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Frank Agin with AmSpirit Business Connections

April 6, 2023 by angishields

Frank-Agin
High Velocity Radio
Frank Agin with AmSpirit Business Connections
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Frank-AginFrank Agin is the founder and president of AmSpirit Business Connections, where he works to empower entrepreneurs, sales representatives and professionals around the country to become more successful through networking. In addition, he is a “sought after” speaker and consultant to companies and organizations on topics related to professional networking and business relationship development.

He’s written numerous articles on professional networking and is the author of several books, some of which include, Foundational Networking: Building Know, Like and Trust to Create a Lifetime of Extraordinary Success … The Champion: Finding the Most Valuable Person In Your Network … Chase Greatness: Life Lessons Revealed Through Sports. He is also the host of the weekly Networking Rx podcast, which provides insights and advice for becoming more successful through networking as well as the host of the daily micro podcast Networking Rx Minute, which provides short messages of inspiration and recommended action.

Frank has a law degree and MBA from the Ohio State University and a B.A. in Economics and Management from Beloit College and continues his professional development through a variety of programs and sources.

He lives with his wife in Blacklick, Ohio and together have three children. As community involvement, he is active with The Charitable Roundtable, an organization that helps small non-profits and social initiatives become more successful through networking.

Connect with Frank on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter 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: [00:00:15] Welcome to the High Velocity Radio show where we celebrate top performers producing better results in less time. Stone Payton here with you. You guys are in for such a real treat. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with AmSpirit Business Connections, Mr. Frank Agin. How are you, man.

Frank Agin: [00:00:35] Stone I’m doing great. How about you?

Stone Payton: [00:00:37] I am doing well and I have so been looking forward to this conversation. I got a ton of questions. I know we’re not going to get to them all, but I think maybe a great 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?

Frank Agin: [00:00:59] Man Connect people. Really what what it boils down to I’ll just give you a quick backstory for me. I live in Columbus, Ohio. I came here to go to law school, had a job, a really good job in a big firm, and but decided I wanted to do something a little more entrepreneurial. I left and went into private practice and a funny thing happened when I went into private practice. And the funny thing is that nothing happened. Like so many businesses, I had no idea how to get clients and it was a little complicated for an attorney, a little more complicated, I should say, because we’re really not allowed to be cold, cold calling people. So I struggled. Somebody said I should get into a leads group or a TIPS club. And I was invited to a group that was based out of Pittsburgh and they met every week, learned about each other and exchanged referrals. And it made total sense to me, Stone that I could lift up my whole world by helping other people become successful. And so I really doubled down on that and had an opportunity at one point to buy it out. And I’ve rebranded it as AMP Spirit Business Connection. So really the mission is, is to help the people out there who are like Frank Agan was 25 years ago really kind of wanting to make it on their own, um, not work for the man, but be the man, if you will, but not really maybe comfortable just doing hardcore sales, but really interested in getting networked with other entrepreneurs, sales reps and professionals.

Stone Payton: [00:02:34] So what’s the structure? How do you execute on this?

Frank Agin: [00:02:38] It’s a it’s a weekly meeting. People come together every week and these groups are made up. We call these groups chapters. They’re made up of one person in each professional category. So you have one realtor, you’ll have one mortgage lender, you’ll have one attorney, you’ll have one account and so on and so forth. And we do that just so people are comfortable talking about their businesses and people are comfortable sending work back and forth. But it meets these groups, meet every week and they go through a structured meeting format, runs about an hour to 75 minutes. And um, through that process, they certainly develop relationships. And that’s really the secret sauce. People do business with those they know, like and trust. Um, but through that process they work to help identify opportunities for one another, which ultimately turned into referrals.

Stone Payton: [00:03:32] Yeah. So the people who are facilitating these groups, I would think that one, I would think it would be incredibly rewarding work. But you need some, some education, some some expertise, some training to do that effectively, don’t you?

Frank Agin: [00:03:48] Yeah. And we have, you know, we have people out there that that we train in. It’s I mean, everything in life has a learning curve to it. Stone Yeah. Um, you know, and, but it’s not terribly, it’s not terribly difficult to put these together. And yeah, people who are leading up these groups or have some people out there leading up multiple groups, it’s it’s rewarding for them because they get to help other people. But most of the people out there running other groups or running groups are in those groups for their own purposes. And so they’re in there getting business as well. And many of the people who are out there, leading groups are what we’ll call area directors or franchisees. And so they’re also getting compensated based on what’s happening, the dues that people pay to belong to the organization.

Stone Payton: [00:04:41] Sounds marvelous to me. It’s financially lucrative and they’re enjoying the work. How about you? Now that you’ve been at this a moment, as the kids might say, what do you find the most rewarding? What’s the most fun about it for you?

Frank Agin: [00:04:55] You know, the most fun for me is just seeing somebody who is, you know, coming into that, being that self employed person and being scared. Um, you know, I’ll give you an example. This was years ago. I had a guy, he called me up. He was a member. He says, Frank, I am just deathly afraid. He said, I just put my notice in. He was. He was an accountant working for a firm. A small firm. I’ve just decided I want to do my own. I want to do my own thing. And I’m just so afraid. And then just seeing, you know, three years later, just being with that person and kind of chuckling about remember how afraid I was, you know, now I’ve got now he’s afraid because he’s got to pay this staff that he’s got. His business is just growing. Um, but he’s figured it out and you know, it’s kind of a rewarding thing to know that, you know, when the holidays hit that they’re going to have a wonderful holiday season, however they choose to celebrate it. And you kind of had a hand in giving them some business success and knowing that he’s not going to have to be working for somebody else.

Stone Payton: [00:05:56] I’ll bet. So do you find that members of these groups learn to become better, more productive, more effective at this whole thing that we often just call networking, that they’re better at it as they continue to to participate in these groups and make these these connections?

Frank Agin: [00:06:17] Oh, absolutely. I think the biggest the biggest gain that people come away with is they learn to become more effective in talking about their businesses. I’ll give you a quick example. You know, realtor excuse me, a realtor will tell you, hey, I help people buy and sell houses, which is nice. It tells us what they do. But what we like to talk about in the organization is just don’t tell me what you do. Tell me when you do it, because that’s more powerful. So if a realtor is just saying, Hey, I help people buy and sell houses, I call that Teflon, it just kind of slips in the ear and out the other ear. But what we want them to do or have statements that are more Velcro in nature. So if the realtor says, you know, listen, if you know that family that’s moving mom into a home, that could be a good referral for me because they’re needing to do something with mom’s house. And so rather than talking about what they do, just, you know, speaking about the when that helps people frame that in their mind, frame that in their mind it kind of it seeds their reticular activation system, if you will. In fact, I had this very situation happen, you know, the realtors going on and on and on talking about, you know, just help people buy and sell houses. I can’t say it any other way. And we just said, well, tell us somebody you’re working with. And the moment she said, well, got this couple and they’re moving mom into a home, somebody said, Oh, I’ve got a referral for you. I never really thought about this, but I’ve got a client. They’re moving mom into a home. And I didn’t realize that they would have I didn’t, you know, didn’t think through that. They would have a house to sell. So just trying to help people become more effective in talking about who they are and what they do that carries over, you know, certainly while they’re in the organization. But beyond it.

Stone Payton: [00:08:08] Well, I’m going to try to remember to credit you at least the first couple of times that I use this phrase, but that is gold right there. Velcro statements and yeah. And then after that, I’m just going to say, as I always say, but that’s okay.

Frank Agin: [00:08:24] That’s okay. As long as people, you know, I mean, nothing breaks my heart more stone than to see somebody out there in business and not really. Needlessly struggle because their messaging is off. And it’s a simple thing to fix. People in business, what they you know, we’ll keep picking on realtors. Realtors can can take it. You know, the realtor works 16 hours a day. They work really hard and they know real estate inside and out. They don’t realize that you and I don’t think about it for 16 seconds a day, usually. And so the jargon they have around the water cooler, if you will, or wherever, you know, wherever with the other realtors and the mortgage lenders we’re not privy to. So we don’t you know, they need to help us with, you know, again, your thing, Velcro statements.

Stone Payton: [00:09:16] Well, one of the things that I’ve observed here in little old Woodstock, Georgia, I never was a very networking kind of person. And then we moved to this little town and I just got immersed in this community. So there are a couple of things that I go to here locally, and I think some of the most well respected people in those groups and probably the ones who are getting the most out of it, also seem to invest quite a bit of energy in connecting other people, like making sure Bob gets connected with Sue. Is that consistent with your experience? Do you see a lot of that too, as they mature?

Frank Agin: [00:09:49] Oh, absolutely. You know, stone it’s human nature that we are we are hardwired to look for people and want to help people who are contributing to the world around us. And this goes back to, you know, back to the Stone Age. Um, but yeah, I mean, if you stop and think about it, it’s like, who do you want in your life? You want the people who are contributing to the greater good. And so subconsciously we’re looking for those people. So when you have individuals who really kind of lean in to helping others or helping the group or helping connect people, people want to help them to be in their good graces.

Stone Payton: [00:10:32] Yeah. So how does the whole sales and marketing thing work for a guy like you kind of at the at the at the helm of the mother ship? And how does it work for these individual folks running these groups? Like how do they yeah, how do they get the new business?

Frank Agin: [00:10:50] Well, you know, it’s interesting. It’s really the same way that we coach our members is networking. Um, you know, I’m out introducing people all the time and people are introducing me all the time to people. And no, not everyone works out. I look at networking much like golf. Golf is not about hitting a tiny white ball 400 yards into a cup. Golf’s about hitting a tiny white ball of 400 yards away in a series of shots. Right. It’s not one shot. It’s a series of shots. You know, for me, it might be 12. For other people, it might be four, but you know what I’m saying? And so, you know, one introduction will lead to the next will lead to the next. I have a franchisee in Pensacola, Florida. Um. I backtracked how I was connected to him. And there’s seven different steps along the way. You know, being on this podcast, being introduced to this person, so on and so forth, and eventually, you know, you’re standing in front of the person who you don’t really have to. You don’t really don’t have to close on in the sales sense. I don’t have to convince him that he needs what I have. He knows he wants what I have. It’s just coming to terms on price. And that’s really where that’s really where networking needs to be, is where people are sending you individuals that absolutely need a great financial advisor. They absolutely need a great insurance person or absolutely need a great realtor, but they just don’t know who to turn to.

Stone Payton: [00:12:23] My business partner Lee would say that you’re eating your own cooking. What’s your counseling other people to do? You’re doing it. You’re the model for it. And I think that’s marvelous. I’m almost certain I know the answer to this question, but I’m going to ask it anyway. Okay. Have you had the benefit of one or more mentors along the way that kind of helped you navigate not only the domain of helping people make connections, but just running a business and scaling it like you have?

Frank Agin: [00:12:56] Oh, I mean, I’ve, you know, I’ve had countless mentors, informal mentors, formal people. Um, just, you know, helping with helping with my own, uh, my own mind trash, if you will. I mean, for example, I’ve worked with a coach, and she said, you know, you ought to network with people who are in band. I. I’m like, why would I want to network with them? Or why would they want to network with me? We’re competitors. And she’s like, You just don’t know. You know what? Some of the best contacts, some of the best friends I have out there are with a competing organization. They’re great people. We’re just, you know, we’re all trying to do the same thing. We’re all on this, you know, this this third rock from the sun, if you will. Just trying to help people become successful. And there’s enough there’s enough business out there for all of us. Um, but yeah, you know, I certainly work with mentors and there’s always a problem to solve. And I just, you know, depending upon what I’m trying to solve, I’ll reach out. You know, again, it’s networking. We network for business, but we also network for information, for opportunities network to be encouraged, all sorts of things that we can derive from our network.

Stone Payton: [00:14:09] Now you’re an author and you have written multiple books. You’re a professional speaker. You’ve got so many irons in the fire, but I’d love to hear a little bit about the books you wrote. What compelled you to write them? And then I probably have some questions about process, too, but tell us a little bit about what compelled you to actually sit down, commit these ideas to to paper and what chose you to to go in the direction with those works that you did.

Frank Agin: [00:14:37] Well, you know, when I first started, you know, I was an attorney in a group and I ended up buying the organization. And to be honest, when I first bought it, it was just an investment. Hey, this is a neat investment. It’s a membership organization. There were a couple hundred members, you know, now it’s in the thousands. But I noticed early on I certainly had read books on networking, and there’s a lot of good books out there and many are very tactical. Go to the networking event, do this, you know, hand your business card out, you know, follow up. Very, very tactical. And what I noticed is that there were people out there that were really great tactically, but they struggled to make their networks work. And then I noticed that there were other people who tactically they were a train wreck. You know, they didn’t have a good 32nd commercial. You know, if they went to an event at all, they just, you know, they didn’t look the part. But they had they had wonderful networks. They were very productive. And I was like, okay, what is the what am I missing here? And what I came to find was, is that the people who were successful, no matter, you know, no matter what they did tactically, had a following of people that knew them, liked them and trusted them. And I realized that what was most important of all is having this foundation, these these attitudes and habits of having a strong presence, of being what I’ll call altruistic, generous to the world around you.

Frank Agin: [00:16:11] And I don’t mean just generous and giving money, but you’re generous of your time, generous of giving you introductions, things like that, and having a degree of integrity, doing absolutely what they say they were going to do, sharing the credit, all those things. Those were the ones that were successful. So my first book, Foundational Networking, really talked about those aspects. Here are the attitudes you need to have about yourself, because our, you know, we are our, you know, we’re the most important cog in our network, how we behave and how we show up in the world. Um, and so, you know, just kind of reduced to writing those, you know, the attitudes and, and habits that people need to have to have that strong foundation. And once you have that strong foundation, then having a great 32nd commercial and, you know, knowing how to work a room is so much more powerful. So that’s, you know, that’s where that first book came from. And really the other books are just kind of spinoffs of that. I’ve had people say, Hey, I’d like to I’d like to coauthor a book. Um, you know, and just, just continuing on those themes.

Stone Payton: [00:17:21] So many of our listeners and many people that I run into in the marketplace feel like they have a book in them. Talk a little bit about the the process. What was it like to try to get what was in in your head and on your heart into a medium like that that you could share effectively with other people? It must have been one heck of a growth experience just getting that done.

Frank Agin: [00:17:45] Yeah, well, it is. But I will tell let me just say this to your listeners. If you have a book in your heart, you owe it to the world to get it out there. And there’s you know, people will look at me, Wow, you wrote a book. You’ve written all these books. I’ve written a couple of novels, you know, and I tell people, don’t. You know, don’t look at me in awe, because all a book is is taking words, creating sentences that form paragraphs that work into chapters. And it’s just a matter of having the discipline to do it over, you know. You know, to do that. And so when I wrote that first book, what I would do is I would come into the office and Monday mornings I would turn everything off, email, phone, everything. And I would sit there for four hours and I would just I would write Now, I would think about it during the week and I would have notes and stuff like that so I could hit the ground running. But in four hours I might come away with 4 or 5 pages of material. Not all of it good, but, you know, some days, some days I might get eight.

