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Intro: Coming to you live from the Business RadioX studio. It’s Franchise Marketing Radio elevate your franchise with franchise. Now we tell your brand story on our radio podcast and boost it with powerful content marketing strategies. From blogs and videos to infographics and more, we enhance your brand’s SEO and online visibility. Let Franchise now help your franchise stand out in a crowded market. Visit us today and learn more to start your journey for greater visibility and success. And now here’s your host.

Rob Gandley: Hi, everybody, and welcome back to Franchise Marketing Radio, where we spotlight the brands, leaders and ideas. Transforming franchising. I’m your host, Rob Gandley. And today we’re joined by Brad Schneider, both a franchise owner and a brand president, as well as a certified business coach with the Growth Coach, an organization committed to helping business leaders unlock potential and build strategic momentum. Brian Brad brings a rich background in executive coaching, entrepreneurship, and team performance. And today, we’ll dive into how the Growth Coach franchise empowers business owners through coaching systems, scalable tools, and strategic accountability. Plus, we’ll explore, yes, how AI is entering the conversation in the coaching space and what that means for the future of this model. Brad, welcome to the show.

Brad Schneider: Hey, it’s great to be here. Rob. Thanks for having me.

Rob Gandley: Uh, you got it. You got I was looking forward to this conversation because a lot of what I do is around consulting and not so much coaching in a structured way, but it’s so important to my clients, right? Some of the stuff we’ll talk about, it’s real curious about how you guys are looking at this and moving forward here into the future. But let’s start with your personal journey. Let’s start with how did you wind up here? I know it’s a long one, but maybe we can make it a shorter answer. But just to help the audience understand where you’re coming from and a little more about the brand.

Brad Schneider: Yeah. So for me, started probably is about a 10 or 11 year old catcher playing Little League baseball. When I realized that one of my friends when he was pitching, if I had to kick him in the rear to get moving, I needed to do that. And the other one, I needed to pat him on the back. And it started a bit of a lifelong obsession for trying to figure out why do people do what they do. And how does that help fit for them? And so I can’t tell you, I was on the mound as an 11 year old playing for the Yankees, going, you know what I’m going to be when I grow up as a business coach. But that interest in curiosity has certainly served itself well. And so I’ve had a long career in strategic change, communication, human resources. About ten years ago, I bought a growth coach franchise and started doing business and sales coaching with the growth coach, and then last year had the opportunity to take over as the president of the brand. And so I run our international coaching operations with our team in Cincinnati. And then I also own our location in central Ohio.

Rob Gandley: Wow. It’s beautiful. So we’ll dig into that. It’s an interesting perspective to come from that that angle. So but tell us a little more about the growth coach. Just so we’re clear on the model. I know it’s unique coaching. Obviously you came from a background in it. So there was something about it that attracted you. And you’ve been now very committed to it for a long time. So tell us more about what makes you guys unique and how it works.

Brad Schneider: Yeah. So what’s really unique about us is that our model and approach is designed to change behaviors for owners or executives, managers, frontline leaders, and even salespeople. And so we teach process that is undefeated in 20 plus years and helping drive that behavior change just for a growth called the strategic mindset process. And we take our coaches as they come and join us as owners, and we teach them that process and we show them how to apply it, not just in maybe the industry that they’re experienced in, but also all kinds of industries, and they can see how they have that capability. The other thing that we do is we help with the sales and business development sides of things as well. So as you pointed out, I did have a coaching background, and I did add some experience there for me, learning how to start those conversations, to be able to sell and start to drum up the business was one of my big learning opportunities, but we have a lot of folks that have maybe a little bit more business and sales focus, where for them, learning the coaching is the opportunity for them. And so it really built to serve both and have successful owners with both of those types of backgrounds.

Rob Gandley: Yeah. Well that that’s very helpful. That means pretty much anyone with the right heart and right, you know, ability. Uh, but you’re right. That’s that for me. I’m the other guy. I’m the guy that understood sales and marketing and and I do a lot of free consulting just because sometimes you just have to get through it, right? In order to implement something. It’s it’s you find yourself kind of like what you said, where you’re kind of like, what motivates this person? Like, what do I how do I what’s my approach with this personality. And it is a it is a superpower really, but also the idea of framing it. So it is a paid service because, you know, that is sort of one of the hidden things that everybody thinks, well, you know, look, it’s about getting the result right. And there’s a reason why there’s such a high failure rate in business. Right? With a lot of things, whether it’s getting it, you know, getting that first million dollars or getting beyond it, right, or whatever, you know what I mean? So anyway, so but but as a franchisee then, you know, can you tell us a little bit about that, how you approach, you know, bringing someone into the brand and getting them up to speed and getting them in a position of starting to coach and earn earn from that?

