Ramping Up to Attend the WBEC-West 21st Annual Procurement and Awards Conference with Angela Garmon

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios, it’s time for Women In Motion. Brought to you by WBEC-West. Join forces. Succeed together. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, another episode of Women In Motion and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, WBEC-West. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Women In Motion, we have Angela Garmon and she is with ARG Coaching & Consulting Group. Welcome.

Angela Garmon: Thank you so much, Lee. It’s good to be back on the show again.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m excited to get caught up with you. For folks who aren’t familiar, can you tell us a little bit about ARG?

Angela Garmon: Yeah, of course. So, ARG Coaching & Consulting Group is a change management consulting firm. We support diverse leaders across the nation as they conquer, change, and cultivate results. Our primary focus areas are leadership development, strategic planning. We do some DEI and organizational assessments as well as coaching.

Lee Kantor: Now, for folks who aren’t kind of familiar with the terminology, can you kind of explain the difference between coaching and consulting?

Angela Garmon: Oh, yeah. So, coaching, ultimately, is the opportunity to support leaders or individuals as a whole as they’re navigating through change. So, we use it as a tool to bring out what’s within them to the surface. And so, for example, we don’t tell you in coaching we believe that you have everything within you to make the right decisions and to get the outcomes that you want. Whereas, consulting, you’re hiring me specifically to give you more guidance in a particular situation. So, we might even come up with solutions for you as we’re consulting with you. But coaching, we believe that it’s up to you. So, we just ask the right questions that’s going to draw the answers that are within you out.

Lee Kantor: So, it’s one of those things where you’re trying to help the individual if you’re coaching them, help them kind of self-discover the solution that you believe is within them. And consulting, they might hire you to solve a problem on their behalf.

Angela Garmon: Yeah, simply put.

Lee Kantor: Now, can you talk a little bit about why it was important for your firm to get involved with WBEC-West?

Angela Garmon: You know, I joined WBEC-West, I want to say, in 2019, and essentially I was struggling with connecting with corporate buyers. I didn’t really know how to get into that corporate sector. And, for me, WBEC-West has been instrumental to my business growth by introducing me – my company focus specifically in the utility space, construction space, as well as government, and so WBEC-West was instrumental in introducing me or making those connections. And so, now, instead of hard calling or hard selling, now I build relationships intentionally through WBEC-West conferences or their events to actually drive and build my pipeline for business.

Lee Kantor: And speaking of conference, there’s an upcoming conference. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Angela Garmon: Yeah. So, WBEC-West Regional Conference is coming up in September. So, I hope you ladies out there are ready to join us. And so, this is our annual conference. This year, I think it’s going to be in Vegas, and so super excited.

Angela Garmon: So, when you say we’re going to dive in right now, Lee, did you want me to just talk through just some tips that I have for some conference goers or did you —

Lee Kantor: Yeah. Well, I mean, I want to talk about it in its totality. So, first, for people who have never been, can you give them an overview of what happens at a conference?

Angela Garmon: Oh, yeah. So, expect there to be a lot of potential collaborators, a lot of potential clients, but also a lot of information for you to grow and scale your business. When I go to one of the WBEC-West Conference, I also expect to have a lot of fun because they do a lot of building and connecting exercises that really drives relationships.

Angela Garmon: Our last conference, we actually made guacamole. And at every single table, there’s typically a corporate representative and so you have the opportunity not only to get familiar with your fellow WBEs, but you can also connect with a corporate buyer. So, last year we made guacamole with corporate buyers and we were able to connect over food. And then, we had conversations around business, around family, and specifically around how can we support each other as fellow WBEs as well. So, that’s just one little snippet of some of the fun things that they do there to drive connections.

Angela Garmon: Additionally, there’s intentional times for networking to where you can really connect with other WBEs to talk about your business, to understand their business, and to really find out how you can support each other. The one thing that I most love about my fellow WBEs is that everyone that’s there, regardless of whether we have a very similar title or very similar field of interest, we look to support each other. Very seldom in the WBEC community do you see each other as competition. And so, there’s just this camaraderie that is built amongst the women that are in attendance.

Angela Garmon: And not only that, when I think about our particular region, our corporate representatives are really there to help nurture our business. And so, the regional conference is just an opportunity for us to get together, to connect and to really develop out our business and our continued strategies to connect with others that are in the room.

Lee Kantor: And for folks who don’t know this, but I’m sure anybody listening probably knows this, the 21st Annual Procurement Conference is in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada, and it’s September 17th through 19th at the Westin Lake Spa and Resort.