Frank Agin: [00:18:44] Some days I might get one right. But you just kind of continue that process. And what I found is that then after 18 months, I had 360 pages and I ended up actually dumping 120, not dumping, pulling it out of the book. I worked with a coach to help me kind of finalize it, and there’s some wonderful people out there and they just suggested that, you know, they gave me some suggestions. Part of it was, hey, let’s let’s get rid of some of this. You can use it for other things. And I have. But it’s you know, it’s no great mystery. They’re not you know, you know, there are there are superheroes out there, but people writing books aren’t necessarily superheroes. They’re just people who have had an idea and committed the time. And, you know, you don’t need to get a million people to read what you have to say. I’m you know, I’m fulfilled when somebody comes up to me. And it’s just one thing in my book that has, has helped them. Um, you know, that’s, that’s the influence I’ve put on the world.

Stone Payton: [00:19:49] Yeah. So when you did write these books, do you find that when you do? Put those ideas to paper and publish it, that it helps you solidify your own thinking and make you that much more effective in communicating ideas going forward, whether it’s speaking, networking, casual conversation. Does it help kind of crystallize your own thinking?

Frank Agin: [00:20:11] Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, you you know, again, those days when you’re laboring for four hours and and have one page to show for it, but you know, that one page is, um, you know, it becomes a masterpiece and that stuff, you know, you when you write it, it kind of gets it gets etched into your mind. So when somebody is asking you something, you’re kind of just drawing on those, on those on those thoughts. Yeah. Just, you know, trying to think about, you know, what am I going to write? I need to, you know, like the golf analogy, you know, I just gave you. I mean, it’s just that was just something that, you know, I was talking to somebody else they talked about they used in terms of like putting. And I just kind of expanded on it. And that has allowed me to write entire speeches about just that one little metaphor of, you know, networking is much like golf. And, you know, here are the misses with respect to networking. So yeah, it’s just it really expands things.

Stone Payton: [00:21:07] I love it. Okay. What about the speaking at this point in your career and maybe you maybe you never did. But I was going to say, do you still get a little bit nervous when you’re getting on stage and you’re and you’re speaking to a large group of people? Do you get the the butterflies? Well, what is the life of a speaker like?

Frank Agin: [00:21:25] Well, I’m not your hardcore speaker. Like, I’m trying to think of some of the people out there like Bob Berg, who’s, you know, they just do a lot of it. But to answer your questions, of course, you know, we’re. I, you know. Well, let’s just back up. I get nervous walking into a room full of people and, you know, people kind of chuckle at that. You did. But the reality is, is that as humans, we we developed in tribes, clans, whatever you want to call it, of groups of about 150 people. And your whole life, that’s all you saw were those 150 people. And if you saw a stranger, it wasn’t generally a good thing. And so we’re really kind of you know, we kind of have this natural aversion to being with people that we don’t necessarily know. And so when I walk into a room, I’m nervous. Certainly standing before a group of people, it’s, you know, you’re nervous, but in a way that, you know, being nervous, that being on edge really kind of helps. The performance works for athletes. It certainly works for speakers. Yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:22:30] And I can only imagine the the energy that you must draw from people in the group as you begin to see them connect with some of your ideas and take them in. That’s that’s got to be incredibly fulfilling.

Frank Agin: [00:22:43] Well, it is. And that’s the that’s the downside of talking on Zoom. I’ve had lots of opportunities to speak on Zoom, you know, as we move through the pandemic and, you know, the jokes don’t land the same. You really can’t see people. So like when I get out there and speak, there’s always a handful of people that, you know, I can see are really engaged. And I play to them. I talk to them. But yeah, when you’re on Zoom, it doesn’t really work.

Stone Payton: [00:23:12] I don’t know. You’re on Zoom now for this virtual interview, and I think you’re doing a fantastic job. And I certainly know your passion comes through. I know our listeners can feel it over the airwaves. I certainly feel it in the in the conversation. But I do absolutely get what you’re saying. I don’t have any idea when, where or how you would find the time to pursue them. But I’m going to ask other passions outside the scope of the core work that we’re talking about. For me, it’s hunting and fishing. I like to be in the woods. I like to be on the on the water. Do you have other passions that you that you pursue outside the scope of this work?

Frank Agin: [00:23:52] Yeah. Yeah, I do. I mean, it’s I love what I do and I don’t mind, you know, sitting at home and tinkering on, you know, whatever, you know, for hours at a time or on the weekend. But I do break away from it. I enjoy sports, go to a lot of sporting events. My kids played soccer all the way through college. So that really kept me busy chasing them around. But I’ll watch sports on TV with the family or, you know, go to go to games and matches. Um, as I indicated, I’ve written novels. I’m working on a third one now, which is just kind of fun. I love going to the movies. Um, you know, working around the house, you know, we’re talking about remodeling a kitchen and I’ll probably have my hand in some of that, although I’ll probably hire, you know, a kitchen is different than, you know, that third bathroom that nobody sees, right? My wife will let me work on that one. But when it comes to the kitchen, it’s like, no, we’re going to get a professional in here.

Stone Payton: [00:24:58] But as much as you enjoy your core work and as much as you get from it, I don’t know. I do find that it is helpful sometimes to create the space to kind of break away from it periodically and do some other things and then come back to it refreshed. Is is that true for you?

Frank Agin: [00:25:16] Oh, absolutely. Last week before last, I went to see my father. He lives 12 hours away. And I mean, the only way to really get there is drive. And I just, you know, just being in the car, being alone, you know, it’s just I was just raring to go, you know, because you just your mind just kind of shuts down. Well, it doesn’t shut down. It just gives it a chance to kind of catch up, if you will. Um, and so, yeah, it is good. It’s good to get out in the yard and, and, you know, or just something that’s pretty mindless. Um, that’s healthy.

Stone Payton: [00:25:54] Yeah. All right, before we wrap, I want to I’d love to leave our listeners with a few pro tips for getting the most out of communicating with other people, networking, trying to help them connect and make those connections. Just anything that might look, gang. The number one pro tip is reach out to Frank and his his team, see if you can latch on to any spirit business connections meeting or just have a conversation with Frank. But short of that or prior to that, maybe some things they could be we could be reading or doing or not doing just a couple of actionable items. We can we can begin to to take some movement on.

Frank Agin: [00:26:35] Yeah. You know, the first thing I will tell people is. Get involved. Get involved in your community. Volunteer. If you’re in a chamber, find ways that you can contribute because those things will really elevate how? Elevate certainly how people see you or that they see you at all. I always tell people if you’re if you’re at a meeting and if if you didn’t show to a meeting and nobody knew you weren’t there, you’re probably not involved enough. But as far as, you know, getting your message out, you know what in this this takes work. It absolutely takes work. You need to step back and think about all the clients that you work with and the different situations. You know, for example, let’s pick on mortgage lenders. You know, I know mortgage lenders help people, you know, use equity in their home to get a loan, but people use that money for lots of things. And so when you’re out there and talking about it, you know, you want to you’re going to want to talk about those things, not all at once, but, you know, hey, I help somebody tap into the equity in their home to pay for a college education. You know what that does is it you know, again, it becomes it becomes pieces of Velcro in other people’s minds. So when they’re talking to somebody and saying, yeah, we’re just struggling trying to figure out how to pay for Johnny’s college, you know, you can say, oh, geez, you know, I’m talking to a mortgage lender. You own your house outright.

Frank Agin: [00:27:57] Have you thought about maybe using that? Um, and so that really takes work. It takes, you know, just sitting and thinking about all the different types of things that in this example the mortgage lender is doing or all the different ways, the reasons why somebody’s buying a house. Yeah, they want a house. But you know, all those different things. I used to be an attorney and I learned the hard way. My pitch was, you know, Frank A and anybody who needs an attorney send them my way. And I was a business attorney. People that didn’t help people. I just assumed everybody knew what I did. Well, they didn’t. And I started to become effective when I really looked at my business and said, okay, you know what? I just helped somebody with a commercial lease. It’s a document. It’s an inch thick. Nobody understands what it says but me and the person who wrote it, you know, and I would explain that to people. And right away it’s like, Oh, I get it. I can see how I can help, how you can help people and how I can refer people to you. But it takes time to really kind of think through those things. And what I see people doing, stone is just being lazy about it. I don’t mean that in a in a, you know, not that they’re lazy, but they’re just, um, they’re not taking the time to invest and just changing their messaging just a little bit and it can make a huge difference.

Stone Payton: [00:29:16] I am so glad I asked what marvelous counsel and you got to know this is going to go down in the Business RadioX records as the Velcro episode. Okay.

Frank Agin: [00:29:27] That’s awesome.

Stone Payton: [00:29:28] Yeah. All right. What’s the best way for our listeners to to reach out, learn more about your work, tap into some of this great content, maybe have a conversation with you or someone on your team, whatever you think is appropriate. Website, email, LinkedIn. I just want to make sure they can tap in.

Frank Agin: [00:29:45] Man Yeah, you know. Stone The easiest way is I have a website out there. Frank Aegon.com. Frank a g i n.com. I’m sure you’ll get that in the show notes or but that is kind of all things frank and lists my books, has my LinkedIn, my Facebook. I communicate with people. I meet people where they want to be met. Some people just want to communicate on LinkedIn, Fine, I’m happy to do it, but my email is on there. I believe there’s a phone number as well. Um, you know, reach out. I’m, you know, certainly happy to talk to people. You know, if somebody is looking to try and get a group started would have happy to talk to them about that happy to talk to people who might be interested in getting on our leadership team. There’s lots of opportunities and, you know, just happy to share resources. You know, Frank, I’m looking to meet I’ve got a book can you know, uh, you know, who do I need to talk to? I have 2 or 3 people that can help them take that and get it published. So lots of lots of opportunities, but yeah. Frank Aegon.com.

Stone Payton: [00:30:51] Well, Frank, it has been an absolute delight having you on the show this afternoon. You’re doing important work. Please keep up the good work. Don’t be a stranger. Maybe we’ll swing back around periodically and get caught up on on your growth as you continue to to scale and get out there and touch so many lives. But thank you so much for joining us today. Man.

Frank Agin: [00:31:14] Thanks for having me.

Stone Payton: [00:31:16] My pleasure. All right. Until next time, this is Stone Payton for our guest today, Frank Agan with Spirit Business Connections and everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying we’ll see you in the fast lane.

 

Tagged With: AmSpirit Business Connections

BRX Pro Tip: What is Your Irresistible Offer?

April 6, 2023 by angishields

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BRX Pro Tip: What is Your Irresistible Offer?
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BRX Pro Tip: What is Your Irresistible Offer?

Stone Payton: [00:00:00] And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, the question of the day, What is your irresistible offer?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:10] Yeah. An irresistible offer is something that you offer folks to get the right people into your tribe. And this is something where you can’t hold back. You have to give away the best that you got. Don’t skimp. This has to be the best stuff you have because you want the right people into your world. And the best way to get them there is to be generous and offer them something that they must have that’s going to really help them.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:38] And you can use different platforms to share this offer, but most importantly, you want to move those people out of those platforms into your world. And having this irresistible offer is a great way to do that because, ultimately, you want to get more people that are important to you into some sort of a database so that you can market to them over time. And you can’t do that efficiently or effectively on third party platforms. You got to move them into your own database so that you can continue to market to them inexpensively.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:11] Because those third party platforms get very expensive very quickly. They don’t let you really get to know those people. You can communicate to a lot of them, but they really don’t know who you are until you move them off platform into your own world. So, do that as quickly as possible. And having an irresistible offer that’s so desirable is a great way to move them off a third party platform into your database.

Marcus Blanchard with Focal Point Financial Planning

April 5, 2023 by angishields

St. Louis Business Radio
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Marcus Blanchard is the Founder of Focal Point Financial Planning. Financial planning has been his study and passion for many years now, ever since he joined the Marine Corps and had to start making his own investment decisions.

After getting his Bachelor’s degree in Personal Financial Planning, Marcus also earned the Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), Wealth Management Certified Professional (WMCP®), & Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®) designations to further his understanding of financial planning and different ways to help reduce people’s tax bills.

After a while of working for both large and small financial firms, Marcus decided he needed to serve clients at a higher level, his way. In his eyes, the complex issues business owners & investors deal with, along with the tax implications of retiring were not being adequately addressed. With the support of his lovely wife Katie, Marcus founded Focal Point Financial Planning, LLC.

Now he can better serve clients by looking where other advisors won’t, helping you breathe easier about taxes and where your dollars are going.

Connect with Marcus on LinkedIn.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:05] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Saint Louis, Missouri. It’s time for Saint Louis Business Radio. Now here’s your host.

Phillip Hearn: [00:00:17] Hello, good people. And welcome back to Docs Discussions here on St. Louis Business RadioX. So I’m really, really lucky in what I get an opportunity to do to basically tap into what I used to do back in college, which was have my own show, talk to really interesting people. And today is absolutely no different. So I’m kind of living in my past but still bringing it into today. We’ve got a fantastic guest on today. I’ve got Marcus Blanchard. He’s the founder of Focal Point Financial Planning LLC. Marcus, how are you today?

Marcus Blanchard: [00:00:50] I’m doing great,Phil. Thank you so much for having me on today. How are you doing?

Phillip Hearn: [00:00:54] I’m good. Thank you for asking. It’s it’s actually not raining here for once. Here in Saint Louis, so we’ll take that.

Marcus Blanchard: [00:01:00] That’s good. Yeah. Take what you. What you can get.

Phillip Hearn: [00:01:03] Minor victories, right?

Marcus Blanchard: [00:01:05] Exactly.

Phillip Hearn: [00:01:06] So before we dive into everything that you have, you and your team have going on today, I always like to understand from the from our guests and give our listeners an opportunity to understand where have you come from and how did you get to today. So tell us a little bit about Marcus and getting into what you’re doing today.

Marcus Blanchard: [00:01:25] Just like everybody, that that could be a very long story. I’ll try and keep it as short as possible. So as you said, I am a financial advisor, financial planner, whatever you want to call it. And my path here actually started back in the summer of 2009. So I at the time I had enlisted in the Marine Corps. I was going through boot camp and that was when they had given us our sign up sheet for essentially the government’s 41K or the TSP for those that are familiar with it. You know, I was 18 years old. I was just a kid and that was really the first time that I felt like I was making a big money decision. Okay. You know, relatively speaking, right? It’s not a huge deal. But, you know, at the time, you know, we’re talking about investments and putting money away. And I just remember reading through that sheet and thinking to myself, I have no idea what any of this stuff means. Not a clue. And, you know, really, when it came down to it, I was guessing as I was filling out this form. So I really hated that feeling of feeling like I was guessing when making what felt like big decisions with my money.

Marcus Blanchard: [00:02:35] So that’s what kind of got me interested in finances and personal finance and investing and and all the nerdy stuff. I like to tell people I’m a nerd in your corner. Um, but, you know, ultimately, I started it down, down that path for for selfish reasons, right? I want to know how all this stuff works so that I’m never in that position again where, you know, later on in life, this certainly isn’t going to be my my last decision with money. I want to be educated and I want to be on the, you know, the sharp end of the stick rather than getting hit with the other end, you know. So as I as I learned, you know, I got out of the Marine Corps, that’s that’s actually what I studied in college was personal financial planning. So I am one of the few people out there who actually uses their college degree in their day to day job. So I we do exist. We are out there. Um, but you know, as I learned about that stuff and just, you know, made more relationships and talked to people, I realized that people felt exactly how I did back when I was 18, making a relatively small financial decision.