Brad Schneider: Yeah, it’s a real combination of information and hands on practice and then a ton of support. So as we bring somebody in to the growth coach family, we spend a couple week intensive process with them just remotely virtually introducing them to our model, introducing them to our products and services, and then we can even handhold and help them with the basics of just even starting the business. Right. So whether it’s and what should I be, an LLC or an S Corp or things of that nature, walking them through the steps to point them in the right direction to figure out all that structure for them. So we’re really helping them from the foundational steps of starting the business itself as an entity, all the way up to starting to learn the the coaching model, as well as our sales and marketing process, all kinds of information, all kinds of support to start with. We do it virtually. Um, we have video, we’ve got, um, kind of zoom based sessions and things of that nature. And then that all kind of culminates with bringing them to Cincinnati for our hands on practice week. And and when we’re there, we really want to be out of the let’s show you mode and put you into the let’s go practice mode. Right. So whether it’s coaching some of our products and, you know, one of the things that I should have mentioned earlier, we pioneered group coaching as as an industry. So we certainly coach one on one, but we’re also training our coaches. How do you create and facilitate coaching in a group and leverage not just your time and the profitability of having groups, but also leveraging impact, because as coaches, we’re we’re facilitating that coaching process.

Brad Schneider: But when you get a group of people in the room, a couple things magical happen. Sometimes other people’s experiences become the answers for others because they’re like, oh, you’ve lived through that. But probably one of the biggest things I’ve experienced in group coaching is, like you said, it’s it’s tough being a business owner, and we’re trying to figure things out, and we always feel like we’re the only ones that are messed up, but everybody else has it figured out. So when you can put a group of business owners or managers or salespeople in the room and create that space where one of them goes, hey, I’m really struggling with being interrupted by my staff all the time, and I can never get done what I need to get done. There’s somebody else in the room going, oh my gosh, I thought it was just me. And I thought I was an idiot because I couldn’t figure it out. So that catharsis that comes from realizing you’re not alone, you’re not the only person. Um, super powerful and super impactful, you know, within our coaching processes. So we teach in those training processes how to facilitate both group and individually, but also how do you start and generate those sales discussions to get people excited to join a group or maybe do some one on one coaching with us?

Rob Gandley: Well, let me just let me ask you that last bit. And I love what you just said. And and just real quick, just that’s what makes franchising so unique. I like to talk about that and that you have a whole network of people doing exactly what you’re doing. So just in that, but then you take that through your business model and deliver something very similar as like a mastermind or group coaching kind of idea. And you’re right. I mean, there’s no better way to learn, uh, then hearing others interact and just sitting back and letting them help each other because they are, you know, many of your clients are very successful people. They might not feel that way all the time. I know I don’t, but I mean, it’s a it’s a pretty powerful thing. What are we going to say?

Brad Schneider: Oh, no, I was just going to say. And then the group accountability are coming back because you’re right. Like we attract really successful, talented people into our programs. And so part of that shared accountability is us driving that behavior change. But it’s also, hey, I’m showing up next week. And like I can’t let Rob see that I didn’t make any progress. And so it’s always funny for me as the coach when coach when clients will say things like, well, yeah, I did what we talked about doing, but I didn’t do it until last week. And it’s like, well, that’s good because that’s what we’re supposed to do as coaches is to make sure you take these all these things that are ideas and actually put them in action. And I don’t care whether you did it two weeks ago, two hours ago, if you’re doing it and you’re having success with it, that’s what we need to do. And that’s what really differentiates us as coaches and coaching programs versus a training program where it’s like, hey, let’s give you a bunch of good information and help you go figure it out. Or as a consultancy like you were talking about, which is I gave you a bunch of information. Then I did a bunch of stuff for you, and I hope you learned by watching me do, and hopefully you carry it on. But hey, I’m out of here and hopefully you can kind of take it from there.

