanta Business Radio
Atlanta Business Radio
Aliya Bagewadi With Allume Energy
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Aliya Bagewadi serves as the US Director of Strategy Partnerships for Allume Energy, a clean tech company unlocking rooftop solar for apartment renters worldwide. She previously worked as a management consultant for Fortune 500 companies and in rural economic development in Southeast Asia.

She studied political science and land economics at the University of Chicago and the University of Cambridge, where she was a Gates Cambridge Scholar.

Connect with Aliya on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Her role at Allume
  • What does “shared solar” mean
  • An overview of SolShare technology and Allume as a whole
  • How is the SolShare unlocking rooftop solar

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. 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 Aliya Bagewadi with Allume Energy. Welcome.

Aliya Bagewadi: [00:00:45] Thank you so much for having me, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:47] I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about a Lume Energy. How are you serving folks?

Aliya Bagewadi: [00:00:53] So a loom energy. We are a solar technology company, and we developed a breakthrough technology that enables renters and multifamily buildings. So tenants, residents, renters, commercial buildings to actually consume rooftop solar from a single rooftop solar system. So in this way, we’re unlocking rooftop solar for people living and working in multifamily buildings.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:18] Now, without this technology, how would like how would they utilizing solar in other ways? Like is it just solar for the entire building? And it’s not you’re not able to kind of share the savings amongst all the individuals. Like how does it work currently without a loom?

Aliya Bagewadi: [00:01:35] Yeah. So typically without our technology, which is called the soul share. So without the soul share, you would otherwise need to have multiple solar systems per meter or per unit. And so if you have a building with 60 units, you’d need 60 solar systems. And in order for a tenant or a resident to actually consume that solar. But if you see solar on a an apartment, that solar is typically going directly just to the common meter, which is the building meter. So that is lowering the energy for the the building owner. But that is really just one account or one unit that is that is sort of being benefited by that solar. So our ambition is to share that solar with multiple units in the building to enable the entire people entirely in the building to benefit from the solar.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:28] So what was the genesis of the idea? How did this get started?

Aliya Bagewadi: [00:02:32] So a loom actually started in Melbourne, Australia back in 2015. And the genesis is that, you know, Australia has some of the highest rooftop solar penetrations in the world. So 30% of all of their single family homes have rooftop solar on them, which is wild when you compare it to the 4 to 8% that we have here in the United States. So about five, six years ago, you really had this, this lingering question of, you know, we know that single family home owners are getting the benefits and the savings of rooftop solar, but people living in apartments, they’re not able to gain those thousands of dollars of savings and lower their carbon footprint, too. So how do we enable them to do that? So that is really the genesis, the sort of energy equity question of how do we enable, um, you know, people living in all types of buildings to be able to share and consume rooftop solar and, and also save their energy bills or lower their energy bills and also lower their carbon footprint.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:37] So, um, what’s your back story? How did you get involved with the loom?

Aliya Bagewadi: [00:03:41] So, uh. Well, it’s. I met the CEO of a loom, a guy named Cameron Knox. And, uh, was really, uh. I really appreciated really the energy equity focus of the company. So we’re working primarily with, uh, affordable housing, low income, um, communities to to to lower energy burdens across the country. So in the United States right now, about one out of five families faces energy burdens, which means that they’re spending a high proportion of their income on energy bills. So, you know, a typical household or let’s say a, a, um, a wealthier household may, may spend about 3% of their income on their utility bills, on their energy bills. But a low income household may be spending up to 20% of their income on energy bills. And so that can create a situation where, you know, families need to decide between paying, you know, paying to keep the lights on or paying for heat or paying for, uh, cooling in their, in their unit versus paying for education fees or groceries or medicine. So that kind of, you know, the dire situation that really the country is in and the focus that this company has and is really what drew me to to working with the company.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:02] Now, um, I know you’re trying to penetrate the Georgia market. Can you talk a little bit about how Georgia was chosen and why you think there’s so much opportunity here?

Aliya Bagewadi: [00:05:12] Yeah. Well, uh, a bit a bit of context. We’ve started in the southeast. Uh, our work in the United States started in the southeast of the US. So we’ve had projects so far in Florida and Mississippi, and Georgia is really, you know, what we see as the the enormous opportunity one, because, you know, there’s a lot of multifamily buildings in Florida. And two, perhaps more importantly, Georgia is doing and many of its cities, like Atlanta and Savannah are doing a lot of great work around, uh, this energy equity piece of, of, of creating benefits to low income communities. So, uh, because the cities have been prioritizing, uh, getting, uh, low income communities access to clean energy, it’s a really great opportunity for us to, to start working, um, in, in Georgia. So we’re really excited about Georgia.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:09] Now, can you talk a little bit I mean, maybe not name the names, but are there, um, companies that are are trying this or testing it at least, or like, where are you at in kind of growing the market here?

Aliya Bagewadi: [00:06:22] Yeah, well, what’s great is, you know, we’ve gotten a lot of support from the sustainability offices of various, uh, cities and also, um, support from, um, you know, at the federal level with Senate offices. So that’s that’s been really wonderful and has sort of laid the groundwork for a lot of the a lot of the conversations with, you know, end users and end buyers who are the property owners, um, and, and also solar installers. So for them, they get to kind of, you know, solar installers typically have have had to turn away projects in the multifamily market and they don’t want to turn away those projects. So now for them, they’re quite excited that they can go after apartments and, you know, pursue these solar installations on them. So we’ve been having a lot of great conversations with solar installers and property owners to help them understand why it’s beneficial to them to share this solar with, uh, with their residents.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:19] Now, when you’re talking to the property owner, what’s kind of the pitch like, how are you? Um, kind of getting them interested in the benefits of this because like, because the savings goes to the, um, person in the apartment, right? So it may not trickle back to them, but I would imagine that’s a that becomes now a selling point when they’re trying to rent the unit or sell the unit.