Marcus Blanchard: [00:03:43] They felt the same way when they were making really, really big, you know, a lot more zeros attached to those decisions. You know, they’re selling a business. They are getting ready to retire. A lot of big decisions that can’t be undone. And the cost of being wrong is is often quite high. So that’s what led me here. You know, I ultimately started my own firm, so I’m fully independent, you know, just fee only firm. I don’t get paid to sell products or on any kind of commission. It’s just, hey, what kind of value can we add to you? And, and here I am. So that’s awesome that. Yeah. And ultimately, with those big decisions that we were talking about, it’s kind of led me into more of a specialty of really helping people with two things, right? How do we help you not get killed in taxes when you sell a business or property and when you’re getting ready to retire? So that’s that’s my my niche or niche, whichever one you subscribe to. But that’s where I focus my time and really try and hone my edge and do good work.

Phillip Hearn: [00:04:50] That’s awesome. So there’s some important pieces of what you just mentioned. First of all, thank you for your service. So of course always appreciate that. The second I think it’s interesting and I hear this quite a bit from other. Business leaders that they take almost a problem, whether it’s a problem that they were seeing or a problem that they see for others around them and try to find those solutions with it. So I think that’s a beautiful thing. And third, and I think most importantly for a lot of our listeners, you kind of prove that point of no matter where you’re starting, whether it’s like you said, with a few zeros or a lot of zeros. Right? We all want to get to a lot of zeros that it’s important to have that fiscal literacy piece. So if you combine that feeling, sitting, you know, filling out paperwork about to go into the Marines, I’m sure your head is spinning automatically. And then also with your college. Take us a little bit into that research component, because a lot of times people kind of bristle when they hear financial planning, retirement planning. They kind of tune out and not because it’s not important, but because it’s overwhelming. So there’s a couple pieces that I think you really brought up, Marcus, that are important. First of all, thank you for your service because that’s absolutely massive, right? So and I think it’s interesting how you talk about starting in a place where I mean, again, I’m sure a ton is going through your head as you’re filling out this paperwork, right? So you only highlight the, hey, I’m filling out the government’s 401.

Phillip Hearn: [00:06:16] The TSP, but I’m sure you got some other emotions going on. But take me through because you’re in a unique perspective. You’re pretty much a unicorn almost. You’re actually using your degree. So with your background of the degree, right, that’s one bucket sitting in a in a space where you’re about to fill out this TSP paperwork. How do you how do you really tap into the research? Because I think the research is so important. And I think you proved the point that no matter how many zeros you have, right, whether it’s 1 or 2 zeros to a bunch of zeros, there’s always that research and learning that needs to take place. So tell me how you work with your clients to start to get them over that hump. Because I’m sure clients, no matter if they’re talking retirement, talking about buying or selling a business, they’re in different facets of their life no matter where we’re going. How do you use that research from your schooling and your own personal experiences to help put together a top notch, you know, client experience?

Marcus Blanchard: [00:07:11] That’s a great question. It really, you know, you need to meet the client where they are, you know, and not. You mentioned something earlier about people not really wanting to reach out and engage with an advisor or, you know, whatever they call themselves, which which is completely understandable. Right. A lot of the industry is just there to sell, you know, sell products. And and that’s what people feel like is going to happen is, hey, I’m going to go talk to this person and they’re just going to sell me maybe insurance I don’t need or mutual funds I don’t know anything about or or, or, or. Right. Yeah. So again, it really comes down to meeting the client where they are. And I try and keep things very high level, right? I try and reduce the, we call it advisor speak as much as possible, Right. Know because as soon as you start talking, you know, oh, standard deviations and beta and all this investment gobbledygook, people just glaze over and they don’t want to be there. You know, you.

Phillip Hearn: [00:08:09] Do this in a math class was just exactly. And that’s the yeah.

Marcus Blanchard: [00:08:12] That is the last place anybody wants to be. Um, so really, I tell people to start out, I help people answer three questions. Okay? First one is. Are you actually on track to where you say you want to be? Okay. That’s or in in other words, you know, am I going to be okay for some people? That’s the first one. Okay. Second question is how can we improve your investments? Okay. How can we reduce any excessive fees that are in there? Because again, I don’t get paid to pitch products. So we have the whole smorgasbord of of options out there. So let’s find one that fits your needs. Let’s keep the costs as low as possible or as low, you know, depending on what you’re looking to do. Right. Right. And also keeping taxes very front of mind. So the third piece is how do we reduce your lifetime tax bill, not necessarily your single year tax bill, because in some scenarios, it may make sense to pay a little bit more tax, you know, today to save a lifetime of higher taxes, Right. 10 or 20 years down the road. So those are the three questions, right? So just to recap, am I actually on track to where I need to go or, you know, where I need to be? How do we improve your investments and how do we reduce your lifetime tax bill? So that really I mean everything that I do not to oversimplify, hopefully, but that’s really what it comes down to, right? Are those three areas and those three key things.

Marcus Blanchard: [00:09:44] You know, and that’s from the technical standpoint. So to to your question of what do I research? And that’s that’s what I research. I you know, tax law and estate law changes probably every 5 to 10 years. There’s a big change that comes down the road. So there’s it’s always good to stay up on that. And that’s a lot of it. And also just with the client’s life, right? Life. The only thing that’s guaranteed in life is that it’s going to change. So, you know, the strategy that we talked about three months ago and we’re all on board for and we’re we’re good to move forward with today, that could change entirely. For whatever reason. So it’s not that that advice was bad, it’s just now it needs to change because your life changed. So makes sense. Yeah.

Phillip Hearn: [00:10:32] So let’s jump back into the tax piece, right? Because a lot of people, when this recording comes out, we will technically be in the swing of tax season unless you’re a business owner, which every day is tax season, right? Sure. So when we’re talking about taxes, take our listeners through how they can work with you when also they’re going to be working, let’s just say, with their accountant or whatever the case may be, because I think there’s a solid delineation that has to be made based on the services that you’re offering versus let’s just say and humor me with this, I know you’re different than like an H&R Block, right? Just to kind of simplify that process. Take us through what that looks like, the differences, and then technically how you guys can work with that accountant to get done what they need to on their tax strategy.

Marcus Blanchard: [00:11:16] Yeah, that’s a great point. And just to to put that out there, I am not a tax preparer. I’m not a CPA. I don’t pretend to be one, nor do I ever want to be one.

Phillip Hearn: [00:11:25] That might be the biggest piece. You’re like, I don’t want to be one, right?

Marcus Blanchard: [00:11:28] Yes, I do not prepare tax returns. However, I do review everyone’s tax return. That is a non-negotiable for me. Just because the tax return doesn’t lie, not not to say that clients lie, but you know, nobody can recite what their AGI and taxable income and all these other fun tax terms are off the top of their head. Right. The tax return just has it all right there, spelled out very plainly. And if something it’s very easy to spot something, if it’s if it’s wrong or it needs to be changed or if there’s opportunities. So going back to what I was saying, I do require that everyone upload, you know, at least the most recent copy of their tax return when we’re going through that onboarding process, mainly for two reasons. One is to spot any maybe oversights or missteps that happen during the preparation process of the tax return. Because, you know, you have to think about it. It’s not trying to poo poo on any any the tax return or tax preparers. It’s just they are doing hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of these in a very short amount of time. So it all it takes is miss checking one box for something to not happen or what is more common is the tax preparer just doesn’t have the information that they need. Right. They weren’t told. Usually they find out about everything that happened last year after the fact and sometimes it’s too late.

Marcus Blanchard: [00:12:56] So they don’t know about it. They can’t allocate for it in the tax return. So that’s the first reason is just to spot oversights and errors. The second reason is to. Plan into the future, which is where I’m going to be a little bit different than maybe the tax preparer, where they are focused on singular years. Right. Some, you know, and just like everybody, not everybody’s created equal. So some tax preparers may really, really want to try and reduce your your your taxes in just a single year. So it’s kind of like looking through a toilet paper roll. Right? They’re very, very focused. They’re going to do really great work to try and reduce your taxes as much as they can. But but I zoom out a little bit more. So I take that having an accurate tax return is just like reading a map. You need to know where you are to determine where you need to go, right? So we absolutely need to have correct information. And then my job is to kind of act like more, more, more of a guide. And that also includes having an open line of communication with your tax preparer. That’s one of the biggest probably oversights that I see in people’s relationships with their advisors and other professionals is that all these professionals are working in a silo.

Marcus Blanchard: [00:14:14] You know, they all want to do good work and help their client, but they’re they’re doing it on an island, right? And really, we’re all trying to work together for the same goal i.e you, the client. And if you got three different people that are working in different directions, right, maybe you’re getting your trust established with your estate attorney and you have your tax preparer and then you have your advisor. Well, those all touch your taxes in some form or fashion. Right? Right. So you would hope anyway that they are communicating and and, you know, they don’t necessarily need to agree on everything, but there needs to be an open line of communication and being on the same page moving forward. So, you know, when it comes because again, when it comes back to those big money decisions, hey, maybe you’re selling a business or you’ve you’ve saved a great nest egg for a long time and you’re ready to retire again. The cost of being wrong is very high. And that’s where especially advisors and tax preparers, I should say, advisors that look at this stuff, they can go in two very different directions. So there needs to be communication there. So that was a very long answer. I’m sorry. No, that answers your question or not.

Phillip Hearn: [00:15:30] But and this is an important answer because it actually leads to another question. But before I even get to that, understanding the makeup of the team, right, in terms of when it comes to not only the taxes, but you mentioned excuse me, retirement planning. So I wanted to tap into that as well because I think that’s an important piece. The concept of it would be great if everybody talked to each other, but I think a lot of clients, no matter where they are on on the spectrum of, you know, maybe a solopreneur or two, you know, they’ve got hundreds of companies and hundreds of people that work for them. That component of the team kind of talking to each other. I think you’re 100% right because more times than not, they’re working in their silo. So let me ask a follow up question to this and feel free to add in the retirement piece or any other layers that I think our listeners would want to hear. What’s the best way? So so let’s say you’ve got your tax planner for the estate planning, right? Let’s put that here. Of course you’ve got your accountant now you have you as almost, I would say, your full strategist, if you will, then you’ve got maybe your financial advisor and let’s say they’ve got one before they started talking to you. What’s a smart way to blend and get those people kind of talking in the same direction? Because you’re right, they’re supposed to be working for the quote unquote client. But I’ve also seen in personal experiences, and I’m sure our listeners are in the same bucket where they’re not almost working in the full focus of the client. So what would you suggest on if that client is trying to get everybody together? What are some ways to start to alleviate that stress?

Marcus Blanchard: [00:17:03] Um, you know, one one saying I picked up in the Marine Corps was inspect what you expect, right? It isn’t necessarily, you know, micromanaging by any means, but hey, if, if this is something that you expect to happen of having professionals communicate, just put it out there. Say, hey, I want you to do this here is their information. Okay. And then, you know, hopefully, you know, you don’t need to be keyed on every email by any means. And a lot of those conversations, it’s me and the tax preparer talking strategy, talking game, saying, hey, this is what I think. What am I missing you? What’s on your radar? And then you’ll get the hey, here’s a couple bullet points about what we recommend. Okay? So just just put it out there. Say, hey, you know, we’re we’re getting a trust set up. You’re talking to an estate attorney. Here is my tax preparer and my advisors contact information, please keep them in the loop.

Phillip Hearn: [00:18:04] Okay. Okay. So good. Yeah. So you almost play and I’m going to dumb this down, so don’t be too mad at me as I do. But you almost play like a like a shepherd, right? Like you’re trying to get everybody that needs to be at the table and at the right time to the table to make sure that that client is feeling like, all right, I’ve got my questions answered. We’ve got a strategy moving forward. There’s A135 year plan. That’s that’s the the quick takeaway or snapshot that I get from my at least on the right track.

Marcus Blanchard: [00:18:35] Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. You know, it’s sometimes it feels more like shepherding cats. But but yes, that’s we’re trying to bring everybody to the same table and have the same conversation.

Phillip Hearn: [00:18:47] I love it. Okay. Very good. So looking at that and again, you’ve kind of given your background, your theories, almost your mission, vision and goal statement, if you will. Right. Who are ideal clients that you and your team like to work with the most? Right. Because we would love to say, Oh, you can work with anybody, but that’s that doesn’t make a good business in most cases. So who are those ideal clients that you and your team like to target?

Marcus Blanchard: [00:19:10] Yeah, exactly. That’s it’s such a good question because there’s a lot of different businesses out there and they all have their own specialty or, or not, you know, maybe more of a generalist. I am definitely more of a specialist, right? So as we kind of alluded to before, the the groups that I specifically serve are again, are you selling a business or typically a commercial property typically between 1 and $10 million? Okay. And or are you over age 50 and getting ready to retire? Okay. So, you know, doesn’t have to be both necessarily at the same time. Often those do overlap. But yeah, that’s that’s really where I add the most value, you know, because to your point, you know, if you have questions about, Hey, my employer stock options plan or my student loans or, you know, college savings plans and stuff, you know, yeah, I can brush up on that and definitely add value. But you’re owed expert help, right? And I am not the expert. You know, I’m not in that category of planning every single day. So, you know, I would really be doing people like that a disservice. And I’m more than happy to to send. Hey, you know what? I could probably help you, but I’m not the right guy. Go talk to, you know, the guy or gal down the street or here’s the information you know, everybody deserves and needs quality financial advice. And and quality means that you’re working with an expert in that field.

Phillip Hearn: [00:20:43] Yeah, no, that that makes complete sense. And I like how you broke that down, too, because you and your team have a focus. And like you said, sometimes you ask somebody and they’re all over the place in terms of what that focus potentially looks like. So I like how you bring that up. I’ll flip the question now. How do you and your team currently attract new clients and grow your brand? What does that side look like?

Marcus Blanchard: [00:21:07] Um, you know, I’ve, I’ve tried a lot of different marketing things and I’ve tried found a lot of things that don’t work. It’s, it’s not my favorite, but really where I’ve found success is, you know, fish where the fish are, right? For me, that is LinkedIn. I am I hate to say it, I’m one of those LinkedIn guys now. I that has been a good avenue. So really the types of people I talk with are usually the professionals in someone’s life. So either a business broker where makes sense, right? Because all of their clients are selling businesses. And if I can step in and add value to their transaction and make their seller more happy, that helps them, right? Also with tax repairs. So mainly business brokers and tax preparers. That’s really where I’m spending a lot of time, is just having these conversations because, you know, same thing on the professional side when they see, oh, hey, this person’s a quote unquote advisor, right? It’s like, okay, that’s nice. Great. You know, I don’t really care which is fair. You know, a lot of them are generalists, which is just a different business model. Okay. So that’s where I spend a lot of time. So if if you want to read about taxes and how to not get killed by them and retirement planning and stuff, feel free to check out my LinkedIn. Yeah, love it.

Phillip Hearn: [00:22:36] Love it. So this is a question that I ask everybody because as much as we talk about business and being a business leader in your business, I think the other side sometimes is just as revealing and just as important. When you’re not as you say, these are your words, not mine being the research door, right? Yep. How do you unwind? How do you recalibrate? How do you kind of, you know, get the energy to go again? What do you like to do?