Rob Gandley: Yeah. And I’ll just say, I don’t think that works. Well, I think coaching works better. I mean, assuming you know what you’re doing ahead of time, there’s certain things consulting is great for. But what you just described is certainly very common. And I think it’s quite hard. Um, unless someone learns the, the, the habits and, and listens and implements on their own, they won’t feel it. They won’t be doing it for them is a harder thing. You almost have to keep doing it for them and just leave it at that. Um, which is good. A lot of people are there for us to do that. Uh, but anyway, I think that the coaching part is, is a challenge, right? I mean, so and you guys have that framework build and that and that methodology in place where you can help people get results. And that is not as simple as it might seem when you’re just observing a coach, right, doing what he does. Um, but but tell me a little bit more about what you discovered about starting conversations, that that’s a very interesting thing, because I bet in your world it’s not as complex. Your sales and marketing is a lot to it, a lot of things to think about. And I’m sure you share more later. But what is sort of the simple way that that a coach can start to drum up more conversation around him?

Brad Schneider: Yeah. You know, what we’ve found is that the thing that worked like in 2002 still works really well today, which is. Become an effective referral source or have referral sources pointing you to those conversations. And when folks realize that you’re like minded, you’re coming from a position to serve. And that I think the big thing is helping them understand that coaching for growth is key to what we do. Um, that’s how we start those conversations. And so as we’ve evolved in the world of the digital age, certainly we’re using digital marketing strategies and things of that nature. And I know we’ll talk AI a little bit more here in a little bit. But what we’ve really found is that coaching is such a personal, um, type of opportunity. And it’s such a personal experience that, you know, rarely is somebody just answering an ad and clicking yes and saying, I want to, I want to pay for high value, high impact coaching. There’s conversations that come along with that. And so referral sources are huge. Being active in our business community is huge. And then that digital space too, that just drives some of that brand awareness and understanding of who we are. And I think also importantly, what coaching really is and what it isn’t. Um, because I think it’s one of those things that, um, you know, based on what your experience is, um, you may think coaching could be one thing, but actually the impactful coaching that we do could be something completely different.

Rob Gandley: Exactly. Understood? Understood. Well, thank you for that. And. Yeah, I like it. That’s what I was kind of getting to. Is is his fancy as everything has gotten. You know, it comes down to relationships and just, you know, being aware. But, uh, anyways. Okay, so let’s go ahead and dive in a little bit on the AI side. Uh, so tell me a little bit how the brand and you being at the helm, uh, is exploring AI. What tools? You know, what automation are you considering or looking at, uh, and helping your coaches, uh, deliver and I guess scale, right? I mean, if you can do it well and keep the keep everything intact the way your brand should be, then you would want to do more in a perfect world. So, um, tell me a little bit about what you guys are thinking about or experiencing with AI.

Brad Schneider: Yeah, definitely. So what’s really been interesting about us and kind of observations and experiences, as well as what we know about our business, is that at the end of the day, coaching is a behavior change exercise, and what I has done is it’s just created a lot more information in terms of ready access. I mean, the information was all there already too. Right. It’s just a little bit easier ways to dig it up. If you’re thinking about, you know, ChatGPT or whatever the the AI engine is that you prefer to use. But what we really understood is that it’s not the information in our space, it’s the practical application of the information to make you better, to make your organization better, to make your team better. And so we’ve been on the lookout for a while for some different resources to do that. One partnership that we have was with a group called cloverleaf, which is also based out of Cincinnati, where our headquarters are. And one of the interesting takes that they have using AI is around behavior assessments. And so, you know, we have worked with them exclusively on taking their system. And it’s not so much the assessment data or excuse me, the assessments themselves that are powerful.

Brad Schneider: It’s the analysis of the data and the application. And so what we’ve weaved into our coaching, using them as a partner is their AI generated models and machine learning tools on the back end which do which prevent the somewhat obstacle sometimes of clients having to really understand how to read an assessment versus just using the data. And so where this has been super powerful for us is helping our clients one understand the impact of behavior data, because all of us have versions, they all of us, but most of us have taken a disc or a Myers-Briggs or something along the way. But the value is is helping you understand your own self-awareness or how to activate your teams a little bit more effectively. So the tool itself does some of the lifting of analyzing the data. So now the behavior change I have to make is really clear in front of me. And then that’s where we come in as coaches, as the ability to say, okay, hey, we know based on your behavior data, this is going to be easy or hard for you or whatever. Let’s go figure out some strategies how to put that into play. And then also let’s give you some view of your teams and things of that nature at a hyper analyze level that was almost next to impossible when we were doing this on paper and binders, and now we can do some things really quick to even just go down and almost search on an individual person to say, hey, I need to help Brad overcome a fear.

