Business RadioX ®

BRX Pro Tip: 3 Underutilized LinkedIn Tips

by

BRXmic99
BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: 3 Underutilized LinkedIn Tips
Loading
/

BRX-Banner

BRX Pro Tip: 3 Underutilized LinkedIn Tips

Stone Payton: And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, I know we’ve been diving into LinkedIn as a platform to communicate, to serve, and for business development. What are you learning? Are you picking up any tips about LinkedIn?

Lee Kantor: Yeah. LinkedIn is so powerful and it’s used by billions of people at this point, and it’s so important to leverage the network aspect of it. But there’s some things that are not so obvious when it comes to LinkedIn that I recommend folks kind of explore and take advantage of.

Lee Kantor: Number one that I highly recommend in any social media platform, if possible, but especially in LinkedIn where all your connections are, is export your connections out of LinkedIn to an external CRM platform that you control. You want to get all of that data that you’ve accumulated over the years out of their platform because you never know if they’re going to change the arrangement that you’ve already signed up for and that they could charge you for accessing these people.

Lee Kantor: Just like right now, your feed and your posts aren’t being seen by your entire network. You’re allowed to export your connections out of LinkedIn, so export them and then you can, you know, market to them and talk to them in the manner you want to do, the rhythm you want to do, instead of hoping that your posts are going to be seen by your network.

Lee Kantor: Number two is, if you are researching somebody or if you’re potentially going to hire somebody, and you might not know this, but every time you search for somebody in your LinkedIn when you’re signed in, they see that you’re doing this. There’s a way to be anonymous and browse anonymously. If you’re doing any type of Intel or research like that, you may want to go anonymous when you’re browsing.

Lee Kantor: Number three, I would recommend experiment with LinkedIn Live video to demonstrate your expertise, this is a great way to post LinkedIn likes when you do these kind of things. But this way, if you do business with other business people, then LinkedIn should be your main social media channel. So, why not periodically have some LinkedIn Live content or video content out there with you being smart about what you’re doing?

Lee Kantor: So, those are three underutilized tips that people aren’t really taking advantage of as much as they should.

Nick Scarabosio with Culture to Cash

by

Culture-to-Cash-HVR-feature
High Velocity Radio
Nick Scarabosio with Culture to Cash
Loading
/

Culture-to-Cash-logo

Nick-ScarabosioNick Scarabosio is the co-founder and business coach at Culture to Cash, an organization dedicated to assisting ambitious business owners across industries in reaching exceptional outcomes. Leveraging principles honed over years of experience, Nick and his team guide companies toward doubling their revenue, tripling their profit, and increasing their business value tenfold.

Nick’s unique background sets him apart in the business coaching arena. With 16 years as the Director of Operations for Jackson Group Property Management, Inc in San Francisco, he mastered the complexities of the real estate sector, specializing in strategic decision-making and operational efficiency.

During this period, he concurrently owned and operated fitness gyms in San Bruno, CA, from 2011-2020, demonstrating his ability to excel in diverse business environments and furthering his understanding of the small business landscape.

Between 2017-2019, Nick worked with one of the world’s largest men’s transformation programs, solidifying his expertise in personal and business growth strategies. He incorporates these insights into his current work, offering tailored coaching services to businesses of all sizes – from solopreneurs to corporations with teams of 700+.

Today, Nick focuses on helping his clients scale their businesses, forge a balanced work-life integration, and accomplish their goals in every aspect of life. As a passionate advocate for customized business solutions, he would love to explore and discuss how to turn a company’s culture into cash on your podcast.

Connect with Nick on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Stone Payton: [00:00:14] Welcome to the High Velocity Radio show where we celebrate top performers producing better results in less time. Stone Payton here with you this afternoon and you guys are in for a real treat. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast business coach and co-founder with Culture to Cash. Mr. Nick Scarabosio. How are you, man?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:00:37] I’m good Stone. It’s a pleasure to be on and speaking with you and your listeners today. You know, I love what you guys do and lines up really well with what we do at Culture to Cash. We’re all about performance and business. So excited to be here.

Stone Payton: [00:00:49] Well, you’re looking good. You’re sounding good. I’ve been very excited about this conversation. I’ve got a thousand questions. I know we’re not going to get to them all, but I’m thinking maybe a good place to start would be if you could articulate for me and our listeners mission purpose, what you and your team are really out there trying to do for folks, man.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:01:13] Yeah, absolutely. So the purpose, purpose of culture to cash is pretty clear. It’s we want to create $5 billion in enterprise value and human life value for owner led businesses. What we’re trying to do is show people that revenue, profit, cash, all of that’s important, but it’s not the main reason we’re in business. You know, most entrepreneurs, they started with a dream. They’re just unfortunately stuck in the day to day. They’re a little hamstrung by maybe some people issues or strategy lacking, but it’s all fixable. Like that’s the beauty of it all is don’t quit. Keep going, keep driving. There’s a way out. And usually on the other end of that way out is a life that you not only desire, but deserve.

Stone Payton: [00:02:01] Well, it sounds like a noble pursuit to me, but I got to know the backstory, man. How does one find himself in this kind of role in this arena, serving these kinds of constituents?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:02:13] Yeah. Yeah. So three of us co-founded Culture two Cash, myself, my two partners, Corwin Smith and Matt Blanton. We were all those people at one point or another. So I come from the real estate and property management industries, as well as owning some fitness gyms. And I did everything wrong, you know, on the on the outside, on the outside, everyone would say it was good. It was great, like, you’re doing so well. But I was personally just driving myself into a hole. I was overweight, I was stressed, I was anxious. I wasn’t being the husband and the father that I, I wanted to be. So not only in business, but at home. Personally, I wasn’t taking care of the vows and commitments that I had made. So I started looking for a process out, a system out and went through coaches, went through some consulting, some work, some didn’t, but always learning along the way. And what was really exposed to me is while I was good in those fields, I wasn’t great because I wasn’t being driven by purpose and passion. So, you know, fast forward from that 2004 start timeline to about 2016, 2017 started really saying, Hey, what is this that I’m doing? Because I’m getting a lot of requests for help, but what’s the process I have? And started building a program, building a system. And then I met my two partners right around the same time we were coaching in other organizations. So somebody saw something in us as coaches and consultants. And for a few years we kind of helped each other, played around with some clients together, some not. And then we decided, Hey, this has been a very long engagement for three plus years. Why don’t we get married, launch culture to cash and take what is our purpose, our vision, our passion to other owner led business owners and help them see what took us a lot of bad trials and tribulations to get to.

Stone Payton: [00:04:10] I think that’s marvelous background and foundation because it seems like you could remove some of the friction and maybe shrink the timeline for a lot of the rest of us so we don’t have to make all the same mistakes, Right?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:04:22] That’s it. Yeah. You don’t have to go it alone. You know, there’s we’ve made the mistakes for you. Try to avoid them now.

Stone Payton: [00:04:30] All right, So let’s dive into the work a little bit. Describe for me if you can sort of, I don’t know, the engagement cycle. I’m particularly interested in what happens early on in an engagement. How do you get this thing rolling?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:04:44] Yeah, Yeah. So, you know, an owner led business realizes, hey, I’ve got a viable product here. I seem to have a company that works. I just don’t know how to take it to the next level. So you come to us, the first thing we start talking about, which catches most people off guard, is we remove business. Where do you want to go? Like stone? What are you doing this for? What’s the ultimate end game? What are your life ambitions, your family ambitions, and what are you going to need to support those coming true? So once we have ourselves grounded in what we want, now we bring in business. Okay, let’s talk revenue. Let’s talk people. Do you have a strategy? And we do all this through one on one coaching. We have groups, but we also have a lot of back end systems. So we’re analyzing data, we’re finding out where are you strong because, hey, let’s keep doing that piece. But where are you also missing some major whether it’s systems, processes or people. So once we identify what the gaps are, then we get into the strategic side of it. Okay. Hey, if we could snap our fingers and fix everything tomorrow, we would. We’d also probably be billionaires if we had that capacity. But it does take time. You know, we we say, you know, proper strategy anywhere from 12 to 24 months to implement. But we have to do that in chunks. We can’t do it all at once because you don’t have the capacity. Your people don’t have the capacity. Oh, and there’s this other thing called life in the middle of the way. You still got to take care of all that.