Marcus Blanchard: [00:23:02] Um, you know, I live here in Utah, and, you know, about 45 minutes south of Salt Lake City, and mountains are just amazing. You know, I’m ten minutes from from the trails, so it’s great. So I’m more of a hiker, right? I like getting out. I like getting in the in the mountains and the foothills that that really re-energizes me. You know, it’s funny enough being here in Utah, I don’t ski snowboard, which is I know just a. A travesty or a travesty. I can. I’m looking at the mountain right now. It’s covered in snow. We’ve had an amazing winter. I haven’t been out in it at all. You know, I grew up in the desert, so I don’t know. I get more and more used to the snow, and it’s it’s fun. You know, we’ll go sledding, but, you know, me and my wife and and that’s fun. But there’s just a lot more. Work up that. More gear. More stuff that you need when you go out in the snow. So yeah.

Phillip Hearn: [00:24:04] You’re like, I can hike with some boots and maybe a couple walkers. Exactly. Kind of thing. Right?

Marcus Blanchard: [00:24:08] Exactly. Yep. You know, I can bring a pack if I want. Depends on where I go, you know? So I like hiking up in the mountains, camping, getting into hunting a little bit, hopefully this year. So just. Just the outdoors, you know? It’s good. It’s good stuff.

Phillip Hearn: [00:24:22] Good. Yeah. I won’t tell anybody from Utah that you don’t ski or snowboard. They probably look at you kind of crazy. I know.

Marcus Blanchard: [00:24:28] I’ll get kicked out.

Phillip Hearn: [00:24:29] But yeah, they might kick you out. I’m just saying I didn’t want to get there, but that. Yeah, that could be the next thing. So good luck with that.

Marcus Blanchard: [00:24:36] Thank you. I need it.

Phillip Hearn: [00:24:39] So last before we wrap up and this has been a great conversation. We really appreciate having you. How do our listeners connect with you? So if they are kind of that right size client, what are the best ways for our listeners to to connect with you and get with you on the services that you and your team offer?

Marcus Blanchard: [00:24:54] Yeah, absolutely. So like I mentioned, you can always look me up on LinkedIn. Marcus Blanchard There’s just if you aren’t ready for a call and you want to see kind of what I talk about, that’s an excellent place. You can also go to my website focalpoint planning.com. You can sign up for an email list there, poke around again, see a lot of the same information there and then you can always call or text at (801) 477-0549.

Phillip Hearn: [00:25:23] Awesome, awesome. And we’ll make sure that all of those links phone number whole nine yards are actually in this recording as well. So folks will be able to tap into it either by listening or by actually going to our website and everything else. So love it. Marcus It was a lot of fun to have you on the show. Thank you so much for your time and and good luck with the snowboarding thing. Again, you know, it sounds like you got to learn how to do that. So.

Marcus Blanchard: [00:25:46] Yeah, maybe. Maybe next year.

Phillip Hearn: [00:25:48] Yeah, yeah. You have a little bit of time. It does snow a couple times out there, so just a few. All right. So thank you again.

Marcus Blanchard: [00:25:54] Appreciate you having me on.

Phillip Hearn: [00:25:56] This has been another episode of Doctor Doc’s discussions here on Saint Louis Business RadioX And we’ll see you next time. Thanks.

 

About Your Host

Phillip-HearnDr. Phillip Hearn Ed.D. is a results-driven entrepreneur, Senior Executive, Consultant, and Board Member with more than 20 years of success in business acquisition and real estate. His expertise in leveraging extensive experience with expansion, and financing, makes Phillip a valuable asset for companies, particularly in real estate, seeking guidance on growth opportunities and process improvement.

Phillip is the founder of Mid American Capital Holdings, LLC, an acquisition focused company. Current subsidiaries include Phillip Speaks, specializing in coaching, advising and public speaking engagements; Financial Center, consulting business owners on methods to implement business trade lines and credit to grow their operations, and other subsidiaries which continues to expand. Phillip also gives back via his non for profit Center for Communities and Economic Development.

Phillip has obtained an Ed.D. from Capella University and holds an Executive Masters in Health Administration (EMHA) from Saint Louis University; an MA in Marketing and a BA in Media Communication, both from Webster University, and Lean Six Sigma (Black Belt) from Villanova University. He has served as a Board Member for the National Sales Network St. Louis Chapter and Ready Readers, for which he has also served as the Governance Department Chair and President of the Board.

Phillip is a coach, advisor, key note speaker and podcast host on Business RadioX. Audiences benefit professionally and personally through his teachings of leveraging and application. His new book “Life Mottos for Success” exemplifies how positive words and thoughts can transform your life!

Connect with Phillip on LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.

Tagged With: Focal Point Financial Planning

BRX Pro Tip: What Should You Stop Doing?

April 5, 2023 by angishields

Joshua Rodgers with Habitat for Humanity, Cat McAfee with LaAmistad and Charaun Cash with VOX ATL

April 4, 2023 by angishields

Atlanta Business Radio
Atlanta Business Radio
Joshua Rodgers with Habitat for Humanity, Cat McAfee with LaAmistad and Charaun Cash with VOX ATL
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In this episode of Atlanta Business Radio, Lee Kanter chats with some amazing guests who went through the American Express Leadership Academy. They talk about how important it is to develop leadership skills and build communities in the nonprofit sector.

Cat McAfee, Executive Director of LaAmistad, a program that provides educational services to the Latino community in Atlanta, shares about the challenges they face and the impact of their programs. Charaun Cash from VOX ATL, a media and youth development organization, and a Josh Rodgers from Habitat for Humanity also join in on the conversation. They encourage young people to consider a career in nonprofits.

Founded in 2008, the American Express Leadership Academy builds the personal, business and leadership skills of emerging nonprofit and social purpose leaders through multi-day, in-person trainings. The initiative has grown to a global program, training world-class leaders in the areas of education, the arts, social services, health, the environment, and more. Since 2008, we hosted more than 160 Leadership Academy programs around the world and training more than 6,000 nonprofit and social purpose leaders.

Josh-RodgersJosh Rodgers is a writer and DEI practitioner originally from Memphis, TN. He works with Habitat for Humanity International, creating strategies and resources that support the organization’s global DEI strategy.

Josh also serves as a content writer for Blavity, AfroTech and Buzzfeed – highlighting the nuanced experiences of Black culture and entertainment. He can also be found on the mic as the co-host and founder of The Jigsaw Podcast.

Josh holds a B.A. from Morehouse College, an MPA from Arkansas State University, and an MPP from Georgia State University.

Connect with Josh on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Cat-McAfeeCat DaCosta McAfee, Executive Director at LaAmistad, was born and raised in Attleboro, MA. Mrs. McAfee earned a B.S. from Georgia State University and is a graduate of the Spanish School at Instituto Chac-Mool in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

She is deeply involved in the community serving on Atlanta Public School’s Advisory Committee, Georgia Coalition for English Language Learners and the Georgia Department of Public Health Brain Trust 4 Babies Committee.

McAfee is also a founding board member for Atlanta Classical Academy, a tuition-free, open enrollment, K-12 public charter school opened in 2014. When Ms. McAfee is not at LaAmistad, she loves playing guitar, salsa dancing, wakeboarding, snowboarding and hockey.

Connect with Cat on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Charaun-CashCharaun Cash, Executive Director of VOX ATL,  is originally from Dayton, Ohio, but has called the Atlanta area home since 2015. She is a graduate of The Ohio State University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in communications and holds a Master of Public Administration from Georgia State University.

She is passionate about equitable education access, entrepreneurship, and civic engagement. She was a member of the Atlanta Women’s Foundation’s Inspire Atlanta class of 2020. She was recognized by the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Atlanta’s 30 Under 30 Nonprofit Leader Program for her outstanding leadership, innovation, and commitment to community work in Atlanta.

Charaun enjoys spending her free time helping entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and social enterprises tell their brand stories through design and photography.

Connect with Charaun on LinkedIn and Instagram.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • About the American Express Leadership Academy
  • About the nonprofit sector in Atlanta and how it’s changed over the past few years
  • Challenges facing nonprofits and your particular organization
  • How important it is that nonprofit leaders undergo learning and development programs like the Leadership Academy

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 Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by Onpay. Built in Atlanta, ONPAY is the top rated payroll and HR software anywhere. Get one month free at on paycom. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:32] Lee Kantor here another episode of Atlanta Business Radio, and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, Onpay. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. And today is a very special episode. This is an episode where we’re focusing in on the American Express Leadership Academy and some of the folks who went through that program here in Atlanta. First up, we have Cat McAfee, the executive director of LaAmistad. Welcome.

Cat McAfee: [00:01:03] Thank you. Good morning.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:04] Before we get too far into things, tell us about your program, how you serving folks.

Cat McAfee: [00:01:09] So we work with the Latino community here in Atlanta providing educational services. We have our largest program which provides after school supports and takes a holistic approach, educating the parents at the same time doing classes and workshops in Spanish for anywhere from how to navigate your school to financial literacy, digital literacy and anything in between. Whatever the families may need. We provide those services for the parents. We take the academics for after school program very seriously, making sure that the students have access to reading specialists and teachers so that they can get their homework done. But we have such a learning curve that we have with lots of learning loss, especially since the pandemic. So of course, making sure that we’re providing those services to really make sure the kids are on reading level by third grade and can go ahead and graduate high school. And so we see them through that trajectory starting today from birth to five all the way through adult education.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:09] So what’s your backstory? How’d you get involved in this line of work?

Cat McAfee: [00:02:12] Well, I was skating through Atlanta on a pair of roller blades, and I tell people God had a plan in a sense of humor. And I was asked to teach some skating classes to a group of students that were getting off the bus. And that’s where it all started. Met those kids, skated them around the gym.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:27] Serendipity.

Cat McAfee: [00:02:27] It really was. Absolutely. And fell in love with the students and their families and slowly but surely began to do more.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:35] So what are some things, maybe some myths you can kind of unlock here for folks who have maybe don’t understand that community as well as you do?

Cat McAfee: [00:02:46] I think the biggest piece that I understand today that I didn’t when I started was the fact that there’s so many Latinos that are here in Atlanta, in Georgia, and really throughout the country because they want an opportunity for their children to be academically successful. They want access to school. It’s extremely important. Education is important. It’s what sets people free. And I think that is something that I see through all of the families we serve is that desire to give their children an opportunity that maybe they never had.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:18] Now, what are some of the challenges when you’re working with children, especially whose parents may not speak English as well as you’re trying to teach them, and they don’t have that kind of support inside the home?

Cat McAfee: [00:03:32] I think one of the big pieces is understanding that they come with a different understanding of education in general. And so in many Central and South America, many of the many locations in Central and South America, a school is something you pay for. And so those nuances are extremely different in the United States, so much that parents are frightened when invited to a conference and they don’t understand that collaborative environment that the schools here in the United States really desire. So in breaking down a lot of those barriers with the families, our families are much more comfortable going into the school setting, advocating for their children, understanding that they have a voice at the table. So that’s a lot of the work that we do. Initially when students and families join our program, is helping them to understand those those small nuances that are the educational system here in the United States.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:24] Now, when you started working with these folks, was there a moment where you were like, Hey, I’m good at this, This is something I can really make a difference? Can you share that when that kind of light bulb went off?

Cat McAfee: [00:04:37] I think it’s something where we can all make a difference. There’s a lot of need out out there, right? And it’s just where you feel that you can line up your talents in a way that can really support a student family and change the trajectory. I think early on, the small successes of seeing a child that with a little bit of support not only were able to read well, but even do better than some of their peers so much that they were able to take places and and some of the more prestigious, even private schools here in Atlanta. We had students in those early years taking seats at Pace Academy or the Westminster schools because they were extremely smart. Right. And with the additional support, they were able to do so much more. And and those students today have come back and they now work for the organization or we’ve got kids even in law school at this point in time. So that little bit of education and support you give the children in the beginning, it has such a ripple effect and it’ll do so much more for the entire city and state when we have folks that are able to take seats at the table, especially tables like these.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:42] Now, can you share an example of that ripple effect, how impacting one person can impact maybe their family and even their community?

Cat McAfee: [00:05:50] Sure, absolutely. So there’s a family that actually sticks out. In particular, the mom had very little English skills and she had three children in the public school sector. And her oldest son was the first to take a seat at a private school here in Atlanta in eighth grade. And he went on to graduate from Oglethorpe University, and he’s now pre-med at Tulane. He is also joining the military, wants to become a doctor and wants to give back to his family. His sister is at Loyola University after graduating from Pace Academy and the youngest child is in his probably junior, junior or senior year at Pace Academy. So all three children were able to acclimate through private school once given the opportunity. But more importantly, Mom learned English, has a command of the language and can advocate for herself, can be a spokesperson for the program, and has been able to do a lot more than so many others in her family just by giving the by being given the resources that we’ve been able to provide them.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:56] So what do you need more of? How can we help you?

Cat McAfee: [00:06:59] We need folks like you to volunteer. We need we have centers all over the city. An hour a week or an hour a day makes such a big impact. And we see that those kids that can connect to a volunteer, they take it with them for a lifetime. These kids will come back in and I’ll see them when they’ve graduated, and they want to share those successes, which are fantastic. But I always ask them, What do you remember about La Amistad and what made the difference? And each one can name a volunteer that impacted them. So minimally. Sharing an hour of your time can make a big difference that you might even might not even realize what it can do to change the trajectory of a child’s future. And then, of course, like all nonprofits and businesses, we need to keep the lights on and continue to pay all of these wonderful teachers and specialists that are working with the students around the clock. So continued funding is always important.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:50] Now to be a volunteer, do you have to speak Spanish?

Cat McAfee: [00:07:52] You don’t. I think that’s another one of those myths, right? The students are in our public school system and they all speak English very well. And we just want to wrap have folks that can wrap around them. So I tell people, if you want to know, if you qualify for a volunteer, if you can read any books in English and if you know a two plus two is you are over qualified, come join us.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:15] And then if somebody wants to connect with you and learn more about the program, what’s the website?

Cat McAfee: [00:08:19] LaAmistad Inc. Org That’s LaAmistad Inc.org.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:26] Good stuff. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story and hang around because at the end of each of these interviews we’ll come back and do a roundtable about the American Express Leadership Academy. Thank you. All right. Next up on Atlanta Business Radio, we have Charaun Cash with VOX ATL. Welcome.

Charaun Cash: [00:08:44] Good morning.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:45] How are you doing today?

Charaun Cash: [00:08:46] I’m doing great.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:48] So, again, share a little bit about Vox. What mission purpose? How you serving folks?

Charaun Cash: [00:08:54] Absolutely. So Vox is a media and youth development organization based here in Atlanta, Georgia. We provide free after school programing and summer programing for teens ages 13 to 19. And all of our programing is centered around amplifying youth voice. And we do that through employing journalism principles, spoken word poetry and also leadership development. And we have an online publication where our teens are able to come together, write stories that are really impactful to them. And then we produce those stories online and also in our print publication.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:34] So how did you get involved with Vox?