Lee Kantor: Can you talk about why it was important for you, not only did you become part of the community, but you got involved in a WBE Forum. It sounds like you don’t just join groups to join them and just have it in the background. You kind of immersed yourself in there to try to wring out as much value as possible when you kind of go into a group. So, can you talk about that journey?

Angela Garmon: Yeah, of course. So, again, getting my certification in, I want to say, 2019 – I’m pretty sure that was the year – but getting my certification, again, one of the best decisions that I could have made. One thing that some people might struggle with is they think that the certification is automatically going to get them a contract. So, if you’re defining the value of your WBEC certification on the contingency of getting a contract, I would definitely encourage you to think differently about the certification process, because I think that it is a tool that you could use to build out your business.

Angela Garmon: And getting involved, to your point, Lee, is one of those ways that has really helped me to not only build out business from a revenue perspective, but it’s also helped me to build out my reputation as a leader within our community. It’s helped me to build out my platform as a coach, because people actually see you differently when they see you in a position. And from a volunteering perspective, when they see you volunteering, when they see you in leadership, they actually see that you want to make a difference.

Angela Garmon: And for me, as I started out my business, I didn’t really, again, know how to connect, and so now I use spaces like the forum to actually support other WBEs that are coming into WBEC-West to understand how they could leverage this certification to be a better business owner, to be a better leader, and to also be a better volunteer. And by being active in the WBEC-West community, it just strengthens me all the way around.

Angela Garmon: So, for anybody that is interested, or maybe you haven’t gotten your certification, or maybe you just got your certification, or maybe you’re thinking about leaving because you haven’t gotten a contract, or you don’t know how to utilize it, I would say get involved because there are so many other opportunities that it opens up. There are so many different programs that you can also gain for free that’s focused on business development that you don’t have to pay for. And so, there’s so many different tools and resources that WBEC-West offers. And getting involved and tapped into the community opens up many more experiences that you can experience as a fellow WBE.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. And one of the best ways is to really kind of leverage this conference that’s coming up. Now, let’s talk about kind of tips on how to get the most out of the conference. Like is this a conference that you would just kind of wing it, just show up on day one and just go, “Oh. Let me kind of just figure stuff out”? Or is this something that you’re planning weeks ahead of time, you know, targeting certain people and having some strategy to not only interact with certain people, but also have some means to follow up with them after the event?

Angela Garmon: Yeah, that’s a great question. So, definitely prepare, Lee. I go into every single conference prepared. So, the biggest tip, the first tip that I would give to anyone is, first and foremost, research who is going to be in the room. So, WBEC-West does a really good job at sharing who’s going to attend the conference. And so, if you’ve registered, make sure that you also update your profile. And when you go into the system to update your profile, you can also see everyone, all of the other attendances – attendees – excuse me. And then, you can also see all of the corporations that will be in attendance and who’s sponsoring the event. So, you’ll have a really good idea of who’s going to be in a room.

Angela Garmon: Typically, what I do is I identify who I want to work with, who are my ideal clients. So, again, because I focus on utility and construction and government, then I always go to those spaces first. Another thing I do is I look and see who are current clients that I’ve either supported, who I’m currently supporting, or I’ve supported in the past, and I use the conference as an opportunity to reconnect with them, to catch up with them, and to understand what’s going on with them, specifically in their organization, what changes.

Angela Garmon: So, I look for words that are very specific to my keyword search. So, what changes are going on, what’s going on from a DEI perspective, or whatever your specific industry is and whatever your keywords are. I definitely would have those conversations and pull those keywords into the conversations to really understand what is going on with their respective corporations, so that we can have those deeper conversations.

Angela Garmon: And then, I also learned even though I might be so prepared, I might have a list of all of the organizations that I want to connect with, I also learned to be open to new opportunities. Because if you just get so laser-focused on specific contacts or specific organizations, and maybe they’re there but they’re bombarded – I remember my first conference I went to, I didn’t necessarily have a contingency plan or a backup plan, but that’s when I really learned to be open and I started having conversations with companies that I hadn’t never considered and that led me to new business as well. So, don’t just be so laser-focused on what you came to accomplish, also be open to new opportunities that present itself.

Angela Garmon: And then, make sure that you follow up. I think that a lot of WBEs come into the conference, it can be extremely overwhelming, and so make sure that you take plenty of notes and make sure that you follow up without being too – what’s the word that I’m looking for? – without bombarding them with too much information after the conference is over.

Lee Kantor: Now, how do you interact with fellow WBEs, because there’s always opportunities to collaborate?