Stone Payton: [00:06:23] I’m sure there are some unique characteristics to every engagement, every business, every individual within the business. And do you find yourself do you see some patterns like you’re in there, you’re starting that engagement and you’re like, if you don’t say it out loud, you say to yourself, Yep, I’ve seen this before. Are there some like common patterns or even maybe I’ll ask a kind of a compound question patterns, but also myths or preconceptions or misbeliefs when a new client is coming in and things that they, you know, that’s not really quite how it works. Joe Yeah.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:06:58] Yeah. I mean, often the first pushback we always get is, but Nick, have you done this industry? And the first thing we have to talk about is. One. We’ve been in a lot. I think we’ve been in, you know, 60 to 70 plus industries at this point. So we do have a lot of background. But if we go to the real facts is business principles are foundational, whether you’re a plumber, an electrician, a chef, a financial services person, the foundations of business are industry agnostic. So what you need to identify is just where am I at? Where do I want to go and what are the gaps I hold now? Are there nuances? Of course, you know, if you’re in the trades, we’ve seen it the last 12 months. There are problems being created well outside of our control by economic conditions, political decisions like those things. They are a part of the equation, but they’re not unique to you. They just are at the moment. Other other industries will go through them in the future.

Stone Payton: [00:08:04] So have you had the benefit? I know the answer to this is yes. I’m going to say it differently. Tell me a little bit about, if you would. I was going to say, have you had the benefit of one or more mentors along the way as you were navigating this terrain of running a, you know, a consultancy or coaching a speaking kind of firm?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:08:26] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, what what led me down this path was ultimately, you know, starting to realize I didn’t know it all. And I think that’s the hardest thing for us as business owners is we get stuck with this hat of leader of owner and we’re expected to have all the answers. Well, guess what? Nobody does. So we’ve got to go seek mentorship. We’ve got to seek peers who are in the same place programs, coaches, consultants. So I went through the industry specific ones and real estate and property management. When we launched our gyms, I went to coaches who could help me with marketing and fitness coaches, who could help me just be a better coach. Then when I was also stuck personally, I found, you know, men’s transformational programs that I thought would help. And the thing that I always tell people in there is no one is a magic bullet. We’re not a magic bullet. Culture to cash is not a magic bullet. We are a part of the solution. So what you have to be open to and it’s probably the one piece holding most business owners back, is just willing to accept that vulnerability of I need help, I need a solution, and this is going to be a piece of the solution. Not all of it at once.

Stone Payton: [00:09:38] Yeah. So now that you’ve been at this a while, what are you finding the most rewarding about the work? What’s the most fun about it for you?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:09:49] Yeah. So. As I had mentioned, we are we’re trying to create value for business owners. We want to see you exit for a massive number so you, your family, your legacy is taken care of financially. That’s great. But we really do focus in on what we refer to as human life value. How are you affecting your people? How are you affecting yourself? Like what are you passing on? That is way more important than money. So if you’re an industry or you’re an organization, whether you’ve got ten, ten employees or 100, you have to realize that it’s probably about 3 to 4 x how many people you have the opportunity to affect. Because we’ve got wives, we’ve got husbands, we’ve got kids, we’ve got future grandkids, we’ve just got communities. So what we really like to do at Culture two, Cash is realize that the impact we can make, yes, we’ll make the CEO’s life better. We’ll probably make them some more money. But that will actually trickle down to an effect across the entire organization, its people and their legacies. So if we can make an impact from top down all the way to the front line and know that, hey, maybe little Johnny 15 years from now has a nugget of truth and gold from his dad that learned it from their CEO, that learned it from us. That’s what makes it worthwhile.

Stone Payton: [00:11:14] What a great way to frame it. Human life value listeners, you’re going to hear that from me again. And I will try to to credit Nick. But what happens to me.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:11:26] It’s I didn’t I didn’t make it up so we didn’t make it up either. That was from one of our coaches and mentors. But it is just, you know, it’s always stuck with us. With us. It’s a big part of our decision making is how are we impacting human life value.

Stone Payton: [00:11:41] I may have mentioned to you before we came on the air, I don’t know if I did or not, but a lot of our listeners know that I came from the sales and marketing arena within the training consulting world. So I have kind of that. I look through a lot of things from the sales and marketing lens, and I am curious how does the whole sales and marketing thing work for a practice like yours in a firm like yours? Do you have to get out there and and shake the trees, or are you at a point where it’s coming to you? Or how does that work for you?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:12:11] It’s a holistic approach. So we’re we’re big believers in you got to have multi marketing going on. So yeah, we have referrals, we have networking, you know, people who we’ve provided a tremendous value to put us in touch with other business owners they know, but we also go the traditional routes as well. We’re doing digital marketing, we’re doing Facebook and Instagram campaigns. Like our whole goal is not to work with the entire world, but it’s to work with the people that are the best fit for what we do to make the most impact. And the only way we can find out if you’re a good fit is to market and have a conversation. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But you come and you have a talk with me. I’m not going to say, Hey, you know, Stone, I don’t like you. I’m not going to work with you. I’m going to say, Hey, Stone, I don’t know if we’re necessarily a good fit, but maybe talk to these three individuals. Maybe they’re going to be a better person for you.

Stone Payton: [00:13:06] Well that fit conversation in that value conversation. I again, I was from the training consulting world, so, so I knew how important it was there. It sounds like everything you’re doing is so grounded in trust and relationship and fit and the value that they perceive. And there must be a really strong educational component to to what you do to even just get to where you can have a substantive conversation. It’s the antithesis of transactional your world, right?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:13:38] Yeah, Yeah. I mean, here’s the reality is that 99% of business owners we talk to when we start our conversation is while I may not be saying these words, what they hear is your baby’s ugly. Because I’m saying I’m saying, hey, like, here’s the gaps we see. Here’s the potential you could have, but you need to make some changes. You’re not doing this right. You could potentially do this better. So this is your your business that you’ve poured your blood, sweat and tears into. It’s your your baby. It’s your single largest asset. And you got some guy, whether it’s in Zoom or in person or some other form of communication telling you it’s not perfect. So if we can get past that, that’s a level of trust where you’re open to the idea, you’re open to consideration for what we have to say. Does that mean you accept everything? Of course not. We’re human beings. We’ve got this thing in between our ears that plays a lot of different stories and, you know, messes with us sometimes. But as long as the trust is there and then we can start to lay out the plan, the strategy, the tactics, then we can make some real impact.

Stone Payton: [00:14:50] So diving back into the work that even the name of the firm is Culture to Cash. So I’m interested in you speaking to that a little bit. And I know culture, at least for me, and I think maybe some of our listeners can be can can be a little nebulous sometimes and we have a hard time getting our arms around it. And yet we all, or most of us, I think instinctively, intellectually understand man, to to whatever degree I can impact the culture, I can really impact results and and home human life value. But speak to that a little bit the focus on culture.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:15:26] Yeah. So the hardest part of being a business owner and growing growing an organization is people. Like we are the most difficult beings on the planet because while we’re highly evolved and we can speak and we have language, we then have to take into consideration that while Johnny’s working at the company, Johnny’s also got a family. He’s also got requirements and vows and commitments he’s got to fulfill. So if he’s not taking care of that, can create issues inside of my organization. Maybe his productivity is off or he’s distracted or he’s disconnected. So what we know to be true is if we can dive into upgrading our people, the results come as a benefit. And when we’re talking culture, while it’s cool with the tech companies do with the ping pong tables and the the free lunches and things like that, it’s yeah, it’s great and those can be fun. But culture is really how do I lead? And if I’m having conflict, how do I handle conflict? How do I improve my people? How do I make sure they’re not only committed to themselves but they enjoy what they’re doing? So thus they’re committed to the organization?

Stone Payton: [00:16:41] What a great checklist of questions that helps you get your arm around culture really quick. Man. You just got to rattled it off. But that’s a man that’s that’s a seminar right there. Probably. All right. I’m going to switch gears on you a little bit before we wrap, if I could. I’m interested to know and I don’t know where you’d find the time, but I get the sense that you would have real value for this. What Hobbies, passions, interests, things that you maybe you have a tendency to nerd out about outside the scope of your work. Like my listeners, they know I like to hunt, fish and travel, you know? But how about you?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:17:18] Yeah. So when we’re not working, I am a husband and father. So I’ve got a 14 year old son, 11 year old daughter. So they definitely keep me busy between high school sports for my son, competitive cheer for my daughter and then for me personally. Um, big fan of Brazilian jiu jitsu train that consistently and then I also love to golf and we happen to be in the awesome state of Colorado now. So when winter hits, try to hit the mountains, get some skiing and snowboarding in. But really it’s just more about do what you love outside of work. Because if you’re not, what are you doing it for?

Stone Payton: [00:17:53] Amen. And I mean, my experience has been I personally need that white space. I need to retreat and sit in a tree for a while. I feel like I’m a better leader when I come back, right?