Charaun Cash: [00:09:36] It’s funny. So I actually started my role as executive director in January, so I’m fairly new to the organization, but I’ve seen their work ever since I’ve been in Atlanta, which was since 2016, and it’s just been a really nice trajectory to how I ended up here. I actually stumbled across their work while I was interning at Cox Curry and Associates. It’s a fundraising consulting agency that used to work with Vox, and I said, That’s cool. My background is actually in communications and I have a master’s in public administration. And so I’ve always been looking for ways to collaborate and combine those two things.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:16] Now, do you find the the students that you work with are hungry for this type of education? Is it something that maybe they have a little bit of an interest, but once you kind of give them a platform for this and they can dive deeper, then they’re just kind of all in and they just really run with it.

Charaun Cash: [00:10:31] Absolutely. So the teens that come to Vox, they’re all they’re very passionate. They feel deeply. They have a perspective. They have something to say. And so when you give them the opportunity to be able to share their perspective and share their stories, they’re not going to shy away from that opportunity. We have teens who are eager to cover press conferences. For example, we had some teens go to the premiere of Wakanda Forever, and they wrote their stories and their reviews, and they were very honest. And we have teens who go to to the Fox Theater and watch the plays and then share their their reviews because they have perspective. And so just giving them the opportunity to do that allows for them to lean in and they really do like take it, take advantage of it.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:19] And they take it.

Charaun Cash: [00:11:19] Seriously. Yes, it’s very serious to them.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:21] Now, have you found that when given that opportunity, that this is transferable skills, no matter what they want to do later in life, these are skills that can transfer to the to whatever it is.

Charaun Cash: [00:11:34] They’re absolutely. So not all teens that come to Vox are coming to learn how to be a journalist. Some of them come because they want to, you know, have a safe space after school. Some of them need access to a computer. Some of them just want to build community. And so regardless of what your career aspirations are, you can come to Vox and you have a place here, but the skills are transferable. So right now in this day and age, digital media is so huge. As you can see, during the pandemic, there was a lot of, you know, a need for people to tell stories and storytelling. And you saw that on social media. You saw teens or you saw organizations and companies utilizing Zoom and virtual technology to bring their programs to teens or in their constituents. So yeah, I think no matter what it is that you’re doing, you can you can use those skills. But it’s more than just the media making as well. We’re also a youth, like a holistic youth development organization. They’re learning how to use their voice to make positive change. So that means impacting the systems that are impacting them the most, influencing the systems, impacting them the most, and like the school systems and, you know, lunches are things. Do you see an injustice? If so, can you call it out? And do you know what to do with your voice now?

Lee Kantor: [00:12:59] What is a kind of a day in the life look like? So say school ends, they head over to Vox, so it’s in person. In real life, It.

Charaun Cash: [00:13:07] Is in person. We are located. We’re located in the Peachtree Center Hub. Like right on the Internet, like on top of the MARTA station, right in the heart of downtown. And so after school ends, you can come over to Vox. We have computers, we have music going, there’s snacks, there’s a healthy meal so that they can, you know, be nourished and they can think and then their friends are. There. We have like soft furniture that they can like lounge on if they want to. And then, you know, if we have a podcast studio as well, so much like the table that we’re sitting at right now, they can go in the podcast studio and and talk about whatever it is that they’re interested in.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:48] And then what’s the fee for them to participate in this?

Charaun Cash: [00:13:51] Oh, no, it’s absolutely free. So there’s.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:53] No charge for them to participate.

Charaun Cash: [00:13:54] No charge. And that’s why we exist right now.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:58] How did they get there typically?

Charaun Cash: [00:13:59] Yeah. So that’s that’s that’s huge. So transportation, our teams come from all over. We have someone who is coming from Alpharetta, downtown Atlanta, because that’s how much how much it’s so important to her. But we they come on the MARTA, they come on, they use the bus. We provide free transportation. So Marta, marta, Station fair. And then we also validate all the parking for volunteers as well as our teams who are getting dropped off or parking and coming to the space.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:33] Now, do you have a success story that you found? I know you’ve only been there a short time, but is there anybody that stands out maybe that’s now working with you that started through the program?

Charaun Cash: [00:14:44] Yeah, absolutely. So I would love to spotlight one of our alumni. Her name is Zariah. She is very talented and she is very passionate. She has gone through the program and now she is working to be one of our largest advocates, not only for herself but also for the organization. She speaks on panels at Vox. We believe in this idea of distributed leadership, not only amongst our team but also into the teams. And so she has definitely proven herself to be a leader, shows up when needed, and then she’s very active in with our community partners. So we take teens, we take teens who are interested in becoming leaders, and they have the opportunity to lead programing for our community partners and showing them how to employ and include youth Voice into their curriculum in their programs. So we’re not only just making an impact at Vox, we’re taking it out into community as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:46] Now Vox is a well known media platform that goes beyond what you’re doing. How do you kind of what are your metrics of success that gets them all fired up, that, hey, this is a good thing we should be investing our resources in?

Charaun Cash: [00:16:01] For the teens.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:02] For like how is Vox defining success? Like what? What’s something that you’re excited to share with the Vox corporate people to let them know that, Hey, this is a program you should keep investing in?

Charaun Cash: [00:16:14] So we’re actually unaffiliated with Vox Media. Oh, right. Unaffiliated. You know what? We’ve been in the we’ve been in the business for 30 years. We got our name first. I don’t know if we should put that in there, but. But we do want to partner with them. Vox means voice in Latin. And so you see a lot of organizations out there who have the word vox in their name because it’s such like, that’s what we’re totally independent, we’re completely independent, teen led organization. And you know, but they would love to be contributors on books. So if you’re looking for.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:48] A sponsorship.

Charaun Cash: [00:16:49] We definitely are. We absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:52] And they should know about you.

Charaun Cash: [00:16:53] I’m sure they should. And we would love to connect.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:56] So if somebody wants to connect with you and either volunteer or be part of the program, what is the website?

Charaun Cash: [00:17:02] Absolutely. So you can get connected with Vox ATL at Vox, ATL, org. You can also find us on social media at Vox Rox ATL. That’s Vox ATL.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:14] Good stuff. Well, thanks for sharing your story.

Charaun Cash: [00:17:16] Thank you.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:17] All right. Next up on this episode of Atlanta Business Radio, we have Josh Rodgers with Habitat for Humanity. Welcome.

Joshua Rodgers: [00:17:24] Thank you.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:25] Well, tell us about Habitat for Humanity for the three people out there that don’t know what your work is,

Joshua Rodgers: [00:17:31] For sure.

Joshua Rodgers: [00:17:31] So Habitat for Humanity International is a global nonprofit focused on providing affordable housing to people who typically wouldn’t be able to afford it. So we’re working in all of the 50 states in the United States, and then we have offices in the Americas. So that’s North and South America, the Middle East, Africa. And then we have our office down in Southeast Asia as well doing that work.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:52] Can you share a little bit about the history? How did this idea get started? Because it’s now, like you said, a global organization, but it didn’t start that way. It did.

Joshua Rodgers: [00:18:00] Not. So it started in Americus, Georgia. That is a real city in town for people who do not believe that. But our founder, Millard Fuller. So he had this idea of wanting to basically build out what Dr. King described as the beloved community. People from different spaces and races and socioeconomic statuses coming together and building this community where people can have access to equity specifically through housing. So it started there on what is now considered Koinonia Farms. And as it continued to grow and build, we began to see expansion in several different areas of the United States. And it has blossomed into this wonderful global organization that the world knows today.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:39] And it isn’t just a handout of here’s a house, right? There are some sweat equity and there’s some involvement of the people that are getting the housing.

Joshua Rodgers: [00:18:48] Sure, Absolutely. So I think one idea that people kind of misconstrue about habitat is that exactly that that we’re just giving away homes. But there is a full application process. There is financing that has to take place. People are qualified based on their median income, the median income within the respective areas that they’re in. But there is a sweat equity portion that goes into it. So every family is required to go through certain financial literacy classes. They’re also required to help build the home that they’re a part of, or if their home is at a certain completion point, they’re assisting another family with the building of their home. So it is an entire process and at the very end, they own their home at the same way that any traditional person who’s seeking home ownership would.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:30] Now, why was that important component of this? Because a lot of organizations are like, here, we’re giving you something and this is saying you have to earn some of this.

Joshua Rodgers: [00:19:41] Sure. I think a part of it is to get them invested in the process. And I think another part of it, if I’m going to be really honest, is to provide them a I don’t have another word, but a sense of normalcy around acquiring their home. Right. So it doesn’t make them feel like it is just a handout more so than it is a hand up, as we like to say at Habitat. And it gives them this sense of pride that they they earned it, maybe not through the traditional sense of having a set amount of money, but this is their home. So it puts them in a similar space with the community members around them.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:11] Now, do you find that when they go through the process in that manner that they take more care or more like, do they stick around to pay off the loan more than somebody who doesn’t go through a process like that? Like is there any statistics around that?

Joshua Rodgers: [00:20:26] Absolutely. I don’t have the exact numbers, but we do know for sure that individuals who have habitat homes, they their children. Number one, Georgia Tech did a research study for us a few years ago. Their children have greater retention and graduation rates than people who are considered low income, who do not have access to affordable housing. So one of the things that we do understand is that if we can take away the housing cost burden off of families, it opens up so much more of their income to be able to do additional things like after school, care for their children, to even provide transportation to opportunities like Sharon talked about it. Have asked him another level of access to health equity and just a myriad of things, right, that they probably would not have the financial means to tap into if it were not for relieving that housing cost burden that habitat provides.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:14] And then can you share a little bit about affordable housing? Because this always confuses me, because when you have affordable housing like this, they have equity in the home. This is their home, right? Sure. So as most people who have a home, they want that home to appreciate and value. And sometimes when an area becomes desirable, then the housing price goes higher and then it’s no longer maybe affordable to the people that started out there. But then they get that wealth that’s created by the appreciation. How is that? Are you finding that habitat homes are appreciating and they are generating that generational wealth from their homes? Absolutely.

Joshua Rodgers: [00:21:54] So Habitat homes are just like any other home. The difference is, is that it is particularly financed in a special way for low income families. So once they complete the process of the home being built, they are qualified, they have the same access as anyone else. So if that home appreciates because the area is changing based on some community development norms that we’re seeing across the United States, then they have access to that same level of wealth, right? So it is creating and generating generational wealth for those families. If they find themselves in the space where they are looking to possibly sell that home before their 30 year mortgage is up. You know, in good faith, I think some affiliates, our local affiliates are the ones who are doing the work. They would love if a family would donate the home back to Habitat so it can go back to another low income family. But because it is their home. Right. And it’s still financed through traditional financing means, they just have very low interest rates that allows it to be affordable. In that sense, they have the right to sell their home at market value, so they’re able to tap into their generational wealth that’s created with that home as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:59] So it really is a win win for everybody.

Joshua Rodgers: [00:23:01] It is a win win for everyone for sure.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:02] So what do you need more of? How can we help you?

Joshua Rodgers: [00:23:05] Yeah, so my role specifically is helping our affiliates diversify their volunteer base, right? So what we’ve found at Habitat is that sometimes our staff and our volunteers do not always represent the communities that we serve. So our community, the communities that we serve are in high percentage persons of color, right? And our staff and our volunteers do not always represent that. So what we the help that we would need, is going to your local habitat affiliate. And if you have connections with very diverse organizations and they don’t have to be diverse and just race forward work, I think a lot of times we think about diversity, we think about race first, and that is okay. But if we can find younger volunteers because we have we have a problem with attracting youth, if we can find more women who are interested in being volunteers because some people believe, because it’s construction based, that it is a very male dominated volunteer corps. So just think about the myriad of ways that diversity can show up. And if you have any connections or you yourself want to volunteer just from a different perspective, be it your background, your socioeconomic status, we welcome all of that level of inclusivity onto the volunteer site, and it helps us be a greater representation, which then allows us to be a greater community trust and continue to work within the communities that we serve. Now, you.

Lee Kantor: [00:24:19] Mentioned that a lot of people’s first thought is, Oh, I have to be great with a hammer or saw. What are some of the other kind of job requirements or job needs that you have to fill that maybe aren’t necessarily climbing on a roof? Yeah.

Joshua Rodgers: [00:24:32] So the thing about that as well as though is that even if I am not handy at all, but I’ve been on several habitat builds something, right? Yeah. They’re going to find something for you to do and they give really great instructions prior to. However, Habitat also needs skilled volunteers, so if you’re really good in, if you have a finance background or we have a really great advocacy program. So if you have a political background or a public policy background, there are many different ways that you can tap into our work and help advance the mission of affordable housing as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:03] So if somebody wants to connect with you and have more substantive conversation about that, what is the website?

Joshua Rodgers: [00:25:08] Yeah, so they can go to habitat.org. It’s really that simple. And then we’re Habitat for Humanity across all social media platforms.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:15] Good stuff. Well, thank you for sharing that for sure. Now I’d like to get a little bit of your perspective about the American Express Leadership Academy. Anybody here want to volunteer and share what their experiences was with that program, and was it worth your time?

Cat McAfee: [00:25:32] I’ll start us off.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:33] I’ll start us off.

Cat McAfee: [00:25:33] All right. I think it was definitely worth our time. It was an incredible way for so many of us to connect that have never met each other, but are doing similar work in the same types of spaces. And there was a lot of collaboration. So I think just the benefit of all of the nonprofit leaders coming together was extremely powerful. Of course, then you take that and you provide all of these incredible opportunities to deepen the work that we do and provide additional trainings. It was it was really, really impactful. I think for me, I enjoyed the storytelling components of it and working with the TEDx Talk people and getting an opportunity to take a deeper dive into how do you do that, do that extremely well and and tell your story. It’s such an important part of what we do every day. So those types of trainings I think were extremely beneficial.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:27] So how did you hear about it?

Charaun Cash: [00:26:30] Well for me. I heard about it on LinkedIn, actually. I mentioned earlier that I was a new leader. I just started my role in January and so I was just looking for ways to kind of increase any knowledge or any resources that could help me just continue to strengthen my leadership style and just my leadership opportunity. I was hoping to to find, you know, a book, but I found I found the American Express Leadership Academy. So I’m really grateful for that. So what was the program?

Lee Kantor: [00:27:06] How long was the program?

Charaun Cash: [00:27:08] It’s a six month program. We had a couple of online Zoom sessions before a session with Ted to prepare for our in-person. And then we spent, what, 3 or 4 days in New York City, all of us together in one room, which was really great, especially after the pandemic. That was my first large conference that I had attended. And so we we got training from amazing leaders. We got training from one another. And it’s just been a really great experience.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:37] Josh you want to share what you what was the most kind of memorable thing you got out of the program?

Joshua Rodgers: [00:27:42] Sure. So I got to go out on a limb and say that this was one of the best professional development programs that I’ve ever been a part of and I’ve been a part of a few. So shout out to American Express and Common Purpose for putting that together. But I’m out. Ditto with the ladies just expressed. The storytelling component of that was really great. Being able to really marry our passion and our work together and tell that in a way that is impactful not just for, you know, future donors, because we need those as well, working with nonprofits, but also to be able to communicate our work in a real holistic way. And I think beyond that, for me, it was stretching our leadership skills in a way that not only advances the work we do with our organizations, but allows us to stretch our capacity and to think beyond. I know for me what I was doing on a day to day basis, so how can I grow as a leader? What is my capacity as a leader and what strategies can I put in place that just not only, you know, like this program wasn’t the cap of my growth, but how can I take what I’ve learned today and really continue to expand across the course of my career?

