Business RadioX ®

GWBC Radio: Shonnie Alridge with Trinity First Realty Services

by

Trinity-First-Realty-Feature
GWBC Radio
GWBC Radio: Shonnie Alridge with Trinity First Realty Services
Loading
/

Shonnie-Alridge-Trinity-First-RealtyEnthusiastic, approachable, and professional are some of the words that best describe Atlanta native Shonnie Alridge. With a background in Sociology, Shonnie has a proven record as a top-notch Sales Professional in the Atlanta area for the past 18 years.

Shonnie grew up in College Park, Georgia, and maintains a strong connection with the community through Real Estate sales and community outreach. As the owner of Trinity First Realty Services Inc. (TFRS), she has also opened a Georgia approved real estate school, Trinity First Realty School. The school is approved for a 3 hour continuing education (CE) course.

In addition, Shonnie shares her market expertise by periodically instructing homebuyer courses for NID companies. Prior to joining TFRS, Shonnie was a student at the State University of West Georgia. There she studied and developed an interest in human social behavior especially the study of the origins, organization, institutions, and development of human society.

Her Bachelor of Science Degree in Sociology has afforded her the skills to learn the needs of each of her clients and the ability to be a highly efficient listener. This has proven to be the sole reason that creates such a perfect match for her client’s specific goals.

Connect with Shonnie on LinkedIn and follow TFRS on Facebook and Instagram.

Show 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, I have with me Shonnie Alridge. And she is with Trinity First Realty. Welcome.

Shonnie Alridge: [00:00:31] Thank you. I’m glad to be here. Thanks for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:34] Well, before we get too far into things, tell us about Trinity First Realty. How are you serving folks?

Shonnie Alridge: [00:00:41] Yes. Well, we are a real estate brokerage firm here in Atlanta, Georgia. And so, we supply our clients with expertise in real estate. So, whether our client is wanting to sell real estate, purchase real estate, or perhaps find some office space, some retail space for their business, we are their go-to for that.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:04] So, you do both residential and commercial?

Shonnie Alridge: [00:01:07] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:09] And do you have a specialty? Do you work with like new homebuyers or people who relocate? Like what is your profile of a typical client for you?

Shonnie Alridge: [00:01:19] Well, actually, our typical client is an array of consumers. We don’t have a specific area. We have clients who have an interest in purchasing new construction or purchasing real estate as a piece of investment property. And so, we are just able to service them all. Just a different array of people, we’re able to service them.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:46] Now, how do you get into the real estate business?

Shonnie Alridge: [00:01:50] Well, funny story. My mother actually was a real estate agent in the ’80s and ’90s. And so, I was actually her assistant and didn’t really realize it at all. And when I was in college, she encouraged me to become a licensee. I did that. And I’ve been practicing real estate ever since I was a licensee back in 2002.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:16] And then, as part of your business, you also help other people get into the real estate business, right?

Shonnie Alridge: [00:02:23] Yeah, absolutely. So, we actually have an office. We have agents in our office, and they’re here working hard. And so, we make sure that we are able to provide them with training. And if they have any questions about moving through their contract, their transaction, we’re here to help them. So, yeah, it’s been a great one for us, and we’ve done well. We’ve done very well with assisting people to reach their goals, their real estate goals.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:57] Now, how has this pandemic impacted your business?

Shonnie Alridge: [00:03:02] This pandemic, it’s really unfortunate. It truly is. And it impacted us right away. However, there are some standards of business that we’ve been practicing anyhow as far as just making sure our clients are able to view homes. Usually, our out-of-state clients, we are doing virtual tours. So, what we’re doing now is is doing virtual tours for everybody. And if a client is concerned about listing their how right now in this pandemic climate, we just make sure that people who are entering the home have on a mask, have worn gloves, shoe covers, and that everyone understand what we’re doing. We’re trying to protect the health of everyone else. And we’re also trying to reach their goal of selling their home or purchasing now.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:50] So, you’ve been kind of practicing some of these safety measures just in the past in a different way. You just had to make some small adjustments to do it for this. That’s funny.

Shonnie Alridge: [00:04:02] Yeah, exactly. So, I remember hearing on the news when the pandemic has finally. It was on the news and everyone was like, “Oh, we can’t find an N9 mask,” and I thought to myself, “Oh, my gosh. I already had them.” So, certain things, I already had. I already has two covers. I already had gloves. And so, we just make sure we just pass along to our clients and our agents, and make sure that they use it when they’re out in the field.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:27] Now, do you have any advice for the listeners out there running a business that in order to be safe, things that you’ve learned that make your clients feel more comfortable and safe?

Shonnie Alridge: [00:04:38] Yes. I would say, first of all, let them know that you care. Let them know you care and you understand that they have a concern. And then express to them what you’re doing to help them to feel more comfortable. Express to them that you are steadfast on supplying gloves if they don’t have it. They don’t have a mask, you have one for them. Let them know that you’re there for them. And I think a lot of times, people will feel more comfortable just hearing it. They still want to reach their goals. We just don’t want to be hurt in the process. So, I just say show that you care, express that you care, and that’s the beginning part of it right there.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:20] So, now, can you talk about the GWBC? How has that organization helped you through this crisis?

Shonnie Alridge: [00:05:28] It’s a great organization. I’m so happy to be a part of it. And as soon as the pandemic hit, we began receiving e-mail and notifications of, “Hey, how are you doing? What can we do to help?” And I mean, it’s just like one big family. I would encourage anybody who’s listening to gather some more information about the organization and see where you can become a part of it. But it’s great to be able to know that you’re not the only one feeling the way you’re feeling. At some point, you may feel a little sad and down, and you’re wondering, “Am I the only business owner that has been impacted by this and feeling this type of way?” And with GWBC, you’re receiving e-mails, you’re receiving a phone call, people reaching out, asking, “Are you okay? What do you need?” And that means so much just right now.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:24] Now, in your business, you’re a woman-owned business, and you decide to get involved with GWBC. What would you tell other female-owned business owners about the importance of getting involved in an organization like that?

Shonnie Alridge: [00:06:40] Well, I think for female business owners that you have to understand, if you want to expand your book of business, it’s important to be involved with an organization. And it’s also equally important to have a specific socioeconomic set aside that you identify with. So, whether it’s women-owned, or Veteran-owned, or what have you, it’s important to have those things, to be considered to be a serious business out here, serious about handling their business. And so, I would encourage any women, any women on business to seriously consider becoming certified. Do it now. Especially right now, while we had time on our hands, a little bit more time on our hands, go ahead and do it now, become involved, and you’ll see that when you are checking off boxes on applications for more business, you’ll see where they’re going to ask you about your socioeconomic status, and you can check off certified women-owned business.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:40] Now, has there been any silver linings of going through this? Are there anything that you’ve kind of stumbled upon now during this crisis that you might be able to take with you when the crisis is over?

Shonnie Alridge: [00:07:52] Yeah. I would say yes, actually. I love when I’m faced with the challenge, actually, and I can get through a challenge because it showed me what I’m made of. And so, I would say even going through this, I had a moment where I was just a little bit stuck, but I decided to push through anyhow every day, and I decided to make decisions based on my business and not feel like I was stagnated. So, I just really learned, once again, what I’m made of, that I’m strong, I’m resilient, and the people around me are the same.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:30] Now, how did you keep your team motivated and keep their morale high during this challenging times?

Shonnie Alridge: [00:08:37] Well, it was pretty tough, but we had to get on top of it. So, what we did was our agents, we have office fees in our office, so what we did was we waived the fees for three months to just soften the blow for them. And so, that really helped as well. And so, we just make sure that I encourage everyone to read, do some research, listen to a webinar, and then share with me what they learned, so we can bounce off each other with positive information, informative news on how we can continue to do business, how we can continue to educate our clients and just keep them busy. It is good to be busy. For me, I’m happier when I’m productive. Most of our agents are the same way. So, we just try to stay productive and report to each other on a daily basis.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:32] Well, congratulations on your success and great job hanging in there.

Shonnie Alridge: [00:09:37] Thank you.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:37] And it is challenging times, but I find that business owners are pretty resourceful folks, and they always find a way.

Shonnie Alridge: [00:09:46] That’s right.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:48] Now-

Shonnie Alridge: [00:09:48] That is exactly right.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:49] If there’s somebody who wants to learn more about your organization or wants to talk to you about purchasing or selling property, is there a website?

Shonnie Alridge: [00:10:00] Oh, yes, absolutely. If there’s anyone who’s out there who wants to learn more about Trinity First Realty Services, you can visit our website at trinityfirstrealtyinc. And the First is spelled out. So, trinityfirstrealtyinc.com.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:16] Good stuff. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today.

Shonnie Alridge: [00:10:21] Thank you so much for allowing me to. I really enjoyed it.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:24] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We will see you all next time on GWBC Open for Business.

About Your Host

Roz-Lewis-GWBCRoz Lewis is President & CEO – Greater Women’s Business Council (GWBC®), a regional partner organization of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and a member of the WBENC Board of Directors.

Previous career roles at Delta Air Lines included Flight Attendant, In-Flight Supervisor and Program Manager, Corporate Supplier Diversity.

During her career she has received numerous awards and accolades. Most notable: Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 2018 Diversity & Inclusion award; 2017 inducted into the WBE Hall of Fame by the American Institute of Diversity and Commerce and 2010 – Women Out Front Award from Georgia Tech University.

She has written and been featured in articles on GWBC® and supplier diversity for Forbes Magazine SE, Minority Business Enterprise, The Atlanta Tribune, WE- USA, Minorities and Women in Business magazines. Her quotes are published in The Girls Guide to Building a Million Dollar Business book by Susan Wilson Solovic and Guide Coaching by Ellen M. Dotts, Monique A. Honaman and Stacy L. Sollenberger. Recently, she appeared on Atlanta Business Chronicle’s BIZ on 11Alive, WXIA to talk about the importance of mentoring for women.

In 2010, Lewis was invited to the White House for Council on Women and Girls Entrepreneur Conference for the announcement of the Small Business Administration (SBA) new Women Owned Small Business Rule approved by Congress. In 2014, she was invited to the White House to participate in sessions on small business priorities and the Affordable Care Act.

Roz Lewis received her BS degree from Florida International University, Miami, FL and has the following training/certifications: Certified Purchasing Managers (CPM); Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity (CPSD), Institute for Supply Management (ISM)of Supplier Diversity and Procurement: Diversity Leadership Academy of Atlanta (DLAA), Negotiations, Supply Management Strategies and Analytical Purchasing.

Connect with Roz on LinkedIn.

About GWBC

The Greater Women’s Business Council (GWBC®) is at the forefront of redefining women business enterprises (WBEs). An increasing focus on supplier diversity means major corporations are viewing our WBEs as innovative, flexible and competitive solutions. The number of women-owned businesses is rising to reflect an increasingly diverse consumer base of women making a majority of buying decision for herself, her family and her business. GWBC-Logo

GWBC® has partnered with dozens of major companies who are committed to providing a sustainable foundation through our guiding principles to bring education, training and the standardization of national certification to women businesses in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina

 

Inspiring Women, Episode 18: Darla King, King Business Interiors

by

Darla King, King Business Interiors
Inspiring Women PodCast with Betty Collins
Inspiring Women, Episode 18: Darla King, King Business Interiors
Loading
/
Darla King, King Business Interiors
Betty Collins, Brady Ware & Company, and Darla King, King Business Interiors

Inspiring Women, Episode 18:  Darla King, King Business Interiors

Darla King joins “Inspiring Women” to talk about the journey of building her thriving office furniture business, lessons learned along the way, encouraging other women business owners, and giving back. The host of “Inspiring Women” is Betty Collins and this series is presented by Brady Ware & Company.

Darla King, King Business Interiors

Darla King, King Business Interiors
Darla King, King Business Interiors

Darla King is the President and Owner of King Business Interiors. After more than a decade in the furniture business, Darla started the company in 1998 and serves as the company’s Owner and President. Early on, the vision was clear: King Business Interiors will always be more than a furniture vendor.

Today, King serves hundreds of clients in numerous markets and industries. Along with being a Haworth furniture preferred dealer, King represents 300 product lines, operates a full service commercial flooring division, offers inventory and warehousing and provides total move management services. In all that King does, King is dedicated to a single goal: providing customer’s with a “Zero Punch List.”

A commitment to going the extra mile for clients has enabled King to grow from a small five person start up into an established multi-million dollar business with 50+ employees. According to Columbus Business First, King ranks second among area office furniture and supply companies, and ranks ninth in the top 50 women-owned businesses.

King is a proud, family-owned business with a strong focus on their employee’s family lives. Two of the passions at King are “kids come first” and “never miss a ball game.”

King is also a certified woman-owned business, and Darla is active with the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), Columbus Chapter. Darla takes pride in mentoring fellow women leaders throughout the Ohio community.

Through Darla’s leadership, King is very active in giving back to the community, particularly through an innovative recycling program, Connecting the Dots. This initiative takes reusable furniture and connects the items with nonprofits, startups and charitable organizations throughout Central Ohio.

For more information on King Business Interiors, follow this link.

Betty Collins, CPA, Brady Ware & Company and Host of the “Inspiring Women” Podcast

Betty Collins, CPA

Betty Collins is the Office Lead for Brady Ware’s Columbus office and a Shareholder in the firm. Betty joined Brady Ware & Company in 2012 through a merger with Nipps, Brown, Collins & Associates. She started her career in public accounting in 1988. Betty is co-leader of the Long Term Care service team, which helps providers of services to Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and nursing centers establish effective operational models that also maximize available funding. She consults with other small businesses, helping them prosper with advice on general operations management, cash flow optimization, and tax minimization strategies.

In addition, Betty serves on the Board of Directors for Brady Ware and Company. She leads Brady Ware’s Women’s Initiative, a program designed to empower female employees, allowing them to tap into unique resources and unleash their full potential.  Betty helps her colleagues create a work/life balance while inspiring them to set and reach personal and professional goals. The Women’s Initiative promotes women-to-women business relationships for clients and holds an annual conference that supports women business owners, women leaders, and other women who want to succeed. Betty actively participates in women-oriented conferences through speaking engagements and board activity.

Betty is a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and she is the President-elect for the Columbus Chapter. Brady Ware also partners with the Women’s Small Business Accelerator (WSBA), an organization designed to help female business owners develop and implement a strong business strategy through education and mentorship, and Betty participates in their mentor match program. She is passionate about WSBA because she believes in their acceleration program and matching women with the right advisors to help them achieve their business ownership goals. Betty supports the WSBA and NAWBO because these organizations deliver resources that help other women-owned and managed businesses thrive.

Betty is a graduate of Mount Vernon Nazarene College, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and a member of the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants. Betty is also the Board Chairwoman for the Gahanna Area Chamber of Commerce, and she serves on the Board of the Community Improvement Corporation of Gahanna as Treasurer.

“Inspiring Women” Podcast Series

“Inspiring Women” is THE podcast that advances women toward economic, social and political achievement. The show is hosted by Betty Collins, CPA, and presented by Brady Ware and Company. Brady Ware is committed to empowering women to go their distance in the workplace and at home. Other episodes of “Inspiring Women” can be found here.

Show Transcript

Betty Collins: [00:00:00] Well, today, I am really fortunate to have a guest with me, Darla King, with King Interiors. Guests are always phenomenal. People love the story. They love to hear how they did things, how they didn’t do things, and some insight from them. Darla King, and King Interiors is kind of a big deal in Columbus, Ohio. She probably … She’s laughing already, but it’s true. Everyone knows them, and Darla is just- they founded this with her and her husband in 1988. The philosophy was, “We will be more than furniture.” So, we’re going to talk a little bit about that today.

Betty Collins: [00:00:39] I know Darla because of NAWBO Columbus. I joined that in 2014 and, of course, the board and the players in Columbus that are part of NAWBO, which is the National Association of Women Business Owners, we’re just a fun group. I liked it from the beginning. She was on the board and became president. Then, I got on the board because, you know, we always need a treasurer, and that’s what CPAs do. So, I got there, and one day, we were all trying to figure out who should be the next role, the next leaderships. She’s looking at me, saying, “You should be president!” I’m shaking my head, “No, I am not doing that ever!” But what it did was it planted a seed in my head that maybe I could do this because NAWBO Columbus is a pretty big honor to be on that board and to be on that track. It’s also about what NAWBO does, and I’m passionate about it.

Betty Collins: [00:01:33] That’s how we kind of got to know each other, and we’re both involved with women’s things all over Columbus. A lot of times, either we’re writing the checks, or we’re sponsoring, or we’re opening up our office, and trying to make this because we believe in all of this. We have that common vote. But we also believe in the business and the marketplace. I know her through NAWBO. She’s a member and she has, of course, been in leadership. She’s also in the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, and WPO, which is Women’s President Organization.

Betty Collins: [00:02:05] She’s really done some amazing things for women, as well as run a business. Without the marketplace, our country doesn’t do well. So, the marketplace has to have success in it, and we have to give those people that have an idea, a passion, and then, all the sudden, they’re an employer, which means you’ve got households that form communities … The marketplaces, the success, we get to experience every day in our country. I love it, and I love that I get to be a CPA and be part of that venue. Even though it’s depreciation, and GAAP things, and all that, it’s important. We’re going to go on a journey. So, first of all, Darla, can you just kind of tell us a little bit about King Interiors; what you guys do? You are family business.

Darla King: [00:02:50] Yeah.

Betty Collins: [00:02:51] That’s a whole ‘nother dynamic we’ll talk about a little bit today but tell us a little bit about King Interiors. It goes back to 1988.

Darla King: [00:02:57] Actually ’98, but [crosstalk] We’ve been in business 22 years. It’s King Business Interiors, under King Business Centers. Believe me, we struggled with the name, in the beginning, saying, “What should it be?” I worked out of my dining room for the first three months trying to get things rolling. But, I look at … We had a pretty good start, as far as I was already in the industry. I was getting things going for just two or three customers, and I let them tell me how to set it up, like, “What do you need? What do you need?” They really guided me to say, “Nothing’s going to change.” They’re going to have the same national account agreement with the furniture line that we represented.

Darla King: [00:03:43] At that time, we were the third Haworth dealer in Columbus. That happens in places like New York City and maybe San Francisco, but not Columbus, Ohio, because we’re like a secondary market. But slowly, that eliminated … One bought the other and ended up filing bankruptcy. Then, we were the only- King was the only Haworth dealer, which is a major brand; like number two in our industry.

Betty Collins: [00:04:08] Sure. Okay.

Darla King: [00:04:09] Anyways, when we started, we had four partners because I really felt like I needed a whole crowd of people to help me. I look at that today, and I think that’s one of my biggest mistakes was just not believing in myself, but also not understanding what four partners- and even number … Relying on everybody to do what I thought we could do. Slowly, I had to eliminate one partner, and I had to eliminate a second partner. My husband was not one either one of them, so-

Betty Collins: [00:04:38] That was good.

Darla King: [00:04:40] Dave and I- yeah, that’s good. Dave and I’ve been married now 40 years-

Betty Collins: [00:04:43] Very nice.

Darla King: [00:04:44] -but in business 22 years. I think it’s a classic. We’re opposites. He’s very much on the numbers. He’s very black and white. He takes all the details in. That’s not me at all.

Betty Collins: [00:04:56] Yeah. It’s necessary. You gotta do it [crosstalk] right?

Darla King: [00:05:00] Yeah, so I look at that, and I think that was one thing that – back in the early days – was I needed the expertise around me; someone that knows how to start a business. I needed somebody that knew how to build a culture. Those were the two partners early. After a year, year and a half, we made those changes. Then, slowly, it grew. Our kids, at that time, were very young.

Betty Collins: [00:05:22] Sure.

Darla King: [00:05:24] So, there was no intention of them having to get into the business or forced to get in the business. But my daughter did go through O.U., and interior design. Then Chris, our son, he’s 37, and he went to Ohio State for American history, and so-

Betty Collins: [00:05:39] So, he started selling furniture.

Darla King: [00:05:43] Yeah. Actually, he … The best thing is both of them have worked in the business, somewhere along the line. Chris did a lot on weekends, and summers at the warehouse, and with the installers, when he was in school and in college. Then he first came on and was in the accounting department and was in accounts receivable. A couple of years went by, and he said, “Mom, people … I don’t like this job. People lie!” [crosstalk]

Betty Collins: [00:06:05] Really? They don’t want to pay us? Okay.