Aliya Bagewadi: [00:07:43] Yeah. So typically that, you know, that it’s what we call like a split incentive has always existed where why would a property owner, you know, make this investment if the benefits are going to flow to the tenants? That’s always been a major issue. And it’s part of the reason why solar and multifamily hasn’t really proliferated. But with the soul share with our technology, we’re able to share the solar energy between, uh, between units and between meters. And so what that means is that the building owner can also lower their energy bills and share that energy with their tenants. So really, it’s a win win situation for the building owner. So what does the building owner get? Well, they get to put one solar as has been shown to increase the property values of um of buildings. So it can increase a property value by 4 to 13%, which is, you know, the having that value stabilization is is really important in this sort of economic environment right now. So they get that. Secondly, there’s a it’s really never been a better time to go solar because of a lot of federal tax credits that are available. So going solar now enables a building owner to pursue tax credits, federal tax credits up to 30 to 60% on the cost of the system.

Aliya Bagewadi: [00:09:10] That and and there’s also municipal incentives that are further helping lower this cost of, uh, pursuing solar. So in terms of the cost of actually pursuing solar, it’s there’s a lot of benefits right now to help cover those costs. Um, and in terms of the actual building itself, well, the building owner gets to increase their net operating income, which means the profitability of the building gets to go up so they can lower their energy bills. Um, and by sharing that energy with their residents, they get to have an, you know, a recurring revenue source for them as well. Um, and so, yeah, those are just some of the few benefits that a building owner can, can get in addition to sort of the, the, the marketing, uh, you know, the marketing ability of being able to tell, um, increasingly environmentally conscious, uh, tenants and residents that, hey, you know, I am, uh, you know, a more sustainable building. I’m lowering my carbon footprint with this solar, and you get to lower your carbon footprint, too, and have lower energy bills in the process. So, you know, it increases tenant satisfaction, it increases tenant occupancy. It also creates a new, uh, positive, uh, you know, news story and, uh, a marketing with for the building.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:33] Now, when you’re talking to the property owners, are you having are you talking directly or do you work through the installers who are talking directly, or is it a combination? Because I would imagine you have to educate these folks a lot about, you know, switching to solar and and that might take some convincing. And, uh, so how does that conversation go?

Aliya Bagewadi: [00:10:56] You’re right. Yeah. There is a significant sort of education bit around this because we are new and we are a new product. And so we we definitely want to educate, uh, various, uh, community members and stakeholders that this now exists and it can benefit, uh, multiple parties. So but we at the moment are sort of, you know, our go to market, let’s say, is to talk to both installers to let them know that, okay, you can go you can pursue multifamily installations now, but also letting the property owner know that you can do this and it will benefit you and benefit your residents. Um, and, you know, make your, your building, um, more financially stable and profitable at the end of the day.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:43] So as your role as U.S. director of strategic partnerships, is that the conversations you’re having every day?

Aliya Bagewadi: [00:11:51] Those are part of the conversations I have every day. I think what’s really cool about our product is, um, we are solving for the split incentive problem. So the the asset, any asset owner or a building owner can benefit, the tenant can benefit, governments can benefit, utilities can benefit. So that’s you know, that’s an opportunity for us to reach out to all of those different stakeholders. And that’s a lot of my job is to is to let people know that we exist and help them, help them understand why it’s beneficial to them and and how it can play into their, um, equity and clean energy goals.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:31] So if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?

Aliya Bagewadi: [00:12:39] Uh, well, we we’d love to hear from anyone who’s interested in learning more. Uh, an email you can reach out to is info info at al-um. Energy a l l um e e n e r g y.com. Uh, or check out our website al-um energy.com.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:59] Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Aliya Bagewadi: [00:13:04] Thank you so much.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:06] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.

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Patricia Sampson With The King Center

by

Atlanta Business Radio
Atlanta Business Radio
Patricia Sampson With The King Center
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Patricia Sampson is the Director of the Bookstore Resource Center at The King Center in Atlanta, Georgia. She has also work for the High Museum of Art Atlanta as Manager or Retail Shops and Visual Merchandising.

She began her retail career in for-profit retail in her home state of New York. She wore many different hats in the early days of her career from assistant buyer to buyer, and even fashion show coordinator.

She is a dedicated and passionate member of MSA. She has previously served on MSA chapter and national committees, on the regional board of the South Atlantic Chapter, and now serves a third term on the MSA Board of Directors.

Lastly, she is an avid sports fan, volleyball being her favorite. She enjoys sewing, cooking and spending quality time with family and friends.

Connect with Patricia on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • What is Museum Store Sunday and why does it matter
  • How shopping at their local museum store supports museums and artists in Atlanta
  • Special initiatives taking place at the King Center Store on Museum Store Sunday (i.e., discounts, events)
  • Unique products at the King Center Store that make great holiday gifts
  • Museum Store Sunday is prioritizing eco-friendly, ethically-made products created by local artists (highlight sustainable or locally made products available at your store)

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. 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 Patricia Sampson, who is the director of Bookstore and Resource Center at the King Center. Welcome, Patricia.

Patricia Sampson: [00:00:45] Thank you. Thank you for having me. Rick. How are you today? I am.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:49] Doing well. I am so glad to be sharing what you do with folks because fun fact this is my secret weapon when it comes to gift giving is museum stores. And we’re here to talk about Museum Store Sunday. Can you tell everybody what that’s about? Yes.

Patricia Sampson: [00:01:05] Well, I’d love to hear that. You’re one of our special shoppers at our museums. The museum Store Sunday is actually a program that was developed by the Museum Store Association, which is a nonprofit that brings information, collaboration and advocacy for our nonprofit retail professionals.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:30] And for folks who don’t understand, like people go to museums, but museum stores. You should go just for that. I think a lot of times the museum stores has a lot of great stuff that maybe kind of represent what’s what’s in the museum, but it also is really a great place to shop for original gifts that you’re not going to find at the mall.

Patricia Sampson: [00:01:52] Oh, absolutely. You know, museum stores have a curated selection of products that either reflect the art or the mission of the museum, as well as general great, unique items that we find in the market.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:10] And a lot of times you don’t have to, like, pay to enter the museum to kind of enjoy some of the museum and and buy some stuff at the museum stores. Right?

Patricia Sampson: [00:02:19] Oh, absolutely. You can come directly into the museum, either from the street level in some cases, or you go into the museum’s lobby and you can enter the museum store. The most important thing about the museum store is that we are there to support the mission, the programing and the work of our cultural institutions within our community, and that’s very important to us.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:47] Right. So it’s a great place to buy original stuff you’re not going to find elsewhere and support the mission of those museums that you’re enjoying.

