2024 GWBC LACE Awards: Annita Golatt with Bee Collaborators Project Management Group

Intro: 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: Lee Kantor here, broadcasting live from the Georgia Aquarium at the GWBC 2024 LACE Awards. I’m so excited to be talking to my next guest, Annita Golatt with Bee Collaborators Project Management. Welcome.

Annita Golatt: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about your business.

Annita Golatt: So, I basically support small business groups that are just getting started off the ground, and I help them manage their projects and get them more socially involved with what’s going on within the community.

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

Annita Golatt: Okay. Well, a little bit about me. I’m ex-military, so I’m a veteran. And I work for a major corporation, health care corporation here in Atlanta. And I just decided, because I’m a project manager by trade —

Lee Kantor: That’s your superpower.

Annita Golatt: That’s my superpower, yes. And so then, I just decided to go ahead and just get started on my own. I was like, I’m giving all this talent to a wonderful health care organization, but I can offer it to so many other people. So, I started off volunteering, and then I realized I’m really good at this. You know what I mean? I’m really good at helping people. So, I decided, you know what? Let me see what I can do with it, and it’s just taken off.

Lee Kantor: So, then you started asking for business. Like, how’d you get your first clients?

Annita Golatt: I just started volunteering.

Lee Kantor: Oh, so that’s the secret?

Annita Golatt: Yeah. We were doing, like, Christmas drives. We were doing things in the community just to give back. And then, people just started reaching out, like, “Hey, we like how you’re collaborating with these small businesses.”

Lee Kantor: “Help us.”

Annita Golatt: Yeah. “Can you help us?” And I was like, yeah, so I just had to jump in there.

Lee Kantor: So, now, you just go from project to project?

Annita Golatt: I do.

Lee Kantor: So, how many projects can you handle at once? What’s your personal best?

Annita Golatt: I did a couples retreat last year, and it was about trying to fix marriages. It was interesting, and it went really, really, really well. And we got picked up by a major broadcast studio.

Lee Kantor: And it’s your show?

Annita Golatt: Yeah. So, now, we’re kind of B-listers at this moment, so it’s actually getting ready to become like a reality show.

Lee Kantor: Wow. That’s an unintended consequence of that activity, right?

Annita Golatt: Yeah, but it was great.

Lee Kantor: So, now, do you have a sweet spot in terms of your types of clients you would like to work with?

Annita Golatt: I’m a people person. I’m military, so I get in where I fit in. You know what I mean? If I can help, that’s my person. You know what I mean? If you need something from me, you’re my person.

Lee Kantor: So, a person that’s out there or a business that’s out there, what type of pain are they having the day before they reach out to Annita and hire her?

Annita Golatt: I think it’s the organization. It’s the understanding where to take your business and who to collaborate with. So, I’m kind of the jack of all trades. I’m like the “plug,” you know what I mean? So, I try to help them get back on the right track in trying to optimize as much as they possibly can.

Lee Kantor: So, what kind of questions do you ask that client at the beginning stages to help them kind of, you know, at least get in the right mindset to be helped?

Annita Golatt: Where would you like your company to go within the next five years? That’s typically what I like, to give them a five year mark and plan. And hopefully, we hit that mark within two. If we hit it in five, great. But I want to know where do you see your company, because a lot of times when they come to me, they’re going down.

Lee Kantor: They’re struggling.

Annita Golatt: They’re struggling.

Lee Kantor: Right. So then, you got to really get in there quick to help.

Annita Golatt: And they’re ready to give up. And so, that’s not what we want. As business owners, we want to make sure that they are still on the right track, and they’re meeting their marks, and they’re still kind of engaged with their company, and they still have that —

Lee Kantor: The passion that got them started, but they’re frustrated.

Annita Golatt: The passion, exactly. Yes, yes, yes,

Lee Kantor: So, what compelled you to become part of the GWBC community?

Annita Golatt: I mean, have you met the community?

Lee Kantor: I know them pretty well.

Annita Golatt: Okay. It’s something that’s effortless. It speaks to me who I am as far as a person is concerned. I love the values and the trademark. I love what they do for the community. Most importantly, the support that they give women, I think is very, very, very important. And it’s the versatility of it all, I think.

Lee Kantor: So, do you work only in Atlanta?

Annita Golatt: I work in Atlanta, but I live in the south side of Atlanta, so I live about 45 minutes from my current position.

Lee Kantor: Oh, okay. Have you been to the GWBC new office?

Annita Golatt: I have not.

Lee Kantor: Oh, you should check them out.

Annita Golatt: Is it beautiful?

Lee Kantor: It’s Bank of America Plaza, it’s beautiful.

Annita Golatt: Gosh, I’m going to have to get an invite.

Lee Kantor: It’s a co-working space. You should definitely check it out.

Annita Golatt: Okay. I definitely should get invited.

Lee Kantor: So, if somebody wants to learn more about you and your firm, if they need some help, where should they go? Is there a way?

Annita Golatt: They can check me out on beecollaboratorsprojectmanagement.com, or you can follow me on Instagram @nita_the_pm.

Lee Kantor: All right.thepm means The Project Manager, I guess.

Annita Golatt: The Project Manager.

Lee Kantor: Good stuff. Well, congratulations on all the success.

Annita Golatt: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor, we’ll be back in a few at the LACE Awards 2024.