Darla King: [00:06:05] They got excuses. He’d go, “I got notes here. They were gonna pay; the check was in the mail.” It’s like, “Okay …” He goes, “Can I do something else?” He ended up showing some interest in sales, and he has been in sales since.

Betty Collins: [00:06:17] Good, good.

Darla King: [00:06:17] He’s been with us a quite a while. Chelsea’s been with us seven years, and with her design background, she brought a new look to it. Even when we interviewed at O.U., the counselor asked me to step out of the room, and he asked Chelsea, specifically, “Is your mom forcing you to get in this business because she’s in it?” Chel said, “No, I kinda like it. I wanna do this.” So, everybody’s watching out for is it going to be a family business? Is it a forced issue? Is it [crosstalk] It wasn’t for either one of them. They have worked hard. They’re there every day, and they have great interest in how we’re going to find the next customer, and where we’re spending our advertising money, and all the things that a business owner needs to think about.

Betty Collins: [00:07:02] Right.

Darla King: [00:07:03] So, yeah, now we’re up to 81 employees.

Betty Collins: [00:07:06] Very good. Very good. That’s a lot.

Darla King: [00:07:09] Yeah, and a lot of families, and a lot of kids, and now, a lot of grandkids.

Betty Collins: [00:07:12] Wow. Right.

Darla King: [00:07:13] There’s not a day goes by that I don’t think about the day four people walk walked in; and now we’ve got 81. Everybody’s busy. The Columbus market right now is fantastic.

Betty Collins: [00:07:25] It’s hot.

Darla King: [00:07:26] It is.

Betty Collins: [00:07:27] It’s hot.

Darla King: [00:07:28] Everybody’s got their job to do. They work as a great team; in small teams, too. We’re very fortunate to have some customers that have been with the whole 22 years.

Betty Collins: [00:07:38] Wow. Very nice.

Darla King: [00:07:39] They’re very dedicated to helping us understand better how to get better. Some, I’ve been with for 30 years, but they’ve changed personnel in their businesses, and we’ve kind of been their steady; their facilities partner. Not just selling the next chair, but really understanding their buildings. As we grew, the one thing customers kept saying to us is, “I need warehouse. Can you get a little warehouse?” Well, now we’re at 150,000 square foot of warehouse-

Betty Collins: [00:08:08] That’s a lot.

Darla King: [00:08:08] -because customers don’t build their buildings to have a big basement in the bottom or some storage space. The larger customers, the more product they need, the more churn they have, there are more needs for having inventory readily available. That’s kind of how we’ve grown is through [crosstalk]

Betty Collins: [00:08:26] -it’s a great story. Great path. Not an easy path, for sure. As a CPA, I’ve seen the generations. You have that original generation … I had a grandmother who started a nursing home at the age of 63.

Darla King: [00:08:45] Wow!

Betty Collins: [00:08:46] In her home, which, at that time, you could do that. It was- 12 people could fit- could stay in her home. Today, the third generation is running that. Her secret to success, and I want you to talk about this, was if you want to work at this nursing home, you’re going to do dishes, you’re going to cook food, you’re going to learn to do personal hygiene for people; you’re going to learn how to meet with a family.

Darla King: [00:09:11] Right.

Betty Collins: [00:09:12] I’m sure- and that was what they had to do first.

Darla King: [00:09:15] That’s amazing.

Betty Collins: [00:09:15] It wasn’t because they were, “a King,” they got to be there, right?

Darla King: [00:09:19] Right.

Betty Collins: [00:09:19] Talk a little bit about the dynamics that you’ve experienced with that; because they’ve got to really have an entrepreneurship heart. They’ve got to have a passion for the business. Do you feel like you guys have done that well as a family?

Darla King: [00:09:36] You know, I have learned a lot from them. They’re both millennials. They both have a different perspective on it. For me, being in the business 30 years, I’ve had a lot of my customers retire, and the new face shows up that’s a person that’s going to be running and controlling that company’s facilities, and they needed to talk to somebody at their age.

Betty Collins: [00:09:59] Right. That’s perfect.

Darla King: [00:09:59] They needed to be able to relate to them. It’s like I needed- there were obvious spots where I needed to get out of the way and let them start their conversation. Not that they knew it all by then, but the new person at the facility didn’t either, and it was like, they just want to be heard. They just want to know how to find the solutions. Come back, and let’s talk about it, and let’s pull the team together. We really have four generations in our group, right now.

Betty Collins: [00:10:29] That’s awesome.

Darla King: [00:10:30] So, there’s a lot of people that can help them.

Betty Collins: [00:10:32] What do you feel like the biggest challenges a family-owned business – then we’ll move on to other things – but, for you, because our audience is going to have a lot of family-owned people, and they’re sometimes trying to get through those dynamics. What’s really the biggest challenge that probably will never go away – maybe it has gone away – that you deal with?

Darla King: [00:10:51] Just to avoid competition. We all stay in our own lanes.

Betty Collins: [00:10:56] Yeah. Good.

Darla King: [00:10:56] Dave’s in finance. I’m in sales and marketing. Chelsea is in design and works with architects and designers and goes out after folks that are specifying our products. Chris stays on national accounts and handling the sales side of it. So, we all see different parts of the business, but we all realize we’re in the right seats.

Betty Collins: [00:11:18] Right. Good.

Darla King: [00:11:19] When it starts to compete, like overlap, that’s where you feel the frustration and stress.

Betty Collins: [00:11:26] You’ve done this a long time. I know, for myself, my kids never wanted to be CPAs or in business, and neither of them are. One’s a minister, and one’s a teacher. They’re like, “Nope. No, we’re not … We’d never do that.” My husband and I, I just know how we do loading and unloading the dishwasher. I can’t imagine us being in business all day together. But, you know, talk to us a little bit about being a woman in your industry – is that an issue? Is it not?  – and did you have challenges that you worked through as a woman business owner, just back in 22 years ago?

Darla King: [00:11:59] I think I was insulated by having my brother-in-law, and my husband, and another partner there; that I just went ahead and did what I did, which was [crosstalk] sales and [inaudible] focused on finding business. Their job was the insurance, the banking- all the other things that just were not my expertise-

Betty Collins: [00:12:20] Right, and very male. Those are male-dominated things.

Darla King: [00:12:23] They already had people they knew in those places and areas. Since then, growing into it and realizing the struggles of people with NAWBO; women in NAWBO, and them getting the national certification for being a woman-owned business. It elevates a company – if you’re in the right- in certain categories – to be seen by large corporations that would have never noticed you.

Betty Collins: [00:12:47] Right.

Darla King: [00:12:48] Quite frankly, they’re looking to do business; like the automotive industry. They want to do business with women because women buy cars. So, they’ve made this huge initiative to really look out and find suppliers that are that way. So, right away, we started being noticed and seen and then understanding what they needed. In fact, one day I had a call from a company, Japanese automaker. They said, “Any chance that you own the company?” And I said, “Well, yeah. I do.” They go, “Good, I don’t have to change vendors.”

Betty Collins: [00:13:22] Wow.

Darla King: [00:13:22] Because they were searching to find where they could bring as much as 10 to 15 percent of their vendor suppliers into woman-owned or minority. That’s been an initiative for 20 years, but now, it’s even more today and very focused on it. I’m not sure if I answered your question [crosstalk]

Betty Collins: [00:13:41] No, you did, because it really kind of leads into, you know, you’ve really … You did play a really great role in NAWBO.

Darla King: [00:13:47] Oh, thanks.

Betty Collins: [00:13:47] What was the passion behind that? You kind of already answered that – the passion of being involved in NAWBO and helping women in business today; because you do that a lot.

Darla King: [00:13:58] Well, you know, women need to help women. It’s silly. You see so many times where a woman gets to the top of the company, and she doesn’t help anybody up. “I got here by myself. I’m not gonna …”

Betty Collins: [00:14:09] That’s common.

Darla King: [00:14:09] Wow! How selfish!

Betty Collins: [00:14:13] Right.

Darla King: [00:14:14] You look at the people in NAWBO, and the NAWBO roundtables, and even the WPO roundtables. Sitting with a group of eight women that are all business owners that are different size, different scale, but all the same problems; whether you’re selling $40 million or whether you’re selling $3 million, and you’ve got employees, and you’ve got leases, and you’ve got bank loans, and you’ve got lines of credit-

Betty Collins: [00:14:36] Right.

Darla King: [00:14:36] -you’re trying to figure out when you hire your second employee. They’re all issues that some of us with longer time in the business have experienced. I like to relive it, especially with some of the younger women [crosstalk] It’s a whole different start for them than it was for me. I often am so gratified that I had a team that I could rely on back then that did the kinds of things that I think all of them, individually, are trying to do. All hands on deck; do everything.

Betty Collins: [00:15:06] I had that same … I’m in a very male-dominated business-

Darla King: [00:15:09] You are.

Betty Collins: [00:15:09] -especially in 1988. Well, in this- right now, over 50 percent of women are accountants, but we’re still having some of those same struggles of … The perspective around that roundtable, the perspective of that support, whether it’s WPO, or the WSBA, or the different groups in town … You’ve been a big supporter of so much of that, and it’s very appreciated. I know that Darla King has made mistakes in her journey … Not very many, so we won’t spend long on this, but this is where you get your MBA, your own personal MBA … Could you just talk with the audience about these are challenges that I went through, and this is why they probably were a really good learning experience that I had to probably go through to get to some next levels or even just I made a mistake and I had to rebound, or whatever. So, what do you think of when you think of- just off the top of your head, what comes to your mind?

Darla King: [00:16:07] I made a lot of mistakes. I’ve got to say, I mean, the best thing about being a small business and being able to make decisions fast and to be agile is reverse. Yeah, we tried it. You know, give it three months; give it six months. The biggest mistake was a five-year lease, and I mentioned that earlier. I thought we needed a downtown presence, and I also had a line of furniture that was extremely expensive, but it was one of our brands that we were expected to represent and show, and it was very difficult to separate it, or put it in the same showroom. We needed to separate it and make it look more like a art studio and a feeling like that.

Darla King: [00:16:43] At the same time, there was a big presence of being downtown, potentially, and having- a lot of customers of ours are really close to downtown, so it made sense. We stood on the eighth floor of that building and looked around and said, “There’s a customer, there’s a customer, there’s a customer,” and we were clear up north off 161. Every time we had to leave to go to a customer, we’d leave a half hour early because you don’t know about traffic and parking the whole nine yards.

Darla King: [00:17:09] After about a year and a half, two years into that, we realized nobody really wanted to work isolated downtown at the studio. It wasn’t our culture, and we tried two or three different groups. So, after the time, I said, “Look, we’re just going to turn this into an incubator.” It was fully furnished. I had talked to several- in fact, six of my friends from NAWBO had been working in their dining rooms, or in their living rooms, or in some other kind of space. They took that on. It literally was a win-win, and we turned it into- lemons into lemonade.

Betty Collins: [00:17:39] Right. You helped them; they helped you. We all learned a big lesson. But, you know, you really, probably, at the time just thought, “We’ve got to be downtown,” you know?

Darla King: [00:17:49] Yeah. It was early. It was early on that. Then, our lease was up, up north. We were only two years into it when we realized we found a better space, which is in Grandview. Again [crosstalk]

Betty Collins: [00:17:58] -I’ve been to that show.

Darla King: [00:17:58] Close to downtown; minutes for getting to our customers, but completely different than being clear up north. So, location, location, location is key.

Betty Collins: [00:18:10] Fortunately, you do have- I mean, your husband, I mean, probably dynamically going, “The numbers do not work, but we’re gonna do this because we got a line. It just makes sense.” I bet numbers weren’t showing that, but then you did it anyways. Well, we all have challenges. We all have stuff that happens. That’s just called business.

Darla King: [00:18:28] You live and learn, and you make the best of it or you fix it.

Betty Collins: [00:18:30] Yep. Anything else that comes to your mind that you’d love to share with the audience: “Learn from this. I went to the Darla MBA, got my MBA School,” whatever it is?

Darla King: [00:18:39] Trust your peers and be a good listener because they’ll teach you a lot.

Betty Collins: [00:18:46] Right.

Darla King: [00:18:46] You’ll learn just from the experiences or the way they put things in their company, and their words out there. I learned a lot from that. Whether it was Vistage, or [crosstalk]

Betty Collins: [00:18:55] Women, generally, and the statistics are there. I’m a data person, unless I have to go research and find it, I’m a data when you give me numbers. “Oh, good. Let’s play with this.” The data’s out there that women don’t ask. They think they have to do this, and they carry it. That’s just not … It’s a big challenge that I see in business owners all the time.

Darla King: [00:19:19] Yeah.

Betty Collins: [00:19:20] One of the coolest things about your Grandview space, and you said to me, “Yeah, you can use the space,” because you wanted people … It’s your give back.

Darla King: [00:19:29] Yeah.

Betty Collins: [00:19:29] You have very cool coffee there [crosstalk] but it’s your give back is the mentality. Talk a little bit about that.

Darla King: [00:19:36] Yeah. Give them the space. I had some really good bosses, prior to getting my business started. One of them always gave the space. Rodney Wasserstrom always said, “We’re not here after 5:00. Let them come in and have an art show. Let them do this …” It’s like good parking. No one was in that space, so they could get in there. They could have events. I thought, that is amazing. The people that walk through the doors in that community would have never come in there, if they hadn’t been invited through that group.

Betty Collins: [00:20:04] Right.

Darla King: [00:20:04] So, it was obvious, when we moved down here, that we were going to be doing that more, and more, and more. Even in Worthington, we got involved in the Worthington Chamber, but also the libraries called and said, “Is there any chance we could put you on as an option room?” Our space.

Betty Collins: [00:20:18] Oh, wow.

Darla King: [00:20:18] I said, “Absolutely.” When someone would come in and they just wanted an alternative to where they had been meeting or they want to spend a half a day, we had the space; training rooms, or a conference room, or places in the space that you only use 10 percent of the time. What I love about our new space is, at the end of the day, there’s 250 parking spots. If a larger event or a nonprofit wants to come in there, we do not charge. There’s public restrooms … Just all the things are right there ready for it.

Betty Collins: [00:20:48] Right.

Darla King: [00:20:49] But giving back and letting people know that you’re there for it, it just, you know, it feels good [crosstalk]

Betty Collins: [00:20:58] Yeah, because you just had a big fundraiser for Bridgeview.

Darla King: [00:21:00] We did.

Betty Collins: [00:21:01] So, tell us a little bit about- that’s the part of giving back, you know? You’re not selling them furniture, you’re just … You probably will sell some furniture over it, but I mean …

Darla King: [00:21:08] This is our 16th year to have Create for Cause. It’s an event where we give back to the community. We get our vendors involved, and we invite everybody we know. Again, this was a learning curve for me. We started it in our fifth year in business [crosstalk] The reason we started it was every year we were giving a customer a small clock; a Howard Miller small clock. After the fifth year, the salespeople said, “How many more clocks … [crosstalk]?”

Betty Collins: [00:21:35] -don’t want any more clocks, yeah.

Darla King: [00:21:38] We were realizing we had such a repeat business that, yeah, we needed to do something different. So, we kicked it into gear with, hey, let’s have a party. Let’s invite everybody there. Let’s do something about it. Let’s have some fun. So, we created this, which we paint 100 ceramic plates is how it started. Now, we’ve been doing platters; this last year was a tray. We put them in as a silent auction. We invite artists, architects, designers in town to paint the ceramics. If you ever painted ceramics, they come out very chalky when you’re painting them. Then, when they get fired, they’re glazed, and glossy, and pretty, and just glow. So, they can see their finished painting, their finished piece of art, when they come to the party.

Betty Collins: [00:22:24] Very cool.

Darla King: [00:22:25] So, it creates a nice crowd. This year, I think we had over 750 people. Everybody in our company knows that they invite their circle of friends, relatives, neighbors, because it’s not just … It’s you don’t know who knows who. I know you’re a CPA. You know I’m in office furniture. You know somebody that’s in a certain industry, it just connects. So, you never know who knows who knows who that could influence and/or say, “If you’re going to get some new chairs, call King.”

Betty Collins: [00:22:54] Well, you know, that’s really the cool part of giving back. You end up creating something that turns into not what you really thought. Let’s give a clock because, hey, we need to give something to our people. Now we have a party that’s owned, and connection, and you get to do some fun, and you raise money all at the same time. 750 people, that’s awesome.

Darla King: [00:23:13] Well, the exposure for Bridgeway was nice [crosstalk]

Betty Collins: [00:23:15] Sure, sure. Great organization.

Darla King: [00:23:18] -they had the opportunity to explain how they take care of kids with autism [crosstalk] It’s amazing.

Betty Collins: [00:23:22] I’ve been down to their school several times, and it’s just … They’re so passionate. They’re really good. Well, you know, Darla, you’ve not always been a big deal, right? You just haven’t. You started out like every business owner. There’s that commercial out right now; I always love it. “We’ve seen a few things,” No, “We know a few things because we’ve seen a few things …” [crosstalk] According to Darla – we’re going to wrap up a little bit – what would you advise women who are, or want to be in business? Maybe they have the idea; they’ve launched already; they realize, “I’m in this because I got a bunch of liability and I got …” or “I’m going to make this- I want to go full circle. I don’t want- I want this to be more.” What would you say to them?

Darla King: [00:24:05] What [crosstalk].

Betty Collins: [00:24:05] What’s something that you would go, “Do this, or don’t do this, or persevere,” whatever?

Darla King: [00:24:10] I’d say reach out and call folks like yourself; call me; call people that have been through it, because we’ll take the time to go have coffee and brainstorm it and then find the next right spot to be, whether it’s a NAWBO roundtable, or it’s WBENC convention or something. It just depends upon what industry they’re in and how it might help their business. Networking is key, and just picking up the phone and calling somebody, and hope they call back, and hope they can connect with you. That’s big. I think you can’t pass that up. That’s just one big part of it. I know there’s a lot of young gals that get discouraged. They want to start a business. They want to get into it. You don’t have a business unless you have a customer.

Betty Collins: [00:24:58] Right. Very good.

Darla King: [00:24:59] It’s great to dream of something, but you got to think it all the way through, and you’ve got to walk it/talk it with somebody. I think that was the one thing I learned about peer-to-peer learning or understanding was just that really sitting down and sorting it out and thinking through how did that happen to me, and how does it happen to her? How can she get connected to somebody else I know? Because helping them is … It should just be natural.

Betty Collins: [00:25:30] Yeah. Well, no, I’ve called on you several times with … We have a mutual friend, right now, who she just- I loved her from the minute because she was just tenacious. She made sure she got to Betty Collins. She did it through several people because she wanted to meet with me. I thought, you know, I need to meet with her because she’s brave, and she’s bold. Then I said I need to connected as somebody who knows a bunch of big businesses that need commercial real estate … It was just cool to do. It took, what, a half hour my time to think it through and talk with her.

Darla King: [00:26:00] Right.

Betty Collins: [00:26:00] Then, you were like immediate. So … When you’re launching, and your starting, you’re getting out there, and you’re going through those rough times, it’s a constant. You’ve got to be asking for help. I think that’s what you’re really saying.

Darla King: [00:26:12] That’s right.

Betty Collins: [00:26:12] Don’t hesitate to do it because your success … Then, sometimes, someone’s going to ask you, and you’re going to be able to help, and do. Darla, I appreciate you meeting with us today. I love meeting with women business owners.

Darla King: [00:26:23] Thank you.

Betty Collins: [00:26:23] Someone who’s had success. They’ve gone through times. Respected in the community. I appreciate all you do with giving back. Of course, you have something called Connecting the Dots, as well. Tell us about that, and then we’ll close.

Darla King: [00:26:34] Real quick. Gosh, in 2004, we had an outlet store, which is the obvious thing for office furniture dealers. Put your old stuff, or the things you made a mistake on [crosstalk]

Betty Collins: [00:26:45] It’s on sale again, yeah.

Darla King: [00:26:45] That business was like 5:00 to 8:00 at night, and on weekends – Saturday and Sunday. It was like, okay, I’m going to work 8:00 to 8:00, and then 8:00 … So, spreading that out and getting other people involved in it and then, also being located clear up on 161 Huntley Road, it just was not right. I got onto a board of directors through a customer of mine and it was the New Direction Career Center for Women. I noticed they didn’t have two chairs that matched, and I thought, here I sit with this abundance of furniture, and it’s sad; they don’t have the money to spend, and I really don’t want to keep on going with the expense of a warehouse and overhead. So, let me just see if I can’t- if they’ll accept me giving it to them.