Patricia Sampson: [00:02:56] Absolutely. So when you purchase from your museum store, you immediately become a patron of that museum because your dollars are going back into something that is developing and working towards the good within a community.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:17] Now let’s talk a little bit about the King Center. How did you get involved with them? And then tell us about your store there. How were you kind of making it special and taking advantage of of the holiday season?

Patricia Sampson: [00:03:29] Right. So I’ve been with the King Center a little over a year and a half. Prior to that, I was at the High Museum of Art managing their museum store. And so I’ve been in the museum store industry, so to speak, for quite a while, and worked closely with the Museum Store Association, which I am currently the sitting president and just love the work that I do within the retail sector and in the nonprofit sector. And here at the King Center. The focus is really to advance the work, the mission and the legacy of Dr. and Mrs. King. So here we develop products that are specific to the work that they have done. We have several new campaigns, one called love, which focuses on the beloved community.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:25] So now how do you come? How do you kind of go about curating and developing products? Like now you’re at the King Center, do you like every year or every certain period of time you kind of brainstorm, okay, this is this is the theme. Maybe going forward, maybe we should find some artists that can help us with this. Like how do you go about kind of creating the original works that are in museum stores like the King Center?

Patricia Sampson: [00:04:51] Right. So at the King Center, we focus mostly on Dr. King, his the words, his books we are selling in the book, in that bookstore, as well as looking at the center. Overall, how can we tell that story? How can we tell the story of Mrs. King founding, being the founder of the King Center and the mission and the work that she put into place? So you’re you’re looking at the organization overall and trying to figure out how you can tell that story through merchandise, which is can be tricky. But we work with local artisans, we work with in-house graphic artists as well, and we work a lot with the museum store vendors. They are also a part of our membership and they support us during Museum Store Sunday, which is very important because that’s coming up on this Sunday, which is the 26th of November.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:59] So tell us about that event. I know everybody’s competing with there’s Black Friday, there’s Cyber Monday. There seems to be lots of gift giving opportunities this time of year. How did Museum Store Sunday come about, and is there anything that’s happening collaboratively in the Atlanta area amongst the museum stores here?

Patricia Sampson: [00:06:20] Yes, actually we are in our seventh year with the museum store Sunday and we have over 2100 museums throughout all 50 states, four continents and in the UK. So we have this is not just an Atlanta thing. This is a global initiative and a global event that will be happening on November 26th. You can go to W-w-w Dot Museum Store sunday.org and find out what museums are participating in your local area. And it really came about because there was Black Friday, there was Small Business Saturday. And so the only other day that was open was museum was the Sunday after Thanksgiving. And the initiative came about to bring that awareness that as you’re purchasing from your museum stores, that we have great gift giving items as well as everyday items for any occasion. And your dollars go back, as I said before, they go back into the organization to create something sustainable within a community. And so we found that we got on board with Museum Store Sunday and we have not stopped since. It continues to grow to be a national and global event.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:55] So you mentioned that you are part of the Atlanta chapter, right, of the Museum Store Association.

Patricia Sampson: [00:08:03] Yes, yes. We have several other institutions that are part of our chapter, the High Museum, the Fernbank, the History Center, and throughout the state of Georgia as far as Savannah. So we have several museums that will partake in Museum Store Sunday.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:29] So now when a person comes in to shop, is there a favorite items you have at the King Center that they should be taking a look at?

Patricia Sampson: [00:08:39] Yeah, we have wonderful quote plaques, quotes of Dr. King’s and Mrs. King’s that’s a favorite for us. Also, we’ll be having a great book drive this year, which is going to benefit Sheltering Arms. So not only now are you giving back to the mission of the King Center, but you can extend that and give back to the community as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:05] So so for folks who want to check out the King Center, I mean that the King Center is a year round. You don’t have to just wait till Sunday. But if they want to go by this weekend or or during the holiday season to look for that unique gift that’s really going to capture the spirit and heart. Of the King Center and Atlanta. Is there a website for the King Center, or kind of the the best time to go? When would you recommend them coming to take advantage of all the good stuff over there?

Patricia Sampson: [00:09:37] Oh, you can start today and come and take advantage. But if you want to join us on Sunday, we’ll have trivia, activity tables, refreshments. We’ll give a swag bags for purchases of $75 or more, and we’re offering 20% off books so you can purchase a book to donate to a young child and give the gift that keeps on giving this year. And you can also purchase online at w-w-w dot King Center.org.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:14] Good stuff. Well, Patricia, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Patricia Sampson: [00:10:21] Oh. Thank you. Lee and I enjoyed talking to you and telling you about the programs we have here at the King Center and through the Museum Store Association for Museum Store Sunday.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:33] Yeah, for those folks out there that are struggling with gift ideas, the King Center store is a great place to start. And really, any museum store is a great place to start when it comes to gifts that are unique. That is not going to be just another thing that you can see elsewhere. These are very they’re customized almost to those the spirit and heart of those museums. So I would definitely check them out. If you’re struggling to find a gift for a loved one this holiday season.

Patricia Sampson: [00:11:00] Oh yeah. Absolutely. We look forward to seeing everyone come in our doors and enjoy the holiday season. We hope that everyone has has a safe and peaceful holiday.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:14] Well thank you again, Patricia. Thank you. All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll be back next time on Atlanta Business Radio.

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Author and Coach Doug Fleener

by

High Velocity Radio
High Velocity Radio
Author and Coach Doug Fleener
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Known as “The Daily Performance Expert,” Doug Fleener is an ex-addict turned successful CEO, business advisor, keynote speaker, and coach. His extensive experience and journey of over 30 years in recovery and business give him a unique perspective with proven expertise and fast, high ROI results. His success started with his failures and the low-point in his life.

He bankrupted a family business due to his alcohol and cocaine addiction. He started anew on that fateful day, applying the same tenets of recovery to the business world: living one good day after another, believing in the power to change, taking responsibility for his actions and life, simplifying processes, and helping others succeed.

He lost that business but gained a whole new way of living and working. He was a corporate director at the Bose Corporation and CEO of a national company. He has spoken and consulted around the world. All from losing everything and learning the principles that saved his life and made a life.

He now shares these insights globally, fostering high-performing, engaged workforces that improve short and long-term results. He believes that higher levels of performance and success can be achieved within a day—the day that makes the year that shapes a life.