Nick Scarabosio: [00:18:06] Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, one of the promises we make to clients who sign up with us is within the first 90 days, we cut the time to manage the business by 50% for the owners. And what I always tell them is, hey, I’m going to get you back 50% of your time. Don’t do something stupid like filling it with more minutia. Work. Go enjoy it. Go spend some time outdoors. Go spend some time with your family. Hey, you haven’t had a vacation in six years. Even if it’s only a day. Go take a vacation. Like enjoy life. Because that’s the only reason we should be working is to produce happiness and ability to enjoy life.

Stone Payton: [00:18:44] Yeah. Okay. Let’s leave our listeners, if we could, with a couple of actionable tips, something that they should be doing, not doing reading. Maybe some some dashboard signals that they ought to be paying more attention to some of these topics or maybe even ought to be reaching out to someone and having conversation. Let’s leave them with a couple of things. They can go and listen. Gang. The best tip is reach out and have a conversation with Nick or somebody on his team. But even short of that, you know, some things to think about, begin focusing on maybe.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:19:20] Yeah. So where we start, everybody is start with people. Stop worrying about cash, stop worrying about strategy and tactics. Because if you’re not paying attention to your people, none of it matters. The hardest part of this game is hiring, sourcing and keeping good employees. So start looking at your processes of doing that. We start with function first. Always function first. What’s the role? What needs to be accomplished? Then we go find the people for it. Then we pour our energy and support into them and that’s what helps grow, what’s helping grow teams. So once you have the people part dialed in, then you can start to ask yourself, Where do I want to take this thing?

Stone Payton: [00:20:01] Well, I’m glad I asked. That’s a good set of recommendations. I’ll tell you what, gang, if you want to get some really solid consulting information, knowledge for for free or next to free, get yourself a radio show, man. You meet some fascinating people with a lot of depth. They thank you for that. All right. What’s the best way for folks to reach out and have a conversation with you or someone on your team? Tap into your into your work, whatever. Just leave them some coordinates, whatever you think is appropriate and most productive.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:20:33] Yeah. So culture sitcom all spelled out. That’s our website. There’s plenty of buttons on there for you to book a free discovery call. We are we are three men that truly believe in having conversations with no outcome for us. All we want to do is provide impact for you. So even if it’s 20, 30 minutes and I can leave you with one nugget, that’s a win for me. Social media. You can type in my name. Nick Scarabosio There’s not a whole lot of scarabosio running around this planet, so pretty easy to find. And other than that, yeah, social and websites the best way.

Stone Payton: [00:21:10] Well, Nick, it has been an absolute delight having you on the program this afternoon. Keep up the good work, man. The work you and your you and your team are doing, it’s so important. And we really appreciate you, man.

Nick Scarabosio: [00:21:27] All right. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on.

Stone Payton: [00:21:29] My pleasure. All right. Until next time, This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Nick Scarabosio with Culture to Cash. And everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying we’ll see you in the fast lane.

 

BRX Pro Tip: Finding Your First 50 Guests

by

BRX Pro Tip: 3 Ways to Get More Out of Your Chamber of Commerce

by

BRXmic99
BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: 3 Ways to Get More Out of Your Chamber of Commerce
Loading
/

BRX-Banner

BRX Pro Tip: 3 Ways to Get More Out of Your Chamber of Commerce

Stone Payton: Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, we’ve been blessed is the only way, I guess, I know to articulate it, by the relationships that we have built with various chambers of commerce and all of these markets that we serve. What are some good ways to get more out of your chamber of commerce?

Lee Kantor: Yeah. The chamber of commerce is so important to so many people and so many communities and all business associations. It’s kind of the same thing. You can benefit if you implement these in whatever business association you’re a member of, but get to know the leadership. It’s so important to kind of have relationships with the leaders of these associations so they know who you are, they know what you do. This helps keep you top of mind when they meet somebody who might benefit from whatever it is that you do or the services you provide.

Lee Kantor: Number two is, at these kind of organizations, look for opportunities to be a subject matter expert on a panel, at a meeting, at a talk. There are so many speaking opportunities at the chamber or a lot of these business associations, and if you want them, you’ve got to go and be proactive and let them know that you want to share information that you know about these kind of the things that you do that you’re an expert on. And speaking is a great way to promote your expertise. It’s way more elegant and less salesy than running an ad in the magazine. So, demonstrate your thought leadership by actually being a thought leader and speaking about it.

Lee Kantor: And then, finally, volunteer for leadership positions yourself. These kind of associations, they don’t work if you think you’re just going to pay the dues and think that business is going to magically come to your door. It just doesn’t work like that. The people who give the most tend to get the most out of their membership. So, volunteer in areas that showcase your expertise, that demonstrate that you are great at what you do, and that serving the organization is a great way to give you kind of that exposure to folks and to demonstrate that you’re great at what you do.

Lee Kantor: And, also, this way they can kind of test you out in that manner and say, “Oh, if they were good for the chamber like this, surely they’ll be able to help me in a similar way.” So, those are three ways to get more out of your chamber of commerce membership.

Defying the Odds and Following Your Passion: Devon’s Story

by

Devon-Newman
Northwest Arkansas
Defying the Odds and Following Your Passion: Devon's Story
Loading
/

Devon-NewmanGet ready to be inspired! In this uplifting interview on Northwest Arkansas Business Radio, host Adam Robison sits down with Devon Newman, an empowered entrepreneurship trainer at Canopy NWA. Canopy is a nonprofit that helps refugees build businesses and thrive in the Northwest Arkansas community.

Devon shares her incredible story of strength, hope and perseverance. While backpacking through South America with her boyfriend Brandon at age 22, Devon was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. After hiking up a mountain in Argentina, she fell into a thorn bush and her hand swelled to twice its size. At the hospital, doctors discovered a mango-sized tumor in her neck that had spread from her lungs.

With minimal English spoken, Devon had to have Brandon translate this earth-shattering news to her. They immediately flew back to the U.S. where Devon started chemotherapy treatment just days later.

Rather than let the cancer stop her ambitious dreams, Devon studied for the GMAT during her chemo sessions and scored well enough to earn a full scholarship for her MBA at the University of Arkansas. She even continued working part-time at Barnes and Noble throughout her treatment.

Devon and Brandon also traveled the world during and after her recovery, exploring places like Iceland, Columbia, and more. They recently bought 25 acres of land in Westwood, Arkansas where Devon wants to create beautiful, whimsical gardens and eventually grow organic starts for the community.

Devon started her own side business The Raised Bed Co. where she builds and plants custom raised garden beds for clients, allowing anyone to grow their own fruits, vegetables and herbs. She is extremely passionate about gardening and the joy it brings.

Hitting her 5-year cancer free mark this April, Devon will be celebrating in style with a cancer-themed party full of joy and laughter. She is living life to the fullest, not letting her health challenges stop her from pursuing her dreams.

Tune in to hear more of Devon’s incredible life journey and the wisdom she shares. This uplifting interview will brighten your day and give you an empowering perspective. You’ll also get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the whimsical land Devon is cultivating, her world travels, passions, business ventures, and so much more.

Devon Newman is an entrepreneurship trainer at Canopy NWA, a nonprofit that helps refugees start businesses in Northwest Arkansas. She has an MBA from the University of Arkansas and is passionate about empowering immigrant entrepreneurs. Devon is also a cancer survivor, traveler, and gardening enthusiast.

Socials

Instagram: https://instagram.com/devonrnewman/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1348112624

TikTok: @newmantravel

Web

Canopy of Northwest Arkansas

http://www.canopynwa.org/

The Raised Beds Co.

http://theraisedbedco.com

Marianne Butler and Leonard Akers with Homeless Coalition of Cherokee County

by

Marianne-Butler-Feature-10.2.23
Cherokee Business Radio
Marianne Butler and Leonard Akers with Homeless Coalition of Cherokee County
Loading
/

CherokeeBusinessRadio100223banner

Sponsored by Woodstock Neighbors Magazine

Woodstock-Neighbors-logo

Get ready for a night of fun and excitement at The Homeless Coalition of Cherokee County’s Costume Ball & Fundraiser event! Put on your most creative and unique costume and join us on Saturday, October 14, 2023 at Timbers on Etowah (225 Reformation Parkway #Suite 202, Canton, GA 30114). The event kicks off at 7:00 PM.

Marianne-ButlerMarianne Butler was selected to serve as the Homeless Coalition’s first Director. She brings to this role over 20 years of diverse experience serving people in need from a professional and spiritual perspective. She has hands on experience working with vulnerable populations ranging from special needs children to aging veterans in the VA Hospital system.

Her background, which includes a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from The University of Southern Mississippi, lends to the Coalition her knowledge and ability to fully understand the needs of individuals with a broad range of physical, behavioral, and emotional issues from severe psychiatric conditions to those facing urgent financial and quality of life circumstances.