Darla King: [00:27:27] Some things we owned, so we could take some kind of write off on it. Other things we were- customers would say, “I don’t want this anymore,” but it still had some life to it. So, we created a program where we are not the nonprofit, but we connect the dots for the used furniture – lightly used and/or brand new – to the nonprofits and charities that need it. Interesting enough, we never advertised.

Darla King: [00:27:51] I probably get five, six phone calls a week, or on our web site, people that are requesting things. No one ever needs the same thing. One time I had a guy call for TVs, and I said, “Boy, we’ve never taken in TVs or appliances, except one-offs because I just don’t know how to maintain them [crosstalk] be good. She said, “Well, I have five men’s group homes, and I have no way to get them to gather in the living room. If I could just get some TVs … ”

Darla King: [00:28:17] Two weeks later, company calls and says, “We just got all new flat screens. We have TVs, if you’d be interested.” I said, “You know what? Send me a picture, if you will.” I called her, and I got the addresses, and we delivered five TVs. I said, “The only bad thing is they’re kind of strapped on to one of these mobile carts,” and she goes, “Good, because I don’t have any furniture to put it on!”

Betty Collins: [00:28:39] So, it all worked out.

Darla King: [00:28:42] It did. It did. So, it’s that kind of thing. I think it’s just that putting it out there in the universe; see how it comes back to us. The groups are really good because they don’t need- nobody needs everything, but they’re looking for something that could make their life easier and better. The last thing they need to spend money on is furniture. They need [inaudible] programs, and people, and computers, and all that, so, yeah …

Betty Collins: [00:29:05] Well, it was a good pleasure talking with you today, just getting to know you a little bit more.

Darla King: [00:29:08] Thanks.

Betty Collins: [00:29:08] A lot of good content for women in business, women business owners to talk about and think about, and I just appreciate your time.

Darla King: [00:29:15] Thank you. I appreciate you-

Betty Collins: [00:29:16] Betty Collins. I appreciate everyone who listens. I am passionate and really fortunate to be a woman business owner and to get to have a podcast, a company that believes in empowering women. Have a great day.

Inspiring Women, Episode 16: Becoming a Woman of Influence

by

Betty Collins, Brady Ware
Inspiring Women PodCast with Betty Collins
Inspiring Women, Episode 16: Becoming a Woman of Influence
Loading
/

 

Betty Collins, Brady Ware
Betty Collins, Brady Ware & Company

Inspiring Women, Episode 16:  Becoming a Woman of Influence

Influence is merely the capability to have an effect on the character, development or behavior of something. Do you want to be that woman of influence? Host Betty Collins discusses what it takes to expand your influence on this edition of “Inspiring Women,” presented by Brady Ware & Company.

Betty Collins, CPA, Brady Ware & Company and Host of the “Inspiring Women” Podcast

Betty Collins, Brady WareBetty Collins is the Office Lead for Brady Ware’s Columbus office and a Shareholder in the firm. Betty joined Brady Ware & Company in 2012 through a merger with Nipps, Brown, Collins & Associates. She started her career in public accounting in 1988. Betty is co-leader of the Long Term Care service team, which helps providers of services to Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and nursing centers establish effective operational models that also maximize available funding. She consults with other small businesses, helping them prosper with advice on general operations management, cash flow optimization, and tax minimization strategies.

In addition, Betty serves on the Board of Directors for Brady Ware and Company. She leads Brady Ware’s Women’s Initiative, a program designed to empower female employees, allowing them to tap into unique resources and unleash their full potential.  Betty helps her colleagues create a work/life balance while inspiring them to set and reach personal and professional goals. The Women’s Initiative promotes women-to-women business relationships for clients and holds an annual conference that supports women business owners, women leaders, and other women who want to succeed. Betty actively participates in women-oriented conferences through speaking engagements and board activity.

Betty is a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and she is the President-elect for the Columbus Chapter. Brady Ware also partners with the Women’s Small Business Accelerator (WSBA), an organization designed to help female business owners develop and implement a strong business strategy through education and mentorship, and Betty participates in their mentor match program. She is passionate about WSBA because she believes in their acceleration program and matching women with the right advisors to help them achieve their business ownership goals. Betty supports the WSBA and NAWBO because these organizations deliver resources that help other women-owned and managed businesses thrive.

Betty is a graduate of Mount Vernon Nazarene College, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and a member of the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants. Betty is also the Board Chairwoman for the Gahanna Area Chamber of Commerce, and she serves on the Board of the Community Improvement Corporation of Gahanna as Treasurer.

“Inspiring Women” Podcast Series

“Inspiring Women” is THE podcast that advances women toward economic, social and political achievement. The show is hosted by Betty Collins, CPA, and presented by Brady Ware and Company. Brady Ware is committed to empowering women to go their distance in the workplace and at home. Other episodes of “Inspiring Women” can be found here.

Show Transcript

Betty Collins: [00:00:00] Today, becoming a person of influence … In fact, today, because this is Inspired Women, I’m going to say becoming a woman of influence, right? I’m going to start with this. I love a certain movie, and I bet I’ve watched this a hundred times; I’m not kidding. My husband will come home and can’t believe I still have this on, but it’s “Two Week Notice,” with Sandra Bullock, who plays Lucy Kelson, and Hugh Grant, who plays George Wade. Sandra Bullock is an activist and she is a “cause” – I’m putting that in quotes – per Hugh Grant in the movie.

Betty Collins: [00:00:32] He says that, at some point. She is very passionate about architecture and preserving historical buildings that have meaning. They’ve been in the community forever. How dare you take this down? Right? On the other hand, he’s a developer, and he tears down buildings, and he puts up new ones that are nothing like the historical buildings, of course, that she loves. He’s that big corporate America; she works for all these legal aid things and does all the good work. They are night and day. He grew up wealthy. She grew up poor. I mean, they have nothing in common, really.

Betty Collins: [00:01:08] Needless to say, her method is that she would protest, and take her protesters, and they would stand in front of buildings when they were trying to tear them down. For a while, it would work, and all three people that she had protesting with her … Then they would take them, and she would go into jail, and her parents would bail her out. One of those times, the parents were- they were coming, of course, out of the building- or out of jail, actually. The parents had paid her bail, and she looked at her parents and said, “Did they tear the building down?” They didn’t say yes. They didn’t have to. She just looked at her parents and said, “I’m just not getting through.” They said, “Let’s just go to dinner …” She goes, “No. I gotta go home and think about this one.” That line stayed with me – “I’m just not getting through.” In other words, she wasn’t influencing anything.

Betty Collins: [00:02:03] How many times have you had that passion, something in your heart and soul, right? And you have no results? You have that “I’m not getting through.” In reality, no influence. Influence can be applied to many things. Maybe you to influence and have a following. Maybe you want to push an agenda, be impactful. You have a passion. You have a cause, like Lucy Kelson. Today, we’re going to talk about becoming that person of influence.

Betty Collins: [00:02:31] Influence is merely … It’s the capability to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of something. Do you want to be that woman of influence? I hope so. We’re counting on you, actually. The movie is not real life, of course it’s not. It’s not. It’s fictional. But Sandra Bullock acted out and was determined to have influence about historical buildings. She really wanted the community center where she grew up to stay intact. But she had enough insight in that moment, when she saw her parents look that they had torn down another building, that it was not working, so she changed the way or the approach to influence her agenda of historic preservation.

Betty Collins: [00:03:18] I don’t know what your historic preservation issue is, but I’m sure there’s something out there that you would like to have more influence on. Well, the approach was very uncomfortable, and she had a mindset change to her method to her madness. Instead of having her and three people go protest, she ends up approaching Hugh Grant, as George Wade; the rich kid, the playboy, the guy who’s kind of everything she can’t stand. She ends up working for the guy who’s tearing down the buildings. Now, it’s a movie, and I get that, and I would call … But if that was real life, and you decided, “I’m going to now get in and get with that person,” like I talked in my last podcast – the decision maker, the person who makes things happen – that’s exactly what she did. It was bold. It was tenacious. She wasn’t comfortable. Confidence- she was confident in her passion, but it took a lot of … She’d be courageous now.

Betty Collins: [00:04:18] Okay, it’s a movie, but it could be real if you applied it to your situation. How are you going to change your mindset? How are you going to change your method? Are you going to do something a little more bold and tenacious to make it happen? Of course, Lucy Kelson did that. More on Lucy Kelson later. But before we continue, I want to think about the influence you have now or that you would like to have. Are you just not getting through to some aspect of your life or a situation, maybe in your family, with your kids? You know how that is. Bosses, customers, the career path. Think on it. Don’t just listen to my podcast, but really think on it. Define it, put it on the table, write it down, and then say it out loud. “I want to influence …” and make some change to becoming that influencer, so you get through where you need to.

Betty Collins: [00:05:12] To influence others, in other words, it’s not really optional to do these things, and it’s a lot. So, listen closely and get the transcript on these next few things, because this is not for the weak; it is not for the weary. You must go beyond general expectations, and you must reach for limits above the norm. You must have total confidence in yourself and what you are attempting to achieve, but you also have to be courageous. It’s one thing to be confident, but to stand up in the room and say what you need to say, that takes courage. You’ve got to provide words and wisdom to others who are seeking to obtain it. Then, you have to understand the impact, yourself, of maybe that historical preservation/community center staying. I don’t know. Show others that these things can be realized. Again, this is not for the weak, and it is not for the weary.

Betty Collins: [00:06:07] I’m going to give you some tips on how do I get through? How do I become that woman of influence? Well, first, you’ve got to focus on resonating with the audience. You’ve got to know the person or the group you’re trying to influence. I think, in the movie, that’s what she was doing. “I’ve got to get to know George Wade, and who he is, and get beside him …” Of course she got … It’s a movie, so it’s kind of … Go watch it, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. In her case, she said, That’s what I got to do. It’s no longer enough. I got to get to know this person and figure it out.”

Betty Collins, Brady Ware: [00:06:40] Begin with your audience and create generosity for them. I know that when I speak publicly, if I don’t get to know that audience, I will not connect, I will not resonate, and they will be on their phones. You have to benefit. You have to give them some kind of positive experience. That’s really just called you’ve got to make a resignation. Here’s a great quote, when you’re figuring out that audience or that person of who you’re trying to get to. “If you talk to someone about themselves, they’ll listen for hours.” I’m going to say that again: “If you talk to someone about themselves, they’ll listen for hours.” People will immediately like you, if you show interest in them first. We don’t do that well, often, today.

Betty Collins: [00:07:27] You’ve got to learn about who they are, what they are, what they dislike, what their favorite sports are. Make yourself more likable, and maybe you’ll gain some trust. I have a great example that. I was interviewing a very large client, and I really wanted this client. I went in there not really having any ability to resonate with this person. The more I tried to sell myself, and sell my company, and talk about myself and all those things, the interview was over before it started. Fortunately, I was perceiving that. I had good perception.

Betty Collins: [00:08:12] Then, I realized I just need to wind this down. She’s not interested. I saw two pictures on her desk, and one of them was … It looked like a place I had gone to. So, I said, “Hey, do you travel a lot?” She goes, “We love to travel. We live to travel.” I said, “Oh, is that St. Lucia? She goes, “It is.” Completely different conversation. We talked travel for 10 minutes, and we talked about everywhere we had been. She talked about all over, and it was personal for her, because it was with her husband, and her children, and a lifetime of those things. I was able to now resonate with that audience. I made a connection. Then, at the end, she said, “Get me the contract, and let’s get started.” It was the most bizarre thing I’ve ever …

Betty Collins, Brady Ware: [00:09:01] But I learned from that, that first thing, I went in … I try to do this now. I look around the room. What is the audience? Even if it’s one person, what is in their office? What are they – what resonates with them? If you want to influence, you’ve got to resonate. You got to know your stuff. If you want to be an influential person, you’ve got to know your stuff, and you’ve got to be incredible.

Betty Collins: [00:09:23] Lucy Kelson, played by Sandra Bullock, knew her stuff about historical preservation. She just did. She could go on, and on, and on about it. Now, Hugh Grant didn’t hear her, but she knew her stuff. She gained knowledge. She knew her research. When it really came to the moment where she could actually work for somebody like him and be there, he then began to go, “She knows. She’s credible. She might be a liberal, and I’m a conservative. She might be frugal, and I’m excessive,” but she knew her stuff; she had credibility; that took her a long way, and it kind of- she gained some authority because of that.

Betty Collins: [00:09:58] It’s funny, in the movie, now, he can’t make a decision without her. Everything is what she thinks, right? But knowing and research, you have to do that. You have to know, if you want to be an influencer, and it doesn’t matter what it is. If you want to help someone at your church, and you want them to know the Bible; if you don’t know it, it means nothing that you’re trying to help them. If you are in a situation where you’re trying to help someone sell something, and you’ve never sold anything in your whole life; doesn’t help. You’ve got to know your stuff to be credible.

Betty Collins, Brady Ware: [00:10:27] It’s our nature to listen to those who know more. It also is our nature to not listen to people who know more. Sometimes, the smartest person in the room is “the expert,” and they get attention because you’re stuck with them, because they’re expert. You don’t want to be in that but know your stuff and be credible.

Betty Collins: [00:10:47] Build your strategy and process first. To become influential, you’ve got to be intentional. I’m sure you’ve heard that. But those who plan, influence; those who think first, influence; those who are paralyzed by the plan, don’t influence, by the way, so don’t get too wrapped up in that, because if the plan sits on a shelf and collects dust, it means nothing. In order to have a real plan, you’ve got to think it through, but then you’ve got to go, “Here’s how I’m going to process this,” and then you will influence.

Betty Collins: [00:11:16] I know in Brady Ware, with our women’s initiative, I really did sit back and go, “What is the purpose? What is the mission? How do I want this to go? What is it I really want to achieve at the end of the day?” Then, I began executing things in pieces, and in five years, Brady Ware can’t believe how we’ve grown this to what it is. But it took a lot of that. Now, I’m pretty influential in Brady Ware, when I go in and say, “I think we should do this for women.” A lot of times, it’s just a given, because I’ve done my homework, I know my stuff, and I have a credible reputation. But then, I build a strategy, and I continue to change the strategy.

Betty Collins, Brady Ware: [00:11:53] The other piece is you’ve got to find your unique voice, when you want to influence. You can be the norm. You can be like everybody. You can be a copy, or you can be original. You’ve probably heard that. The key difference between influencers who make it and those who don’t is really not about how hard you work. That’s good stuff. It may not be that you are the big producer … People wear that badge of honor and thump their chest – “I’m the biggest! I’m the best! I’m doing all this!” – but it doesn’t mean that they are always going to be heard. In fact, sometimes people don’t want to hear about how hard you work and how good you are. They will be inspired by you, if you have a unique voice or method in how you communicate or how you do something.

Betty Collins: [00:12:38] There’s a funny part in the movie. It’s the envelope part of the movie. Now, of course, Hugh Grant can’t make one decision without Sandra Bullock. She knows her stuff. She’s credible. She’s on it. She’s gained his trust. On and on … So ,he brings her these two envelopes, and she’s like, “These are the same envelopes. I don’t know what the debate is?” He’s describing it to her, and she’s still going, “I don’t know what the debate is? They’re both not made with recycled paper, so I wouldn’t buy either of them.”

Betty Collins: [00:13:07] Then she goes, and she licks the envelopes, and see how they seal. He goes, “What are you doing?” And she goes, “Well, you’ve got to see if they seal well,” and she’s licking to see how they taste. He was like, “I’ve asked a hundred people this same question, and you’re the only one who came up with this answer.” That stuck with me, because I just think about these things. I don’t know why … She just had a unique way of helping him make decisions or getting him to where he needed to go. Again, it’s a movie, but the principle is there. Never underestimate the uniqueness of how you leverage; your voice will be heard differently, versus just, “I work hard, so I should be heard,” or, “I’m the biggest producer, I should be heard.” Those are things that are out there.

Betty Collins: [00:13:48] You’ve got to be consistent, period. To create trust and connection, you’ve got to be consistent. Deviation is okay, but consistent rules the day. I’m sure you’ve heard this – if you want to be influenced … You want to be the influencer, and not be influenced. Not that that’s bad but being authentic and building trust; you’ve got to be the real deal. People can read through that. It’s critical to stay that way. It’s critical to be transparent. People want to connect with people who are the real deal and are trustworthy. I see that in all levels and positions at Brady Ware. When you have somebody who just- you know that they are going to be authentic, and you can trust them, you’ll deal with them a lot more, you’ll use them a lot more, and you’ll probably support them when they need it a lot more.

Betty Collins, Brady Ware: [00:14:37] Another thing I didn’t … As I was doing my research for this podcast today, focusing on the metrics that matter … It seems like all I hear about right now are metrics and measuring, but influencers having impact need to measure metrics, and they need to measure the right ones. My good friend, Sheri Jones, she has a company, Measurement Resources, that measures outcomes. She has convinced me, over and over, it’s important, and it’s valuable, because I see results with it. But, at times, as an influencer, you think if you are dealing with metrics like ‘I have this many employees, and my company’s bigger, and now I’ve gotten to this revenue; my office is now the corner, and it’s the biggest; or my LinkedIn connections have hit 1,500; or, hey, I make more money …’

Betty Collins: [00:15:27] Those are all good metrics and things to shoot for. But you probably will have better results as an influencer if you focus on two things. Engagement; engagement with employees, engagement with customers, people that totally … You’re engaged and, no matter what, there’s a strength in that. So, engagement is huge. You can do all you want for employees; if they aren’t engaged and own it, and they’re … It’s not nearly as effective. So, measuring engagement is proven to be something that’s huge. It’s not just that I saw five people and have five contacts; It’s did I engage with them? Did I make a connection with them? Going again back to I knew my audience, and I was able to talk about St. Lucia, and it all came to full circle. That’s engagement; not talking about what I do, and how hard I work, and what we can do for you.

Betty Collins: [00:16:20] Then, the return on your investment. There are things that you can do in any organization, where you might put a lot of metrics on volume and sales. If it’s the wrong sale, and you don’t make any money, it doesn’t matter. So, measure what is bringing back to you. I can make this much money on these things, so obviously, it’s adding to my cash, or paying off my debt, or it’s I now have reinvestment money. People who are pretty influential measure those things that matter. The two metrics are engagement, and the other one is return on investment.

Betty Collins: [00:16:59] You’ve got to be vulnerable but smart. Opening up about your struggles and fears; some people do that better than others, but it’s tough. Doing so, though, helps you connect to that audience. It definitely humanizes you, because we all are. I’m not saying that you need to tell your life story every day. Please don’t. The difficulties you share could be really relatable to that person. You never know. It also can be real negative, if you overdo it.

Betty Collins: [00:16:59] In the movie, Hugh Grant, who is more of a playboy, not over-serious, successful, living on his dad’s money, but yet, he’s influential because he’s successful. Of course, the activist of Sandra Bullock’s very harsh about him. Then, in this one moment in the movie, they’re in her favorite place, and they’re talking about expectations, and they’re going on and on. Then Hugh Grant just says, “Or maybe no one having any expectations at all …”

Betty Collins: [00:17:59] She understood, in that moment, because her parents had such high- that his parents probably had such low, so no wonder he didn’t get it. He didn’t get what she was totally driven with, right? I just found that an interesting line, because she heard him, and, at that point in the movie – again, this is not real – but she listened to him differently. She treated him differently, because she saw something in him. For her, for parents, or anyone around you to not have expectations of you was very, very foreign to her, because that was all her parents were about. So, she heard, and it changed her view – again, influence.

Betty Collins: [00:18:42] Don’t take shortcuts when you’re trying to be an influencer. In fact, it might put you three steps forward, two steps back. You can’t do it faster and easier. It has to be at a pace that works. Don’t put your reputation at risk. Definitely don’t do that. To become an influencer, you probably have built a lot of authority and trust that we’ve talked about. Do not lose that investment by going rogue or just dipping into something that you shouldn’t. In this movie, both characters were so opposite, but they really never compromised who they were, at the end; they just didn’t. She loved historical buildings, and he loved new ones, and there was nothing wrong with either side. They didn’t ever put their reputation at risk, because that’s who they are and it’s what they did.

Betty Collins: [00:19:28] Lastly, but not leastly, it’s not about you. When you’re trying to influence, it cannot be about you. It may be about you, in the end; it might be somebody you’re trying to influence to build a bigger company or influence your family to be a better- all those things. But it really is about the person. It’s less about you, and it’s more about cheering on the cause, or cheering on the people that you’re trying to influence. Becoming a woman of influence is not for the weary. It is not just for the strong, either. I’ve seen all kinds of women in all kinds of positions in all stages of life influence.