His new book, The Day Makes the Year (Makes a Life): Transform your work and life with One-Day Success (Five Leaf Clover Publishing) is now available.

Connect with Doug on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Top techniques for successfully practicing Relentless Simplicity throughout the day
  • How to tap into the Superpower of Taking Responsibility
  • One-Day Success: The 6 principles and accompanying practices to achieve more growth, success, and happiness
  • The ​Power of ​Intention and how to choose what to prioritize
  • How he used the principles of recovery to transform from a jobless addict to a successful CEO, ​executive coach, and international speaker

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: [00:00:14] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Doug Fleener. He is the author of the new book, The Day Makes the Year Makes a Life. Transform your Work and Life with One Day Success. Welcome, Doug.

Doug Fleener: [00:00:33] Thank you Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:34] I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about the the first of all, the premise of the book. What’s it about?

Doug Fleener: [00:00:43] Well, the premise of the book is that about 37 years ago, my life hit rock bottom and from a cocaine and alcohol addiction and had to rebuild my life and went into recovery. And I learned some very, very valuable lessons in recovery that obviously not only helped me stay clean and sober for 37 years, but more just as important has helped me in business. And so I really wanted to share those principles. Luckily, most people don’t need to go into recovery, but some of those principles can really help someone be successful in whatever they do, both business and in personal life.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:21] Well, even people not in recovery have heard the phrase one day at a time. It sounds like you’re taking that and really looking at that in different facets of that phrase.

Doug Fleener: [00:01:32] Yeah, yeah, it really is the premise and the foundation for the book. There are six principles altogether, but the very first one is the day. And you know everything. Everything you need, everything you want, your future, everything is really is created in the day. And I work with a lot of business owners and, and they’re either in the past or far out in the future and not doing what they need to do in the day to be successful.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:56] And what are kind of some symptoms that you’re not kind of in that present moment, that you are either kind of time traveling backwards into some nostalgic past or into some future that may or may not ever occur.

Doug Fleener: [00:02:12] Well, showing you’re stuck in the past is kind of when you talk about what you used to do, or probably even bigger, is that there’s kind of resentment and regret, and a lot of us carry around a lot of that, and that really keeps us from being in the moment. And for about the future, I think, is people have a lot of plans, a lot of ideas, a lot of things they want to accomplish. But if you ask them, what did they do in the day? They spent most of their day on task that isn’t necessarily really creating that future. And so when you’re really focused on what you want to have, it’s not like you don’t think about the future, but it’s what you have to do in the day to create that future you want.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:49] So how do you attack each day so that you do wring out the most out of each day? Is there kind of a template that you have for the day that it begins a certain way, and it has its own rhythm that’s predictable and repeatable, like how does it work?

Doug Fleener: [00:03:04] Good question. And, you know, I think it really starts with how you start your day, the mindset, the plan that you have, the priorities. And so one of the things I learned early in recovery is trying to identify who did I want to be that day and what did I want to accomplish that day. And early on, it was just get through a day without a drink or a drug. And over time it started to be manage organizations and what have you. So I think it’s about understanding. You start your day with where you want to go. You just don’t hop in the car and think you’re going to go on vacation and don’t know where you’re going, but you do have a map, if you will, of what you want to accomplish. So it really starts right there.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:44] Now, how does an individual, especially an entrepreneur, kind of balance all the the different priorities they might have? So, for example, they might have a priority of, okay, I’m the leader of this company. So I want to achieve these things at the end of the year or the end of the, you know, as my legacy as this business owner. But I’m also a husband, so I want to have these, you know, I want to be this type of a husband, and I want to be this type of a father, and I want to be this type of a community member. How do I kind of structure the day so that I am kind of winning at all of these things that I’m trying to accomplish as a person in totality?

Doug Fleener: [00:04:28] I love that question. And because I talk a lot about that, and it really starts with priorities. And when people think and use that word, and when you think of priorities, most people think about prioritizing tasks. But you said it. You want to prioritize your life. Understanding what are your priorities. And as you mentioned, right, I’m a business owner. I’m also a father. I’m a husband. And understanding that what those priorities are and really investing your time and energy in that. You’ll talk with people again. They’ll say that, you know, so obviously if you’re a business owner, probably, you know, the number one on the business side is revenue, you know, revenue and profits. But if you ask them where they’re spending their time, you know, they’re focused on social media. They’re, you know, if they’re a retailer, they’re unpacking an order or what have you. So, you know, I do believe that you can have I like to call it work life harmony because it can’t always be in balance. Right? There are just times we have to work more, and there are times if we go on vacation with the family, we need to be in our personal life more. But we can create harmony. But it starts with really having intentional actions each day to achieve all those priorities.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:41] So in your work as a coach, how do you kind of triage someone’s situation? I know in a coaching environment, I’m sure most of the time, hopefully, that they’re coming to you and saying, I have a problem and help me. So they’re at a vulnerable point of humility, maybe where they are asking for hope. So they are kind of at least have their guard down and they’re not as reactive, hopefully. But when they come to you and you see like, okay, things are out of whack, maybe they do have addiction problems, maybe they’re have strained relationships. How do you kind of triage that and give them kind of bite sized ways to improve so that don’t overwhelm the situation? Because I’m sure when you were in the midst of your addiction, it was difficult to have conversations to you about, hey, you know, maybe this isn’t the right thing to do. You know, you may not have been open to having those conversations.

Doug Fleener: [00:06:35] Well, you know, I like to start off with, you know, helping the the owner or whoever the person is being coached is first identify what their priorities are. I look at my priorities every day, you know, and and they move around in level and rankings, if you will, based upon the day. But my recovery comes first and then my family and my friends and and then drive in revenue. One of my priorities is helping more people. So I have a little process that we call the we call it the map. And the the map is where is mindset, actions and priorities. And it really starts with, you know, with the priorities. But the map is a better analogy, if you will. And so again, understanding what your priorities are and then get the person to focus on what’s their mindset for the day. You know, I start my day every day again trying to determine what kind of person do I want to be. But, you know, the issue is that most people don’t turn that into actions. You know, we aren’t what we think. We are what we do. And so, you know, I’m very good on liking to use simple little things. Like every day I have a reminder pop up in my phone to do five good things a day. Now, I’d like to think I would just do them without a reminder, but I know that when I get out of myself and do something for others that I’m going to, I’m going to be a better person. And as a result, I think that comes back to me three fold. So really get a person to understand how they think, what they focus on and then what they do. And it’s really a shift for most people.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:15] Now, the day before your first day of being a non addict, could you have thought in these terms?