Lee Kantor: [00:28:42] Now, all of you mentioned the importance of having that community and having a cohort where it was people doing similar things, but a little different than you’re doing. Do you find that that type of community exists here in Atlanta? All of you are from the metro Atlanta area. Is there a community of nonprofits that serve you in that manner, or is that something you would like wish there was?

Charaun Cash: [00:29:06] I would say so. I mean, I feel like Atlanta has a very strong nonprofit sector. Like we’re doing amazing work. I’m involved in Impian. It’s a young nonprofit. You know what? I’m not even going to try to figure out. I’m involved in Impian, so I’m connected to other nonprofit leaders as well. You know, I’m just trying to find ways to build community myself. And so, yeah, I would say that Atlanta does offer those opportunities.

Lee Kantor: [00:29:37] And then is there anything that you wish Atlanta provided more for you all? Mm. Because now that you’ve had kind of got a taste of what nationally, what could be, is there anything here in Atlanta you wish you could take some of what you learned and incorporate it here in the metro area?

Joshua Rodgers: [00:29:57] I would say probably if we could duplicate this on a local level, even if it was biannually, I think that would be great. One of the biggest takeaways as well was the opportunity to be in smaller groups and really talk through challenges, gain inspiration, get really great ideas about some of the problems that we’re facing. So if we were I know for me specifically, if I was able to have that on a more consistent basis with my peers, it would be really helpful to some of the work that I’m doing right to learn best practices.

Lee Kantor: [00:30:27] I mean, all of you deal with similar things in the sense of, Oh, we need volunteers, Oh, we need funds. You know, there are certain common things that each of you needs and to learn from each other and to share these kind of best practices. I would think everybody would benefit from that.

Charaun Cash: [00:30:43] Yeah. And I would just add that, you know, I really got a chance to know people personally during that experience in New York. And so I would just love to understand the humans that are you know, running these amazing nonprofit organizations. And what’s your story? How did you come to the work? So I guess opportunities like this at Atlanta Business Radio to come up here and just get, you know, get a better sense of who you are on a human level, right?

Lee Kantor: [00:31:09] Because everybody’s paths are different now that each of you obviously are a part of nonprofits. Is that something you feel like your career is going to be in that area moving forward?

Charaun Cash: [00:31:20] Yes. For me.

Cat McAfee: [00:31:22] Yes, for me too.

Joshua Rodgers: [00:31:23] Yeah, I think I’m open to the possibility of that.

Lee Kantor: [00:31:26] Now, any advice for a young person out there that’s listening and maybe hasn’t considered going down the path of non profits? You know, a lot of people are kind of taught, oh, you got to get a real job out there in enterprise level business, a big business, something like that. And they don’t even consider non profits as a career path. Is there anything you can share to that person that maybe some of the trade offs you get from being part of? You know, there’s good and bad about being part of any industry but non profit specifically. Anybody want to share any advice for young people?

Cat McAfee: [00:32:01] I’ll start by saying non profit work. It is a real job and we have real positions in every single position you’ll find in a traditional corporate environment. You’ll find in the non profit space as well. Coupled with the fact that it allows you to have really impactful work, which is the biggest difference, you can work for corporate America all day. But when you work with people and you see folks lives changing because of the work that you do and you feel and see that impact, it’s life changing for you as well. And so this is this these are the reasons why I would never leave this work, because you not only can, you know, pay your bills by creating a good salary, but at the same time, you’re also making a huge impact on the lives of the folks that you serve. And to me, there’s just nothing like it.

Lee Kantor: [00:32:48] And that impact is real and it’s personal. And that is something that in corporate America, maybe you don’t get to see kind of the results of your work that specifically with an individual, you know, with tears in their eyes thanking you for what you’re doing.

Charaun Cash: [00:33:02] Absolutely. And I will say that there are large organizations and there are small organizations, and you might have different experiences working at both. So with a larger organization, you might feel like, you know, it is more like a traditional corporate position because they have departments. But with a smaller organization like Fox, you know, we we have to kind of know the ins and outs of the business all the way through because we’re a smaller organization. And so for someone starting out their career who wants to get experience or who wants to, you know, really learn really fast, I think nonprofit, especially at a smaller nonprofit organization, could really give you that experience really quickly.

Lee Kantor: [00:33:40] And that is also great advice for a young person. You may not have to become an employee of that organization, but volunteering in this organization can give you those leadership opportunities that you might not be able to get in a in a traditional corporate job. All right. Before we wrap one more time, your websites.

Cat McAfee: [00:34:00] Cat Sure. La Amistad, Inc. Org. La Amistad. I Encore.org.

Lee Kantor: [00:34:07] Good stuff.

Charaun Cash: [00:34:08] Sharon Yes, we are Vox ATL and our website is vox atl.org vox atl.org.

Joshua Rodgers: [00:34:17] Josh Yes, and we are a Habitat for Humanity International and you can find us at habitat.org or across all social media platforms at Habitat for Humanity.

Lee Kantor: [00:34:25] All right, this is Lee Kantor. Thank you all for listening to this very special episode of the American Express Leadership Academy. We’ll see you next time.

Outro: [00:34:37] Today’s episode of Atlanta Business Radio is brought to you by Onpay. Built in Atlanta, Onpay is the top rated payroll and HR software anywhere. Get one month free at on paycom.

 

Tagged With: American Express Leadership Academy, Habitat for Humanity, LaAmistad, VOX ATL

BRX Pro Tip: Why Warren Buffet Thinks Pricing Power is Important

April 4, 2023 by angishields

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BRX Pro Tip: Why Warren Buffet Thinks Pricing Power is Important

Stone Payton: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, everyone who has ever met me knows I’m a huge Buffett fan, Jimmy Buffett and Warren Buffett. And you’ve learned some of what Mr. Warren Buffett has to say and how he feels about pricing. Say more.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:20] Yeah. Warren Buffett says pricing power is the single most important decision when evaluating a business. He says that if you have your fingers crossed when raising prices hoping you won’t destroy your company, then you don’t have such a great business. And this is one of the key attributes he looks for when he buys businesses.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:44] Do you have the pricing power that you think you have? What do you have to do today to make your business value so high that people will pay what they have to pay in order to keep getting it? That makes your business sticky. That makes your business more valuable. And it makes your business more difficult to replace for the consumer.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:07] So, it’s something that you should be thinking about every single day. What can I do to keep increasing the value that my customers pay so they keep continuing to pay the prices they have to pay in order to get what I have?

From Owning to Access

April 4, 2023 by angishields

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GACC South Unplugged – Inge Hofkens with Aurubis AG

April 3, 2023 by angishields

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Tagged With: Aurubis AG, GACC South, German American Chamber of Commerce, German American Chamber of Commerece of the Southern U.S., Inge Hofkens, Matthias Hoffman, Mike Sammond

Kathy Lathem with Cobb Senior Services, Jeff Stone with Clearpoint and Associates and Dan Bruton with High Caliber Realty

April 3, 2023 by angishields

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Kathy Lathem with Cobb Senior Services, Jeff Stone with Clearpoint and Associates and Dan Bruton with High Caliber Realty
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Kathy-Lathem-bwKathy Lathem has been with Cobb Senior Services as the Strategic Partnerships Manager since January 2005. Prior to this position, Kathy worked several years in the Christian radio industry as on-air talent, Promotions Director and Community Affairs Director in the Atlanta area.

Since joining CSS, Kathy has developed a strong appreciation for the many challenges facing older adults and their families. She is thankful to be involved with a large network of caring professionals who strive daily to meet those challenges head on & provide quality support, services and programs for seniors.

Kathy serves on the Board of Directors for the Cobb Collaborative; is an Ambassador for Acworth Business Association; holds the position of Director of Programs for West Cobb Business Association; and is the Co-chair for Cobb/Cherokee Services for the Elderly.

Kathy volunteers with the Children’s Ministry at Burnt Hickory Baptist Church and is a volunteer docent for the Marietta Christmas Home Pilgrimage. Of all titles, one of her most favorites is “Fun Aunt” to 25 nieces and nephews and 11 greats. Born & reared in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kathy moved to Georgia in 1985 and has been married to William since 1997. They reside in Paulding County.

Jeff-Stone-bwJeff Stone is a highly accomplished sales professional and mentor who has made a significant impact in the business world over the past 30 years. Throughout his career, he has worked with companies of all sizes, from small local retailers to large multinational corporations, helping them to achieve their sales and marketing goals.

Jeff’s professional background is diverse and includes experience in both print and digital marketing. For 20 years, he designed multi-million-dollar marketing campaigns that helped businesses to reach new audiences and increase their revenue.

In recent years, he has focused on managing global sales teams for highly complex software solutions in data eradication and virtualization technology. His expertise in these areas has helped many businesses to streamline their operations and safeguard their sensitive data.

In addition to his successful career, Jeffrey has also had a rich personal life. In his youth, he was an accomplished soccer player and traveled the world competing with some of the best players of the 1970s and 1980s. He has also raised a family and is known for his dedication to his loved ones.

Throughout his career, Jeffrey has been a top-performing salesperson and sales leader, and he has trained thousands of salespeople over the years. He is widely respected in the business community for his expertise, mentorship, and dedication to helping others achieve success.

Jeff has decided to pursue his lifelong dream of starting his own company, Clearpoint and Associates.

Clearpoint and Associates is a valuable resource for business owners looking to reduce expenses and build a strong business portfolio through business credit development. Jeffrey and his team’s commitment to performance-based consulting, where clients only pay fees if they receive value in the form of savings or funding, is a refreshing and trustworthy approach to business consulting.

It is evident that Jeffrey’s years of experience in sales, marketing, and managing global sales teams have prepared him well for this new venture. His expertise and dedication to helping businesses succeed are sure to make Clearpoint and Associates a successful and highly respected company in the industry.

Dan-Bruton-bwDan Bruton, with High Caliber Realty, was born in Fort Walton Beach, FL at Egland Air Force Base. Shortly after, he moved to Plantation Fl and spent his child hood playing baseball until moving to Gainesville, FL to pursue a BA in Business Management.

While going to school, his passion for food and people lead him to the restaurant industry where he worked his way through college and honed his skills in the industry.  Attention to detail, listening, focusing on quality, and service are all important skills required to be successful.

He moved to Smyrna GA in 2006 to continue his restaurant career with an upscale casual restaurant at Cumberland Mall. As the General Manager of 250 employees, he took the sales from 8M to 13 M. In 2014 he opened a large entertainment Facility in Midtown with over 450 employees and 25m in sales.

In 2015, he met the owner at a local restaurant opening in Emerson GA. Making the transition from corporate America to a smaller restaurant while still focusing on quality and service gave him the opportunity to spend more time with family.

During his entire restaurant career, he has been focused on service, quality, and people. These are qualities he cannot wait to bring into the world of real estate.

Dan has always been interested in Real Estate and has bought several houses. He is handy and likes to make a house a home. He is also interested in the investment opportunities Real Estate provides as well. Whatever you need, Dan is committed to finding you the right property for you.

Dan has been married to his wife, Judi, since 2008 and have 3 precious boys, Evan, Asher and Wyatt. They enjoy spending time together at the baseball fields, swimming, being outdoors, and traveling.

Dan is also on the Board for a nonprofit organization, Our Giving Garden. Our Giving Garden grows local produce and donates the produce grown to interrupt hunger in the community. The Garden has also acquired a house on the property to provide housing to those in need.

Since starting his Real Estate Journey, he has worked with many happy clients and continued his education to become a Real Estate Broker.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta. It’s time for Charitable Georgia. Brought to you by B’s Charitable Pursuits and Resources. We put the fun in fund raising. For more information, go to B’s Charitable Pursuits. Dot com. That’s B’s Charitable Pursuits dot com. Now here’s your host, Brian Pruitt.

Brian Pruett: [00:00:45] Good, fabulous Friday morning. It’s another fabulous Friday with three more fabulous folks here in the studio. We’re going to start off this morning with Kathy Latham from Cobb Senior Services. So, Cathy, thanks for being here this morning.

Kathy Lathem: [00:00:56] My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

Brian Pruett: [00:00:58] So Cathy is no stranger to the microphone. Cathy has a background in radio. So you’re passionate about seniors. We’ll get to that in a second. But if you don’t mind, share your story and how you got to where you’re at.

Kathy Lathem: [00:01:08] Well, it’s probably pretty prophetic. When I was three, my next door neighbor had me by the hand at the back door and my mom was in the kitchen and he knocked on the door and he said, Marge, would you please keep Chatty Cathy in the house? She’s breaking my concentration. And he was an avid golfer. He insured himself with Lloyd’s of London and went to Scotland every year to golf. So he was very into golf, and I was breaking his concentration. And who knew that all those years later, he, I guess, made that prophecy over me, that I would go into radio. So it was kind of a natural thing for me, really. I did not know what I wanted to be when I grew up, honestly. And my parents kept saying, You’re going to college, you’re going to college. And I’m like, What’s the easiest thing that I can do? And I said, Oh, radio. I already know how to talk and you don’t really need a degree, but I’ll go. So I did. And within two weeks before I graduated, I landed my first radio job right here in the metro Atlanta area, and I was in Christian radio for about 15 years before I made the switch to government. And that’s another story.

Brian Pruett: [00:02:10] Which we’ll get to in a second. I think it’s kind of cool because you share something the other day that I didn’t realize, but you also your voice is, well, I guess it could be infamous depending on how you look it. But your voice is in the Cobb County jail, right?

Kathy Lathem: [00:02:22] Yes. Several years ago, communications asked me to come and record the the welcome orientation video for people who become guests of the Cobb County Jail system.

Brian Pruett: [00:02:33] So there you go. Stone If you’re ever there, you’ll get to hear. Cathy, welcome you well, right? Yeah.

Kathy Lathem: [00:02:39] It’ll be a warm welcome.

Brian Pruett: [00:02:41] Yes. So I do like the way you talk about it. You are from the government, but you say you’re here to help, so go ahead and share Cobb Senior Services. The purpose, what you do and why you’re passionate about it.

Kathy Lathem: [00:02:51] Absolutely. Appreciate that. So actually, in 1972, there was this organization that started in Marietta, known as the Marietta Services Board Community Services, and they just started out by delivering meals to homebound seniors. And then when Cobb County government formed several years ago, they absorbed that organization, creating the own their own department, actually, of Cobb County Senior Services. So we have been proudly serving Cobb County for 50 years with everything from Meals on Wheels to home delivered meals to now we have seven senior centers throughout Cobb County, and we serve the 55 plus population with everything from exercise classes to seminars to dances to parties just to if somebody wants to shoot pool all day, we have that opportunity for them as well. Table tennis, just ways for people to stay engaged and have socialization. And it’s very important now more than ever since we out of COVID, you know, the seniors were the first ones that the government said stay home, stay home, stay home, protect yourself. And so many of them did that. And we’re still trying to get many back because some of them are still afraid of being out and not realizing that the senior centers are probably one of the safest places they can go because we do thorough cleaning on a very regular basis. So it’s been great to see people coming back and being engaged and even new people. We are growing our attendance at all the senior centers.