Betty Collins: [00:20:01] These are just a few quotes that I found. I always love to find quotes, and so I’m out there googling, but I thought some of them were interesting. “If you’re going to influence, associate yourself with people of good quality, for it’s better to be alone than in bad company.” Two, “You can be much more influential if people are not aware of your influence.” Again, I go back to my friend Caroline Worley, who’s such a master at being political savvy and such a master at influence and using it for the good. She was fantastic. “Influence is like a savings account. The less you use, the more you got.” Let that sink in. And, “The ability to influence people without irritating them is probably the best skill that you can ever learn.”.

Betty Collins: [00:20:45] So, today I’ve said a lot. Get the transcript. Get my notes, because there’s a lot there that you need to dig into. Influencing, becoming that person of influence is something that you can do. It takes work, and it takes intentionality, but it would be worth it in the end of whatever that you’re trying to accomplish. I’m Betty Collins. Thank you for listening today.

Inspiring Women, Episode 15: Being Politically Savvy

by

Inspiring Women with Betty Collins album cover
Inspiring Women PodCast with Betty Collins
Inspiring Women, Episode 15: Being Politically Savvy
Loading
/

Inspiring Women with Betty Collins album cover

Being Politically Savvy

How do you successfully navigate office politics? On this edition of “Inspiring Women,” host Betty Collins discusses the skills needed to be politically savvy. “Inspiring Women” is presented by Brady Ware & Company.

Betty Collins, CPA, Brady Ware & Company and Host of the “Inspiring Women” Podcast

Betty Collins, Brady Ware & Company

Betty Collins is the Office Lead for Brady Ware’s Columbus office and a Shareholder in the firm. Betty joined Brady Ware & Company in 2012 through a merger with Nipps, Brown, Collins & Associates. She started her career in public accounting in 1988. Betty is co-leader of the Long Term Care service team, which helps providers of services to Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and nursing centers establish effective operational models that also maximize available funding. She consults with other small businesses, helping them prosper with advice on general operations management, cash flow optimization, and tax minimization strategies.

In addition, Betty serves on the Board of Directors for Brady Ware and Company. She leads Brady Ware’s Women’s Initiative, a program designed to empower female employees, allowing them to tap into unique resources and unleash their full potential.  Betty helps her colleagues create a work/life balance while inspiring them to set and reach personal and professional goals. The Women’s Initiative promotes women-to-women business relationships for clients and holds an annual conference that supports women business owners, women leaders, and other women who want to succeed. Betty actively participates in women-oriented conferences through speaking engagements and board activity.

Betty is a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and she is the President-elect for the Columbus Chapter. Brady Ware also partners with the Women’s Small Business Accelerator (WSBA), an organization designed to help female business owners develop and implement a strong business strategy through education and mentorship, and Betty participates in their mentor match program. She is passionate about WSBA because she believes in their acceleration program and matching women with the right advisors to help them achieve their business ownership goals. Betty supports the WSBA and NAWBO because these organizations deliver resources that help other women-owned and managed businesses thrive.

Betty is a graduate of Mount Vernon Nazarene College, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and a member of the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants. Betty is also the Board Chairwoman for the Gahanna Area Chamber of Commerce, and she serves on the Board of the Community Improvement Corporation of Gahanna as Treasurer.

“Inspiring Women” Podcast Series

“Inspiring Women” is THE podcast that advances women toward economic, social and political achievement. The show is hosted by Betty Collins, CPA, and presented by Brady Ware and Company. Brady Ware is committed to empowering women to go their distance in the workplace and at home. Other episodes of “Inspiring Women” can be found here.

Show Transcript

[00:00:01] So today I’ve chosen kind of an interesting topic. Maybe when you hear the title, you’ll understand politically savvy. Oh, yes. Politics. You know, today it’s always had a negative tone. But in today’s environment. Wow. Just not good, right? But, you know, if you take politics in in politically correct or just say politically savvy, maybe I’ll get you to listen. Politically savvy. The why and the how. I will tell you, is it really necessary? Because some people really don’t like that idea of that. I’m going to say a firm. Yes. If you truly want to get where you want to go, you’ve got a you’ve got to learn the art of being politically savvy. So let me set the stage. The term politics is based on words, Polly, and ticks. Poly meaning many and ticks, meaning blood-sucking parasites, totally fits in today’s environment, right? It’s why we don’t like it maybe I don’t know. But whenever people’s priority, their values and their interests come together, chances are some type of politicking is going to take place. So where are your priorities right now? Can you easily define those values? Hopefully it should be quick, you know. What are your interests? So, yeah, you know, it’s necessary if you’re going to make sure that those priorities, values and interests are really going to become reality. Being politically savvy just might have to be in order.

[00:01:36] But no matter where, you know, your office, family, maybe you maybe you volunteer a nonprofit, you’re involved in your local community, talk about politics or politics, politicking. It’s just inevitable. And they involve intentional acts to you and by you to influence and enhance, you know, protect those priorities and those values and interests. So we’re going to talk about today. So, yeah, it’s necessary to be politically savvy to have as the best desired outcomes that you’re looking for. I think the major intention of office politics is about. It’s about positioning yourself. It’s about vested rights that can be dangerous, maybe resources and careers, influence and power. And when all those things are done the right way, it can be really amai amazing. And when it’s done the wrong way with wrong motives, though, it can be pretty dangerous. So be careful when you’re talking in wanting to position yourself, investing yourself and tapping into resources, advancing your career, which can all lead to some good influence and power. Political savvy is the only way to go and it’s a positive connotation. Necessary, my opinion totally the true secret to being politically savvy is that it’s a secret skill. To be successful if the best it’s the best trader ability you have that’s just kind of natural and and you don’t talk about being politically savvy and nobody talks about it.

[00:03:07] e-justice. It’s who you. It’s it’s who you are. It’s how you can can work the room and work the situation to do what you need to do. Navigating an office or, you know, an organization, even your own household. You know, you got to get comfortable with and then duty, you know, those unknowns. Right? You’ve got to get comfortable with some alliances. Not everyone is easy to align with and be authentic with. That’s why you got to be political savvy. By the way, you know, the thing that we don’t really see a lot in today’s politics is, is those things that people are trying to come together with. But with practice, you know, you can decipher what is often unspeakable and not easy. If you decide the right course of action and just a side note, authenticity is not telling the truth without spilling every single. Your gut every single time. That’s not an authenticity. But truth always wins and it doesn’t have to be dramatic. So as we talk about political competence today and being politically savvy. Really, political competence is the ability to understand what you can and cannot control. You’ve got to know when you take action. And you’ve got to figure out who’s going to resist your agenda.

[00:04:25] I remember it being in a class once for CPE and it was a long, long time ago in my career and she was such a dynamic speaker. If you can imagine, all of us really love talking about managing compilations. OK. Not an exciting subject, but she or I never have forgotten this for her. She said Always figure out who’s going to resist what you want to do when you’re managing. Always figure out and be prepared for it because it will happen. So I’ve always remember that advice from this woman. I couldn’t tell you who it is on compilations of how exciting. You have to know who’s on your side. Absolutely. You know, there is that saying out there, keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer. So there’s some truth in that. But you really do have to know who’s on your side, who’s in that circle that will help you through it. And then you have to know about how to navigate through that, the map, the political terrain where you are to get others on your side. So, you know, I’ve said a lot of things that you probably already knew, but being politically savvy is really, you know, for me, I’ve got to make sure that if I’m going to get what I want or I’m going to get what I think the organization needs or do what’s best and align my values and all those things, I’ve just got to learn this skill set. So how do I do that? I’m going to give you some Howse today. Here’s the number one think before you speak. Let me say that again. Think before you speak. You know, to be truly politically skilled. You’ve got to have some impulse control even over this past weekend. I had a situation where I got a a face book message, p_m_, whatever it’s called.

[00:06:01] And it was a very I could have taken that message a hundred ways, but I stepped back and said, nope, I’m going to think about this and try to not hash it over all weekend. But before I speak, I’m going to take my time. It kind of paid off because when I actually had the conversation and step back and wait for a real conversation, not text, it turned into something different.

[00:06:24] So you need to choose your organizational battles wisely. You know, those conversations that size things up before you decide how you’re going to present to others. You have to consider whether or not to voice a thought or a feeling. And timing is everything. Have you ever seen someone try to get something done because they’re passionate. They want to do it. They’re ready. They’re prepared. It’s just not the right time because the person maybe or the situation they’re trying to change. It’s not time. It’s not a good time. You’ve got to think before you speak and you’ve got to think there’s going to be a time when I can do this.

[00:06:58] You have to consider that your communication of yourself, your ideas, your opinions, sometimes look back and see where you said something. And in that prior time, it worked and learned from that. Probably it was the circumstance and the timing that made it work.

[00:07:17] The result that you can have can be pretty ideal if you wait and think before you speak. And chances are you’re probably not going to go off and be real rogue or this situation goes rogue. And you definitely are politicking at that point, but the results are likely be more positive when you think before you speak. Especially when it’s not something simple, especially when it’s something that could be controversial or it could go either way in. So be careful too. You got to manage up to some point. When you are savvy, you must be able to skillfully communicate with the layers above you.

[00:07:52] What does layers mean then? Sound very fun, does it? But it’s your boss, the supervisor. Sometimes I’m referring to even higher up decision makers. Your boss might not be the decision maker, but then you have to look at that layer and say, boy, if I go to his boss or her boss, is that going to be good? So you’ve got to figure out how to manage up to a point. I was just in a meeting where there were two people with the same position and they both had such different approaches. They both managed up, but two to one really did it to the wrong person and one did it to the right person and that person who knew skillfully enough to go, Hey. Think before you say say it, well, that person was making such more headway than the other person over here thinking, I’ve chosen the right person, I’m going to work the room over here and I’m going to. I’m gonna be savvy on this side on the right person to be savvy with. So you have to think about those things.

[00:08:48] Also, political skill involves maintaining good relationships with people, though, in the entire organization. Nearly as good as that team around you. We always hear that.

[00:08:57] So I’m not saying put all your all your energy and your resource in layers above you, because if you don’t have the layer below you, that makes it all work as well. You may end up neglecting that entire team around you. So, you know, when you’re trying to be politically savvy, trying to work through your family organization, your church, your community office, your careers. Think before you speak and manage up to a point. Make sure everyone around you that’s involved is treated well, because those people may they may one day rise up above you. You never know. You have to practice influence. How do you do that? I mean, what does that really mean? Because my next podcast is on influence and becoming that so effective influencers. They build strong interpersonal communication and relationships and they have good rapport with other people. When you are skilled, politically, politically savvy, people are comfortable with those interpersonal communications and skillsets that can be somebody that’s very intimate setting. It can be something that’s one on one. But you have to practice that influence. There’s a really good saying that sometimes influences like a savings account. The more you don’t draw out, the more you have.

[00:10:13] So sometimes throwing influence around doesn’t help you. I really got to witness somebody who’s very good at influence and being politically savvy and having really good impact. And that would be Caroline Warley. She’s an attorney in Columbus, Ohio. She has helped tremendous amounts of women’s organizations start from scratch, get them going. And what she really does well with those things is she connects people to the right people because she is a very connected person. She practices her influence. But you don’t even know it. You know, she’s bringing those people in and she’s she’s making sure that they are connected to the right thing for the greater good, not for Caroline morally necessarily. It’s okay that sometimes it’s for Caroline Worthy. Right. But she practices that influence in all kinds of situations and areas in her life. People who practice influence, they tend to have some good judgment about when they assert themselves and that results in cooperative relationships around them. So skilled influences are not always overly political. They just know how to play the game. Don’t you hate that? But it’s true. There are people out there who really know how to do that.

[00:11:26] Number four, this could be an entire podcast. Hone your power of perception. Don’t you love the person in the room that has no, I dieser just. They think they do, but they don’t. So I love number four. What a statement. Really, it’s an action or trait that is key to being skillfully politically savvy. You have to understand that.

[00:11:52] That when you can know what’s going on and be perceptive, there is power in that can, that’s an entire podcast. One day I was in a meeting and room full of great people and I walk in and they said, Here’s your meeting. I sat down and. And I’m pretty personable. So I start talking to everyone because, you know, I think I am in the right meeting. I have no idea that I’m completely in the wrong meeting until I realized and I said out loud, I’m in the wrong meeting.

[00:12:23] Everybody laughed because there’s a dozen people, but they were very entertained. But it didn’t dawn on me till probably three to five minutes into this meeting. I had no idea I was in the wrong meeting, too. I really then started seeing these people had no clue. I’m hitting out my cards to everybody. The funny part of that story was two years later, somebody hired me from that meeting because I handled it so well. Wish them all a good day. Walked out of there completely humiliated, but I laughed all the way out the door.

[00:12:51] So having the ability to understand now, that was a funny situation, obviously, but people who can hone in and have that perception have some. There’s power in it. And you understand you’ve got to. It’s a skill. This is really a natural characteristic in somebody. I think it’s a hard skill to learn. If you can’t see it, you just can’t. And so if you really have that problem where you’re not being able to work a room, well, get someone to help you with that. You’ve got to know who is around you and what this what the circumstances is. But it really is part of being really good savvy. That’s for sure. You got to learn to network. There’s networking and then there’s networking. Right. Actually, my friend Betty Clark at CPM Media says all the time there’s networking and then there’s connecting. So I could go to lunch three times a day. Sometimes I feel like I have or there’s really where you’re connecting with somebody. And so when you’re being savvy, if you are a person who helps small business, but you are meeting with big time, the large client, middle market bankers, that’s that’s networking. It’s not connecting. So you have to learn the difference a little bit and get in there. And of course, it’s not who you are. It’s who you know. That’s just a fact in life. Effective networking goes well beyond passing out your business cards and smoothing. You know, people who possess a strong networking ability, they build friendships and they see that going to be beneficial for both of you. It’s not about networking with a big name. So you can say you networking the big name. What can you do for them and what can they do for you? Skilled networkers know when to call on others and they’re willing to reciprocate.

[00:14:41] There has to be benefit between the two. The relationships have to benefit. Otherwise, it truly is just having lunch. It’s not networking connecting. So you have to invest in them and they will invest in you. Those are just various things that you can do to get that good politically savvy people are. They think before they speak. They manage up to they manage up to a point, but then they practice influence, they hone the power of perception and then they learn to network. Those are things that you have to take those five subject matters and dive into where you don’t have strength. But really, those who demonstrate political intelligence, they probably have a basic strategy. Of course, I’m a CPA and I’m a practical person. So strategy is great. I love it. If it sits down, if it’s in a book that sits on a shelf, it doesn’t really mean anything.

[00:15:33] So when I talk about they demonstrate political intelligence, they’re actually doing something with this strategy. But these are the things that they do. They partner with their boss. Unless you have a unique and irreplaceable knowledge or skill, which very few people do, actually your boss has much more power than you do. Probably your manager has much more access to those key decision makers. So it’s better to have a boss as a cheerleader than as an adversary. And again, I go back to managing up and you find those relationships. If you really want to get to the CEO of a company or a vice president level. You’re probably not going to find that by partnering with the accounts payable clerk of the company. You know, you’ve got to understand partnering with whether it’s a customer or a prospect or in your own company, partner with the boss. The person who’s up. The person who is the decision person. But at the same time, you’ve got to be a team, a 360 team player, which, you know, what does that really mean? I think it means it’s full circle. You must have a wide network of relationships with in your organization. Missy Heimer, who is a director at Brady, where when she first came to Brady, where which is probably 13, 14 years ago, she was a staff accountant. She kind of had started her career later in life.

[00:16:46] But she was very adamant of wanting to be a director and own a company one day. And one of the people gave her great advice. Young, you know, when she became a senior, she started seeing things happen. Get to know every director of Brady where and not just in the office you work in, but in other offices, because one day you’re in need, all those relationships around you. And so, you know, when it came time to vote for her to be a director, she knew everybody shouldn’t work for them necessarily. She she didn’t have that much interaction, but she definitely had this full circle. And on top of that, she made sure all the managers around staff, everyone, she was a kind of a hub centralized person. The other reason had to be a 360 team player and know kind of everyone within your organization. I mean, our Columbus office has 30 people in it. The more you know and have relationships in and work those rooms, guess what? You’re going a better understand what’s going on in the Columbus office. You’re going to know the things that are happening. And you won’t be maybe surprised then when you get those circles in those teams all collaborating. You can do anything. And that’s part of being politically savvy for sure. Then you have to understand the power map. Organizations are pop power hierarchies, right. And from time to time, those things shift.

[00:18:08] So you might have had the relationship with this person for ever and ever thinking that would hold you there. Well, what happens when that person goes? I learned this early on in my career as I was, you know, trying to know more and more people. And I loved one of my partners, which was with the payroll company. And this person gave me a lot of business and I gave them a lot of business. It was great until all the sudden three into three years. Guess what? They go on to something else, like selling medical something. Well, I had no other contacts at that point to refer to me or me refer to them. And so you have to kind of understand that at sometimes, no, that’s not a hierarchy person, but everywhere you have to. I if I would have known his boss, the boss would’ve probably brought me out one of his better reps if I wouldn’t. You know, CEOs come and go, accountants come and go. And you’re in. Really, you’re working for the owner of the company, not the CFO. You have to make sure that your understanding that power map of who has the influence, where you are and where you want to be and making sure that you will always leverage that things could change. So I’ve got to be able to change along with it.

[00:19:16] Then you have to practice subtle self-promotion. That would not be Betty Collins. I tell people on my podcast all the time. And really, if I don’t mean why wouldn’t I promote that? I mean, I work hard at it. It takes time to do. I was at a lunch and we were with a table, people we didn’t know. And so we’re going around introducing ourselves.

[00:19:38] And so one of the women said, oh, ah. I asked her, actually, I said, so how do you like being in the Narva organization? And she goes, Oh, I love it. And so the person next to her said, Oh, you’re with norvo. And I said, Yeah, you know, I’m on the board and I’m involved. And everyone started laughing at the table that was with me. They said, she’s the president of norvo. I don’t know why she’s not telling you that. And they all kind of laughed about it, you know. But the person I was across the table from actually was a really great connection. And so now I have kind of something she’s going to remember buying. I gave her my card and we talked. I could have just said, yeah, I’m very involved. I love the organization and so much so that I’m on the board and I’m the president right now, blah, blah, blah. And go on into those things. So sometimes you have to do those things and we don’t always do that well. Of course, there are those people that do it way too often and it’s very annoying.

[00:20:29] So politically savvy people can share their information, but chances are they’re going to self-promote and no-one’s. It’s not going to be obnoxious. People are gonna be good with it. OK. Here’s one. And you’ll go, why did you put this in here? Connect with the power people. Well, the big decisions about your career, you know, your company or even in the community will be made by people who endorse you. It’s just true. I mean, it can actually other day with someone because I was a link. She’s a LinkedIn friend. You know, we run in circles, but I’ve never done a business with her until she. She. Person who was trying to get her business said, well, we have a common person that I know. And can you call her? And she will give me a reference. I’m not going to tell her that I’m calling. And she said, we made this connection. And these were pretty high up. Well, I we consider high a powerful people. I up now having. Thank you for giving me a good reference. And by the way, here’s a client for you, because now I learn more about you and the person who I’d really like to get declined that she knows. Now, we had a great conversation about just business in general vs. other things that that I usually talk with her about. So those decision-maker people who endorse you.

[00:21:49] People who will make you happen. That was just a simple thing. But in the case of your company, maybe it’s your boss, you know, in your business, maybe it’s getting to that bigger client or smaller ones. You know, I’d rather have 10 big clients than 100 smaller ones. It depends on what you do. But in your community, you know, it’s one thing to note city council members. It’s another thing to know the mayor. You’re probably going to get a lot more done when you know the mayor. You may not know the mayor to, you know, council, though. So you have to look at both of those politically savvy people. Enjoy talking to folks who have the power, of course. It’s not like sucking up and using their coattails to drag along, but the people who are endorsed, you know, they’re going to help you be politically savvy. Again, remember memory, I started this podcast. I said you don’t really want to be seen as politically savvy. Just wanted to have it be happening. And then you got to commit to the business of the day that you do the passion that you’re doing, the organization that you’re in. Nobody likes an apathetic attitude. No one has ever press with, well, you know, I like the commercial that’s out right now where they say, yeah, my French is just okay. And of course, they interpret French as completely wrong.