Doug Fleener: [00:08:26] Oh no. No not not at all. And um, you know, there was a point when, uh, and my backstory is I bankrupted a family business. I hurt a lot of people. Uh, it was back in Florida in the 80s, and it was in the cocaine cowboy Miami Vice days, and I just. I stole a lot of family money. And, you know, one of the reasons I had to learn how to live like this is because I had such regret. I had such shame, such guilt, and I had to learn how to live this different way. And that’s why I like to start within the day is, you know, what are you going to what are you going to accomplish in this day? Who are you going to be in this day? But without recovery, I don’t think I ever would have started thinking like this. And again, it’s it’s interesting. So I run a Facebook group called The Highly Effective Business Owner. And what I really focus it on is being effective, being effective in the day, being effective as an owner. And again, these are things I never could have done without first learning how to live my life differently.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:33] So even in the even when you’re struggling with having multiple priority, the word priority and the word priorities to me are they might one might be a plural of the other, but to me that has they have different definitions because a priority means the most important thing. So if there’s priorities, now you’re saying there are several most important things, which it kind of goes against the definition of the word priority. How do you kind of I know you’re shooting for harmony, but how do you kind of prioritize the priorities?

Doug Fleener: [00:10:14] That’s a good question. And, you know, there are so many different elements of of our life. And, you know, so I do I again we start off, most people have five, six, seven different priorities that are important to them. And you know, I’m really like to keep things simple. They all can’t be the priority at the moment, right? I can’t be a maybe a good husband while I got a fire at work and what have you. So it’s really about understanding what is the right choice to make at the right time. And we always have choices, and I think that’s where that’s another element in the book. We call it taking responsibility. It’s kind of a superpower, if you will, because when you own everything that’s happening to you, you have the power to change it. If you think you’re a victim of it, you think some some circumstance you have no control over, then you can’t fix it. So it’s really making those right choices at the right moment.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:16] Now, at some point, don’t you have to determine, as a human on this planet, what is my true north like? What is, you know, kind of the goal of goals? What is this like? I have to have that clear vision of what my standard is before I can prioritize anything.

Doug Fleener: [00:11:42] Yeah.

Doug Fleener: [00:11:43] I think it’s knowing, right? I mean, it’s kind of, you know, cliche, if you will, but, you know, at the end of the at the end when the end of the road comes, you know, what did you accomplish? What do you want people to see. And, and rarely, you know, does anyone say, oh, man, you know, he, he, he ran a hell of a warehouse chain. Uh, right. It’s it’s who we are as people. And I think it’s again, it’s in balance with family and friends and what have you. But for me, it’s I always want to make sure that my actions are congruent with who I want to be. And, you know, a lot of people get in a lot of trouble, if you will, because there’s such a disconnect between those. And again, I think there’s just times where, right, we we need to make money. We, we need to spend time with family. And it’s making sure that we’re really making those right choices at the right moment and understanding that you can have it all. I mean, I like I like to joke and say that, you know, whoever said you can’t have it all didn’t own their own business. Because when you own your own business, especially, you get to make some of these choices.

Doug Fleener: [00:12:52] Right?

Lee Kantor: [00:12:52] Because ultimately the buck stops with you. There’s no kind of, you know, obnoxious boss who doesn’t get you. You’re the obnoxious boss who might not be choosing wisely. Now go ahead.

Doug Fleener: [00:13:06] Let me just say one thing real fast on that. It’s funny, I worked with with a coach, Alan Weiss, and I love it. But he would say to the people is he says, you know, so most of you people who are self employed work for a terrible boss.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:21] Sadly that’s true. They may not thought it was.

Doug Fleener: [00:13:25] A great line.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:26] Now, is there a way to prevent kind of an overwhelm? Because I can see, especially in entrepreneur, when they’re wearing multiple hats, that by itself seems overwhelming. But to to create kind of action items for myself just on my business, that to do list can get really out of hand quickly. And then if I layer in my personal life and my family life and my community responsibility life, all of that stuff can really overwhelm. Is there a way to manage each of those so that I am being effective with each of those different priorities that I do have?

Doug Fleener: [00:14:09] But I think that’s where starting off at the start of the day, understanding, you know, what do you want to advance? What is my most focused, my most important, my priority. And so again, if I think about, say, driving revenue, it’s not one thing is just to open the doors and whatever your business is, but it’s also making sure that we are doing the strategies and we’re doing the things in the day that will drive revenue. And if you’re the owner, you know, unless you’ve got a sales manager and you’re positive they’re doing it, then then you have to be doing that. So it’s knowing that, you know, when you do get overwhelmed, what happens? Nothing happens. So it’s really focusing on what are those that next most important thing I like personally I like the time block. So I’ll block out, you know, if I have something very important, you know, if you wanted to, if you had the opportunity to meet someone who’s really important in your life and you could meet them for an hour, you would put it on your calendar. You’d even probably go to that location early. You would really block it out. But we don’t block it out for ourselves and for the people around us. So time blocking, I think, can really be important. It’s like, you know what, for the next hour, this is what I’m going to do. The other thing I think owners have that entrepreneurs and owners have to do better at is learning just to say no and just say not now. So often they don’t own their own time. They don’t own their own day. Anyone can interrupt them. And I think sometimes when you’re really focused on the right things to get done, you have to be able to say, hey, not now.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:44] Now in your life when you were making the transition from addict to being in recovery, when did you start believing that, okay, this time it’s going to stick. This time is the time that I am going to, you know, get to the other side of this.