Brad Schneider: What are some tips that you should give me? And we get those tips. And now I know as Brad’s leader, this is what I want to do or this is the strategy I might want to start with to help unlock some of his opportunities to grow. So that’s a little bit of a long winded answer. But what we’re really trying to do is embrace the technology to make the self-awareness more efficient and more quick, so that we can then really focus on the behavior change. And it’s been really exciting. And we’re seeing a lot of positive outcomes, not just with individuals, but also with groups and teams where they can sit down and see each other and do some analysis of one another, using the AI tools to really create a lot more clear path for them of what they need to do next to help them reach their maximum efficiency.

Rob Gandley: Wow. Actually very powerful when you think about it. Like, I think there’s connections to behavior or like for me, I look at data a lot. Um, there’s different reasons to look at data, but I’ve found since using AI in my life and being focused on it as a service provider and consultant is it just gets you to the what? What’s in it for me? What matters the most for my specific situation or this report or this analysis? How can it help me? What are practical steps I can take or ways I can, uh, little exercises I could do each day. Like, it’s so good at doing that. If you give it, if you can feed it something as powerful as the platform you’re talking about, the way it can then give you something back for your client, I it must be amazing to just be on point and really be, you know, you know, helping that person with meeting them where they are, really giving them things that work for Rob. Like what would Rob really resonate with but but then be able to practice. And I think that is knowing that takes a lot of thought. And I know your coaches probably still spend a ton of time, but at the end of the day, this helps them do more with less time, right? So they can help and be more creative with more clients, right?

Brad Schneider: Yeah, it lets us zero in quickly. It lets us add more touches to. So like that. I engine is feeding our clients tips on a regular basis, so they don’t even necessarily have to have me get in touch with them, but I’m still going to engage with them to help them apply those things. And then Rob one of the most interesting places where this has really been beneficial is a lot of the behavioral things that we were talking about were always classified as soft skills, right? And so that crowd that thinks of soft skills as not tangible, not really impactful, etc., when I can go to them and say, the data tells me your best chance to achieve this with these people is to take this strategy, that whole data analytical crowd that would typically bristle and brush away from that behavior change. All of a sudden now it’s like you really want to practice what you preach. If everything’s data for you, this is what the data is telling us. Are we going to ignore this? Like I’ve said a few times, like if this were a spreadsheet, you’d be telling me right now, this is yellow, this is red. We got to go do this, right? Well, what I’m telling you right now is this part of what you’re trying to do. It’s yellow or red. Are you going to ignore this because you wouldn’t ignore it coming out of a BI system, for instance. And, um, you know, it’s a really bit of an eye opener for those kinds of folks that don’t always typically think of the quote unquote, soft skills or the relationship side of things that can be data driven, but it absolutely can. The application, I think, has to be personal, but the data driven aspect of it really points us in the best, most efficient place to start to try to figure out how to crack that nut.

Rob Gandley: Exactly, exactly. It helps you do your job better, and that means you could do more of it. Or the scope can be beyond maybe what you did in the past, or just simply because you wouldn’t have had the knowledge, or you wouldn’t have had the time to come up with it or the validation of it. Right? You have as a coach like, yeah, this this thing’s cracked, you know, crunching through numbers. It’s reliable, it’s accurate. I’ve seen it over and over again. It makes sense to me most of the time. Maybe it’s not always that way. Sometimes it may not be as obvious, but that’s what tells us this is helpful. And we can move faster, right? We can trust it and spend more time. I was I was going to ask you and I think you kind of answered it, but but so the one on one idea. Right. The one on one coaching relationship. Is there something about AI that might concern you? Because what I heard is right, what you just said that improves the one on one, in my opinion, because you have more to talk about, more angles to improve. Um, but but is there anything that concerns you or anything that you’ve had to kind of say, wait a minute, wait a minute. We’re not we don’t need to do that yet. Or that that might not be a fit just yet or we gotta or anything you see coming down the pike, that might be a problem.