While her background is vast, her heart is even bigger. It is her compassion for connecting individuals and families with both professional and spiritual guidance that makes her uniquely gifted and qualified to serve in this capacity. The-Homeless-Coalition-of-Cherokee-County-logo

Marianne resides in Woodstock, Georgia along with her husband, two daughters, and various pets. We are honored and grateful to have her passion and experience to help facilitate a more wholistic and integrated approach to bringing relief, recovery, and ultimately restoration to individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Cherokee County.

Follow Homeless Coalition of Cherokee County on Facebook.

Leonard-AkersLeonard Akers, Associate Pastor at Local Church Canton

Follow Local Church Canton on Facebook and Instagram.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Stone Payton: Welcome to another exciting and informative edition of Cherokee Business Radio Stone Payton here with you this morning. And today’s episode is brought to you in part by Woodstock Neighbors magazine, bringing neighbors and business together. For more information, go to Facebook and Instagram at Woodstock Neighbors Wbvm. And if you have a small business and you have a heart for community and would like to utilize this platform to serve others and help you grow your business, consider joining us our Community Partner program, Main Street Warriors. Go check us out at Main Street warriors.org. All right, it’s time for our headliner. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with Homeless Coalition Cherokee. Welcome back to the Business RadioX microphone. Ms. Marianne Butler. How are you?

Marianne Butler: I’m doing great this morning. Thanks for having me.

Stone Payton: Oh, I’m delighted to have you back in the studio. I told you last time we talked, I was quite sincere. We wanted to have you back and check in on some things. I know you’ve got some interesting stuff coming up, but let’s before we go there, would you take a moment and maybe articulate for me and our listening audience? Mission, purpose. What are you and your team really out there trying to do for the community?

Marianne Butler: So, sure, the homeless coalition of Cherokee County is committed to coming alongside those experiencing homelessness so that they realize housing, stability and wholeness in Christ. So that sounds like a lot of great big words.

Stone Payton: It also sounds like you’ve answered that question before. That was incredibly articulate. I know I said articulate and you were articulate.

Marianne Butler: Nailed it. So, yeah, so it sounds like a lot of big words and stuff, but we actually use those words and we’re we’re creating programs and a process to to make housing stability a reality for a lot of those experiencing homelessness in our community. So it’s a very exciting time. We’re a new little group and so we’re excited to be here and share what we’re doing.

Stone Payton: So I said this last time, and I’ll say it again, I guess surprised is an accurate anymore since I had the benefit of a real conversation with you. Not that that long ago, but it still intriguing to me. I don’t know what the right word is, you know, because it seems like a pretty affluent community. You know, I’ve got a nice little patio home right on the edge of downtown Woodstock. Holly and I hopped in the golf cart and went down to reformation. We had a beer. We enjoyed the weather. Holly’s involved with the art scene here. I get to meet, you know, small business people every day and have a conversation. It it just it doesn’t I guess it’s still unnerving. I don’t know what the right verb is that we actually have a homeless population here in Cherokee County.

Marianne Butler: We do. And that I get get that question or I get that conversation a lot from people. I’ve never seen somebody experiencing homelessness. I don’t see those big camps. Like like when you go down into downtown Atlanta or even some of our larger cities, you see big camps and things like that. And that’s really not as descriptive of those experiencing homelessness in Cherokee County. On any given night, we’ll have about 200 at least people who are unsheltered a night. And that’s not including what we call precariously housed. Those are people who may have enough money to live in a hotel for a few nights, but then the next night they don’t they don’t know where they’re going to be. So they’ll they’re back in their car. They may be in their car for a while and move from parking lot to parking lot. So precariously housed is uncertain, unsteady, unstable housing. They may be on a friend’s, an uncle, cousin, whoever. They may live on the couch for a few nights. But then again, they don’t know where they’re going to go next. And it’s you know, one of the glaring problems is we don’t have an emergency shelter. So so people are really kind of scrambling if they’re living paycheck to paycheck and things like that.

Stone Payton: So, yeah, speaking of emergencies, what about we don’t we’re fortunate. We don’t have that many weather events, but it can get really cold or have a storm coming through that. So that’s a challenge, too.

Marianne Butler: Yes, it is a challenge. It is a challenge. And we’ve. Is a challenge I don’t have. I wish I had an immediate solution for that. Right. Right. It certainly. But I don’t have one. We’ve worked with other groups in order to assist. When it got really, really cold last Christmas, it was below freezing, I think for three days in a row. We did assist the way church in downtown Woodstock and I believe Action Church also opened their doors for those who were out in that freezing. I mean, it was it was freezing for three days in a row. So. Yeah, but that’s not a permanent solution.

Stone Payton: Right, Right. So you mentioned being a young organization. Kind of walk us through the history and what compelled you personally to get involved with this effort.

Marianne Butler: So yeah, the history this was about 2018 ish. Some pastors came together and started kind of questioning and wondering. Pastors and lay leaders from about six local churches came together and started kind of questioning, wondering what’s going on with with people who are unhoused unsheltered in the community. Where are the needs, where are the gaps in services? And we didn’t know you know, they didn’t know. And pastors, you know, they’re great. They’ve got these vision casting things going on and they’re like, wow, what’s going on? So they I was in on those earlier conversations as a lay leader in one of the churches. And then we they ended up hiring me in 2020 to start 2020 when everything shut down. Right. Perfect timing. It was actually good timing, but they hired me to kind of figure out what was going on in the community where the gaps in services in particular are and fill those needs. So we don’t want to reinvent the wheel. We’re not going to be something that’s already existed and done well by another organization. But we wanted to fill in those gaps. And luckily we have today Leonard Akers with us. He is a board member and a pastor at local church. And I think he was in on those early conversations as well.

Leonard Akers: So yeah, thanks for having us. Stone We got together and there was a couple people that just had a heart for homelessness and it really was sort of a discovery like, like what is I think a lot of us might have been in the same place that you were. Stone of just is this really an issue up here? You know, we know about downtown Atlanta and see pictures of big cities all over the world. But as we discovered, we then got led to prayerfully think about forming something that I think the important word for us is that we want to be relationally engaged with people who are experiencing homelessness. And I like to think that most of the people who are experiencing homelessness in our community are sort of hidden. In other words, they’re people that we know. They’re people who take their kids to school. They’re people that might look on the surface as if everything is fine. But the reality is, is that in the evenings they’re like Marianne said, they’re crashing at someone’s couch or they’re in a Walmart parking lot in their car, leaving the car on all night long to keep the kids warm. Right. And I think that we discovered that there was a unique opportunity for us to relationally engage with folks and provide relief. Hopefully that then leads to some sort of recovery and eventually to full restoration, which is really what our community is all about, is relationally caring for people in the hopes that we can help some of them, maybe a lot of them find their way to stability and housing and then also restoration in their own faith beliefs.

Stone Payton: So let’s dive into this relationally and engaging with someone. I actually know, a person that I am 80% confident is how did you put it? Precariously, precariously housed and I’ll give you that background later, confidentially off the off the air. But I’m not I don’t even feel like I would know what to say like to get them going down the the is that tough sometimes in the early going just approaching them about this path.

Marianne Butler: So for for our perspective what we do what we’ve initially done is received referrals from other agencies. So that’s helpful to us because there are larger, better known agencies that people initially go to and then they refer them to us. Okay. And and it’s really somebody coming to us to ask for help versus us seeking out. Does that make sense?

Stone Payton: It does make sense, you know.

Marianne Butler: People want to need to be in a state of readiness to make those kinds of changes. And they’re hard sometimes, so. Right. So, yeah, that’s okay.

Stone Payton: All right. And then but if someone in a state of readiness that has been referred, what does the conversation and the process look like, particularly in the early stages?

Marianne Butler: So what we have, we have basically three programs, if you will. The first one is called Operation Roof. It’s a week long hotel stay and we call that actually more than a hotel stay. We meet our guests at the hotel. We talk with them. We listen to them listening to people’s stories. And I say this every single time, being heard when you feel that you’re forgotten and unheard is probably the most valuable thing we can do right now. Just listening to their story. So we we have trained volunteers who meet our guests at the hotel. They listen to their story. They provide compassion, support, just in prayer if requested. And then they try to. Once listening to that story, point them to additional resources in the county that may be useful to them. So kind of matching up those resources with their specific needs. Again, we’re not going to reinvent the wheel, but we try to match that with them. So that’s how we meet our guests. We receive the referral. We meet them at the hotel. We we spend time with them, get to know them a little bit, and then we continue to try and follow up over the course of the week that they’re in the hotel and even after they’ve left that week long. Stay with us to see how they’re doing and again, provide encouragement and a little, little hope there.

Stone Payton: But the listening that’s that’s so important. And I’m sure a week in the same place is a nice respite just to get it right.