Doug Fleener: [00:16:05] Yeah, it actually for me, it happened very early in my recovery. At the time, I owned a marine supply store, and I went to into a recovery meeting after about 3 or 4 days. And I walked in and, and I saw some guys that I really that I knew some of my customers. And they walked up to me and they said, we’ve we’ve been waiting on you. And so that kind of tells you how well I was hiding my life. But you know what? I what really inspired me is that I saw happy people. I just remember walking in this room and it was bright and there was laughter. And I thought, you know what? I, you know, people can live this way and be happy. And and I try to bring that not only to people in recovery, but also people outside recovery. And, you know, and I appreciate this conversation we’ve had about, you know, keeping this work life in harmony or in balance, whatever you want to call it, that, you know, there’s a lot of people out there who do it, and it’s understanding that the payoff is so well worth it. You just have to do it a day at a time.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:13] Now, any advice you mentioned how during the period that you were an addict, that things didn’t go so well for a lot of people, and I’m sure some of the people were close to you and some of the people might have been family members of you. How would you recommend a family member that has a member of their family going through something like this to help them help themselves? I know you can’t fix anybody else, but as a I’m a parent and if my child was going through this, it would be I know that I would be torn. You know, I’d want to do everything to protect my child. But I also they got to kind of deal with the ramifications of their actions and their choices. How would you advise a family member to help somebody that’s going through addiction?

Doug Fleener: [00:18:07] I really appreciate that question. I think first, first and foremost, you have to take care of yourself. And a lot of people get lost in someone else’s disease. And and so it creates just even more turmoil in those. If, if you’re in a relationship and connected in any way with someone with addiction, alcoholism, and obviously there’s many addictions beyond drugs, you know, it can become a very chaotic life. So first and foremost, take care of yourself. And the second is to not enable people, you know, part of a part of the turnaround that can happen. And whether it’s, you know, you mentioned someone come to you for coaching and business and they’re hurting or on the recovery side, you know, at some point someone has to hit a bottom and kind of say, I’m done with this. Now, alcoholics and addicts have a potential to keep digging the hole quite well, but you can enable them. And I think that would you know, that would is the hardest thing for a parent is to watch your child suffer and and not try to fix them. You can give them every opportunity to, to get help, but ultimately you can’t enable them to the point that they can continue to destroy their lives and others.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:31] So when you started coaching, when did you start feeling like, okay, this is something that I do have a message that’s resonating. I can help people. And when when that happened, can you share a story that maybe kind of illustrates how you were able to help someone through their own challenges to get to a new level?

Doug Fleener: [00:19:52] The.

Doug Fleener: [00:19:54] And, you know.

Doug Fleener: [00:19:55] The coaching actually came out of I was director of retail for Bose Corporation. So it was with them and took them from one store to 100 stores. I ran a law office title firm. So, you know, the coaching was just a natural part of leadership. And so, you know, I’d been doing it. I just would never necessarily called myself a coach, but I was coaching people. And the story that I think about, I love to tell is about this woman named Kim. And we were opening a store up in Foley, Alabama. I don’t know if you’ve ever been there. Um, so they have some of the best royal red shrimp anywhere. And we met Kim and Kim. You could just tell she was this, this young woman who had so much potential, and she was the only person who probably didn’t see it. And I told him, I said, you know, I want you to be in a I want you to be a head cashier. And Kim was like, oh, no, I could never do that. And we would just like, Kim, just try it, don’t worry. And each time we Kim mastered what she was asked to do and what we did is and I think this is so important when you coach people is and it’s true in recovery is, you know, when when someone can’t believe in themselves, you believe in them, you walk with them, you show them that they can do it. And I will tell you, nothing made me prouder than when Kim would eventually become store manager of the year at Bose. And this is a woman who just didn’t even want to be a full time cashier. And so, you know, each time Kim got a new opportunity, she nailed it. But she and eventually she got to that place where she believed in herself. And to me, I think that’s just, you know, coaches just don’t, you know, tell you what to do, but definitely walk with you and get you to that next level.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:54] Good stuff. Well, Doug, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you. If somebody wants to get a hold of the book, the day makes the year. Where should they go? Is there a website that you have for your coaching? What are the best coordinates to connect with you?

Doug Fleener: [00:22:12] Uh, thanks. So the book The Day Makes the Year Makes a Life. It’s available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other online sites. You can find me on Doug at Doug fleener.com. And again, if you’re a business owner, I’d love to have you join our group where we help each other become much more effective for more personal and business success. And you can get that at the highly effective business owner.com.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:40] Good stuff. Well, thank you again, Doug.

Doug Fleener: [00:22:43] Thank you, Lee. Really appreciate getting the message out.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:45] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.

Forrest Tuff: Visionary Thought Leader

by

Atlanta Business Radio
Atlanta Business Radio
Forrest Tuff: Visionary Thought Leader
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Forrest Tuff is the CEO and Founder of One Vision Productions, an award-winning media and branding agency voted “Best of Georgia” and one of Atlanta’s “Best and Brightest Companies to Work For.”

Recognized among Georgia’s Most Influential Leaders, Atlanta’s Most Powerful Leaders, and the Top 100 Transformational Leaders by the John Maxwell Team, he is a Master Life Coach, Master Certified Motivational and Accredited Speaker®.

Known as the “Brand Strategy” expert, he has given keynotes and workshops throughout the U.S. and 15 countries across five continents. He is also an accomplished producer recognized by his trademark Filmpreneur® due to his creativity and entrepreneurial skill set.

His projects include commercials, documentaries, films, music videos, podcasts, stage plays, and television shows. An avid volunteer and philanthropist, his Pay It Forward program annually awards a grant to a nonprofit.

He is a recipient of the Outstanding Georgia Citizen Award, MLK Community Service Award, and President’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Connect with Forrest on LinkedIn and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Servant Leadership
  • Professional Speaking
  • Coaching Services (Business/Life)
  • The Film Industry
  • Philanthropy and Volunteerism
  • Fatherhood and Parenting

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. 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 Forrest Tuff with One Vision Productions. Welcome.

Forrest Tuff: [00:00:44] Hey, thanks for having me, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:45] I am so excited to get caught up with what you got going on. Tell us about One Vision Productions. How you serving folks?

Forrest Tuff: [00:00:52] So basically we’re a media production and branding agency, and our job is to make other companies look good. We tell their stories through various media outlets, and we work with them to get their best message out to their consumers.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:04] But your business also is beyond just the actual act of production, right? You’re helping people in a lot of ways speaking, coaching, philanthropy, there’s tons more facets to this than just producing videos and media, right?

Forrest Tuff: [00:01:18] Yeah, absolutely. But as far as One Vision Productions, that’s where it started. That’s where everything kind of spearheaded, just with that mission to just make our customers look good. And so now it’s grown into other aspects, as you said, you know, speaking, training and doing other things to help businesses grow.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:36] So for the folks out there that maybe are right now working in one space, how do you kind of expand into those other complementary services? How did that come about?