Brad Schneider: I think the general concerns about proprietary information and everything like that, and I know we talk a lot with our clients about, you know, make sure that, you know, if you’re if you’re in a space where you’re using some of those open platforms, right? You know, you know what that means. I think the bigger thing when I think about behavior change in application, though, is the misunderstanding or malpractice of the thought that, well, I could go into ChatGPT right now and say, hey, what are the three best strategies for helping me to convince my team to buy in to such and such. Idea. And it’s going to spit three things out for me, and I’m going to think, wow. I’m a coach, right? Or I know some coach out there today is not really asking good questions, understanding. They just spit that question to the chat beat and showed up in a coaching session and said, hey, check out these three questions or these three strategies, right? Yeah. And they’re all valuable and they’re all there’s all some merit to them. But just like everything else, just like today, when you Google something, you want to check your resources, right? You want to check the sources on what’s coming through there. And I think that’s I think that’s one of those things that will continue to have to battle just like every other industry of, yeah, you’ve got information, but information isn’t behavior change. Um, if information were behavior change, there’d be one book on sales. We all would have read it and we’d all be using it to sell stuff.

Rob Gandley: Keep saying in a different way.

Brad Schneider: Right? Exactly.

Rob Gandley: Because you can’t change. Because you’re not doing the behavior change part, which is that. Yeah. It’s a it’s something else. You don’t need another book. Right. Anyway.

Brad Schneider: 100% right. The theories are all there, right? They’re all they’re all they’ve all been built on somebody’s success in a particular market or a particular industry, or with a personality, style or culture. I mean, there’s so many variables that go into that. You know, that’s why those books are great. And I read them. Yeah. It comes down to, can I change my behavior and can I do what I need to do in the right situation, at the right time to get my results? And I don’t see a world where some intervention from a coach isn’t going to be required to do that anytime soon.

Rob Gandley: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, the I don’t know what it is, the the inertia of doing what you ought to do. Right. We we even know sometimes what we ought to do. Sometimes the coach just helps take away that little alibi in your brain that says, I can blow it off, you know?

Brad Schneider: Yeah. We, um, you know, that’s one of the things we talk about with our new coaches is that 90, 95% of our time, our clients know what they need to do. There’s something in the way, whether it’s personally, maybe it’s somebody in the organization, maybe it’s a lack of priority commitment on something. You know what I mean? Like they typically know the answers and then, you know, like we show our coaches. That’s why it’s important to build strong referral partnerships, like in the banking industry or in the legal space and things like that, because when they really don’t know, then we can tap them into the right resources to get the right information. But yeah, most of the time, just like you said, we know what we need to do. We know what’s in our way. We need somebody to help us through that. And that’s the value that we provide.

Rob Gandley: Exactly. Exactly. So let’s get back to marketing a little bit. Um, and I wanted to kind of, you know, so for me and I, we’re doing a lot of work with automation. We do a lot of work with the formation of an agent. I’ll use the word agent for anyone who doesn’t understand. It’s AI with action and skill and tools, and almost like what an employee might do in a very narrow way. Um, and that’s expanding every day. So what we have found in the last couple of years is obviously, the top of the funnel has always been a hard thing. And when I say top of the funnel, I mean, you know, that introduction, like, how do you introduce your brand to somebody that might be interested, might be a good, uh, target for you, right. A good, good, um, prospect. Right. And, and so we have found that certainly AI can be used in those environments where a human just never in the past could really do it well. Like, even, like just following up with inbound leads in a timely way. We always hear you’re supposed to follow up quickly if someone inquires online. And of course, that has never been a consistent thing with any type of marketing campaign that we’ve ever, like, I’ve ever been a part of. Um, but now with AI, it can be more of a, hey, we’re going to we’re going to go ahead and respond this way. This is exactly what we need to do in this time frame. And it can be more. This is what we need and it’s executed more flawlessly, let’s say not perfectly. And there’s work that has to go into building AI and agents. But what has been your thought on using AI in your tech stack? And maybe just tell me more about your your sort of, um, like you said, there was other things you like other boxes to check other than the sort of the networking and all that, but what what other technologies are you relying on in marketing and. Yeah, where do you see I may be playing in that space at some point.

Brad Schneider: Yeah. It’s interesting. We’ve had this conversation a lot in our franchise group just about, uh, potential new franchisees and, you know, a lot of conversation about when are those folks reaching out? Um, you know, I know every brand is a little different. We we kind of joke sometimes that in the coaching space, when that person’s been burnt out and they’re in that second glass of wine of the night where they’ve decided, I’m done with corporate and they’re googling, you know, we’ll get leads at 10:00 at night or, you know, 11:00 at night. We’re obviously our sales team isn’t hanging out ready to to call them right back. Right. And so we’ve been, uh, doing some things technology wise to try to capture that opportunity when they’re at Momentum’s there and they’re thinking about like, I mean, I’ve, I’ve really had enough and that and that desire to want to do something different right now. Well, how do we get them deeper into the top of the funnel, as you were saying, to ultimately get them to a conversation with folks. And so those are some of the things that that we’re working on right now.