[00:22:56] So if you want decision makers to think well of you, you need to be pretty interested and excited in what you do and false cheer will get you. So it will only get you so far. So you have to have some politically savvy. You really got to have the why and the what so that the what is simple in your life. But you’ve got to be committed to whatever it is you’re trying to politically savvy navigate through. So knowing the rules of this unwritten, invisible world politically savviness that no one wants to talk about because no one wants to say they’re political. It will help you gain recognition. It will help you get promotion in. It will get you where you probably want to go. Here’s some other things where you can think of. I’m going to be politically savvy, not sleazy. Right. You find the geek gatekeepers. Keep your eyes and ears open. Who are the real people of influence? Who do you need to get to? Who’s going to really make the difference? Often it’s just like any game you need to connect with the person who shuffles the cards. You have to be careful in that, too, because you can’t just try to get to the top first. I had a very interesting person in my my district ran for mayor. Anybody can run for mayor, but the person had never been on council.

[00:24:04] They’d never even been in the chamber. They had never been in CVB volunteering throughout the city. It was really kind of strange. So politically savvy, you know, when we’re talking about a find the gatekeeper. Sometimes you got a fine before you get there. You got to listen. Listed the coffeemaker. Gossip is a bad thing, right? It’s hard. It should be anyways. But tidbits of information sometimes can get you right to the right person. So sometimes just again, listening, kind of when I talked in the beginning of think before you speak. Right. Know when to be quiet. Tom Cruise is the perfect example of this in Jerry Maguire. So in the beginning, he has this epiphany, right? He writes this big story. Right. He goes in and gives everybody the story. And the whole place is quiet and within, you know, an hour of entering that office. Guess what? He was walking out of that office, had a really lot of good things to say and passion that he wanted to do and influence and change. But, man, he just didn’t know when to be quiet. Really blew it as far as I was concerned. And then building strategic alliances. You know, it’s not all about numbers. It’s not about how many people like you on Facebook. It really is probably gathering up your own board of directors.

[00:25:17] That is about your agenda. Whatever it is to politically savvy, savvy, navigate through. That’s better than well, I know all these people now and you don’t really know them. And they’re liking something good for you.

[00:25:30] And then trust your instincts. You know, learn what pushes your buttons and do it. Do something about it. Navigating office politics means getting comfortable with that ambiguity, the unknowns, alliances and authenticity, I talked about that at first and with practice you can decipher was often pretty unspeakable and decide the right course of action. So gonna end with this statement to be human is to be political. Inspired people help you build the right required skills to navigate, navigate politically in organization. And so make sure that as you start this venture of I’m going to become politically savvy, take hard. Get the transcript, because I just gave you a ton of information about trying to navigate through through being politically savvy, it’s not easy to do, but it’s necessary in the world you live in, probably. I’m Betty Collins. Thanks for listening today.

Inspiring Women, Episode 14: Lifting Up The Next Generation of Women

by

Inspiring Women PodCast with Betty Collins
Inspiring Women PodCast with Betty Collins
Inspiring Women, Episode 14: Lifting Up The Next Generation of Women
Loading
/

Lifting Up The Next Generation of Women

On this edition of “Inspiring Women,” host Betty Collins discusses lifting up the next generation of women. How do you create environments for women to thrive? What’s the best way to encourage the next generation of women? Betty discusses these questions and more in this edition of “Inspiring Women,” presented by Brady Ware & Company.

Betty Collins, CPA, Brady Ware & Company and Host of the “Inspiring Women” Podcast

Betty Collins, Brady Ware & Company

Betty Collins is the Office Lead for Brady Ware’s Columbus office and a Shareholder in the firm. Betty joined Brady Ware & Company in 2012 through a merger with Nipps, Brown, Collins & Associates. She started her career in public accounting in 1988. Betty is co-leader of the Long Term Care service team, which helps providers of services to Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and nursing centers establish effective operational models that also maximize available funding. She consults with other small businesses, helping them prosper with advice on general operations management, cash flow optimization, and tax minimization strategies.

In addition, Betty serves on the Board of Directors for Brady Ware and Company. She leads Brady Ware’s Women’s Initiative, a program designed to empower female employees, allowing them to tap into unique resources and unleash their full potential.  Betty helps her colleagues create a work/life balance while inspiring them to set and reach personal and professional goals. The Women’s Initiative promotes women-to-women business relationships for clients and holds an annual conference that supports women business owners, women leaders, and other women who want to succeed. Betty actively participates in women-oriented conferences through speaking engagements and board activity.

Betty is a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and she is the President-elect for the Columbus Chapter. Brady Ware also partners with the Women’s Small Business Accelerator (WSBA), an organization designed to help female business owners develop and implement a strong business strategy through education and mentorship, and Betty participates in their mentor match program. She is passionate about WSBA because she believes in their acceleration program and matching women with the right advisors to help them achieve their business ownership goals. Betty supports the WSBA and NAWBO because these organizations deliver resources that help other women-owned and managed businesses thrive.

Betty is a graduate of Mount Vernon Nazarene College, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and a member of the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants. Betty is also the Board Chairwoman for the Gahanna Area Chamber of Commerce, and she serves on the Board of the Community Improvement Corporation of Gahanna as Treasurer.

“Inspiring Women” Podcast Series

“Inspiring Women” is THE podcast that advances women toward economic, social and political achievement. The show is hosted by Betty Collins, CPA, and presented by Brady Ware and Company. Brady Ware is committed to empowering women to go their distance in the workplace and at home. Past episodes of “Inspiring Women” can be found here.

Show Transcript

Betty Collins: [00:00:00] Lifting the next generation of women … No, this is not a podcast on millennials. This is not a podcast on the 20-somethings. For me, I’m 56 years of age. I’m a young 56, but I am 56. And all the sudden, the word legacy starts being said out loud, because it’s kind of in your thoughts. It’s on your mind a little bit more. I think that 65 is a long way off. However, it’ll be here before I probably want it. Then what? I will tell you, without reservation, my CPA life will be completed. There is no question. The empowerment and the advancement of women is something I’m passionate about for many reasons, and it’s not just about success, or the rights; it’s just about a life well-lived on their terms. That can look different for everybody.

Betty Collins: [00:00:53] Lifting up the next generation of women is what I want for me to give and to be part of. It’s just part of my DNA, and it’s certainly something I want as part of my legacy, both in business and personal. There’s nothing like the energy of youth. I know, in my Columbus office, in Brady Ware, we have a lot of younger people, and we all love that. Watching from a distance, just the success of those 20-, 30-, and 40-somethings, just the energy, and just watching from a distance, that’s really not enough. Lifting them up – more, I’m going to talk more about the women part of it – is really a movement that I want to be a part of, and there’s no retirement to that. How do you just feed off that energy, maybe, and how do you maybe direct it; help them direct that energy? Then, how do you really get involved by not just being on the outskirts?

Betty Collins: [00:01:51] Again, this is not a podcast on millennials, although they are a part of the next generation. This is not even a podcast on my life, and now that it’s coming to a close, and it’s all ending, and my CPA career – I will never have to do accounting again … It’s not that. It’s just a podcast about having a discussion on how to lift up that next generation of women. Really, it goes beyond more than just sharing your experiences, because you’ve learned along the way, or mentoring. All that is important. It goes beyond even making sure that they don’t make your same mistakes, because they probably are going to make a lot of them. It’s important, obviously, to teach that. It goes really beyond, sure, that you’re not in this to change them, so that they do it your way; although you might know the way …

Betty Collins: [00:02:38] If you really want to uplift that next generation, you must determine what is the uplift; what is it that you want to uplift? Uplifting women in leadership? Is it about their careers? Is it about the potential? Maybe it’s about big choices in life – the significant other who you marry, parenting – maybe you are really good at that; faith, or core values. Whatever those things are, you’ve got to go, “This is what I really want to help that next generation be successful in.”

Betty Collins: [00:03:13] When you do that, you can start focusing in on that. Some of it is maybe you really help with what you are great at, or maybe what you’re not so great at, because that’s the one that you’d learn probably the most lesson from. You us those to uplift and get that next generation excited. Look around your life. What women uplifted you in the past, or are doing it right now? By the way, who are you uplifting? You need to think on that. If you got nothing, start making it part of your life, ASAP.

Betty Collins: [00:03:47] By the way, you don’t have to be 56 to be an uplifter of the next generation. I think we think it’s for gray-hairs, right? I read a really great article on what 30-somethings want 20-somethings to know. Chances are, a 30-something will resonate more with that 20-something than I would. Here are some examples. Be picky who you spend your time with. high school, it’s a popular contest; maybe even college, and then you start … You probably have some time where you need to whittle down some friendships. There’s only so much time in the day. That’s a 30-something telling that to 20s.

Betty Collins: [00:04:25] The 30-something is telling the 20-somethings to take more risk. I find that kind of comical, but that’s what they see. Here’s a good one – they say save more money. Your 401k is important. If I say, at 56, my 401k is important, like to my children, their response usually is, “Well, you have money to do that. You don’t have the bills I have,” and all that. Where a 30-, and 20-something, if a 30-something is starting to have success in that, the 20-something’s going to relate more.

Betty Collins: [00:04:58] Don’t dismiss your wild dreams. Slow down and be positive. Get rid of skinny jeans. I found that one to be funny, because I will tell you, when I see 56-year-old women looking like they’re trying to be 30, it really drives me crazy, so I found that one very interesting. They even said this in their article, “Don’t judge older women for spending money on eye cream.” They also agree that Sheryl Sandberg was right, you’ve got to have a lot of support. She was where she was because she acknowledged she had a great partner in life. I thought it was very interesting that I found more articles on 30-somethings wanting to give advice to 20-somethings. I didn’t find a lot about what you what 50-year-olds want 40s to know or even what 40-year-olds want 30s to know? I found that interesting.

Betty Collins: [00:05:51] Be aware, they may not want you lifting them up. Chances are, they’re not going to seek you out. Step up but be respectful. What inspires you may not inspire them. When I started a women’s initiative in Brady Ware, I thought, “Oh, Brady Ware’s so generous, they’re gonna let me buy books for all the women to read a book a month, or a book a quarter …” They didn’t want to read books. That was not them. I like a hard book with a highlighter. I always read about half of it. That didn’t interest them. It didn’t inspire them to help them.

Betty Collins: [00:06:26] You really have to figure out, then, too, what motivates them. My children are not motivated at the things I was motivated. They don’t care if they ever, really, a buy a house. They’re more into condo living in the downtown. When I was their age, that was the thing – you’ve got to get that 20 percent saved, so you could buy a house. You’ve got to get the house. What motivated maybe you or me, back in the time that they were their age is not probably the same.

Betty Collins: [00:07:00] These are things you have to be aware of. To uplift, you’ve got to be uplifting. You can’t be Debbie Downer, and go, “I’m gonna inspire you!” I remember one of my friends, her mom was really not doing very well; she was getting ready to pass away. She had cancer; they were in the hospital, and they were going around … They were sitting in the lobby just to get out of the room. Her mom was just a negative, negative person. She was not fun to be around at all. She saw somebody in the waiting room, and she leaned over to my friend, her daughter, and said, “I’m going to go help them. They shouldn’t be smoking, because this is what the result is.” She said, “Mom, you’re not gonna go do that,” because she knew that her mom was going to go over and just … It was not going to be a good conversation.

Betty Collins: [00:07:54] To be uplifting, man, you’ve got to be uplifting. It’s not about making you feel better. It’s about them. I’ll use this illustration – this may not make sense to you – there are preachers who are very preachy, fire and brimstone, and teach you, and tell you, and go on. Then there’s somebody who’s got a pastor’s heart. They’re that caregiver. They have compassion. Those are two different things. You’ve got to know the difference. Yeah, you can figure out what you want to uplift, because you’ve been good at it or you’ve been bad at it, but you’ve got to be aware of those things.

Betty Collins: [00:08:31] Then, you’ve got to be generous. Your mistakes, your barriers, your regrets – figure out a way to teach your life lessons to the next generation and learn from them. I know, with my kids, I was very determined that they were not going to work as much as I worked. They were not going to have to take care of things financially, like I had to do. That was my own little … I’m going to teach them that, man, life is good, and these are the things you can really aspire for, but I’m going to pay for all that and do that. They really kind of missed out on figuring out finances in life, like they should have. It took them a little time to do that, because I didn’t let them experience that. Instead, I was trying to take my mistakes and my barriers that I thought I had and just remove them from their life. Not a good thing.

Betty Collins: [00:09:20] Then, patience is required. You ever had that person in your life, you’ve got to be really patient with? Then, one day, they turn the corner, right? Being a mentor, and sponsoring someone, all those are important, but the informal, sometimes … Just that informal, day-to-day, shoot from the hip … Figure out what motivates them;  figure out what they need; figure out how to communicate to them – you might be surprised. I will tell you, I wish I would have known these things over the last 30 years. I wish I would have had some people in my life that said, “This next generation, man, Betty Collins probably could use this …” but these are things I really wish I would have known more of.

Betty Collins: [00:09:59] Cultivate the right attitude, no matter what you’re seeking. Sometimes, it was just I have to do this because I have to do this. Really? Or, I want to do this because I want to do this. Having that right attitude; that’s just one example of attitude, that I always did the “right” thing. I just always did what I was supposed to, instead of maybe this is what I really would like to do.

Betty Collins: [00:10:25] When all else fails, a plan is a good thing, but it may not always be reality. I was a big five-year planner in some of my years that I could have been a little more freer. Plans are good, and they probably are needed more in today … I see today’s generation behind me, and they really just go from thing to thing, but … Plans are good.

Betty Collins: [00:10:47] I did not learn this til later in life, and no one ever talked to me about it, or inspired me, but passion and the why are first, and then your how and your what. That’s been a big topic. Simon Sinek is big on it. I wish I would have known more about why I do things, or someone would have asked me those questions a little bit more, but they didn’t.

Betty Collins: [00:11:09] Mistakes are fruitful. If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. Okay, this is not my quote – it’s President Theodore Roosevelt – but it really is true. Sometimes, we’re buried in mistakes and just think, “Oh my goodness, how can I go on?” I was that way, and I didn’t want to go further. I would kind of hibernate a little bit more, instead of moving on, or learning from it. I wish, over the last 30 years, someone said, “If you want something, sometimes you gotta ask.” You’re not asking, so why should you … Other people around you are asking, so guess what they’re getting? Whatever that is. I just didn’t do it. I always thought, if you accept everything, accept your stuff around you, accept the position, accept the money, accept the status quo, then it’s a much more peaceful, good road. That’s not always the case. Questions are good. You know why? Because there’s going to be answers, probably, behind them. I wish I would have known that over the last 30 years.

Betty Collins: [00:12:11] Safety and security is awesome. It’s comfortable. It’s the safety net. I’ve never have to worry. There’s nothing to me like a full refrigerator, okay? But reckless, and that thing I call unruly, in my last … It’s not always a bad thing. Sometimes, hot dogs on fire at the last minute are just awesome. I’ve kind of learned to shake it up a little bit more with various things in my life. When I was 40 and went through things that changed a lot in my life, I ended up doing a tremendous amount of traveling from the age 40 to 50.

Betty Collins: [00:12:46] Man, I’m glad I did that. I’m so glad I said, “We’re gonna do this regardless.” We didn’t put as much money in a 401k. We didn’t do as much debt reduction on the house. But I probably can’t do a lot of the things I did, physically, for sure, on those trips and keep up. I’m just glad I was part of … Someone in my life, my husband, who said, “No, let’s go on an adventure. Let’s do something. We work hard all year. Let’s play hard.” Grateful for that. Most of my life, I didn’t ever hear those things. I’ve been married, and I’ve been divorced. I wish someone really would have emphasized the importance of that significant other, that spouse in your life.

Betty Collins: [00:13:32] Those are things that, over my last 30 years, when I was trying to figure out how would I help the next generation, these were things that matter to me now. These are things I would have never seen along the way. Hindsight’s really easy, but I’ve got to know that maybe someone doesn’t want to be married. So, finding your support to be your biggest fan isn’t going to help them. That’s why I go back to being aware in the different things I’ve talked about.

Betty Collins: [00:13:58] These are some things to think about when you’re wanting to uplift other women. Remember, surely, our seasons are all different. Your 20s are not your 30s, which are … Those are very different from your 40s; not to mention your 50s. Not sure what 60 holds, because I’m not 60. I’ve not been there, but I’m sure it’s different. The other thing about those different seasons are you may need to shift who you are being uplifted by or getting help from, because they are different. The 20-somethings can help the 55-year-old. It doesn’t always need to be, “Well, we’ve already been through this generation; we are helping here.” A lot of times, we can learn tremendously from them. It’s not a one-way thing.

Betty Collins: [00:14:44] Be aware of the women in your life that are around you. Start at home, in your extended family. Just sit and go, “Who is not making it? Who is not maybe living out their potential? Who could really use a friend, which can lead to help?” You can’t just go in with help, not knowing somebody. You have to have the relationship there. Be more intentional of it, and then keep it simple.

Betty Collins: [00:15:11] My previous podcast on building up women around you, I talked about that. Simple gestures; how you conduct yourself. Those familiar little simple random acts of kindness. Now, they have a hundred books on that. We live in a tough world with constant challenge; a lot of negativity; a lot of how are we ever going to do this? You’ve got to seize the opportunity now to uplift others. They really are intentional. They’re insightful about pleasure is a daily thing, because you don’t always have tomorrow. It’s not just for special occasions – fun, and pleasure, and contentment – it’s not just for holidays and weekends. Only two weeks out of the year is your vacation. You’ve got 50 other to do. Uplifting in a tough world right now is something that is so needed, and guiding that next generation, getting them where they need to be, even if they don’t know that they … Even if they don’t know that they need you.

Betty Collins: [00:16:07] I’m going to close this with some great sayings, because when I was out there on uplifting, a lot of times when I do podcasts, I Google certain words just to get ideas. Here are some things that you … I’m going to try to uplift you at the end here. “Do not dim your light for anybody. Darkness is no place to live.” I just  the way that quote sounded. This is a Betty Collins quote, by the way, “Leverage your uniqueness in life, but, remember, if you want to be funny and no one is laughing, you probably need to change what you are leveraging. Be aware.” “Today, you could be drinking the wine. Tomorrow, you could be picking the grapes.” You probably need to expect that to happen, so be ready, and learn, and try to enjoy both seasons. “There is power in purpose. Stuff is just stuff, for the sake of stuff.” We need to accept that we won’t always make right decisions, that we will screw up royally, sometimes; understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of it.

Betty Collins: [00:17:11] Today, I hope you sit back and think, “Who can I help in that next generation? Who can I uplift, especially women I’m passionate about, if anyone?” Really sit and go, “How can I help, and be effective, and have that impact?” I’m Betty Collins, and I hope you enjoyed today. Thank you.

 

Inspiring Women, Episode 13: Building Up the Women Around You

by

Inspiring Women PodCast with Betty Collins
Inspiring Women PodCast with Betty Collins
Inspiring Women, Episode 13: Building Up the Women Around You
Loading
/

Building Up the Women Around You

On this edition of “Inspiring Women,” host Betty Collins addresses the imperative all women should take on to build up, encourage, and mentor other women around them. “Inspiring Women” is presented by Brady Ware & Company.

Betty Collins, CPA, Brady Ware & Company and Host of the “Inspiring Women” Podcast

Betty Collins, Brady Ware & Company

Betty Collins is the Office Lead for Brady Ware’s Columbus office and a Shareholder in the firm. Betty joined Brady Ware & Company in 2012 through a merger with Nipps, Brown, Collins & Associates. She started her career in public accounting in 1988. Betty is co-leader of the Long Term Care service team, which helps providers of services to Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and nursing centers establish effective operational models that also maximize available funding. She consults with other small businesses, helping them prosper with advice on general operations management, cash flow optimization, and tax minimization strategies.

In addition, Betty serves on the Board of Directors for Brady Ware and Company. She leads Brady Ware’s Women’s Initiative, a program designed to empower female employees, allowing them to tap into unique resources and unleash their full potential.  Betty helps her colleagues create a work/life balance while inspiring them to set and reach personal and professional goals. The Women’s Initiative promotes women-to-women business relationships for clients and holds an annual conference that supports women business owners, women leaders, and other women who want to succeed. Betty actively participates in women-oriented conferences through speaking engagements and board activity.