Forrest Tuff: [00:01:46] You know, actually it was kind of organic, you know, working in this media space. I actually had someone to say to me, hey, we having a conference and we’d love for you to come out and speak. And in doing that, they asked me, you know, how much would they would it cost for me to come out and speak? And so that started my professional speaking. You know, I wasn’t really thinking about it, but that was the catalyst that got me going in that space. And for years, for about seven years, I wanted to give back to other organizations. So I became a mentor with Score. That’s a resource partner through the Small Business Administration. And so I had the opportunity to mentor hundreds of businesses and teach workshops and help individuals grow their business and actually help others sustain their businesses. So that’s how some of these other things started to branch out from just the production.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:38] So that’s a great lesson for entrepreneurs is to always be open to other things, to not just go, okay, this is all I do. So, you know, I’m not interested in anything else. So if something is interesting to you, you should kind of pursue it a little bit, right?

Forrest Tuff: [00:02:51] Yeah, absolutely. And you know, one thing I always say about business, because we’re in the business and I always tell people we’re in the business to make money. Yes, we’re serving a customer, but we’re in the business to make money, support our lifestyle, support our families and kids and other things. So you have to know when there’s an opportunity for you to pivot and create more revenue and not pigeonhole yourself if that opportunity makes sense. So I will say this if it makes sense, and you can prepare yourself mentally and get the things you need to help you make those pivots, then I think it’s great to continuously grow your portfolio.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:28] So how do you kind of decide if something makes sense or not? Do you have kind of a checklist, or is there some philosophy that helps you decide, okay, I’m going to pursue this or I’m not going to pursue that?

Forrest Tuff: [00:03:42] Yeah, I operate out of the storytelling vein. It’s kind of weird, but when I started out doing this video thing, even when I was a kid, it was just video. Tell stories, capture memories. So as I started a business 20 years ago, that was what I wanted to do. I wanted to continue to tell stories. And as it grew, we started to tell stories not only from a wedding, from films, but also we’re telling the stories of government agencies, corporations. So I’m in that vein. And when I got into. Public speaking. I was doing the same thing. I was telling stories. I was finding ways to share things that would help others to grow. And so is the same with coaching, listening to stories and and listening to people. And so it’s all about really taking the time to care about people, listening to people. And that’s usually the things that help me to find out what I could be interested in.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:38] Now, throughout your whole career, you’ve been recognized as, you know, best and brightest, best of Georgia, great place to work. All these kind of all this recognition around kind of really the culture of your company. How did you kind of build a culture that gets recognized so often? What were some. Like where did you go for mentorship or for learning in order to build a team and a community that you’ve done so far?

Forrest Tuff: [00:05:11] I think one of the things that originally helped me was. Coming up, I played sports, I played sports at a collegiate level. I actually wanted to play professionally, but due to an injury I didn’t go. So I did play at the collegiate level and I learned how to work within the team since I was a kid. So I use those same principles when I work with people. I had the small stint where I worked in retail and corporate, and there were some things that I may not have agreed with, but there were also some things that were very valuable in terms of team building and those exercises. So I use that positive mantra of reinforcing people and letting them know the vision and being a part of that vision, because when people can take ownership of something and you also support them to grow, oftentimes it can have a positive effect. So in my case, that’s what I did. And that’s how I’ve been able to have such an impact with not only my team members, but just individually and just the things that we’ve done with our clients and customers over a period of time.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:14] Now, what are some dos and don’ts? Maybe for some young leaders and then even some that have come through sports? Because in sports, for every nurturing, benevolent dictator like coach, there’s the, you know, kind of my way or the highway. I’m, you know, listen to me or I’m going to yell at you or humiliate you. Any dos or don’ts for that new leader, because sometimes there’s some, you know, poor examples, especially in the world of sports.

Forrest Tuff: [00:06:42] Absolutely. I think training is necessary. I would be remiss to say that all of these things that we’ve accomplished were without training. So if you find yourself in an area where you recognize that you may not have. The best training or the most knowledge. Go get it. Anytime I wanted to step out into another arena, just like public speaking, it wasn’t something I just jumped into. I actually went in. Trained with Toastmasters, and then I became a member of the National Speakers Association. So it took time and training, even with your team members taking leadership classes. So those are the things I would encourage anyone. Is that as you move into these new spaces, there’s so many different certifications or trainings that you can take to not only become better at what you do, but to also help your team become better. So that for me is how I did it. And I would encourage anyone that’s embarking in entrepreneurship or any type of leadership to make sure that you stay on top of training and always listen.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:46] Now when it comes to coaching or training, how do you kind of discern which are the people that really know something? And then who is somebody who might just be saying they know something because it’s kind of the Wild West out there, and it’s hard to tell because people can look slick on a one page website and, you know, they can be persuasive even in person. But how can you tell? Or how do you kind of recommend vetting? What’s a good coach like? Who’s a good coach and who’s maybe, you know, need need some more time?

Forrest Tuff: [00:08:22] Well, I would say interview the person that you’re going to hire to be your coach. You know, one of the things that I did personally before I became a coach, and this isn’t for everyone, is I was a score mentor for almost eight years. I spent a lot of time learning just how to listen to people, how to find the right information. And once I did that, I began a journey with Transformation Academy to become a certified Master Life Coach. So there’s a process for me that took anywhere from 8 to 10 years. Now, that’s not to say everyone has to have that same journey, but for me, I wanted to make sure that I had a history and I had people that could verify the work that I’ve done. And I would say, for someone who’s embarking on working with someone. If you don’t feel comfortable, ask for references. Try to find people that can attest to what they’ve done and how they were able to support them in their growth. So that’s the thing. I would just do your due diligence. You don’t have to get caught up in social media, but, you know, find out what you know from them, spend some time talking to them.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:33] So when you were deciding, you know, you say, okay, I’m going to be a coach. Now, this is important to me. I think I can provide more value. How did you kind of land on transformational leaders? Like what? I’m sure you went through some. You had to kiss some frogs, right? You had to go and go, okay, this one isn’t for me. You know, this isn’t resonating. This one is more of a fit. Like, how did you go about choosing transformational leaders?