Brad Schneider: A couple things in play in terms of, um, you know, bot response and things like that, and a couple other things to try to build into the funnel where I’m kind of looking for that from the growth coach specific perspective, then, is coaching is a lot like that too, right? Like, I had a rough day with my boss. I had a rough day with my leadership team. Right? Like if I’m out there looking around, you know, how do we start using some of those response tools to just get a little bit deeper so that when we’re having those initial conversations with our owners, um, and leads are coming through our website, um, we’re a lot closer to knowing where the target is to start that conversation, because one of the challenges in coaching is, is it’s such a broad field in terms of ways we could help. And so the more that we kind of kind of hone that in a little bit in our conversations and kicking those off the better, and technology certainly has a place for that.

Rob Gandley: Absolutely. Yeah. I think I think the idea of intention. Right. So we knew we learned that from Google, like when they launched their their ad program, uh, against these ideas of, well, the Yellow Pages was probably the first like the intention of I need a plumber. Uh, whatever. But but then keywords with, with Google. And so we do know that intention is probably if you can know it, if you can marry intention with timing. It is a very powerful thing with sales and marketing. And what I would say is a guy that’s in this is that the ability to build a B2B audience with that sort of intention part, which you don’t always get, you get that would be to say it’s easier with the, you know, the old the other pages and, and Google. But with B2B it’s always been, wait a minute, how do we do B2B? Because we’ve got to target certain types of people first sometimes, right. Like it’s really hard. And so but then how do you how could we know their intention. Are they looking for anything specific to what we do and more of that’s available out there? I’m not saying it’s perfectly accessible and for everybody, but it’s a big thing that we have focused on is to provide audiences that have intention, along with the B2B targeting.

Rob Gandley: Right. Because you’re right. If you can marry the two, then you can be a little bit more personal and relevant. You know the what’s in it for them. And that’s when it starts to be like, okay, yeah, I’ll pay you. Yeah, here’s the money. Because now it’s attached to the result and and they get it. That’s what they’re trying to get to. And I can get. Why, as a coach you would want to be closer to that. Not that your methodology couldn’t show somebody very clearly how they can help help them. But if you could talk more in the middle of I’m on this mountain right now, I’m trying to get to the top, I’m on this rock. Can you help me get to the next ledge? I mean, that’s kind of where some of these people are when you’re reaching out to them. And anyway. But yeah, that that’s kind of how I saw that. And I think there’s more, more ability to do that now. So it’s good that you’re thinking that way.

Brad Schneider: Yeah. It really resonates because I know when we teach our coaches to have those in-person interactions, right, most of the time the first thing a prospect tells you is not the real issue. You know, they’ll say things like, well, hey, we’ve got time management problems. And it’s like, well, okay, yeah, you might have the hard time of trying to figure out how to prioritize tasks or things like that. But is that priority issue in the fact that nobody knows what the expectations are for your business? So it may not be a matter of do I know how to prioritize? It might be we got to have a big global conversation about what’s most important to us as a business and where do we focus. Right. And so, yeah, it’s it’s a delicate blend. And then trying to turn that into some sort of logic that can respond, um, it’s a tough ask, but I know enough about our world. Somebody’s going to figure it out, and they’re working on it right now, and they’re going to continue to refine it. It’ll get better and better.

Rob Gandley: Yeah. Absolutely.

Brad Schneider: Absolutely.

Rob Gandley: Well, so so with your business, I know that you have a lot of stories, right? I know that you’re between you and your franchisees. Um, you want to share one that just kind of comes to the top of mind. Just something transformational, something whether whether it’s just a fun story to share or just something you’re proud of or, you know, like you said, you’re here to help people. You’re here to serve. So maybe, yeah.