Leonard Akers: And I think. Stone Marianne just gave you a little bit of the answer to your question, and that is, is that if you can find a way to engage the conversation in a self in a safe and and helpful way for that family that you’re thinking about, then just inviting them to share the story. I mean, that’s kind of what you do with this program as well, is invite people to share the story. And once they begin to share the stories, then who knows what that leads to? Maybe a follow up conversation, maybe connecting to more resources that can be helpful. If there’s one thing that’s amazing about Cherokee County and I’m sure you experienced this with your engagement with small businesses, is that there’s a real desire here to work together, that we want to collaborate, that even though we might have small businesses that are in the same arena, we really want to figure out how to help everyone succeed and do well, right? And I don’t know that that is always present in all communities, but it’s here and we should lean into that whenever we can. Right. And what Marianne also pointed out was that we don’t believe that we have all the answers. There are large organizations, nonprofit, faith based, secular, who do amazing work and who have amazing amounts of resources. And sometimes our role is just to get people into a little bit of housing stability and then connect them with all the amazing resources that are available in this community in the hopes that they might be able to begin to walk towards housing stability.

Stone Payton: So the ideal scenario then is they participate in this this hotel week and there’s this conversation and listening. And then the next step in an ideal scenario is more permanent housing somehow, some way.

Marianne Butler: Yeah. And it varies from person to person. They may be, you know, waiting for an apartment to come available or saving some money. This is a really big key is for all those deposits and things that they need to make on.

Stone Payton: What a headache that’s that’s a headache for me that that would be a headache for me. You got to do like the first month in the last month and the deposit and the check and.

Marianne Butler: And if you if you’re living paycheck to paycheck. Yeah that’s almost.

Stone Payton: That’s a knockout.

Marianne Butler: Very difficult. And then we also and I think I mentioned this well before we got on the air is we’re about need based identifying needs. And so one of the things we introduced in November of last year is our motel meal kits. And we were noticing people were coming in with food from, you know, we have fantastic food pantries in this community, but it’s not usable in a hotel setting.

Stone Payton: Never even thought about that.

Marianne Butler: And so we created we have a lot of great community partners and our and our partner churches that created motel meal kits. So they have everything that our guests would need for ten breakfasts, ten lunches or dinners, sides, snacks, paper products, everything that they would need for that week. Again, some food for them and to save a little bit of money. We know food is expensive. I mean, that’s going to.

Stone Payton: Be the biggest expense. Right. And it’s helping me realize, like the person I was telling you about, I got a freezer full of deer meat. That’s not going to help this guy right now. That’s not what that’s not what this person needs.

Marianne Butler: Right, Right, right.

Stone Payton: So, yeah. Interesting.

Leonard Akers: And then the hope is, is that there are some folks who we get connected through Operation Roof that seven nights stay that we can then encourage to consider joining us in our next area, which is about really recovery and that is path to home. And path to home is a 90 day safe, stable housing. Instead of it being in a motel setting, it is more in a extended stay. So there’s some sort of a kitchen that gives the ability to expand the food offering. And then that person is connected with someone who is beyond just a guest accountability partner, which is a resource manager. And then the hope is, is that you sit down, you come up with a plan, and that plan is really driven by the person or the family experiencing homelessness. Right? Like, it’s not our job to tell them how they need to live their lives or any of that. It’s our job to encourage them in the ways that will hopefully lead to housing stability. Right. And that’s a 90 day stay that gives them a real good chance to get stable and maybe catch up on things that maybe have gotten out of control and all sorts of areas. And then the hope is that you begin to start to work the plan and that you really are our role is to encourage and do that both physically, emotionally, spiritually and all the ways that we can so that we are relationally helping people find their way to housing stability.

Stone Payton: So houses funded, what do you get your because it’s got to cost some money, right? It can’t come all out of your pockets.

Marianne Butler: That is a really good question. So we have been I mean, we’re blessed. We we have the foundational churches who continue to provide financial support.

Stone Payton: So some of these congregations are ponying up.

Marianne Butler: Absolutely. And then we have, you know, even more churches. But it’s not limited to just churches. We have some civic organizations. We’ve received some small grants and things like that. So yeah, we’ve been really blessed to receive funding from all sorts of sources and and throughout the community.

Stone Payton: So so that’s the big part of your work, right? You got to go out and build relationships with these folks and steward that money and help them understand the impact that they’re having. You got like three full time jobs.

Marianne Butler: I do. That is that’s a really good point. I hope the rest of my board is listening to this.

Stone Payton: But in your congregation, Leonard, I mean, this isn’t the only thing they’re trying to impact, right? Plus, you’re trying to serve their faith needs, of course. Tell us a little bit about the a day in the life of a pastor of a church like this. What is that life like?

Leonard Akers: Well, that could also take up the entirety of this program. But but I think that this is where there’s a lot of alignment with how the homeless coalition is going about, which is, I think a job of a pastor by is really about relationally connecting with people and figuring out how to do that in a way that makes a difference for people’s faith journey. And that’s where I think that this organization really helps us make that connection, because in some cases it helps people to sort of scratch that itch of how am I serving my fellow man and what am I doing to make a difference, and how can I do that in a way that feels relationally connected to them, even if they’re not the person who’s on the front line with the person, they are still making a difference. And the reality is, is that we have lots of great nonprofits in this community that we can look to, to kind of see the roadmap of success, you know, very large things. But in terms of what we do on a day in and day out basis, yeah, the reality is, is that Sunday is not the only day of the week that we work. Yeah.

Marianne Butler: I did not know that. Yeah.

Leonard Akers: And the truth is is that I think that we believe and I believe that it’s my job in the same way that Maryann does to connect to the community, right? Like we’re called. Not simply to pastor to the people that are have chosen to call local church Canton their home like we’re called to pastor and care for the community to whatever extent they will allow that to happen. So the more that we become connected and enmeshed and and great, the more opportunities we have to make. This is going to sound very preachy, but to make secular moments sacred. And that’s what we’re called to do. And this is where I can throw it out even in a bigger way, that everyone I think who says they want to follow Jesus is called to find moments to make sacred for the sake of the kingdom. And the great news is, is that some of us get to be paid a little bit to do that.

Stone Payton: So, yeah, very well said. You may have a career in branding and copywriting as well. No, that is very well framed. I’m going to ask this of both of you and I’m going to start with you, Leonard. Clearly you find the work fulfilling, Rewarding what at this point in your career, in your work, what do you find the most rewarding? What’s the most fun about it all for you?

Leonard Akers: Well, I think that this is where it really ties in to to everyone. And this is what I mean by that. Like, everyone likes to be a part of helping people discover how amazing they are, right? Whether that comes through as a coach on a sports field or whether that comes through as a business leader or owner helping to kind of mold the next generation to discover what their gifts and talents are. And I think that as a culture, we love people who discover within themselves something that they’re. Good at that. They get excited about doing and that they find great fulfillment and reward in. And I think for us pastors, our role is to do that in a way that helps people discover what it means to be a faith person, what it means to believe that there is something spiritual at work within each of us and thus the world. And how do we sort of tap into that and help people get more and more confident and comfortable that there are things in the world that faith makes a huge difference towards, and helping people to discover that for the sake of not simply their faith lives, but their home lives and their work lives and all of that, you know, and there’s great joy in that. Now, the flip side of that is that we don’t always get to see the touchdown scored, right? Yeah, Sometimes all we’re doing is planting and watering and that sort of thing. But that work in and of itself is meaningful, right? Because we’re trying to help people discover that their lives, no matter where they are in the world matter and that they have meaning and that they can live out their lives with purpose and meaning. And that’s where I think once again, back to the homeless coalition that we’re trying to do this relationally. Right? Like we’re not trying to solve this for hundreds of people. Right. I think we’re trying to be helpful to a few in the hopes that that help then turns into lasting, sustained housing, stability and healing personally and physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Stone Payton: Well, it’s such a great point, too, because like a person like me, I’m incredibly blessed. And I do find joy in trying to support different things. That’s what our community partner program is all about, that I opened up the the show with and sometimes I have thoughts of, man, I can’t attack homelessness, you know, like it’s just this big, huge, hairy thing. But I might be able to help this one person get on the right path in another person or help fund somebody that’s already got a little bit of machinery in place. It’s not like you have to go out and do this, you know, grand, big philanthropic, just these little if a lot of us do a little something, it can really have a big impact, can it? Well.

Leonard Akers: Stone What if one of the main takeaways from our time with you this morning is, is that this leads you to have a conversation with that person or family that you’re thinking about that might be in that precarious place. If nothing else happens, wouldn’t all of this time be worth it?

Stone Payton: Absolutely right, 100%.