Angela Garmon: Yes. So, you know, one of the very first events that I joined when I joined WBEC-West was their Platinum Supplier Program. Ladies, if you have not taken the Platinum Supplier Program, then let me encourage you to register for that as soon as you see it open. But that program actually connected me with other WBEs, and I still have relationships, very strong relationships with them. When I attended my first WBEC-West Regional conference, that’s where I deepened the connection from the people that I went through the Platinum Supplier Program.

Angela Garmon: And there’s a fellow WBE, Inside Out Learning, that I’ve connected with over the past years, and I’ve been a tier two supplier for them. And so, don’t be afraid to collaborate, build out those relationships and those connections with your fellow WBEs, because as you’re looking to build performance for your organization, and they might already have those contracts and act as a prime for some of those larger entities, you could also build out your strategy by going after tier two opportunities with other WBEs that have prime.

Angela Garmon: So, that is a great tip as well, when you go into the conference, connect with other WBEs that do what you do that might already have those connections, and they might be looking to build out their team, and you can do some tier two work for them. So, that’s a great point that you bring in, Lee.

Lee Kantor: Now, how do you measure success? Because you go to one of these conferences or even if when you joined WBEC-West and get certified, it seems like the law of large numbers is going to come into play. “There’s so many people here, I can’t help but get a contract just by being here.” And that’s not necessarily so. So, how do you kind of manage your expectations or how would a new person manage their expectations but set reasonable goals that are kind of achievable? I wouldn’t imagine you’re going to walk out with lots of contracts at the end of this conference, but you might start making inroads and start building the relationships that could lead towards a contract at some point.

Angela Garmon: Yeah. So, earlier you talked a bit about value, and so this to me is, again, a conversation on value and how do you measure success. And so, for me, I always think about business in a couple of different ways. You look at revenue but you also look at pipeline. So, when I think about the conferences, I think about how can I build my pipeline for the future? So, even if I don’t walk away from this with a specific contract, I’m walking away with connections that are going to lead to close contracts.

Angela Garmon: And so, one of my best or favorite memories about going to a conference, I went to one of the national conferences, and so on a national level, you probably have about 3,000 or more people, whereas on a regional level, you might have up to 500 odd people. She keeps it small intentionally so that she can drive those connections and really make an impact for the WBEs, which is one reason why I appreciate the regional.

Angela Garmon: But when I went to my first regional conference, it was extremely overwhelming. To your point, there’s thousands of people there and just trying to figure out how do I make it through my list? And the last day I was there, I had almost given up. I didn’t want to attend the roundtable discussions. I had went to one earlier and I just kind of felt deflated when I left that table. And I kept pushing myself and I sat down at the next table and it was actually with Cox.

Angela Garmon: And when I had this conversation, I started to listen to the representative speak about what they do, and she had mentioned the SBLA program that they they put on annually. And I was like, “Hey, I attended that. And thank you so much because that particular program was such a foundational program for me in business,” and that was a way that I was able to connect with them. And that actually led to future conversations and future contracts.

Angela Garmon: And so, the same things happen on a regional level as well. I have stories like that, you know, just going to the regional conference where it’s just when you’re feeling overwhelmed or you’re feeling like you just want to give up, if you just keep pushing through.

Angela Garmon: So, to your point, how do you define success? I define success by being able to make meaningful connections that will ultimately lead me to close business. And that’s what I believe WBEC-West does. It helps me make those meaningful connections, and that’s how I measure success is that I’m walking away with meaningful connections, whether that’s a WBE or whether that’s a corporation or a program that I’ve attended, and now I can have future conversations around how I can continue to develop out my business and business growth.

Lee Kantor: So, they are to focus in on at this conference is relationships not necessarily revenue.

Angela Garmon: Correct. Correct. And if you focus in on the relationships, I can guarantee you that they’re going to lead to revenue.

Lee Kantor: Well, Angela, thank you so much for sharing all this great advice and information. If folks want to learn more about ARG Coaching & Consulting Group, where should they go?

Angela Garmon: They can find me at argccgroup.com.

Lee Kantor: And how can they spot you at the conference? I’m sure you’re looking to meet some new folks at the conference as well. Where are you going to be hanging out mostly?

Angela Garmon: You know what? I will be all over the place. Chances are the Arizona Forum will have an opportunity to host an event. But what they typically do is they’ll introduce the forum leaders, probably in Vegas first, and then they’ll introduce all the rest of them across, I want to say, we have eight different states, and so they’ll introduce all of us. So, when you hear my name being called, feel free to come up to me and say hello and we can set aside some time just to chat as well.

Lee Kantor: Well, Angela, thank you again for sharing your story. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Angela Garmon: Thank you, Lee. It’s been a pleasure.

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