Brad Schneider: I’ll give you a a personal one from my own practice where I got this feedback a couple of months ago from From an owner I’ve worked with. She. We’ve known each other for a few years and, like, off and on, like. Yeah, I want to, you know, I’m not sure. And you know about. It’d be about a year and a half ago now we really got into it and um, and started to engage heavily kind of in our program and, um, you know, for her, she’s inheriting the business from her dad. Um, he’d grown it and developed it for close to 40 years. He’s he’s one of those guys that I think is probably like you and I like we’re never going to officially retire. Right. But, like, he’d like to travel a little bit more and do some things. And so, you know, she’s been taking it on and it wasn’t really necessarily having the success that she wanted. Um, you know, I think for her it was probably some frustration too, of me and my dad did so much. And now, you know, like the, the thoughts of am I letting him down and things like that. And, um, you know, we did a lot of really hard, visionary work around not just what it’s not what your dad wanted to build, it’s what do you want to build now? And we used our coaching process to work through that, figure out where to prioritize some of our relationships.

Brad Schneider: Who’s who is she hired? Does she have the right people on board? And, you know, fast forward, you know, about 13 months later, financial positions completely different than what it was a year ago, um, about just, uh, just under doubled revenue for a year in terms of working with us, just making some serious changes that, again, like we talked about before, I was just pointing her and getting her thinking in the right way. She did the work, her team did the work. And, um, you know, we just had one of those kind of one on one wrap ups, and then she just stopped. She’s like, I just wanted to thank you so much because you’ve changed me and you’ve changed my family’s life. And like, I mean, as much as much as, like, this is a business, right? And you’re trying, you know, like when somebody just out and out tells you, like, I’ve got chills right now in my spine just retelling this from months ago, where she’s just like you changed her family’s life. You you you. You changed the course. You. You know, when you get stuff like that, Rob. Like. And that’s what the coaching business can do. Yeah. I mean, it’s it’s priceless to get that kind of feedback and know you’re having an impact.

Rob Gandley: Yeah. We’re you know, we’re not here to build a big pile. Right. And say, I got my hands around it and I’m going to die with the biggest pile. It really is about being together. It’s about helping others. It’s about making others be their best self. Right. And I feel like coaching it unlocks something in people. And I like the word alignment. I like that because it just it makes sense to me. I’ve had so many struggles in my life with just not thinking about things the right way. It could be almost fixed with one sentence, but it’s like you can’t get to it. It’s like a little magic key. And coaches are masters at that, right? Really understanding what is the problem behind the problem? Behind the problem. Maybe ask why five times before you get to write. You go deep into that, into that, and but once you unlock it, my God, it’s like a weight got lifted off and now you can execute, you can be your best self. And then the results come and you say, you’ve changed my life. You know what I mean.

Brad Schneider: So 100%. And then when they get that sense of clarity and then a little bit of confidence of a couple wins, you know, it’s like look out. You know, they’re just they’re just after it. And now it’s funny. You know we do quarterly planning sessions on where they’re at. We just did the half year session. And you know now the numbers that they’re talking about I just paused for a second. When we were talking I was like, did any of you think like 15 months ago we’d be talking about these kinds of opportunities? I mean, national accounts, things like that, that like 15 months ago, if I said, like, you could do this, they’d have been like, yeah, we can’t do that. Right? And now it’s like, it’s not big enough, you know what I mean? Like, wow, well, like, we could be doing this. It’s like. Yeah, yeah, you really could write. And so.

Rob Gandley: Yeah.

Brad Schneider: It’s just awesome to see that confidence, that focus, that excitement and everything. And um, yeah, it’s it’s it’s a it’s priceless when you get that kind of feedback and know you’re having that impact.

Rob Gandley: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s, uh. Well, I don’t have to ask you. One of the things you’re looking for in a candidate would be someone who wants to do that. Wants to feel that, of course, wants to make a great living so they can do more of that, right?

Brad Schneider: Yeah. I mean, it’s really it’s really a business of the heart, you know what I mean? Like, not to say that you can’t make money, not to say that it’s not lucrative, but like people, people smell that lack of authenticity or they feel that authenticity when you go to engage with them. And if you’re not authentic and you’re not really true to wanting to be that servant, people will feel it. Right? And, um, it becomes a really hard business if you don’t have that. So that’s the number one thing we’re digging for and trying to find out what that looks out, not just for their clients, but, you know, one of the things that I think is unique about us is, especially as I’ve coached in some other franchise groups, is we’re very collaborative. And so, you know, because we’re helpers, we’re helping each other out too. And so, you know, even more importantly than, you know, having that mindset to go be successful, we want to bring people in that our coaches want to work with as well, that they want to hang out with at a conference, that they want to jump off line with them and talk about some things in between our monthly coaching sessions and things like that. And yeah, that’s that’s definitely a huge, huge requirement for what we’re looking for. We bring in people that work hard, but they’re servants.