Brian Pruett: [00:04:22] You said there’s seven, correct. Can you share what parts of Cobb County they’re in? Absolutely.

Kathy Lathem: [00:04:26] We have one in Acworth North Cobb Senior Center. Powder Springs is West Cobb. East Cobb is the Tim Lee Senior Center. Smyrna has Freeman Pool Senior Center, Austell, Marietta, and then actually North Cobb has two programs in one building. So seven, seven different opportunities for people. Oh, and the senior Wellness Center. I forgot about that one in Marietta.

Brian Pruett: [00:04:48] Awesome. So obviously if you’re a senior, there’s a lot to take part of, but business owners can help the senior services as well. They can come and do presentations and other things. Can you share how people can get involved?

Kathy Lathem: [00:04:59] Absolutely. We are always looking for the community to come alongside us by giving maybe an educational presentation. It could be something as simple as the spring is coming. How do I check my air conditioning? You know, what do I need to do to get my house ready for for spring and summer? Or as we head into winter, what do I need to do to winterize my vehicle? You know, just things that will help, really anybody, but especially the seniors who probably need more more information sooner rather than than you and I, because you and I are going to scroll through, you know, the websites and try and find information, you know, just just like there is WebMD, which is kind of dangerous. You know, I’m the type that goes and just finds car places, right? He tells me. And then I’m like, Wait, that doesn’t make sense because they’re saying something completely different. But when you hear about it in a safe location, like a senior center from a professional, then it makes sense. Another way that the businesses can get involved is to help sponsor events. So when we do do these anniversary parties and big events, we’re always looking for somebody who wants to contribute maybe door prizes or to contribute toward the entertainment or maybe provide the cakes or something like that. So there’s there’s big and small ways that the community can come alongside us, get involved, and we welcome it all.

Brian Pruett: [00:06:18] So you just talked about some events. You got a big one coming up. You want to share about it?

Kathy Lathem: [00:06:22] Absolutely. This is my focus up until May 17th, which is the date of the Senior Services Expo and Marketplace. Two years ago, we could not have it because of, you know, the pandemic. Last year we brought it back. We had 92 vendors show up and almost 500 people come out and attend it. So we’ve been hearing the chatter early on this year. I’m at 100 vendors now and people are already wondering who else is going to be there, what can I get? And we’re really excited because we’ve got vendors we’ve not had before. I just got contacted by a coffee company that wants to come and I have food vendors, I have hand sanitizers, I have skincare, there’s travel, there’s transportation. So we’re very excited about all the vendors that are going to come out for this. And it’s May 17th from ten until two at the Cobb County Civic Center. Absolutely free, free admission, free parking. There will be some vendors that will have some items for sale, but you don’t have to purchase anything if you don’t want to. There’s going to be a lot of great free information for people to take. Awesome.

Brian Pruett: [00:07:27] So one of the things I think is kind of cool is, you know, there’s a lot of at least when I was growing up and even now, I think with millennials, there’s a lot of, I guess, stigmas for seniors. I know my stepdaughter, who’s 22 and I’m 51, says you’re all you’re old, right? But how do the senior service because you just mentioned a lot of stuff playing pool, all kinds of stuff. How does that take the stigma away for for seniors and being not considered, you know, like rehab or nursing homes or.

Kathy Lathem: [00:07:53] Right. And for 18 years, I’ve been in this role and it’s been my my personal journey to help get rid of that stereotype. Yes, we will always have the seniors who have more needs than others, the seniors who are truly infirmed and need help getting around. But we also have the seniors. I am 58 years old. I am right smack in what we serve at senior services. I don’t feel like I fit the stereotype that comes to mind of a senior citizen. So we are here to help get rid of that stereotype. And by offering things like ping pong and billiards all day long, we have line dance, we have tai chi, we have day trips where we take them whitewater rafting. Okay, think about that whitewater rafting. So we don’t really restrict anybody by their age. They restrict themselves by their ability. We meet people at their level of independence, their level of ability, and we meet them there and we work with whatever they want to offer.

Brian Pruett: [00:08:53] I can’t wait to get that age. That sounds a lot.

Kathy Lathem: [00:08:55] A lot of fun, right?

Brian Pruett: [00:08:55] It is fun. Right? So obviously, other than what you shared, why are you so passionate about this and passionate about seniors?

Kathy Lathem: [00:09:02] Well, it’s interesting because my grandmother I was very close. I was very close with her. I’m actually named after both my grandmothers and nanny. And I just had a very special relationship. She moved down here for probably the last ten years of her life, and then she went back home to Chicago, had some mini strokes. So I went up and stayed with her for a couple of months. And of course, I was the designated driver to all the senior activities, right? So I got to go to the lunches and the dinners and, you know, all the senior get togethers. And I just fell in love with that group of people. And so it was kind of a natural progression. But I was still doing radio and I started getting public service announcements about Cobb Senior Services. And I thought, Well, who are they? So I brought them in for a show very much like this, and I was blown away by what was offered in Cobb County for the 55 plus population. And I made the comment, Well, you know, you’re having way more fun than I am. And the girl looked at me and she says, I’m not going to have this job forever. Well, we kept in touch for about three years, and I would come back and do remote broadcasts and bring them in for updates. And she called me one day and she said, Listen, I don’t know if you’re interested, but I’ve turned in my notice. So watch the website and apply for the job if you’re interested. Well, then her boss, who was the director who had also interviewed, called me about three hours later and said, Listen, I don’t know if you’re interested, but Gwen’s turned in her notice and I would love for you to to apply if you’re interested.

Kathy Lathem: [00:10:29] And I’d like to interview you. And so literally on a Friday in January, I walked away from radio. And that Monday I started with Cobb County Senior Services. And yes, I am from the government and I am here to help. I’m here to help. People realize what is available not only for the adult or the senior, but also for the adult children, because we’re the ones that are helping mom and dad navigate this whole aging thing. Right? It’s new to all of us and it’s new to mom and dad, but we have to go through it with them. So we line up people, experts especially like like Medicare. I do not begin to understand it. I will never understand Medicare. But we know people who who do understand that that’s their passion. And so for me, it’s just a natural passion to help connect people with the products, the services, the programs that they need. And I just love seniors because they’re real. You know, there’s no filter. They’re going to tell you what they think. They’re going to tell you what’s going on in their life. And you better have time to sit down and talk with them and listen when you say, hey, how are you doing? And I just I get a kick out of that. I love doing that. And it all stems, I think, from my upbringing and just hanging around.

Brian Pruett: [00:11:35] Nanny Well, you know, you also from your radio background, the natural Chatty Cathy is there she love it but you and I do a lot of networking together. That’s how we met. You do several different groups, not only in Cobb County, but outside of Cobb County as well. Can you share one story maybe that people because I always talk about the power of networking. What’s one story you can share about how positively networking has helped you?

Kathy Lathem: [00:11:59] Oh my goodness. There have been people that I’ve met, especially most recently, because I’m helping to destigmatize what a senior is, right? People think they’re all in senior living houses and in assisted living, but so many of them are independent. For example, my mother lives down the street. She’s 91, lives by herself. Does yard work? The other day she said, I know you don’t want me on the ladder, so will you do this? But she blows and goes. She drives, she does everything. So I am finding people that I network with want to reach people like my mother, people who live in their homes. There’s one couple that are in real estate and home inspections. They’ve already done several seminars at the senior centers. Now Maria will bring homemade ziti and so they will make it a lunch and learn and then David talks about the things you need to check out on your house and why periodically you need a home inspection. Even if you’re not going to sell. You need to find out what’s going on under the roof so that you can call in the people to make repairs. That has been very effective because they’ve hit almost all of the senior centers and the seniors have been very receptive of that and the staff as well.

Brian Pruett: [00:13:03] That’s awesome. The other thing I’d like to ask is why is it important for you to be involved in the community?

Kathy Lathem: [00:13:11] Oh, goodness. Without community, none of us could do anything right. And yes, my my my passion is seniors. But I do have another passion. I do love children. And one of my dearest friends works for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. And so I would volunteer for years. Every time she would have an event, I’m like, I’ll be there. I’ll be there. And so I got the nickname as the number one volunteer because Pam would just say, Would you? And I’m there. I’m there just because I love being out in the community. I love the mission of children’s health care. So actually, I am now on the Cobb Community Board, so I have a little bit more structure to to my days and what I do for them. But being in the community is so important because I can’t just keep asking for people to support me. It’s important for me to come along and support people like you to help these charitable, you know, to help people who need to find connections with maybe food pantries that don’t fit into our programs. Maybe they’re too young. It it just does not work when we just constantly ask and are not giving. And I made that comment recently to one of my coworkers. I said, We are so great at asking, Hey, will you support us? Will you come alongside? But we got to stop and think, how good are we at saying, What can I do for you? How can I come alongside you? So to me, it’s just very important to be involved in the community, whatever it is, from children to seniors to the ages in between, to, you know, to animals, whatever. Any way that somebody has something coming up, I’m I’m there. Yes, I am Chatty Cathy, but I’m a people person. And so I get my energy from being around others.

Brian Pruett: [00:14:54] That’s awesome. You know, I wish you could preach a seminar on the networking aspect of it that people because there’s a lot of people still thinking about It’s me, me, me, me, Right. If if somebody wants to get a hold of you about your services or if a business wants to get hold of you, how they can help, how can they do that?

Kathy Lathem: [00:15:07] Absolutely. So we are very easy to find on the web. It is Cobb seniors.org very simple Cobb seniors.org or you can reach me directly at (770) 528-5393.

Brian Pruett: [00:15:22] Awesome Cathy thank you for sharing your story. You mind sticking around here in these next two stories? Happy to. So this is your first time listening to Charitable Georgia. I didn’t mention this at the top, but this is all about positive things happening in the community. You just heard a story about Cathy and her passion for, well, seniors, children and everything in between. We’re going to move over now to Mister Jeff Stone from Clear Point Associates. So, Jeff, thanks for being here.

Jeff Stone: [00:15:45] Thanks for having me.

Brian Pruett: [00:15:46] Jeff is also got a big heart. He is, I know, worked is working currently with a big nonprofit. He’s supporting everything that I do monthly by just coming to the events. And he’s got a great testimony. So this this is a story about, I guess, just testimonies and stuff. But first, Jeff, you got a pretty cool background. You you shared you played professional soccer, you played rugby, you boxed a little bit. You worked for the LA Times, right? You know, in LA. So just give a little bit of background.

Jeff Stone: [00:16:14] Well, I was very small as a child. And I grew up all of a sudden out of nowhere. So in general, I grew up in Los Angeles. I grew up in Southern California. I was one of the first things I did was speaking of soccer as I just happened to be in a very ethnic group, an ethnic area where I grew up, a lot of Armenian folks, and they played soccer. Everyone else was picking. I picked up baseballs and footballs and things of that nature, but I played soccer and my mom just pushed that narrative and said, Go play. I was a little bit husky. She said, So go play soccer. So I played started playing when I’m six, and that just elevated me into different. Like everything in life, you find a path, you start doing things and one thing leads to another. And I tried out a couple of times for, for different like travel teams and I made those teams. And eventually as I got into my teens, I was asked to play on the US national team. So I made that and I traveled six different countries and played all over the world playing soccer. I played against Pele and a lot of different people when I was a teenager, you know, and eventually when I got to be 17, 18 years old, one of my one event happened. There was a couple events happened in that period of time.

Jeff Stone: [00:17:24] I was graduating high school. I was I was accepted as the as an alternate for the US Olympic team. In 1980, we were going to Russia and Jimmy Carter put an end to that, which is ironic that I live in Georgia, you know, So to honor him, I guess. And so we did that. My dad, my dad was owned a company called One Stop Posters, and he was in Chicago on a on a on a business trip. And you may remember the Farrah Fawcett poster. Oh, yeah. I had one that was my dad’s company. And he died in that airplane crash in Chicago and O’Hare O’Hare Airport. And so that was graduating high school. Olympics were stopped. You know, it was my turn to my path. I was going down and my dad passes away. And so that changed everything, essentially. And and so I had a contract with Pony. Pony Sports came to me and said, hey, do you would you be interested in us supporting you and representing you? And I said, Sure. So they said, and my mom had scholarships, but but everything was out of the out of California. And I felt really like I couldn’t leave my mom because she just lost my dad, you know, Then I move away. It would be really kind of unfair. And so I didn’t do that. So I signed a contract with the LA Aztecs in Los Angeles, a whopping $33,000 a year and a, you know, an a used car.

Jeff Stone: [00:18:43] That was my that was my bonus, you know, compared to athletes of today, you know, it wasn’t a lot of money, but I played for the joy of the sport and I played that for a few years. And then I ended up and I and I tore my knee out three months into it. I tore my knee out. And so I lost my also. That was that was the sort of the trifecta. I lost my soccer career. So once that happened, I was in my early 20 seconds. I took up I took up rugby because I was sort of angry. And that was a great place to kind of release all that energy and stress and, you know, break knows being broken, things like that. Tear up the other knee. Yeah. Tear of the other knee. Yeah. All kinds of crazy stuff. But so I did that. And as I did that, you know, I just got, you know, I was always I always liked to play sports and very competitive person. And I and I lived through my my 20 seconds kind of doing that, beating my body up. And I’m paying for that now in my in my 60s. But so that’s my sports side of my life. And I moved out to Atlanta in 1993.

Jeff Stone: [00:19:42] So I’ve been there for quite a while. And as I did that, as I came to Atlanta, I got married. Did all the things that I thought were going to work out for my life, and they just didn’t work out. But in that process, I had some reflection. If you want me to talk about my walk with Christ, yes, please. So I’ll start off by saying this is that I was raised in a Jewish household, so I became a messianic Jew. So but I didn’t it didn’t start off that way. Right. So I was I was always, you know, going through temple and synagogue and through my family. And that was a very and I always felt sort of hindered because I was asked about Christ. Jesus Christ was the king of the Jews. And they would always say to me, Well, that’s fine, but we don’t really believe in that. You know, he was a he was a rabbi. You know, that’s what I the story I always heard. So. So as I looked at my life, looked back like every every birthday, I looked back at my life. In the past ten years, I look back at my life several times and say, what’s really happening in my life? What’s really positive? And am I living in a in an environment that really nurtures and promotes a healthy lifestyle and a really healthy person, both spiritually, physically, financially, mentally, all those things, and bringing myself as a whole person.

Jeff Stone: [00:20:57] And I realized that living in a world we live in is very difficult to do that. And I said, Why is that? Well, there’s evil. In this world. And so that evil, I said, has to be a counterpart. And I said, There’s God over here. And then I went, okay, where does God sit in my life? And I said, He doesn’t not not in the right way. I was sort of passively with God. And then I started reading and I’m looking at the Bible and reading the Bible and had some friends influence me. And and I accepted Christ in my life, you know, about six, seven years ago. And since I’ve done that, I’ve gotten baptized. I’ve, I’ve been on a walk with Christ. And that has really changed my entire life. I mean, to the point where I did have a hiccup. I got divorced about a year ago. That was a difficult thing. But but having God and having Christ in your life, you know, I handle a lot of that off to him. And then I don’t have to spend a lot of time and worry or fear and that kind of thing. So that’s sort of that’s sort of the general nature of my path.