Betty is a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and she is the President-elect for the Columbus Chapter. Brady Ware also partners with the Women’s Small Business Accelerator (WSBA), an organization designed to help female business owners develop and implement a strong business strategy through education and mentorship, and Betty participates in their mentor match program. She is passionate about WSBA because she believes in their acceleration program and matching women with the right advisors to help them achieve their business ownership goals. Betty supports the WSBA and NAWBO because these organizations deliver resources that help other women-owned and managed businesses thrive.

Betty is a graduate of Mount Vernon Nazarene College, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and a member of the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants. Betty is also the Board Chairwoman for the Gahanna Area Chamber of Commerce, and she serves on the Board of the Community Improvement Corporation of Gahanna as Treasurer.

“Inspiring Women” Podcast Series

“Inspiring Women” is THE podcast that advances women toward economic, social and political achievement. The show is hosted by Betty Collins, CPA, and presented by Brady Ware and Company. Brady Ware is committed to empowering women to go their distance in the workplace and at home. Past episodes of “Inspiring Women” can be found here.

Show Transcript

[00:00:00] Well, this is an inspiring women’s podcast, so I would expect that the title today, building up the women around you would be a given, but it really is not always that case. I want to talk about that today. You know, building up and supporting the women in your life sounds easy. It sounds good. We all think that we do that. I don’t think anyone’s going to go. You know, I really don’t want to support women today. I don’t want to build women up. But unfortunately, it’s not the case when you look at the data that’s out there and the issues that are out there surrounding this topic of just lack of building up, in fact, tearing down can be fairly OK. Right. But it’s a huge barrier to the professional advancement, your professional career, you know, in your personal life when you don’t build up women around you and you don’t you don’t have that camaraderie. So, you know, sometimes we just think, well, women are more catty. Right. Men are not. Men blow it off. Their ego doesn’t allow them to do this. My emotions just get the best to me. And that’s just who I am. It’s probably still not OK. And this is always, you know, have you experienced that exodus of the Mean Girls Club? You know, I can honestly say I’ve never been a victim of I mean, Girls Club, but that’s not fun. And it’s not just in junior high, right? It’s it’s more than that.

[00:01:29] I just think we need to do better at building each other up if we really want to see us advancing, go forward. You know, we focus more on the men. You know, they’re not nice or they’re the with the white, a middle aged male. But in reality, they beat us on this one. And I think sometimes it’s why they rule the world. So I want to talk about that today. There’s a Facebook post. I see it a lot. I always save it. And it shows a woman with a crooked crown and it shows a woman straining the crown. And then it shows one of them ripping off her head. The sad reality, there’s a huge deficit that exists in the number of women who really are intentional or make it a goal to elevate other women. So, you know, it’s a choice and you hear the term we’re stronger together. Sure. Maybe corny, but you know, it really is true. It’s true for any type of community setting. It’s out there. Collectively, we have more impact. So isn’t that the goal anyways in the movement for women or inspiring those women around you? It is to have impact. If you really want to see the advancement and the empowerment of women, build them up. The them could be your family. It could be your girls. Your daughters. It could be your neighbors. You probably work with women that you need to do that.

[00:02:57] It could be your peers. I mean, you’re surrounded by other women, I’m sure. But men do a better job. I’m not going to focus on them today. The question is, why is this true? Why? Let’s start there. We’ve all been taught to be competitive. Competitive, good. You know, competitive is what is why we have a very successful marketplace in the United States. Competition can be good and healthy. It can make you better at what you do. But sometimes you get to look at there’s just as much strength and there’s miss just as much success in collaboration. Competition is fine. You just can’t take it too far. Collaboration is a good thing and you needed to probably shift a little bit your mindset with that. You know, we tend to have a defense mechanism. Women are really good about defense mechanisms and those kick in. And we have you know, it’s kind of a culture that we’ve created a lot of times. You know, we’re responding to something and we respond really negatively. And then we we go into a defense mechanism that that just keeps the the the tearing down and the lack of building. It just keeps it going. So I think the defense the defense mechanism is something you have to really check yourself on beyond defense mechanisms. And we’ve kind of had that competitive edge or attitude. We also have a queen bee mentality.

[00:04:29] The queen bee that’s everywhere. It’s really was was probably more in the back 70s and 80s with women, because that was when people. That was when women were really rising up in companies. And if you know anything about bees, the queen bee in the colony is the one who dominates. She is the one who takes control because that’s I guess what you have to do is bees. I don’t know, but there’s not a lot of room for anyone else but the queen bee. And unfortunately, a lot of times, especially in the years before us and 70s, 80s and 90s, if a woman was able to advance, say, in her career, she she was very protective of that territory because she was lucky to have it. And so that queen bee domination, maybe not taking other women with her, not having the elevator door open so they could come up. It just wasn’t there. I think it’s there a lot more probably today because there’s a lot more women at the top of the elevator. So but that usually the queen bee and undermine her, they push women out of the way. And unfortunately, that still exist. And then just negative thinking, you know, I think this is why we end up, you know, being a little little catty. We had to be the mean girls club. But the negative thinking. I mean, you heard this because it made the news over and over again.

[00:05:51] And Madeleine Albright with Hillary Clinton when she was at a campaign rally. It was. It was funny. I mean, there was no definite. But she gave her speech and she at the end said there’s just a special place in hell for women who do not vote for Hillary Clinton or support women. And it was funny. It made the news over and over again. So but but I don’t think she was wanting anyone in hell. But we don’t always have that positive. There’s a special place for women who support women in heaven, which is completely the opposite. Right. So between negative attitudes in those defense mechanism, the queen bee stuff. I just think we don’t build each other up like we could because of those habits, because of those cultures that get created. So where do you start? Where do you make this change? You have to look at at who you are in those areas. And do you have those characteristics? Are those things that you’re going. Yeah, I can relate to that because I probably am that. So that’s where you have to start. But you really have to take the high road and lead by example. You know, you just have to if you’re going to build up other women, you know, obviously the mentoring being very open and honest and consistent mentoring is not just, oh, it this is all really cool.

[00:07:03] You know, I’m going to mentor you and make you into something. Mentoring is helping you get along through your journey because it’s yours. It’s not someone else’s. And so when you have a good mentor, chances are they’re gonna be pretty open and honest with you about what they see. That’s not being catty. I think that’s helping you. I always feel sorry for the person in the office or maybe that family member, because we all have one. Right, that everyone just knows this is who they are. And so they kind of just let the behavior or let the situation be what it is. Nobody confronts it. Nobody talks to them. Instead, there be literally men and making fun of them. So a good mentor is gonna be that open, honest. They’re going to be constructive, yet have some compassion when they have to have those things. And I will tell you, this is a very simple thing, but it really it really had an impact on me. Oh, probably Billy in the early 2000s, maybe two between, you know, up to 2005, somewhere in that timeframe. I always wore the big 80s hair. I had just always worn the big hair. Not that hair is life and death. Right. But that’s what I did. And I liked it. It was easy. It was simple. My hairdresser was the same person all the time. So I got this new client who owned a salon.

[00:08:22] And I thought, you know, I should go to her salon, see what she has.

[00:08:26] And I think I had a massage and she said, you know, you really do you want us to cut your hair? And I said, Oh, no, I have a great hairdresser. She just said, you know. I must say, this is nice.

[00:08:37] Cambridge, you’re to live it in the 80s with your hair still and this is like the 2000s and there’s a thing called a straightener and you know, all these different things that you could do with your hair. And and I was a little taken back. I just, you know. But I was really kind of glad it stuck with me. She was somebody she said it very nicely. She wasn’t making fun of me. She wasn’t talking about coming back on was she’s not out of the 80s yet. Instead, she just said, hey, I’m a salon.

[00:09:03] I’m a hairdresser. We could do something really cool with your hair. And that’s a simple thing. But that’s what a good mentor does. So how else do you lead by example? You got to be tenacious when you’re tenacious.

[00:09:17] Other women around you, you don’t have to say it. Preach it. Have meetings, journal it. All these things they’re watching you. And by doing that, it’s giving them confidence and you don’t even know it. They’re seen you work through something. They’re seeing you not giving up. You’re busting through that roadblock and you’re showing them it can be done.

[00:09:36] Never underestimate the influence you will have by being tenacious. So that really helps build up the women around you because they they tend to watch it and then they hopefully follow it if it’s done well. You know, I think we can probably more some supportive, especially when someone’s wants to take a risk. So what does that mean? Well, I’m going to quit my really good job in the middle of pay. My kids are in college with tuition and I’m going to start a bracelet business. OK, now, is that a risk that you would just sit and go? Cool. I love your jewelry. Or would you say, Manolis? Let’s really talk about that before you do it. Great idea. But there’s a path probably you need to take. That’s a way you build up women so that a year from now, when they’re now borrowing money to go to school or they can’t keep their kid in school, they’re going, why did I ever do this? And there just might be a different time to make jewelry. So I think being supportive, especially when they won’t take risk, we need to help them navigate through it. And another thing you have to do, and I’m not very good at this because I don’t ever want to see people to see me with any kind of wrong emotion.

[00:10:54] I mean, I should call it wrong emotion. But, you know, I’m not a person who’s going to cry a lot in front of people. I’m not. You know, I don’t really want to go on a rampage and melt down in front of it. But sometimes you need a safe space to go. You need a place to go and just be who you can be, be who you are. Let those things down and then, you know, open the door and smile and walk out. I think women could do that more often instead of you blow up at the wrong time, in the wrong place. And then the tearing down and their ripping of the crown off the off the head comes along. The other thing you really need to do in a great way, but you better be ready to do it. You’ve got to pass on the lessons you’ve learned from bad treatment so that it doesn’t happen to other women and they can maybe be more aware of it. And lastly, be empathetic. You know, chances are other women are going through what you’re going through and come together, learn from it. But most certainly anyone around you that you see needs some advocacy for them.

[00:11:59] Go advocate for them. Stand for them. Be with them. You know, kind of defend them, do those things. Those are ways, certainly that you take the high road and you kind of get away from the wise. It happens that we act this way. These are ways that you can change the course of that circle, whether it’s your family or your community or somewhere you volunteer at your work, all that kind of stuff. When women come together, though, and build each other up and they can get that alliance that’s healthy. That alliance that’s positive. You’re going to experience power. There is power in the pact, right? There’s power in more. There’s power in numbers sometimes. It’s a good kind of power. Don’t abuse it. But that’s a result of leading the way in your circles of influences. You think on experiences you’ve had where other women have built you up? I could go on and on about this, but we have to continue to move on in the podcast. But you know who’s coming to your mind right now and you think that woman was a champion for me? That woman advocated for me. That woman really stepped up when I took a risk and she stayed with me.

[00:13:10] What woman straighten the crown for you versus ripped it off? You know, sometimes we just watched from a distance. The crowds, Kirk, and we don’t do anything about it. Right. But. I think you should look at those folks first and you thank them, you know. Think about that. Thank them. But also say me and I could also be that to other people, to other women, all the opportunities in the world are ours for the taking and ours to be shared in when building women up isn’t so much about your voice.

[00:13:41] It’s how you use your stage, it’s how you use your venue to encourage and support them so that they can find their voice.

[00:13:50] Brady, where’s my venue? And I have a responsibility to use that wisely, I try to do that through our women’s initiative, through supporting organizations like Navajo and the WNBA, using that venue wisely.

[00:14:05] How can you rise to the challenge? You keep it simple, don’t sit and think you had to have this big organizational thing and I’m going to, you know, help everyone and solve the world’s problems. Keep it simple, but take the opportunities and challenges those risk without even questioning your worth or ability or places a woman. And then don’t be afraid to be a little unruly. OK, I read a great article from Glamour magazine by Olivia Perez and she talks about being unruly. It’s OK. But listen. Just picture Thanksgiving dinner with this family. So she said I was genetically bred to be an unruly woman. I was raised in Los Angeles by a Jewish, French, Moroccan father and a Serbian mother, kind of in a Brady Bunch family, strong female figures, four sisters, two stepmothers, three godmothers and a mom, the mom who dedicate her life to bringing us all up as independent daughters. Just picture that things cute tender. These were all women I aspire to become. They they were ones who coexisted despite marriages, divorce, different backgrounds. They supported one another unconditionally. And they taught me that being soft spoken was maybe not always an option. Not at our dinner table anyways, for sure. But unruly can be good. Just say for building up other women, you know, really, that’s a whole nother podcast. But sometimes you need to be a little unruly and shake the pot, and that is a way to support women. I just found that and I just thought that was just a great way to describe her family and the people around her. And she probably uses it in a good way. But being a little unruly is OK. You know, other things you can do, though. You just show up every day for women and envision the change together with them. You know, see it together and work towards it. Certainly creating environments for women to take up space. All right. So what does that mean? Panels and conferences, events, interviews, girls night out. You know, really, it’s about thriving in their environment. What space is that that the women in your life would would really thrive in?

[00:16:20] I will say that my daughter, she gets some, you know, a little tired of hearing about my podcast because I wonder, listen. She gets kind of little tired about hearing about women’s initiative things. I mean, I’m always trying to get her to join in. But she did come to my conference in back in June, the Women’s Leadership Conference, which we had about 350 women. We had panels, we had national speakers, Navajo and WBA. We all just came together, put this conference ago and she came. And she was just it wasn’t even so much that I bribed her with new clothes to be there and said she could have a great time together. Night feeder. Well. Right.

[00:16:57] But she loved that she saw me thriving in an environment that I loved. And she she wrote on Facebook that night. I get it now. I saw it today. And that was just that was the whole. That was the best part of that conference for me. It was because it inspired her in a different way. But she was like, Mom, that’s where you belong.

[00:17:20] And that’s what I’m talking about. We’re creating space. What are environments for the women around you and your lives that would make them thrive or where you see them thrive and you’re like supporting them. And so it was a cool story. You know, other ways besides being alone, really, which I kind of like that whole phrase, be transparent and open. Do you understand that secrecy breeds jealousy? I want you to think about that again. Secrecy breeds jealousy. And that then leads to what I now call head trash. I got that from a conference that I was just. You know, those voices that head trash man being a little more open, being a little more transparent. Women tend to take it and run in secrecy, just turns into jealousy and then those voices in your head. So think about that. When you see when you see a women who are tearing each other down, chances are that could be a real way it all started.

[00:18:16] Here’s one. This is the challenge of the day. You’ll probably go right by this one. But zero gossip policy. Try that one. It’s hard sometimes if you just test right down every time you’re gossiping or take a little, you know, checkmark. There we go. You’d be surprised. I did it once because I was in a class on negativity. And that was one of the things we had to do. Every time you have mental negative thought, you had a checkmark. Every time you gossip or put someone down your check mark. You would be surprised. And it did kind of make me go, oh, it’s kind of like tracking your steps on fit, but you’re like, I’m not walking today. Right. It just just a suggestion. I know it’s not easy. You got to go beyond. You look really pretty, right?

[00:18:54] Women are so much more than their physical attributes. And we have a whole society built on that. But I would tell you to encourage women to to take care of themselves and do self care. The emotional part of your life is huge. And I kind of did that post divorce. I said these are the things I’m going to do for Betty Collins. And I sat down with The New York Times. I only ordered like three months of it because it was I don’t know why I needed to read The New York Times, but I did. I just did that for an hour on Sundays with no interruption. And once I was kind of done, I moved on. But it was something that I I it was my time. It was my place. So I think that’s something you have to look at and do. I know I just spent this last year really involved with physical activity and and weight loss. It was not because I wanted to be a size 2. I just knew that I have pretty good health for a 56 year old. And yet I’m not treating the gift like I need to because it’s a gift. I have a lot of people around me and my age who we’ve had people pass away. We’ve had people with cancer. We’ve had people who, you know, just can’t control certain addictions. I don’t have any of that. I don’t even take any of her blood pressure, heart medicine, nothing.

[00:20:07] Why would I not take care of the gift that I’ve been given into her? What’s been weird is not the size, too. It’s just I’m I’m feeling better. And it’s kind of my time. I’m not rushing out the door every morning because I’m I’m doing some workout stuff that’s not crazy. I’m not putting my toe over my head and, you know, wrapping myself up like a pretzel. I would tell you, self care go beyond that. You look pretty stuff being a vehicle that turns a young woman with big dreams into what she was destined to be. You know, you see people with potential and you don’t do anything about it. But I would tell you, never underestimate tapping into that woman’s potential that she can’t see. But you do even this podcast. I question myself, should I keep doing this podcast? And the people that help me record this always say you have no idea what the potential this has. You need to keep going. You need to keep doing. Again, women building up women. Sounds easy, sounds good. It is my hope that you can step back, observe and dive in by speaking life into a woman around you. Doing life together stronger, together with some fun along the way in my life. I have an amazing mom, a big family, 41 to be exact as my immediate family, lots of women. I have a daughter and a daughter law.

[00:21:23] I work for a company where I direct a women’s initiative where 49 percent of the workforce are women. I’m part of several groups. I mentioned Navajo and the WNBA. So women in teh team building are a pretty daily part of my life. Really, it’s a responsibility and it’s a deep passion. I’ve seen both sides building and tearing. We are better together. Ladies, take to heart this podcast. Do some soul searching on your part of building up other women. Go forth and straighten or pick it off the floor. The ground she is wearing. Don’t stand in the background and watch it. I’m Betty Collins and I’m glad you joined me today.

Inspiring Women, Episode 12: Taking Your Business to the Next Level (An Interview with Catherine Lang-Cline)

by

Inspiring Women PodCast with Betty Collins
Inspiring Women PodCast with Betty Collins
Inspiring Women, Episode 12: Taking Your Business to the Next Level (An Interview with Catherine Lang-Cline)
Loading
/
Catherine Lang-Cline and Betty Collins

Taking Your Business to the Next Level

Is your business stuck? What do you need to do to take your business to the next level? Betty Collins, host of the “Inspiring Women” podcast, addresses these issues and more. Betty also interviews Catherine Lang-Cline of Portfolio Creative on the challenges she faced in scaling her business. “Inspiring Women” is presented by Brady Ware & Company.

Catherine Lang-Cline, Portfolio Creative

Catherine Lang-Cline

Catherine Lang-Cline is the President and Co-Creator of Portfolio Creative. Prior to forming Portfolio Creative, Catherine spent more than 20 years in the creative industry as a designer for corporations and ad agencies, both as an employee and as a freelancer. Along with her co-founder Kristen Harris, Catherine felt that there needed to be a place to help artists find work and help clients find talent. They combined their experience and opened Portfolio Creative.

Portfolio Creative connects the best of the best in the creative industry. They connect the best creative clients with the best creative talent. That can come in the form of direct-hire, temp-to-hire, projects with contractors, or other needs. They handle all areas of marketing and advertising. For more information go to the Portfolio Creative website.

Catherine is a Certified Staffing Professional with the American Staffing Association. She serves as a board member for the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and is chair of the Chamber’s Small Business Council. She is also an active member of WPO and is currently President of NAWBO Columbus.

Catherine resides in Columbus and enjoys art, traveling, cooking, doing home renovation, and riding motorcycles.

Betty Collins, CPA, Brady Ware & Company and Host of the “Inspiring Women” Podcast

Betty Collins, Brady Ware & Company

Betty Collins is the Office Lead for Brady Ware’s Columbus office and a Shareholder in the firm. Betty joined Brady Ware & Company in 2012 through a merger with Nipps, Brown, Collins & Associates. She started her career in public accounting in 1988. Betty is co-leader of the Long Term Care service team, which helps providers of services to Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and nursing centers establish effective operational models that also maximize available funding. She consults with other small businesses, helping them prosper with advice on general operations management, cash flow optimization, and tax minimization strategies.

In addition, Betty serves on the Board of Directors for Brady Ware and Company. She leads Brady Ware’s Women’s Initiative, a program designed to empower female employees, allowing them to tap into unique resources and unleash their full potential.  Betty helps her colleagues create a work/life balance while inspiring them to set and reach personal and professional goals. The Women’s Initiative promotes women-to-women business relationships for clients and holds an annual conference that supports women business owners, women leaders, and other women who want to succeed. Betty actively participates in women-oriented conferences through speaking engagements and board activity.

Betty is a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and she is the President-elect for the Columbus Chapter. Brady Ware also partners with the Women’s Small Business Accelerator (WSBA), an organization designed to help female business owners develop and implement a strong business strategy through education and mentorship, and Betty participates in their mentor match program. She is passionate about WSBA because she believes in their acceleration program and matching women with the right advisors to help them achieve their business ownership goals. Betty supports the WSBA and NAWBO because these organizations deliver resources that help other women-owned and managed businesses thrive.