Leonard Akers: And I think that’s where we can take huge problems, not just homelessness, but all sorts of problems If we take them and make them personal and make them relational, then every single one of us can find a way to make a difference.

Stone Payton: Yes. Marianne, what what do you find the most rewarding?

Marianne Butler: I am trying to figure out how to put this in words. I. I have a passion for being a voice for those who are unheard. And I’ll start to kind of get a little teary about this. It’s a passion for those who are unheard, unseen, and perhaps feeling somewhat hopeless or defeated. I have a passion for trying to bring hope to maybe a feeling of hopelessness and being a voice for those who who perhaps feel unheard, unseen or forgotten. It’s a it’s a passion. I it’s hard, but it’s it’s truly my my passion or my calling, if you will, to to be that voice. You know, I’ll speak up wherever I can. You know, if the grocery store, the vet’s office, anywhere I can, I’ll.

Stone Payton: We first met.

Marianne Butler: Up at a.

Stone Payton: Pop up tent, and you had t shirts, and we’re explaining that. So you will go and do you? Absolutely will.

Marianne Butler: Yeah. But I think that’s important. You know, when you feel forgotten, I mean, imagine, you know, you just like I said, that listening, even when I have to say no to people and that we’re full with our hotel stay program with our Operation Roof for the month, 99% of the time people will say, well, just thank you for calling me back and listening, for calling me back and listening.

Stone Payton: Wow. That does seem to be very impactful. The theme of this conversation is is listening. Yeah. So going forward, I understand we got a really cool event coming up. We might raise some money. We’ll be able to celebrate some wins and kind of look to the future. Tell us about what’s coming up.

Marianne Butler: So this is really, really exciting. So we have our first ever you know, like I said, we are very young, so we’re having our first ever fundraiser gala that is October 14th up at the Timbers at the mill on Ottawa. And the fun part of it, it’s downtown Millie. So it’s a take off the Downton Abbey Show. So it’s a costume ball. And so we want people to dress up and have a great time. There’s going to be food and a great DJ, and then we’re even going to have like a crowning of the Lord and lady or king and Queen of the Ball. I mean, it’s just going to be a great time. And the other thing is, is we’re we’re able to share some information for people who are unaware or want to be involved, things like that with the Homeless coalition and those experiencing homelessness. And we’ll be introducing, you know, we talked about our our seven night, our Operation Roof, our three month, our path to home program. And we’ll be introducing our our long term goal and which is a restoration village, which is a longer term kind of community that we’re we’re planning for the future for up to two years for people to stay in. So it’s restoration village and that we’ve just started laying the groundwork for that. But it’s really, really exciting. So yeah, October 14th tickets can be found on our Facebook page or our website, $90, which, you know, that’s pretty darn good. I’m just saying. So so we would love for everybody to come out and join us. That would be a great help and support. Yeah.

Leonard Akers: And I’d like to speak into the fun side of that. Right. We are going to present some information and we are going to educate folks. But the reality is, is that it will be a fun night with lots of dancing. We will not be dancing to the music from Downton Abbey. We will be dancing to fun dance songs from, I’m sure, the 70s and 80s and all of that. But also know that as we present, we’re going to do the best that we can to make it a part of the evening and engaging and fun. And out of the three hours that we have time with people, we’ll probably keep our comments to in the 15 to 20 minute range so that there’s lots of time for engagement and fun. And it’s just the time of the year to get dressed up for a good cause and come out and support. So we would love to see folks come join us on Saturday, October 14th at the Timbers, which is at the mill on Etowah.

Stone Payton: Sounds like a great time. Now, are there is there a silent auction or any other kind of fundraising activity tied to this?

Marianne Butler: So, yeah, there will be a silent auction. And at at the event itself. And then prior to the event I mentioned the Lords and Ladies, we have four amazing people in our community who we can you can donate money toward either a lord or lady. Am I explaining this? Well, sort of. Not really. Why don’t you do that?

Leonard Akers: Yeah. So we have four distinct lords and ladies, and they are fundraising their way to become either Crown King or Queen of the ball. And so the person who raises the most money will be crowned king and or queen of the ball. And so those people are going to be busy fundraising for the next 14 days. All those proceeds go in. To help support the housing coalition of Cherokee County. And it’s just fun. Once again, it’s a fun thing. And this is where community and collaboration comes together, right? Like we didn’t create this idea. This idea was given to us from another nonprofit that we love greatly, which is the Children’s Haven, who is now in their third year of running the adult prom, also at the Timbers of Etowah. And they crowned prom king and queen, Right. And they do that through fundraising, right? And so that’s an organization that is at a very different place in terms of their maturity and their level of engagement and impact. And so because we are a collaborative community, we can borrow one another’s ideas and turn them into something wonderful. So it’s going to be a great night.

Stone Payton: Yeah, it sure sounds like it. Okay, so what can we, the lay people just out in the community and particularly the small business community, that’s kind of my my world. What can we do beyond, you know, looking into this gala and trying to support like, what do you need the most going forward? Just looking for ways for us to contribute.

Leonard Akers: I think the biggest thing is a little bit about where you already shared from your heart stone and that is, you know, just become aware, you know, become aware that it’s not that Cherokee County doesn’t have any camps of homelessness. There are 1 or 2. But the reality is, is that that is a really small percentage of the people experiencing homelessness. And I think it is to become aware and then maybe just be open and available to the possibility that there is someone in your circle of influence that might be either homeless or in that precarious place, and then figuring out a way to engage in a helpful dialog. Maybe it’s mostly listening and finding out because at the end of the day, we want to be making a difference. All of us. I think for people that we know and care about. And the reality is, is that we can always make new friends to know and care about and make a difference for them. And so maybe awareness that it is a reality. And that doesn’t mean that we get scared by it. It means that we find a way to relationally engage to the hopes that we help people, you know, continue to grow in all the ways that they can.

Stone Payton: Fantastic. All right. Let’s make sure that our listeners have coordinates for ongoing following what’s going on. But also to get to this gala or maybe participate in a silent auction, you can participate in the silent auction even leading up to it.

Marianne Butler: No, it’ll be the night of it’ll be the night of.

Stone Payton: Okay. It’s going to be at the thing. Do you still need items for the silent?

Marianne Butler: Absolutely. We could always use more items. Sure.

Stone Payton: So items for the. All right, so let’s get coordinates, contact info, whatever you guys are comfortable with. I want to make it easy for folks to to tap in.

Marianne Butler: Sure. So our our Facebook page, Homeless Coalition. Cherokee County is one way our website is homeless coalition Cherokee county.org and people can contact me via email is a good way. It’s Marianne m a r i a n n e at homeless coalition cherokee.org is another great way even.

Leonard Akers: Though the website is long. In all honesty, if you go to Google and you search homeless coalition Cherokee, it will pull it will pop up right up to the top. Yeah. And that has all the information on the main page about tickets to the gala other ways to sponsor and support and also all of the information about the different ministries and programs and resources that we’re trying to bring to bear to our community, which as you’ve already mentioned, stone Like we are so blessed to live in this amazing community, right? And I think that the more that we can help others find their way to feel like they’re blessed to be a part of this community, then that’s a win win win for all of us.

Stone Payton: Well, speaking of win win wins, it has been an absolute delight having you two in the studio. Keep up the good work. Do keep us posted. And yeah, don’t be a stranger. You got to come back and let us know. Maybe on the back side of the gala. It would be nice to do sort of a recap. Oh, that’d be fun. Yeah, that’d be fantastic. We can work that. But you guys, you’re doing such important work, and we. We sure appreciate you.

Leonard Akers: Thank you, Stone. We appreciate you.

Stone Payton: Yeah, my pleasure. All right. Until next time, This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Marianne Butler and Leonard Acres on behalf of Homeless Coalition Cherokee. And everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying we’ll see you again on Cherokee Business Radio.

 

BRX Pro Tip: Aim Higher Than You Think

by

BRXmic99
BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: Aim Higher Than You Think
Loading
/

BRX-Banner

BRX Pro Tip: Aim Higher Than You Think

Stone Payton: And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor, Stone Payton here with you. Lee, today’s topic, aim higher.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, I think a lot of entrepreneurs are not dreaming big enough. They’re selling themselves short. And a lot of it is when it comes to pricing, number one. You know a lot of entrepreneurs aren’t charging enough, in my opinion. And in order to really think you’re worth the value, you’ve got to really believe that you are and can deliver the value to your clients.

Lee Kantor: So, I think it’s so important to periodically assess where you’re at and to understand that there’s much more to life than maybe you’re seeing right now. And maybe you’re taking a lot of what you’re doing for granted. And sometimes you have to think instead of making little teeny 10% incremental improvements, think about what a ten x improvement would look like, what a ten x dream would look like. What do you have to change in order to make that ten x life? What behaviors do you have to change? What things should you be pursuing? What connections or network do you have to expand to in order to live that ten x life rather than this 10% incremental growth life?