Forrest Tuff: [00:09:58] Well, I actually go through that vetting process myself. When I’m working with someone, I’m not just eager to, hey, let’s give me your money and I’ll coach you. I actually find out what is the end game, what are they trying to accomplish? Who are they? Because that that coaching fit is more like a synergy. It’s like a team, if you will. We we need to work together to try to find how we can grow in this space. So for me, it’s not just about you paying for something. We have a conversation. There’s a first thing we have. We have a 30 to an hour, minute long conversation just about what it is you’re trying to accomplish and your goals. And there have been some people that have suggested this may be a better fit for you to maybe try this route. Or maybe let’s try this on a small basis and see how it works out before we go further. And some we didn’t go further. You know, we maybe had 1 or 2 trial periods. We recognize that this wasn’t a fit and we moved on. So I think for both parties, I think you have to be open and willing to be honest about the relationship and about how you can communicate and if it’s going to work for you to gain that end result.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:05] So what are some when you’re having those initial conversations with someone, what are kind of some of the qualities that they must have, and what are some of the qualities that are kind of super red flags where okay, I know this isn’t going to work.

Forrest Tuff: [00:11:21] Red flags as if they already know everything. As you’re talking about it. That’s a red flag. Someone who already knows all the answers but is reaching out for help. That’s a red flag for me if you know everything. Secondly, if you’re not willing to engage in dialog, meaning true dialog is I listen to you and then I respond and then you listen to me. You respond that type of dialog to be able to actually hear one another. One of the things that I think happens so often is people. Talk at each other as opposed to talking to each other. They talk at each other. They’re saying things. They’ve been here, they’ve done that. And you know, often times it can lead to. A non synergistic, I would say energy between those two people. So for me I would say just having that. That place of actually being able to listen to one another and actually respecting the concept, to actually see if it’s going to be something that helps you.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:26] Now, is there a story you can share? You don’t have to name the individual, but maybe a success story where they came to you, maybe at a plateau, or they were struggling, and then after working with you, they got to a new level.

Forrest Tuff: [00:12:40] Yeah, I actually had a story. It was a family owned business and it was a mother and a daughter and. The challenge is that the mother was trying to exit the business, and the daughter was coming into the space of running the business, and they had done very well. The business had been around for about 25 years. They had been very successful. And the thing that happened is that. The daughter had different ideas, she had a different methodology. And I think that often happens when you run a business one way and you’ve had success, and then here comes someone now who’s like, oh, I want to do this and do that. And so that innovation oftentimes can seem daunting to someone who’s actually sustain that business and kept it afloat and kept it profitable. So in that sessions, in those sessions that we had, we were able to find a place where they embraced each other and respected one another’s viewpoints. And so it was a transition. And this happened over a period of time. I think we were working together for about three months. And in that transition, they began to embrace one another’s ideas and and see how they were able to work together and still be able to keep some of those old values, but add innovation and keep things up to times.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:00] And then in circumstances like that, a lot of times your role is just being kind of that, you know, honest third party, right? Like you’re you’re not there really advocating for one or the other. You’re just trying to keep everybody playing nicely together so they can all get the outcome they each desire.

Forrest Tuff: [00:14:17] Absolutely. And it involves a lot of listening in order to truly hear. Each person’s perspective and to see where they are having a miscommunication. So that is one of those areas. That was a very unique situation for me. But it was it was a great opportunity. To to sit back and listen and to see the end result for them to come to a conclusion. Because at the end of the day, when you’re coaching, you’re not telling someone. It’s almost like a physical therapist. A physical therapist isn’t going to fix you. They’re going to work with you until you get to the point where you can do it on your own. So I kind of look at coaching almost like an analogy of a physical therapist, someone that’s going to work with you and get you to a place where you start to be independent and you start to see how you can do things. And that, for me, was one of those great moments.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:12] Right. And it’s important to note that a lot of times, if they don’t have the humility to ask for a coach or the vulnerability to ask for a coach, and they try to do it themselves, they might have offended each other. They might have, you know, hit some hot button issue that they knew the other person was going to react to and they could have really done damage. And just like you said, with physical therapy, you can go, okay, I know how to do this, and then I can hurt myself worse than when I got here.

Forrest Tuff: [00:15:41] Absolutely. Absolutely. And I can attest to this, Lee, because as a person who’s. Coach others. I’ve also received coaching and it takes a different level of humility. It takes a certain level of being open in order to. And, you know, sometimes you have to have a little thicker skin because some of these things aren’t going to always rub you right. But if you want growth, you have to be able to receive it and know that it’s coming from a place of trying to help you grow. And, you know, don’t fight it, don’t fight it. So I’ve had coaching and I had to I’ve heard some things that made me go, oh yeah, I don’t really feel comfortable with what you said, but I had to realize that it was in the best interest, for I was trying to go.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:30] Yeah. And that’s the important part, is a coach like you said isn’t there to do it for you. It’s to help you be the best you. And sometimes that is some tough love or some asking you some hard questions.

Forrest Tuff: [00:16:43] Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:44] So what do you need more of? How can we help you? You got so much going on. There’s a lot of plates spinning in your world.

Forrest Tuff: [00:16:51] Well, everything is kind of coming to a head. It’s it’s all in the same vein because now, you know, I’m running the media business, we’re doing films, you know, I’m doing speaking and also leadership training. And one of the things that I really focus on is youth. I really focus on helping the youth find their voice through teaching them how to speak, how to communicate, how to interview, how to present themselves. And that’s something that is now more for me, like a passion. I really love working with youth and I love giving back and into the next generation, so that’s kind of where I really am. I’ve always done this, but it’s just something now that as my kids are getting older, they’re out of college getting their master’s, I now can start to impart into other, other children. So that’s really where am Lee? I’ve just really want to continue to keep the business steady and grow it and continue to work with youth and give back.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:48] So if somebody wants to connect with you and learn more, what is the website? What’s the best way to get a hold of you?

Forrest Tuff: [00:17:54] Well, if you want to get in touch with me and other things, you can go to forest. Tough.com. That’s for two hours. Two t’s, two F’s forest tough.com. And if you want to know more about my business and working in the production space, you can visit One Vision productions.com.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:14] Good stuff. Well congratulations on all the success. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Forrest Tuff: [00:18:20] Thank you so much Lee. I really appreciate you having me on.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:22] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see y’all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.

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