Rob Gandley: Yeah, I love it. I love it so. But but if someone all right. Because one of the as you mentioned earlier, you were mentioning that, you know, sometimes people are going through that cycle of one minute they’re all right, I’m okay with my job, my career, next minute I’m about done right. And is there something where I can use myself better? Right. Get more. Just feel like you’re achieving something that you’re called to do, right? Um, what would be the advice you might give these guys? Because I know I’ve been in that spot. You might have been in that spot at some point in your career. I know it’s hard sometimes when you’ve been in, in a corporation or sort of a career job sort of thing, but you’re at that stage where you’ve just been thinking about a business now for a little bit. And yeah. What would your advice be to try to say, hey, make a decision like, you know, um, how do you help people like that that are kind of on that fence?

Brad Schneider: You know, I think the number one thing is helping them understand that they truly have the power to create the life for themselves that they want. And so whether that’s coaching or any other business like franchise, not franchise, right. Like, you know, if you are, if you feel like you’re stuck and you’re surviving your corporate job, then you’re stuck and you’re surviving. But that’s a choice. And that, yes, it’s sometimes nice to have that guaranteed income or all the other stuff that comes with it. But if you’re not happy, I just want you to know, and this is what I talk with my clients about all the time. Like, if you’re not happy about something, you have to understand you’re choosing it right. And so you can also choose the ability to create something that you love, the something that gets you excited about doing something that if you do it on a Saturday morning, it’s not working right. Like those sorts of things, like you can create and choose that. And, you know, I think, I think our world would be a heck of a lot better place in general if folks really understood that that’s something that they can change, and that’s something that they have the power to do.

Brad Schneider: Franchising is an amazing way to help people do that in an accelerated fashion to have that success. Um, it’s why I became a franchisee. It’s why I now work as a franchisor as well. Um, but I never want people to feel like they’re stuck or trapped, and I want them to understand they don’t have to stay that way. And for me, that’s that’s the biggest one, because I don’t think a lot of people tell them that, you know, owning a business is not the most natural thing to put, you know, put your finances and your life on the line and everything like that, that you’re you’re kind of doing, you know, it’s it’s scary. It’s a little bit like skydiving, right? But, um, you know, the freedom that comes with it. Oh, man. It’s just you can you can make it what you want to be. I know I’m rambling a little bit, but it’s because I get so excited about the topic.

Rob Gandley: Yeah, yeah.

Brad Schneider: No.

Rob Gandley: Me too. But but it’s it. It really is a decision. I love that because a lot of times, our default situation, a lot of times we tell ourselves, I think one of the tricks we play is convince ourselves, well, we don’t have a choice. It’s easier to not make that decision because you tell yourself you don’t have the choice, but you do. And sometimes it does take some steps, of course, but, uh, it is about making a decision though, internally. Like that little key I talked about it earlier is you just know I’m doing it now. I’m, I’m moving forward. So. But I would say certainly don’t stop not entertaining it. And yeah, if you’re, if you’re stuck on a Saturday morning or late at night looking for different opportunities, you’re probably time to make a decision, right. It’s probably time. But anyway, before before I let you go, can you share with the audience like a good way to get Ahold of you guys? Because not only from a coaching, but also from an opportunity standpoint, uh, just will be the best way to do that.

Brad Schneider: Yeah, the easiest way is growth coach.com. When you when you go there, you have a couple different choices. You can kind of look at what it might look like to to own a franchise. Um, and if you’re listening to this and you’re working either in a franchise space right now or, um, you could use some business coaching, some leadership development, some sales coaching, you know, we have the opportunity on there for you to get connected up with somebody local to your community as well, to be able to come out and help. So either way, whether you’re looking for a coach or you’re looking to become one growth coach is a great place to go.

Rob Gandley: Uh, you know what, Brad? Thank you. Thank you for being here, for your insight on, uh, on on AI and on just coaching, like, just as you said. Um, like I said, I, when I get takeaways, I always feel like, oh, cool. But I appreciate you appreciate your insight, appreciate your leadership and your brand. It’s a great brand and I highly recommend that you do reach out if you have questions. Uh, because you will learn regardless. It’ll help you on that journey once you make that decision. You’re on a path. But but this is one of the steps. So I would take it. And, uh, again, thank you for being on the show today and for our audience. Just thank you for tuning in. And please share this with anyone you know. If you found value and we appreciate you. And bye for now.