Lee Kantor: Don’t have that scarcity mindset, zero sum game where someone else’s win is your loss. Have that abundance life mindset and instead of focusing just on survival, think about abundance and all the opportunities that are around you right now.

Emily Doxford with Loan Mantra

by

Emily-Doxford-Feature9.28.23
High Velocity Radio
Emily Doxford with Loan Mantra
Loading
/

Loan-Mantra-logo-v2

Emily-DoxfordEmily Doxford is VP of Marketing and an expert in business funding with Loanmantra.com.

Even though the United States is the global leader in growth for women-owned businesses, with 12.3 million female-owned businesses generating $1.8 trillion per year, they only receive 2.2% of venture capital funding.

She’s here to talk to us today about trends for female business ownership, trends and how underserved populations, like women, can get better access to funding.

Connect with Emily on LinkedIn and follow Loan Mantra on Facebook.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Stone Payton: Welcome to the High Velocity Radio show where we celebrate top performers producing better results in less time. Stone Payton here with you this afternoon. You guys are in for a real treat. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with Loan Mantra, Ms. Emily Doxford. How are you?

Emily Doxford: Hi Stone. Thank you so much for having me. I’m doing well.

Stone Payton: Well, it is absolutely my pleasure. I’ve really been looking forward to this conversation. I’ve got a ton of questions. I know we’re not going to get to them all, but I’m thinking a good place to start would be if you could articulate for me and our listening audience. Mission. Purpose. What are you and your team really out there trying to do for folks?

Emily Doxford: Absolutely. So Loan Mantra is a minority owned business. We are a financial technology platform. We are a financial advisory service and we again are minority owned. And we serve diverse SMEs, small and medium business owners all over the United States who are doing any number of incredible things. So we really understand the many, many challenges that underserved businesses face. And that’s that’s at the heart of what we do and what we want to do. Our goal is really to democratize the the lending process. I personally come from a line of of of business owners, of women who are championing small business, championing Main Street, maybe through policy making. So it’s also something that’s dear to me personally as well.

Stone Payton: What a great way to frame it, democratizing the whole the process. So I got to know the full back story, though. How does one find themselves in this kind of role, trying to serve constituents in this type of arena? My my instincts are probably wasn’t just a straight path.

Emily Doxford: I’m laughing a little bit stoned because it was the most circuitous path ever. When it comes when it comes to me, I am actually I have a graduate degree in American literature, of course. So. Right. So one would immediately think finance or financial technology. That being said, I while I was in graduate school, started working with with the business school, particularly with their financial professors, and met a wonderful network of of entrepreneurs doing incredible things. And I think feel again really galvanized by the small business community and entrepreneurs, particularly female entrepreneurs who are out there doing incredible things for their community. So that’s that was an important pivot for me. Yeah. And and and get to work with an incredible, an incredible company who takes their mission very seriously.

Stone Payton: I mean, I can hear it in your voice. I can see it in your eyes. It has to be incredibly rewarding work. Now that you’ve been at it a while, what do you what do you like the most? What’s the most fun about it for you?

Emily Doxford: Well, I think it’s interacting with with business owners. Right. It’s it is knowing that these are these are individuals who are really good at what they do. They may be incredible artisans. They may be incredible bakers. They may run the finest transportation company in Atlanta, whatever the case may be. They are building their communities and doing it really, really well. And for whatever reason, we’ve just found that their greatest challenges are accessing capital and understanding financial jargon. So if we can break down those silos, it’s a it’s an important work that we’re doing as well.

Speaker4: Well, I.

Stone Payton: Do want to dive into this whole idea of access. You use the term underserved a couple of times early in the conversation. I guess I surprise is not accurate. I’m disappointed. I would say that we still have a group that is served in a group or multiple groups that are underserved and apparently female is one of those labels. Can you say more about that? I mean, that’s still a problem even in this day and age, huh?

Emily Doxford: A 100%. And to your point, yes, it is. It’s disappointing. We should I should say that that the US is the global leader for growth in women owned businesses. So we’re doing that really, really well. And in fact, at some point, although I believe the pandemic is probably changed this statistic a little bit, 1800 new women owned businesses are starting every day. So there’s there’s the really exciting kernel of information. On the flip side and to your question, stone about underserved communities, um, women, do we we see evidence of, of a funding gap, right. Um, in a recent year, venture capitalists invested something like 130 billion in US startups and women got a tiny fraction of that pie. It was 2.2%. A majority of women, 63%, 62%. Actually, I believe it is report some sort of gender bias when it comes to taking out a loan. So it’s it can be it can be a frustrating process for a woman owned business. And then here’s here’s the real rub. If they do receive a loan, they are generally more likely to pay higher rates than male borrowers and generally receive one third less in a loan package than their male counterparts. So there’s there’s work to be done.

Stone Payton: Yeah, well, I too have gender bias, but mine swings the other way. I would rather candidly work with women. My mom was a very strong woman in so many ways. My wife is an incredibly accomplished female in her arena. I find women more comfortable in their own skin. I find them better with money. I find them more coachable, I find them more approachable. I find them that better at cultivating and strengthening relationships. So if everybody died and put me in charge, I’d be alone. I’d be loaning money to them faster.

Emily Doxford: I love it. Stone Let’s let’s put you in charge. There we go.

Stone Payton: So let’s talk about the work a little bit. Um, so and I want to talk about how you find them and how they find you, but we’ll circle back to that. So you begin helping, helping these, these people. Like what? Especially in the early stages of the work. What are you sitting down with them and learning about their business? You’re educating them. Walk us through some of the kind of the nitty gritty of the work with them.

Emily Doxford: Or so. At the heart of it, we’re a financial technology platform, so we have more than 80 lenders on our platform, and we care a lot about helping the borrower, a borrower find the right financial partner. Right. There’s there’s something about that fit about that community that you care a lot about who your accountant is. You care a lot about who your graphic designer is. It’s no different with your financial partner. So that’s at the end of the day, that’s an important part of what we do is providing people a safe, secure, transparent platform in which they can they can gain this access. And we’re also we do a lot of financial advisory work. And that’s that’s where this this really interesting. And again, the community building becomes a little more personal. We learn more about the borrower and and and get to potentially help them in building a business plan or learning more about about their their dreams and how we can help fund their dreams.

Stone Payton: I’m sure there are so many there would be for me if I were entering this process as a as a client. So many unknowns, but I suspect there probably are some preconceived notions, some myths, some things that that maybe your newer clients walk in believing or thinking that just that’s just not the way it is. Do you see some of the same things like that over and over that you have to sort of unpack and help them really understand the way it really works?

Emily Doxford: Yeah, that’s a that’s an interesting question. I think we all have this idea of what it’s like to to get a loan or what it’s like to start a business. And probably some of that is really true. It can be challenging and complicated, and some of that is completely not true. You know, I, I also think that as well, I’m, I’m starting to get older but younger generations than I and and a Gen Z, a Gen Z borrower. So this this new generation of entrepreneurs, they don’t necessarily have the same relationship with a banker right that that my parents did. And there are a lot more comfortable getting financing online. So it’s it’s a whole new way to think about access to capital and what what that looks like and how do you get a loan. It’s not necessarily sitting down with with your parent’s banker in a buttoned up environment, filling out a paper form after paper form. That being said, hopefully some of the personal still remains. And you can call someone up when you have a question or need advice when the process feels overly complicated. And for for me for for us for loan mantra, it’s it’s bridging that gap.

Stone Payton: It sounds like you’ve cracked the code or struck the balance between ease of access technology that can really work for you. But this is the antithesis of a transactional business. It sounds like your work is very grounded in relationship, isn’t it?

Emily Doxford: I. It is. It is. And I think that that is something that can shouldn’t surprise me. But, you know, money is a personal thing and our businesses are a personal thing. And so should your financial. Your financial advisor where you go to get funding should be something that you care a lot about and should be a very it should be a vetted process.

Stone Payton: Well, and I got to believe and maybe not everybody’s like me, but I bet there’s a critical mass of people who are like me. I just find the whole idea of the whole process of just trying to begin to think about borrowing money or going through one of those processes where you qualify to get larger contracts. It just it looks like this big hairy bear, you know, very intimidating. And and it sounds like maybe you help us break down those walls a little bit and, you know, get the confidence to just take the steps and follow the process.

Emily Doxford: Well, I. I hope so, Stone. I hope so. That that’s the goal.

Stone Payton: I think I’m right about that. Right there. There is like this is one way to help is is to help them borrow money. But there’s there’s a path probably for anybody but certainly for some underserved constituencies to document their ability to fulfill the requirements. And then they can get access to some pretty large pieces of business. Right.