Betty is a graduate of Mount Vernon Nazarene College, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and a member of the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants. Betty is also the Board Chairwoman for the Gahanna Area Chamber of Commerce, and she serves on the Board of the Community Improvement Corporation of Gahanna as Treasurer.

“Inspiring Women” Podcast Series

“Inspiring Women” is THE podcast that advances women toward economic, social and political achievement. The show is hosted by Betty Collins, CPA, and presented by Brady Ware and Company. Brady Ware is committed to empowering women to go their distance in the workplace and at home. Past episodes of “Inspiring Women” can be found here.

Show Transcript

Betty Collins: [00:00:00] Today, this podcast is about going to the next level in your business. We could go on and on about going to the next level in your professional life or in your career, in your company and in your personal life, but today I want to talk really about the business. It’s your business. It’s a woman-owned business, and we’re going to focus on that. For part of the podcast, I’m going to interview Catherine Lang-Cline. She’s with Portfolio Creative, and she has a great story. The reason I chose her is just encouragement.

Betty Collins: [00:00:30] She’s done an amazing job, and it looks easy from the outside, but she’s been through anything probably that you have been through. I have known her through being involved with the National Association of Women Business Owners, the NAWBO Columbus chapter. I had the privilege of serving with her on the board, watching her leadership. It’s no wonder she’s had success. She’s very known in Central Ohio area due to that success, but also just her involvement within the community.

Betty Collins: [00:00:56] I chose the topic today because women are starting businesses at a rapid pace. Here’s some numbers, and this is from the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, so they’re pretty accurate, and it was done in 2018, so it probably hasn’t changed tremendously. As of 2018, there are 12.3 million owned businesses. When you look back in 1972, when they started tracking this stuff, there was 402,000 businesses, so we go, “Okay, yay! We’ve done some good things.” Here’s a statistic that’s great, women own 4 out of every 10 businesses in the US. That’s pretty significant, considering in 1988 you couldn’t even get your own financing. There was law that finally went into place for that if you were a business owner.

Betty Collins: [00:01:42] Since 2007, the number of women-owned businesses have increased 58 percent, which is better than businesses, overall. Again, we’re going kind of at this rapid pace. Last year, 1,821 businesses started a day, every day, and they were started by women. That’s pretty significant. Sounds really great. Sounds really cool. Women are slightly more likely to start a business than men. Why is that? I don’t know the reasoning behind that, but women have that interest. They have that drive. Women-owned businesses employ 9.2 million people. That is just only, though, eight percent of the private sector, but that’s a lot of people.

Betty Collins: [00:02:29] Women-owned businesses generate $1.8 trillion in revenue, which is about 4.3 percent of the revenue out there. The last one is, that’s really cool, from 2007 up to 2018, total employment by women-owned businesses rose 21 percent so, obviously, we are making some bold moves, some big moves in the marketplace that are changing the marketplace. I always say, when the marketplace works, the country works because households have provision, right? So, it’s just a huge, huge thing, and part of what I like to do in the business world is utilize accounting. Being a CPA is the venue for me to be part of that success. As much as all of these things sound really awesome, women struggle in business, and that’s just a reality.

Betty Collins: [00:03:20] Eighty-eight percent of women-owned businesses generate less than $100,000 in revenue. There could be a lot of things behind that number, so you don’t want to, you know, big doesn’t mean better. It could be what they do. It could be that they’re a sole proprietor, maybe they just got started. You know, when you’re a consultant, you can only consult so many dollars when you’re the actual, like an executive coach, there’s only so much to you get to that. But this group is growing, and it continues. Their revenues are growing. They have a little bit of struggle. And, then, 1.7 percent of women-owned businesses, though, do generate a million dollars in revenue or more.

Betty Collins: [00:03:58] Some people think a million dollars is a lot. Some people think a million dollars is nothing when you have that revenue, and those continue to increase, but women struggle getting to that hundred thousand and then a half a million, then over a million. I don’t know if it’s just all of a sudden you’re over a million, your mindset’s different and everything swoosh, and it just goes happily down the road, but they struggle, and it’s not easy being an entrepreneur whether you are a man or a woman.

Betty Collins: [00:04:25] What are the barriers that most women, you know, feel like are there … I’m going to just say business, in general, I think, but of getting to that next level? A lot of times you are this original, and you have an idea and you’re different and you’re passionate and you might want to do things. I mean, I’m considered a unique CPA because I’m fairly personable. As long as I keep that personal side of Betty Collins, I’m a different CPA. I’m still this original over here, but a lot of times we become copies, and we think we need to transform and be the norm, and a lot of times that takes away from who we are. Capital, less than three percent of venture capital goes to women-owned businesses.

Betty Collins: [00:05:08] I’m trying to ask a different question as to why that is because we know it’s true, but we just don’t really know the why so we can get to the problem of how to solve it. More women use credit cards for capital. Your banker would have a whole conversation about that, where you really should be using a bank and have a relationship with a banker that can give you the right capital, and a lot of times you’d use the wrong start-up money, and then you’re in a credit crisis. Being taking taken serious, that’s a huge thing for women. I do tell women if you want to be not looked at as like a clown, then quit going to the circus.

Betty Collins: [00:05:47] If you want to be taken serious, I mean, I think of Lady Gaga. I will admit this out loud that I went to see A Star is Born and thought, “Man, this singer is amazing,” and I didn’t realize ’til the end when they were doing the credits that it was Lady Gaga, right? She talks about, I wish I was taken more seriously. She’s a talented amazing singer. I mean, she can do all kinds of it, right? You have to sometimes, maybe, be different to be taken serious, but that’s a barrier. Owning your accomplishments, men will own them all day long, but women, they don’t do that as much. “Oh, well, you know, it was a group effort,” and all that kind of stuff. I do the same type of thing but, if you’re going to sell yourself, and you’re going to sell that idea and that stuff to venture capitalists, you own what you have created. We don’t do that well.

Betty Collins: [00:06:40] Building a supportive network. Generally, if you have a bad advisor, you just didn’t know what advisor you probably needed. So, a lot of times, you’ve got to have the right supportive network around you, beyond the banker and even the insurance, you know? It’s why I have a supportive network like NAWBO, or that I give to an organization like the WSBA. Because, when you build those networks, they definitely work for everyone that’s involved. And, then, balancing personal and professional life. That’s a barrier not just for moms. That should be a barrier for parents, that should be a barrier for everybody trying to get that stuff working out. You will never have the perfect balance. It’s a myth. You just won’t, so you have to decide which is more important and how you want it to go.

Betty Collins: [00:07:23] The last barrier that, I think, that’s out there is just fear. Nobody wants to fail, and there’s a lot of risk in being an entrepreneur, and so women really have more of an issue with fear. I think men ignore fear, maybe, I don’t know, or they just don’t let you know it’s there. Let me ask you this question before we kind of talk with Catherine. Where are you in the mix for owning a business? Maybe you have the idea, or maybe there’s a passion, or maybe that idea is now on paper and it could become real, or maybe the start-up has actually started and you’re going, “What was I thinking?” Maybe you’ve made it through two or three years and you’re going, “Wow, is there ever going to be light at the end of the tunnel?” There will be. You might be at the stage where, “I want this to be worth it.”

Betty Collins: [00:08:11] I can tell you right now, one reason I’m a business owner is because I have a piece of stock and one day I will sell that stock. It has to be worth something, right? I’m not going to do all this for nothing. Maybe you think bigger is better. There has to be more. More is always better, and then you’re finding out we grew it too fast, we’re too big, and we’ve lost our identities. Maybe legacy is becoming a familiar word, kind of a scary word but, for me, I really hope legacy is not something I run from, but maybe you’re in that stage of “I want another generation to do this,” or, hopefully, what I did had some impact or, maybe, you’re just ready to sell. It’s time to go to the beach. It’s time to get those premium dollars. You might be anywhere in this mix and you may need to go to different levels, but it all is still, I think, the same principles of getting to that next level.

Betty Collins: [00:09:00] You also have to ask yourself what keeps you up at night? Then you’ll know why you’re not getting to the next level. That’s, as an advisor, I probably try to apply that to my business owners the most. What keeps you up at night? It could be that you don’t have any talent to hire. It could be that your line of credit has to renew again, and you’re going “Will it renew?” And payroll needs to be met again. It’s already Friday and it’s two weeks ago. Maybe your business partner who you thought you could do and be in business with forever, their personal life is completely out of control. Guess what? You’re married when that’s your partner. So, you know, these are things that keep you up, maybe bad advisors and now you realize you have them. You’re not keeping up with competition.

Betty Collins: [00:09:43] I had an interesting conversation with someone the other day who’s just been around forever doing something, and she said to me, “I’m behind. I didn’t do what I needed to, and now I’m trying to catch up,” or maybe there’s just not capital available for what you do, and you’re kind of tied. These are things that where are you in business, and what are the things that keep you up at night? Probably you’re not alone if you start talking to other businesses around you. The business community and the importance of the marketplace is too crucial to let those things get you down. You’re too crucial to, hey, go to that next level, so it plays an important part in our marketplace and for those around you.

Betty Collins: [00:10:24] Someone who has done this with just ease is Catherine Lang-Cline, and she is the owner of Portfolio Creative. She’s really admired in our community and respected because her leadership skills, she does make it look easy, but she hasn’t always been that, so I welcome you to the podcast today. I’m glad that you are with us.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:10:44] Thank you. I’m very excited to be here.

Betty Collins: [00:10:44] Yes. You said yes immediately, so I was grateful for that. I’d like to start with talking about your company today, so give my audience an overview of here we are now.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:10:58] Okay. Well, Portfolio Creative has been around for about 14 years now. We do staffing and recruiting for anything in the advertising and marketing field. In a good year, we can have as much as $9 million in revenue. On average, were around six. Essentially, we just work in the Columbus region, and we are now starting to push out to Cleveland and Cincinnati. We do have some placements in Pittsburgh, and we have worked in New York because, essentially, if people call us, we’ll try and find them someone. Sometimes, people that we used to work with move to those places and ask if we can still do it in that area, so that kind of has helped us grown as well.

Betty Collins: [00:11:36] Oh, that’s great. How many employees do you have today, just approximately?

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:11:39] Right now, we have about 10, and that includes myself and my business owner. The people that we place, that ranges by season, so that can be anywhere from like 60 to 100 people.

Betty Collins: [00:11:48] Okay, so back when you were ready to start this, talk about your idea and that glass of wine. Tell us about that moment.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:11:58] I don’t remember necessarily wine being involved, but I can tell you how I did start.

Betty Collins: [00:12:03] Okay.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:12:04] Essentially, both Kristen Harris, my business partner and I, worked for the The Limited Brands, so we had been in marketing and advertising for years and years. She mostly works with corporate America, and I kind of jumped between corporate and freelance, so I knew exactly what it was like to kind of be on my own and how to bill properly and find work at the same time. At that time, I was freelancing for her. Our paths had crossed again, and this time I was working with her as, you know, kind of her contract employee.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:12:36] She came up to me and she said, “I spend half my time looking for great, creative talent, and if there was only a service that I could farm this out to, that would be great.” And then, maybe, like the next day she came back and said, “Now, would you use a company like this if you were looking for freelance work?” I was like, “Absolutely.” When I lived in Chicago, I worked for companies like that all the time. I would let them know when I was available, they would find me work, I’d find work on my own, and it was a really, really great way to kind of back fill your pipeline.

Betty Collins: [00:13:03] Sure.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:13:05] She was like, “Great, you know how to do this, so I would love to have a partner to try this.” Essentially, we found this book that was called “Six Weeks ‘Til Startup.” It was really more … and I cannot remember the author, but it’s on Amazon, and it’s essentially a workbook that you fill out. It took us more like six months to start up because we were both working at the same time, and we also had to decide, well, when are we going to pull the trigger on this? We picked January 1st of 2005. As an accountant, you’ll appreciate that our books are always based on a calendar versus fiscal year.

Betty Collins: [00:13:36] Yes.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:13:36] That worked out well for us because we’re designers, you know, we had not worked in a business, but the reason I mentioned where we both work from, it was that it was a great place to learn about business. When people talk about starting their own business, I’m like, “Where have you worked before?” Because you can teach yourself on someone else’s dime, for the most part, how to run a business. Anyway, so we went through this workbook, which, essentially, went through the process of setting up a business. I would really recommend it to anybody, especially, if they have a business partner, to kind of make sure that you’re on the same page because we have been incredibly lucky that 14 years later, we still get along fantastic.

Betty Collins: [00:14:15] Sure.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:14:15] Some of that formula is, everything that I wanted to do, she did not want to do, and everything that she wanted to do, I did not want to do.

Betty Collins: [00:14:23] Perfect.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:14:23] Which worked out really great, so it wasn’t everybody was doing sales, or everybody was trying to place talent. I love the sales, she loved finding the talent, and we both stayed in our lane. Actually, going through the workbook, that really helped, too, because it took you step by step as far as what would your mission be for this company? What do you value? How do you vision the company? And you can run into a partner that, and there’s nothing wrong with either scenario, that one, wants, anytime there’s money being made, they want to reinvest in the business, they want to hire more people, and another one wants to buy a boat. If you are that skewed in where you would like the business to go, then yeah, it’s time to have a conversation, and maybe it’s not a good partnership. People also start their businesses with their very best friend. I always like to joke that Kristen and I are not friends. We are business partners.

Betty Collins: [00:15:09] That’s a different thing. That’s good.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:15:10] While we would probably do very fine out socially, but we very rarely socialize, and we really did not know each other beyond our work experience and ethics that we found each other. I said, “You know what? Kristen’s always been a hard worker, and I think she would be a great business partner,” and she thought the same of me, so that’s how we kind of started.

Betty Collins: [00:15:32] Okay.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:15:32] And then everything else just came like, “Well, what do you have? Well, I have a computer and you have a printer and a fax machine,” because back then we needed a fax machine.

Betty Collins: [00:15:39] Right. Do we have those now? I don’t know if we have those now.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:15:41] We don’t anymore.

Betty Collins: [00:15:44] You don’t need them. Well, I mean, what I do like you hearing it saying is, so when we’re talking about the mix of people that are listening to the audience today, there was some thought before you opened doors.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:15:55] A lot of thought.

Betty Collins: [00:15:56] There was a lot of planning, so you knew, you know, I guess you could call it marriage counseling. You still might get a divorce.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:16:02] Exactly, or Pre-Cana or whatever (inaudible) good marriage.

Betty Collins: [00:16:02] Right, but you had really thought through some good things.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:16:10] Yes.

Betty Collins: [00:16:11] So the idea becoming reality was there was a lot of discussion. It wasn’t just, “Here’s my shingle, let’s go.”

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:16:17] Right, right.

Betty Collins: [00:16:18] Okay.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:16:19] Of course, at that time, because you talked a little bit about, you know, funding and things like that.

Betty Collins: [00:16:23] Yeah.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:16:25] A lot of it was all, it was all bootstrapped. I mean, Kristin had some money, some cash to start. I was still working part of the time. You know, you’re finding talent to place and, in some instances, I would say, “Well, if I can’t find you the perfect person, it’ll be me. I will come by and do it.”

Betty Collins: [00:16:40] Right.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:16:40] There was at least twice that I had to go and do that where, you know, our database was not that deep, and I wanted everyone to have the perfect person to do it and, in some cases, these were my past clients, so I felt I had to kind of handhold it through until I find someone as good as me or better to take the job on.

Betty Collins: [00:16:57] Well, when did you realize that, “Wow, so we talked it through,” because some people think, “I’ve created my LLC with the State of Ohio, everything’s ready to go,” which is not how it works. At what point did you decide, I mean, “We have the idea. We’ve started up, and this is great. We’re off and going?” But when did you decide let’s make this worth our time? When did you see, maybe, give us a time period, how events fell out? When did it become like, “We’re going to make this worth our time”?

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:17:32] Well, I don’t know how realistic this is for everyone, but for us, we decided that after six months, if we cannot pay ourselves, we were just gonna get a job.

Betty Collins: [00:17:42] Okay.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:17:42] We had a lot of networking experience at that point, so we figure we could get a job anywhere, I suppose, at that point. But that was the first finish line we had to cross before we knew this was a real business, and six months came along and we could, so we’re like, “Okay, I guess we’re doing this.” After that point, that’s when we realized, you know, we’re gonna have to start being a little more brave and getting larger clients and get really connected to the people that we know that we used to work with that were now in those companies and find our champions and just kind of went after it and said, “Based on how you know me and how I work and what I can produce, could you take a chance on this?” And we had a number of people that just, essentially, just walked us right into HR or right to the diversity person and got us signed up.

Betty Collins: [00:18:28] So, your mindset changed pretty quickly into this?

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:18:32] Yeah. Once we realized … because we thought if we paid ourselves, people were buying it, you know?

Betty Collins: [00:18:37] Right. You got Kool-Aid, and they’re drinking it.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:18:39] Yeah, exactly. We felt a lot more confident and (inaudible) said hey, “Let’s just keep this momentum going,” and it was just a while, just the two of us, until we started, you know, having a little more success, a little more work, and then we started, you know, hiring interns and part-time people to kind of help with things.

Betty Collins: [00:18:56] When you started expanding and you started getting to, “Hey, now I’ve got a payroll to meet, or I’ve got some volunteer interns. This is awesome,” but what was the hardest transition about, “Man, it was just Kristen and I, we could do these things, now I’ve got an office full of people.” What were those challenges for you?

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:19:18] One of the larger challenges was delegation, I will say that, because who else is going to do it better than me?

Betty Collins: [00:19:25] Right, right. Right. I am.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:19:28] I loved, for example, this is always one of my favorite stories. I love keeping the books. There’s nothing more fun than, you know, when the checks come in and you get to add them up and run them to the bank and things like that. It got to the point where it’s like, “Well, I could probably delegate that.” You know, someone had said to me early on, “Catherine, you need to focus on the things that only you can do, and then you have to hire people that can do these things better or at least get them off your plate,” so that’s kind of where we started with our hiring of people. People that could do the paperwork, people that could do the books, people that could, you know, handle the paychecks and things like that. I would stick with the selling and the relationships and the client, you know, partnerships and things like that.

Betty Collins: [00:20:08] The things that really generated the checks that were going into the bank, right?

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:20:11] Absolutely.

Betty Collins: [00:20:11] That’s where the business owner is. But I do want it be known that she liked accounting.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:20:17] I did. I really did.

Betty Collins: [00:20:18] We have to say that.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:20:20] QuickBooks is an amazing thing still to this day.

Betty Collins: [00:20:21] It is.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:20:23] That was definitely one. And, then, as we started growing, too, because it is a business where you have to pay people before you get paid, based on the size of the company. I think it’s the larger the company, it’s the longer you have to wait for the check. We had to figure out how we were going to start financing this, because once we started getting into big companies, corporations, it was, you know, like thousands and thousands of dollars, and we couldn’t … Again, we went to the banks, and I can tell you that, you know, unless you can really prove that you’re credible … and you think about that with anything, if a relative comes to you and asks for money and you’re like, “Oh, I don’t know if I like this idea,” they’re not going to loan you the money.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:21:01] So, we found a factoring company that would help us, and that is a great way to kind of help you through some of the more challenging times just because they will buy out your invoice, essentially, and they’ll handle … you get the money right away and, essentially, when they get paid, then you get the rest of the money, and they keep a little smidge of it for their time. That works out for about a year, I want to say, until we started being cash rich enough where we could handle it. At that point, once we got to about a million dollars, we then went back to the bank and then suddenly we were friends.

Betty Collins: [00:21:31] Yeah, you were their best client. Right.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:21:33] Then, with the help of the SBA, we were able to get a line of credit, and that’s always been kind of the slush fund, if you will. If we are waiting for some money to come in, we’ll just take out the line of credit and then pay it back once the check comes in.

Betty Collins: [00:21:48] Well, I mean, so you go from the idea to you have a passion, you see a need because you’re living in the need, right, and then you get it started. It sounds like things, really, went off fairly quickly for you.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:21:59] Mm-hmm.

Betty Collins: [00:22:01] But then you realized, “I got to have bigger clients.” I mean, you can have, you know, 100 $10-clients, or you can have 10 $100-dollar clients.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:22:07] Yes.

Betty Collins: [00:22:07] You know, that’s the better way to go. I’m sure you were seeing this growth, but what probably, at this point, were some game changers that just maybe took you off the charts or went, “Wow!” You can look back and go, “That was a game changer”?