Emily Doxford: Yeah. So I think if I’m understanding that question, it’s are there is there funding or programs available for underserved communities or underserved borrowers?

Stone Payton: And the reason I’m asking is we have a client, but it’s not my personal client. And I think they have this whole certification process to to be a woman owned business. And I think that opens up a it’s not a you know, it’s not a fill out the application and get a bunch of money or get a bunch of business. But it does it does, you know, let people at least get throw their hat in the ring on some other. Yeah.

Emily Doxford: Oh no. Perfectly said. You said it. Yes, you can you can certify through the SBA, the Small Business Administration, to be either a Wasp, a woman owned business or a or a minority owned business and mob. And both of those allow you to bid on government contracted an additional market. So last year that was an additional 5% of of the job the women owned business marketplace which is it’s it’s substantial right. Yeah. It’s a it’s a great step and a great way forward.

Stone Payton: So in your work, I’m always curious. I came from the training consulting world and I sort of gravitated to the sales and marketing side of things. So I’m always trying to look at things from a sales and marketing vantage point. How does the whole sales and marketing thing work for a firm like yours? Do you have to get out and shake the trees, or are people coming to you or a little bit of both? How does that work for a firm like yours?

Emily Doxford: It’s a great question. It is a little bit of both. We have we have an incredible founder who has enjoyed a loyal client base for many years and deservedly so. Right. There’s there’s equity built up there. There’s trust and there’s an NPS score, a net promoter score. Right. That comes from just building valuable relationships and on on his part, on our founders part and on loan mantras part just doing what we say we’re going to do. That being said, as you scale, I think there’s always a little bit of this. You you have to go shake the trees, I think was.

Emily Doxford: A phrase that was used and getting additional exposure. It’s a it’s a noisy marketplace. And unfortunately, ours can be filled with predatory lenders and. And capital that I would not want any small business borrower to to enter certain terms. So there’s a little bit of that. And and it’s it’s I think I said at the beginning, you know, one of the major challenges facing any borrower is learning some of the jargon in any industry. There’s a there’s a lot of jargon and a bit of a bit of my job is is helping to educate on both sides what everyone’s saying and, and making making making terms feel a little more a little more clear for either a borrower or a financial institution or a vendor who who may be working to to help with a with a borrower as well.

Stone Payton: Well, it’s starting to come into focus for me right now. You have this whole other group that you’re serving you because you’re not the lender in this equation, right? You’re bringing the parties together, so you’re educating. Wow, there must be so much education relationship building because you’re you’re in the middle helping both groups.

Emily Doxford: Right?

Stone Payton: Sounds fun, but it sounds challenging.

Emily Doxford: It is both. It is both, my friend.

Stone Payton: So it sounds like there’s a lot of ground to be covered yet. Plenty. Plenty to do. Do you feel like we are trending in the right direction or are we? We’re making progress, but but things are looking a little better as we go in most pockets of this. Yes.

Emily Doxford: Yeah. As as it relates to an underserved borrower. Yes.

Stone Payton: Yes.

Emily Doxford: Yeah, I. I hope so. I remain optimistic. I think that, you know, my my personal ethos when I work with a when I work with a borrower, particularly an underserved borrower, is to tell them to work with partners that they’ve vetted, that they feel strongly about their missions. If they’re working with a partner who gives underrepresented constituents, they’re giving women a minorities of voice at the table. I think that there’s a better a better chance that there will be empathy for the borrower, for maybe the woman owned or the women business owner themselves. So that’s to that end, I, I am hopeful. I am optimistic that we are trending in in the right direction and that we that there’s an availability of of resources for for female entrepreneurs.

Stone Payton: And more and more lenders apparently are recognizing I mean, this is not altruism. This is I mean this is good business to to to loan to to lend money to these people, particularly if those relationships are brokered or facilitated by by by someone like you guys who can kind of grease the skids and and maybe remove some of the friction and shrink the timeline for them. Right. So so so that’s on the on the increase a little bit. Well, at least that’s encouraging. So over time, maybe we can get more private equity, we can get more lenders to the point where, you know, it’s a little more routine and maybe even they see some specific advantages in it. On the other side of the table, are there some things I was going to say? We I’ll say it for the effect of the question. We as female business owners.

Emily Doxford: Yes, Yes.

Stone Payton: Can do ourselves for ourselves to help bridge the gap. Like like what can the female business owner do to, you know, to also help bridge the gap, do you think?

Emily Doxford: This is a great question, and I think it’s as simple and as complex as this. I think that the female business owner we stone we have to be so well researched with business plans, with our partnerships, with our strategy there. You know, you’ve you’ve mentioned some we’ve talked about some there is an availability of programs. There are there are partnerships available to female entrepreneurs. It’s knowing where they are. And it’s it’s knowing. It’s knowing how to access them. I think a great place to to start is the Small Business Administration, the SBA. They they currently are prioritizing more female business owners getting financing. And that’s that’s everything, right? That’s the ballgame. I also like to tell female business owners to go to their local cdphe, which is a community development financial institution or a women’s business center. And there is human resources, there are financial resources, there’s any number of resources available to to female business owners to help them, to help them learn next steps. Right. Whether it’s a it’s a loan, whether it is a network, whether it’s writing a business plan, there there are there are places available to to help women scale up.

Stone Payton: Well, that’s a helpful little nugget right there. I certainly was not aware of I had not heard of and I’ll bet you a lot of our listeners have not heard of Cdphe community. What again, is it?

Emily Doxford: Yeah, Community Development, financial institution and most most states have a few. Most cities have one. I know Atlanta has one. Okay. But they they are they are there to serve the small business community.

Stone Payton: Boy, am I going to sound smart at the next little business meeting I’m at.

Emily Doxford: You got this Stone.

Stone Payton: I’ll try to remember to to give you a little bit of credit. Okay. So before we wrap, kind of going back to your platform and it can be like the 30,000 foot view, but maybe you can fill in some of the the blanks here. This is something that a female business owner can can get onto and navigate and find some resources. Just speak to that, the platform itself a little bit, if you could.

Emily Doxford: Sure. So any any business owner is can can come visit us at at loan mantra. They can find us online at loan mantra.com and can use our financial technology, our financial platform to to access capital. So it’s a it’s an easy, transparent solution to to gain financing. In addition to that, we have wonderful experts who are available to talk through any questions that a borrower may have, an entrepreneur or entrepreneur, that that word felt extremely hard right there for some some reason. And they have about about accessing capital.

Stone Payton: Well, I think that’s fantastic. All right. I’m going to switch gears on you for a moment. Before we before we wrap, before we came on the air, we were talking about you being now in Arizona. So the answer to this may have changed a little bit, but I am genuinely curious about and I don’t know when you’d find the time, but passions, if any, outside the scope of your work. Most of my listeners know that I like to hunt fish and travel. Right? Right, right. But something you have a tendency maybe to nerd out about that really is not directly connected to your work at loan mantra anything?

Emily Doxford: Oh, that’s a great question. So I had mentioned to to Stone earlier that I’m a recent transplant to Arizona from New York City, which spoiled me abundantly in terms of finding great new restaurants to to try. So I really enjoy I really enjoy that. I really enjoy when I don’t have to cook. Let’s let’s put it that way. I, I am an avid reader. I love art museums. I, I like to travel and I enjoy actually writing in my spare time. So.

Stone Payton: All right. But with the move, you may have to slide a little closer to my end of the continuum on hunt and fish, right?

Emily Doxford: Yes.

Emily Doxford: It was not a leading question at all, right?

Stone Payton: So that’s funny.

Emily Doxford: Let’s let’s talk soon. And we’ll we’ll see. We’ll see where we where we end up, my friend.

Stone Payton: You got it. All right, Let’s make sure that our listeners do know how to access the platform, maybe reach out and have a conversation with you or somebody on your team. Whatever is the easiest and most appropriate. Let’s give them those coordinates.

Emily Doxford: Absolutely. So a listener can reach out and please do at W-w-w dot loan mantra.com. They can also find us on LinkedIn, on social media, Facebook, Instagram, others at loan mantra. Feel free to reach out with me directly on on LinkedIn. Um. Emily Larson Oxford.

Stone Payton: Well Emily, it has been an absolute delight having you on the show this afternoon. It’s a it’s been inspiring. It’s been informative. Thank you for sharing your perspective and your insight and keep up the good work that what you’re doing, what you and your team are out there doing for folks is so, so important And we sincerely appreciate you.

Emily Doxford: Thanks, Stone. Thanks for having me.

Stone Payton: My pleasure. All right. Until next time, This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Emily Doxford with lone Mantra. And everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying we’ll see you in the fast lane.

 

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