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:22:24] The game changers come when you have a client that everybody’s heard of. Like, for us, we were from The Limited, and we knew a lot of people there, so we found a champion in there to get us in, and we had them within our first year of business.

Betty Collins: [00:22:37] That’s big.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:22:38] I know people, you know, really like, “Oh, if I could only work with The Limited.” The difference that made it work, too, was that not only do we have a champion, but we knew exactly what they wanted. We came from their marketing department. We knew exactly what they needed. We knew the right person to go in there, so it was somewhat of an easy sell. It wasn’t like we were coming in and now trying to sell them, you know, office supplies or something because we would have absolutely no experience with that, and we had to work, you know, a couple partnerships and they let us dip our toe in at first. But, for us, if we had five people placed there, it was like Christmas. It had grown exponentially since then because we were able to prove it and keep delivering and you can’t fail once you’re at that level too. A lot of it, I think, also came from just a belief in what we did too. You had talked about how sometimes women will get scared in business and things like that. I can, honestly, say I never have been. I just figured it was worth a try.

Betty Collins: [00:23:33] Yeah.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:23:33] It was also a little bit of almost like a math problem, too, “Okay, that didn’t work this time, so what else can we try to get in there. Now, how can we try…” you know, you’re just poking at all these different angles. “Who do we know? Who can we find? What networking event will they be at? Who’s a friend of a friend that could get me in there?” Because it was never a “No,” it was a “No, not yet,” or, “No, not now,” and I just felt like, well, why wouldn’t they want to work with us, you know? For me, it was just no question, we were just gonna get in there and we were just gonna do it, and I just hoped that Kristen was able to handle everything I threw back at her and she did, so.

Betty Collins: [00:24:10] Yeah, but I like the fact one of the barriers we talked about was owning, kind of owning your success, owning your idea, believing in that, and it sounds like you had no issue with that.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:24:18] Right. A lot of people might think, “Oh, I’m not like that,” but everybody kind of is. I think you have to kind of get over your own personal hump with that too. I had that as well. My life could be its own podcast, you know, as far as some of the struggles that I’ve gone through and, you know, a past marriage and, you know, things like that.

Betty Collins: [00:24:37] Sure.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:24:37] Some of the things that changed my life, that really kind of helped, is that I had that great support team. It started initially with, at that time, my boyfriend, who then became my husband. I had said, you know, “I have this crazy idea, I’m going to start a business,” and the first words out of his mouth were, “Oh, I think you’d be great at that.”

Betty Collins: [00:24:55] Awesome.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:24:56] And people who were surrounding me said, “Yeah, I think you could do that,” and then when I started, I don’t know, kind of getting more and more into it, you do start connecting with, you know, like the people at NAWBO and other people who run a business, and you find out that a lot of your worries are the same worries that they had, especially at start-up or they run into a certain crisis, which, you know, scares you because you’re not sure how you can handle it.

Betty Collins: [00:25:20] Right.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:25:20] But, then, you have people beside you that you can talk to and say, “What do you do in this situation?” And they’re like, “You know? Nothing. It’s going to be fine.”

Betty Collins: [00:25:25] Right.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:25:26] We lost a client, and I was able reach out to one of my NAWBO sisters, and she’s like, “Oh, yeah, that happened to us too,” and I’m like, “Well, what did you do?” You know, as I’m still sweating, and she said, “You get more clients,” it was just that simple.

Betty Collins: [00:25:43] Oh, okay. Thank you.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:25:45] Oh, okay. The fact that it happened to her and she’s super successful, it took all the sting out of it.

Betty Collins: [00:25:50] Yeah.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:25:51] So, then I just knew, you know, all right, then I just have to get more clients and it kind of made the ship a little more right at that point.

Betty Collins: [00:25:58] Well, there’s all kinds of people listening today who are, you know, business owners. You’ve been through all kinds of things, but what is the best advice you give to a business owner who is struggling or they’re just stuck? Like, “Man, you know, Kristen and I came together over six months and then we, all of a sudden, we were the bank’s best friend, and then, you know, hey, we got some big names in,” but then you kind of came to this plateau, you get stuck. What would be the advice you would say about that?

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:26:26] Just start thinking about things differently. You know, you have to change something to get change. If you keep everything status quo, it will stay status quo, and status quo is a very safe place to be because it works. We could stay at a certain level and be perfectly fine with it. You know, you had mentioned that some of the revenue that women have reached and that’s the average. When I have a bad day, sometimes I think, you know, I have a multi-million-dollar business, and that’s kind of unheard of for a woman-owned business. There’s a lot that just don’t reach that and so, at that point, I’m just like, “Well, I’ve just got to figure this out then,” because clearly, it’s working. Something just has gone off track a little bit, and we have to just try different marketing. We have to try different networking events. We have to try different people. We have to try different cities. So, it’s always problem solving and trying to keep ahead of whatever the latest trend is.

Betty Collins: [00:27:22] I was just talking to someone today and we were trying to solve a problem, and I said, “Maybe we’re just asking the wrong question.”

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:27:27] Right. Right.

Betty Collins: [00:27:28] Let’s think about what other questions are out there that surround this? I know when I merged my business from a small company to Brady, where in 2012, it was very nerve racking, but I was in that plateau. I was in that stock. This was it. I knew what my next 10 years was going to look like, right? Brady, where I’ve never known what my next 10 years was going to look like, but I did have to ask, step back, what am I going to do differently because I don’t want to stay here?

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:27:57] Mm-hmm. Yes.

Betty Collins: [00:27:58] Because I believe, you know, my coach will tell you you’re either going forward or you’re going backward, you’re not going to stay right there.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:28:04] Yeah. Actually, what you did was definitely a viable option. I mean, merging with other companies, or (inaudible) is a different way of rethinking it. You know, if I have this backing me, I know I can take this farther.

Betty Collins: [00:28:16] Yes.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:28:16] So, yeah, it could be advisors, it could be partners, it could be anything but, yeah, it’s really just sitting around and kind of figuring out what is (inaudible) because you might be in an area, too, where you are just tapped out of people, which we have thought of too. Have we talked to everybody? Is this as big as we get? Are we going to be happy with this? Are we going to push it further?

Betty Collins: [00:28:33] Right.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:28:33] That changes day to day.

Betty Collins: [00:28:35] Sure.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:28:35] Because, sometimes, you know, it’s good to stay in the easy part.

Betty Collins: [00:28:37] Yes.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:28:38] But, every once in a while, we’re like, “Let’s just see what happens if,” and that’s just how we grow.

Betty Collins: [00:28:45] Well, share with the audience just the memories or events, something that really impacted your success today, you know, something that you can go, you always, when you’re having a bad day or you’re plateauing, you can go back to that moment.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:29:01] Probably the first time we were on the Fast 50 list. I never thought of, at all, about having an award-winning company. At that point, it’s like, you know what? It’s not me that thinks it’s great, me and Kristen, other people are thinking we’re doing a great job too. That is reflected in, you know, a few other awards that we have received too, where it’s like, you know what? People are seeing that we’re making a difference, and so that also helps you kind of raise your game, too, because once you get that first award, you’re like, “Okay, well, can we stay on that list for next year? Can we keep the growth going? What else should we be, you know, trying to get or obtain,” or things like that?

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:29:41] That’s also how we kind of got more into community involvement, too. We started getting super grateful with how the community was welcoming us, and we’re like we have to give back, and with that becomes a lot of reward, too, just by your growth potential. You know, being on boards, I think, you won’t believe how much you grow when you’re on a board. Volunteer work, you know, things like that. Writing blogs, you know, just to show your expertise in a blog or a podcast or things like that. It’s all that little stuff that kind of helps you own your space, and then people think of you first when things come up.

Betty Collins: [00:30:21] They do. Well, I’m sure there’s a next level, and this isn’t a question on the list, but I’ll ask it anyways. Do you see a next level? Something you are like, “Man, if I could just do that”?

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:30:30] Oh, gosh. There’s so much I want to do, especially because I have been gifted, I will say, access, to a lot of different opportunities. I would still, on a personal level, would like to break through the corporate board ceiling. That’s one thing that’s on my list of to-do’s. As far as the company itself, I think, I would like to just have it to have a continued, steady growth. I’d like to see it, you know, reach $10 million. That’s been a goal of ours for a while.

Betty Collins: [00:30:58] Sure.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:30:58] We talked about, you know, topping off again. It’s like I’d like to reach $10 million but, in the long run, that’s just a number. You know, we have a great team. You know, I’m in good health. You know, there’s nothing that I really need, need. My family’s great. So, sometimes, I’m like, you know, “Don’t rock the boat. Be happy with what you got,” but then, every once in a while, like I said, you’re like, “You know, $10 million would be kind of good bragging rights.”

Betty Collins: [00:31:25] Exactly. They’d be awesome. But there are those things that, I mean, we just learned with Elise Mitchell about the destination versus the journey-

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:31:34] Yeah. Oh, the journey is so great.

Betty Collins: [00:31:35] Right. You have to have that destination thing out there, though.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:31:35] That would, probably, be the one thing that I would add, too, to anybody who starts a business is really kind of enjoy the journey, and every part of it, like the pitfalls and the peaks. I mean, all of it is you learn so freaking much in all of that, and then you can go out and you can help others, you can mentor others. You can be that person that just says, “Oh, you just get more clients,” you know?

Betty Collins: [00:31:59] Right. And they go, “Oh, well, if she said that, I’m sure it’s true.”

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:32:02] “That happened to her, like, really, I can do it too,” which is definitely reassuring.

Betty Collins: [00:32:07] Yeah.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:32:07] The one thing, too, that I would also kind of mention about women business owners, too, is I run into a lot, because I have had the opportunity to mentor a couple, where they kind of feel like they’re a little unworthy of, or scared of, kind of getting super successful, and the reasons are really kind of interesting and, in many cases, true. They don’t want to fail. I mean, I think that women do treat failure a little differently than men do and kind of getting over that. But, then, also, I think they’re afraid of losing friends and family.

Betty Collins: [00:32:39] Sure.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:32:39] That was one thing that I had heard a couple of times where if I own a million-dollar business, “How’s my family and friends going to treat me? Am I going to always have to pick up the check? Are they going to always come to me for money? Are they going to call me, ‘Well, you know, Miss Moneybags over there,'” you know? And I have experienced some of that. You have to be prepared that some people are not going to like this new version of you, and anybody that’s kinda holding you back, you might have to think about just kind of not seeing so much, and it’s hard when it’s family or you’re your best, best friends, but there’s a lot of women out there that are more than happy to, you know, enjoy a glass of wine with you, too, so you really have to find your cheerleaders and hang around them.

Betty Collins: [00:33:22] One thing my husband and I talk about a lot is just, because I kind of run into it with my family as well, a little bit of, “Well, she owns that company.” You don’t know how much I own. You don’t know anything about me, okay, but it’s important that, as women, we share in your success and be glad for it, you know?

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:33:40] Yes.

Betty Collins: [00:33:40] And we say, “Yes, this is all good,” or help that person get to have the success that you’ve had. That’s okay to do.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:33:48] Absolutely.

Betty Collins: [00:33:48] Well, I so appreciate you coming today.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:33:51] Thank you, again, for having me.

Betty Collins: [00:33:52] You’ve been really insightful. I know that, statistically, we have about 90,000 downloads of my podcast.

Catherine Lang-Cline: [00:33:59] Oh, nice!

Betty Collins: [00:33:59] So, this will go out, and we will be out there telling your story. But, you know, going to the next level, whether it’s your professional career, because you’re not maybe a business owner or you’re a parent or, you know, you’re in certain phases of your life, get with people that you see that the level you would like to be with and get there, and so that’s why we had Catherine come today. So, going to that next level, wherever you are in the mix, don’t let those barriers get you. I’m Betty Collins, and I appreciate your time today.

E30 Change Management with Julia Steel and Renee Campisi

by

PROJECT-MANAGEMENT-OFFICE-HOURS-Author-Julia-Steel-and-Nimble-Giants-Consulting-President-Renee-Campisi
Phoenix Business Radio
E30 Change Management with Julia Steel and Renee Campisi
Loading
/

PROJECT-MANAGEMENT-OFFICE-HOURS-Author-Julia-Steel-and-Nimble-Giants-Consulting-President-Renee-Campisi1

E30 Change Management with Julia Steel and Renee Campisi

Have your struggled with Change Management? In this episode of Project Management Office Hours we have an in-depth discussion with Julia Steel and Renee Campisi on Change Management and Agile for Business.

We often look at Change Management on a per project basis rather than looking at Change as an overall initiative. How are we working within organizations with Managers and Leaders to prepare for change? Julia shares insights from her book, “Buy-in: How to Lead Change, Build Commitment and Inspire People.”

Listen to hear Julia describe the 3 C’s, Confidence, Clout and Courage to lead to successful Change. Renee shares her story which has grown to founding Nimble Giants. Listen to hear her discuss Agile for Business and the experiences that have helped shape her work. She provides great insights with stories, tips and tools which help organizations and leaders implement change.Think of “Change Fitness”, just as athletes need to practice and exercise to improve within their sport of choice we need to practice Change to improve.

Tune in for upcoming shows with Project Management leaders and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, Spreaker or your favorite podcast platform! Our next show will be June 6th at 11:00am PST with Steve Fullmer and Darrel Gardner. Thanks to our sponsors PM Master Prep and THE PMO SQUAD. PM Master Prep is offering 20% off all services by using code PMOJOE at checkout on www.pmmasterprep.com.

Julia-Seel-on-Phoenix-Business-RadioXJulia Steel is on a mission to help individuals, teams and organisations supercharge progress, navigate change and deliver results that matter. JuliaSteelLogow60h60white

She is an international speaker, author, facilitator, and coach, offering programs that help you focus on, implement and achieve strategic change.

Julia is the author of “Buy-in: How to Lead Change, Build Commitment and Inspire People,” is a graduate of Stanford University’s Executive LEAD program and knows that enrolling the right people, at the right time, is crucial to your success.

Connect with Julia on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

NimbleGiantsConsultingnobackground1

Nimble Giants will work with you to figure out exactly what services your business needs to run more efficiently and productively using an agile for business approach. Once that is established, they will work with you to figure out how you can grow your business from where it is now to where you dream of taking it.

Renee-Campisi-on-Phoenix-Business-RadioXRenee Campisi is leveraging her 20+ years of Process, Technology, Operations, Leadership and Change Management experience to bring her clients Nimble Giants Consulting. Renee’s business consulting services are focused on helping her clients unlock additional potential within their teams as well as operate in a strong, flexible and swift manner to remain competitive in today’s ever-changing landscape.

Renee first began her career at Accenture in Process and Technology Consulting for Fortune 100 companies. She credits her passion for business and leadership approach to spending her formative business years at Accenture where she practiced client partnership, consultative solutioning, innovation, technical leadership and project adoption.

Six years later, Renee left Accenture to operationalize a Joint Venture Partnership Program for a Phoenix based startup. This entrepreneurial experience helped round out Renee’s corporate business experience and provided her with a deep appreciation of the commitment and determination needed to succeed as a business owner.

After successfully expanding the Phoenix based entrepreneur’s Partnership Program across the US, Renee returned to her Process and Technology roots where she lead Professional Services for Pearson Education’s School Systems Business Unit. Here she strengthened her Program and Change Management experience and furthered her Operational Leadership and Business Partner Acumen.

After five rewarding years with Pearson, Renee was asked to design and implement an Operations Department for Neudesic, a highly successful and innovative Systems Integrator and Consulting Services Company with 12 offices across the US. Here Renee designed and implemented Business Capabilities focused on Business Performance Analysis and Advisement, Resource Deployment, Internal Process and Systems Development, Strategic Initiative Management, Financial Projections and Capacity Planning.

Currently, Renee is engaged with a Fortune 500 Company headquartered in downtown Phoenix where she is helping her client revolutionize how data driven innovation project work get accomplished using the skills she’s acquired through the years while helping the change she is implementing last.

Connect with Renee on LinkedIn.

ABOUT THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE HOURS SERIES

Project Management Office Hours is intended to provide Project Management professionals a place to drop in and discuss Success Stories, Best Practices, and Lessons Learned.  Project Management Consultant Joy Gumz has shared with us, “Operations keep the lights on, strategy provides the light at the end of the tunnel, but project management is the train engine that moves the organization forward.”  

Each of us has a unique story to tell, but collectively we share a message that organizations who embrace Project Management Best Practices perform better than those which don’t.  Organizations which align Projects to Strategy perform better.  Organizations with Engage Executive Sponsors deliver better results.  Organizations which measure Project Management performance outperform those which don’t.

During our Project Management Office Hours, we hear directly from Industry leaders how to make an impact in our profession. How we, collectively, will Advance Project Management Best Practices, One Listener at a time! 

Project Management Office Hours is powered by The PMO SQUAD 

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Joe Pusz started THE PMO SQUAD to bring real world PMO Leadership experience to the consulting space and to advocate for Project Management through his blog PMOJOE.com. The old saying is “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Following this mindset Joe left Corporate America in 2013 to start THE PMO SQUAD and work with fellow Natural Born Project Managers to advance Project Management Best Practices.

THE PMO SQUAD focuses exclusively on PMO and Project Management consulting. Corporate America is full of Accidental Project Managers running projects who haven’t been trained to be PMs. To help solve this problem THE PMO SQUAD is on the Leading Edge with PMO As a Service. PMO As a Service allows our clients to focus on their respective core competencies while THE PMO SQUAD delivers Project Management expertise. Contact Joe at 678-591-7868. Follow The PMO Squad on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

ABOUT OUR SPONSOR

PM Master PrepTM is simply the worlds best PMP® Exam Preparation licensing system. There is no other product available to businesses and independent trainers that can offer the same premium courseware along with the rich feature set of our online exam simulator and study resources.

Our Courseware has been designed to be shorter, easier to learn for students, and easier to teach for instructors. Your students will learn faster, retain more and will pass the PMP exam!

PMMPLogo-01

Jason Haner with Leapley Construction Group and Alessio Urso with LightSmarts

by

North Fulton Business Radio
North Fulton Business Radio
Jason Haner with Leapley Construction Group and Alessio Urso with LightSmarts
Loading
/
Jason Haner and Alessio Urso

Jason Haner, Leapley Construction Group

Jason Haner is a Vice President with Leapley Construction Group. Leapley Construction is a twenty-year-old, woman-owned interior renovation General Contractor that exists to build spaces where people thrive. Leapley has a robust staff of 17 Project Managers and 29 Superintendents focused on Office, Higher Education and Healthcare projects. Key Leapley clients include in the office market include Coca-Cola, Norfolk Southern, Equifax, and Newell Brands. Higher education clients include the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Emory University, and Kennesaw State University. Key Healthcare accounts include Piedmont Hospital, Kaiser, Northside Hospital and Emory Clinic. Leapley construction has grown 65% in the last 3 years, recording revenues of $88 million in 2018.

For more information, go to http://www.leapleyconstruction.com/.

Alessio Urso, LightSmarts

Alessio Urso is the Founder and Principal of LightSmarts. Alessio creates great visual experiences while promoting health and well-being in commercial lighting design by working cohesively with architects, interior designers, and property owners.

Alessio helps his clients achieve their vision within budget, on schedule and without increasing the complexity of the project. His over fifteen years of experience in both lighting design and lighting controls enables me to provide a complete turnkey solution precisely fitted to each client’s particular needs.

The custom lighting and controls designed by LightSmarts take into account both quantity and quality: the right quantity of lighting needed to perform in a specific space plus the right quality of light that will create a comfortable and healthy environment. When it comes to creating a lighting and controls design (whether for interior lighting or exterior lighting), every detail is attended to and every element fully executed to meet the highest standards.

For more information, go to https://www.lightsmarts.com/, or contact Alessio Urso with LightSmarts directly at aurso@LightSmarts.com or (470) 265-1292.

Our Mission

We help local business leaders get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, their community, and their profession.

We support and celebrate business by sharing positive business stories that traditional media ignores. Some media leans left. Some media leans right. We lean business.

Sponsor a Show

Build Relationships and Grow Your Business. Click here for more details.

Partner With Us

Discover More Here

Terms and Conditions
Privacy Policy

Connect with us

Want to keep up with the latest in pro-business news across the network? Follow us on social media for the latest stories!

Business RadioX® Headquarters
1000 Abernathy Rd. NE
Building 400, Suite L-10
Sandy Springs, GA 30328