Brian Pruett: [00:21:54] So it’s also cool because you and I met just a few months ago and you’re you’re just very giving and supportive because, you know, monthly I do a trivia event rotating charities and we’ll talk to Dan who who’s part of that as well. But you’ve either come or supported that every month just by us just talking a few times. And I just think it’s awesome that you can get involved in the community and be supportive. So I’d like for you to share. First of all, you do a lot of networking now to. And so the Clear Point associates share a little bit about clear point what you do and how you help others with that.

Jeff Stone: [00:22:34] So Clear Point Associates was was really a business. I started because I couldn’t get a job. It was really I aged out of the age, out of the actual job market, you know. Oh, you’ve got a lot of great resume, Jeff. But and I went, you know, I figured out for eight months I couldn’t find a job. Nobody would hire me. So I said, This is God telling me I need to start my own business, you know? So I started my own business and I thought, what am I going to really do here? What am I going to really impact? And how do I do this? I just didn’t want to sell widgets or chotchkie’s. I want I want to really just do something that has some impact on on other people and helps people. So I did a lot of research. I found products that I really felt passionate about and those products that I think help people directly either. And I did that through either I decided health was a big thing because we fight health. I think, you know, when when you’re seniors and people, you guys get older, you know, more aches and pains and more things we deal with. So I thought health is one area and other areas I love. I came from a lending background, so I like to help people get money, but not money That puts them in a bad position that puts them in a good position. So I chose products and I basically brokered those products and go out and and consult with companies about how to really best facilitate their growth and and also reduce their overhead by driving costs down. And the health side of their business, especially small and medium sized businesses usually people my my sweet spot of who I deal with is are companies with 100 employees or less. And I try to help them look at what their overhead and costs are. And then, you know, see there’s there are alternatives to what they’re currently spending money on.

Brian Pruett: [00:24:12] Well, I know that you have a passion for profits because you’re currently working with one of the largest ones, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, You know, so that but you’ve only been networking that I know of just a few months, right? Yeah. So do you have a story already you can share from that time period of networking?

Jeff Stone: [00:24:30] Well, I mean, the one thing I will tell you, the biggest thing I’ve learned about networking is exactly what you said, which is not about I and me. I go in there really to learn about other people’s businesses. And I really have learned. I’ll give you an example, a really good example. Sarah Mccourtney, who does stem cell, they do stem cell product. I sat with her the other day and I said, I think we can work with, you know, because really healthcare is reactive. Something has to happen before you go to a hospital or a doctor. I mean, some people, some stuff is preventative, but most people deal with health care as a reactive component to their life. I broke my hand. I did something. I injured myself. I feel sick. I mean, then I go see somebody. So stem cell therapy, which has done a lot of research on, was really interesting to me because that’s a that’s a proactive look at how you keep you keep your body health, you keep your mind healthy. I’m actually wearing one of the patches right now on my neck, so and I feel better. I got to tell you, I feel better from wearing these. And what it does is systemically gives you it helps your body as you get older, reproduce stem cells so it it helps strengthen your immune system, your metabolism, all these things that are, you know, truly clearly going to give you better health as a human being.

Jeff Stone: [00:25:40] So when we do that, I’m working directly with her and I’m partnering with her because it didn’t start off this way. And I sat down with one of my contractors, one of my clients, and I said, What’s the biggest problem you have when it comes to employees that are calling in sick and doing these other things? Is that a problem for your business? She said, Yes, it is. It’s a huge problem because he has only ten employees. So one person leaving that day or two people leaving, especially strategic people that are in his back office or just people that are on the field that have that particular skill set that that he needs, that causes him it costs him money. I said, what if we can keep them healthy ahead of time and you can help contribute to their health? And then and we can offer we can lower the cost of your health, your health costs in two different ways one proactively and one reactively. So that’s we’re already going out to companies right now together, Sarah and I. And I’m bringing her in for a web, a small webinar for the employees.

Brian Pruett: [00:26:39] I think it’s pretty cool because it kind of reminds me of our friend Bob Brooks preaches all the time collaboration over competition, and that’s a great example of collaboration, even though there really was no competition. But it’s just it’s awesome to hear the collaboration. So you just shared a little bit of why you started your business, but you can answer both of these in probably the same thing. Why is it why are you passionate for what you’re doing and why is it important for you to be part of the community?

Jeff Stone: [00:27:01] Well, the passion for doing it is really a mission. I if we’ve all probably experienced some level of. That to be disenchanted with health insurance. Health insurance unto itself is really anti health insurance, really anti health, because everything they did, if you look at what they do, is you can’t have this procedure because the insurance company won’t pay for it, but you can’t have this pharmaceutical drug because we won’t cover that. And people need these things like some of these some of these pharmaceutical drugs and big pharma, $800 for a shot, you know, $500, $1,000 for some pill you got to take. And for a child or for for somebody. And it’s expensive for families. You know, one of the things we I found when I’m working with FCA Fellowship of Christian Athletes is, is I mean, they are dealing with they’re paying $12 Million a year to Blue Cross Blue Shield for 1900 employees, $12 Million a year every year from 2020 to 2023. They’ve got $1 million increase in their in their cost of insurance. Now that’s that’s that’s debilitating for them in some ways. But think about the average person that works for FCA makes $50,000 a year family of four a family of five family of an individual is over $1,000 for the premium and $3,000 for the deductible. A family’s $2,300 they charge, plus $6,000 for deductible. And so it’s it’s it’s it’s financially inconceivable for a person making $50,000 a year to support their family, put food on the table and pay the exorbitant costs of health insurance.

Jeff Stone: [00:28:39] And it gets worse and worse and worse all the way through Medicare. It’s it’s not only the fact that insurance is bad and not set up right for health. It’s also things like Medicare and Medicaid are difficult for people like seniors to get the right kind of care from the right kind of doctor. So I found a product. I found a program that we eliminate. We pull the insurance company out of the equation and we put together the patient and the doctor like it’s supposed to be. So the doctor actually speaks to the patient and doesn’t have to worry about CPT codes or other elements of an insurance company. But the patient and the doctor get the benefits of being a The doctor gets a benefit of being paid directly by us for the patient and we pay directly to them and we negotiate a cash amount for that for that service. And so they don’t want to wait 60, 90, 120, 180 days to get paid by Blue Cross Blue Shield. And they don’t have to always have so many people chasing down bills. So that’s one benefit. The other benefit is, is the the the insured person, we cover them up front for the cost of the services. So we pay it ahead of time. So all I got to do is go to the doctor and the procedures they want get done.

Jeff Stone: [00:29:48] So the doctor prescribed something that gets done. There’s no insurance company that sits between the patient and the doctor. So and then we have all kinds of same similar mirror of what an insurance company does, but we do it with a profit. And we every dollar goes into our fund. About only about $0.30 goes out for care claims per dollar, whereas the insurance company charges you the premium and then you don’t get services until you pay off the deductible. So you really don’t have insurance until you pay the deductible off, but you pay a very high premium to have that service. So my passion was, well, this is ridiculous, this is a ridiculous thing. And then just recently and really what sparked this whole thing, Brian, was and you may be aware, I may not be aware, but Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Cigna, United, Health Care, Humana, they have because of equity in our society, everything has to be equitable. They change the gender reassignment surgery from in all their literature, from an elective surgery to medically necessary. So now they can legally they can literally go in and take your daughter or son that’s ten, 12 years old heading into puberty. And and if you have any reason to think that and you send that, send your child in to see a therapist, It’s just a moneymaking proposition for the insurance companies.

Jeff Stone: [00:31:07] And they can give them hormone blockers and they can actually lead them right into the into surgery. Our US government right now, Joe Biden, is actually put a bill out. They have a bill right now sitting in Congress that would allow that is forcing Christian hospitals to perform gender reassignment surgery. So when you get to this place where the irony is, is that a woman who needs maybe breast augmentation, it would be it would be elective surgery for her. So she had to come out of pocket for all this money to try to do this. But I could say I relate as a woman and because of equity, I can get a breast implant. They’ll pay medically necessary. So this was for me, this was a driver. It became more than just going out and helping people save money. That’s a great bonus. But really, the big the big push for me is I don’t want to see my children or my children’s children or my friend’s children or any child that’s going through the difficulty of living maybe in a in a in a position where they feel different or something like that, and being forced into a system that they’ll never get out of and will ruin their lives and there’ll be somebody that’s lost in their life and life is too precious to be doing that. So those things are really drivers for me and that’s my passion to do what I do.

Brian Pruett: [00:32:27] How about being a part of the community wise? I mean, that’s a lot, but there’s got to be another reason to why you think it’s important to be a part of the community.

Jeff Stone: [00:32:34] Well, I mean, you can’t you can’t get things done without other people. It’s a village. So you’ve got you’ve got to you’ve got to bring people in. And and I think about giving more than you take. You always get more than you give. So I’m a big giver. I just think that giving, whether it’s my time, my energy, my money, you know, I believe in tithing. I believe in giving my church money. I believe in giving God praise. I believe in giving myself, too, out there. Because I think when you give you bring you build trust with the community you build. And I’m looking that’s what I look to do in the community, is to build trust among my peers and among people that I don’t even know. I bring people all the time when I talk to people and try to build a better to me. We build a better world one person at a time. I mean, it’s nice to be in front of a group or be in a platform like this, but to me, discipling and ministering to people is a one on one opportunity where God puts you in front of people that need help, that need a voice, that need somebody to pick them up. And so I believe the community is a big part of what I do. And I and I love people. I really do love people. I mean, I hate being alone. I don’t like the solitude thing I do. I’m a single and I saw him solid in solitude a lot. But I love being around people.

Brian Pruett: [00:33:49] Yeah, it’s it’s, you know, once in a while it’s okay to be in a room, but I get after you. Like you, I got to be around people all the time. So I wanted to ask the Clear Point Associates, do you talk about the, the medical piece and the insurance? Is that available to individuals as well? Yes.

Jeff Stone: [00:34:06] Okay. Individuals or businesses? I mean, I focus on businesses because I can touch more people that way. And I can really and that’s another part of it is that if I can save a business 60% as an example, the $12 million that FCA is looking at spending this year, we can we just propose to them to do it for 5.5 million. Wow. So we saved them $6 million. I mean, went to the CEO and said, hey, what would you do with $6 Million? Right now, we can do a lot in the charitable charitable space to $6 million. What would you do with $6 million? Brian Would pretty nice, right, to have for your charities. And so yeah, we’ve just saved we just put money, more money in these companies hands. And that to me strengthens our community and strengthens the financial stability of small businesses. And and I think all that comes together as a way to benefit people and benefit the benefit everybody in the society.

Brian Pruett: [00:35:01] All right. So if somebody is listening, whether it’s an individual or a business owner or somebody who’s in charge of those for the business, share how they can get a hold of you to talk about that.

Jeff Stone: [00:35:09] So you can reach me at I’m at a couple of places that you can go to the website, which is for the health care side of it. It’s called Mighty Well, Health dot com and that’s a website we have. I’ll tell you about the whole entire thing. It’s not like insurance. It’s fully transparent. You’ll see rates everything right on the website. So all that, that’s probably the best place to see this program. You can reach me via my email. Probably the best way to reach me is email and that’s Jeff at Clearpoint associates.com.

Brian Pruett: [00:35:37] Awesome. Jeff Well, thanks for coming, sharing your story and listening to this, this next story. No, it’s fine. So Dan Bruton, thanks for being here.

Dan Bruton: [00:35:45] Thanks for having me.

Brian Pruett: [00:35:46] So, so Jeff gave you a title earlier that I thought was pretty cool. What was that? Jeff Quadro.

Jeff Stone: [00:35:52] Quadro Preneur.

Brian Pruett: [00:35:53] Quadro Preneur. So because Dan does a lot. I mean, he’s a broker with High Caliber Realty. He runs Saint Angelo’s. He’s on a board for the gift, the giving Garden Giving Garden. You coach your son’s teams and your husband and you got to do all this other stuff. So there’s a lot going on. There is. So do you sleep at all?

Dan Bruton: [00:36:14] About 4 or 5 hours a night?

Brian Pruett: [00:36:16] Yeah, that’s about all. All right. So, well, I appreciate you being here. Thanks for coming. Share a little bit, first of all, about high caliber, high caliber.

Dan Bruton: [00:36:24] I’ve been with them for about four years, just recently became a broker with them. We’re a little boutique broker out of Kennesaw, Georgia, and we just sell real estate. We’re brokered in seven states all the way out to Alaska. Our broker actually ran the Iditarod in Alaska several years ago. So it’s kind of a cool story, the only one in Georgia to finish. So, yeah.

Brian Pruett: [00:36:42] If you listen to a couple of weeks ago, Bill was on here, so it was it’s awesome.

Dan Bruton: [00:36:46] Yeah, he did great out there and he still supports, supports the the program out there and goes out there for opening day races and stuff like that. And so we’re pretty, pretty active. Yeah, we’re not real flashy and you know, you don’t see our billboards everywhere, but we just focus on helping individuals and selling real estate. So do you.

Brian Pruett: [00:37:02] Do both commercial and individual?

Dan Bruton: [00:37:05] I do mostly residential. I do some small commercial and I have an investment. I’m an investor as well. I have an investment in a small commercial piece of property as well. So yeah, so a little bit of everything we do land as well, so well.

Brian Pruett: [00:37:18] So I think a lot of people, most people know you who do know the community aspect of it know you more. For Saint Angelo’s and Emerson at Lakepoint, share a little bit about Saint Angelo’s. First of all, how well you guys are The oldest bar in Emerson is the is the it’s a joke, but it’s a tagline. It’s real. But share about the story, if you can, about Saint Angelo’s. And then we’ll talk a little more about what you and I are doing.

Dan Bruton: [00:37:42] Okay. Well, I moved to Atlanta in oh six with a big corporate chain, and then I switched to another corporate chain about 8 or 9 years after that. And then I said, Well, you know what? I really want to get involved in small business. I love food. I love people. I’m like, got connected with this guy Sean. Sean owns Saint Angelo’s, and he says, Hey, I’m opening a spot in Emerson, Georgia. Would you like to run it? I said, okay, It sounds like a great plan. So I left my corporate job and midtown Atlanta and came up to Emerson, Georgia. I didn’t know anything about Emerson, Georgia, a town of about 1600 people. And. No. One from the big city of Atlanta to Emerson, Georgia. And I was like, okay, let’s make this happen. So we did. So we’ve been there since 2016, a little family owned restaurant. We do a lot in the community. We support a lot of local high schools, kids, athletes. We do trivia with you, Brian. You’ve been a great part of that. And it’s just, you know, we’re we’re homemade, homemade food. And when you talk about being in service and if you want to be in service, work in a restaurant for a little while and you’ll learn all about service. So I love serving people and I love I love food. Well, you’ve.

Brian Pruett: [00:38:52] Seen the Lake Point grow. I mean, since you’ve been there, they’ve added the bowling alley. There’s all kinds of stuff going on. But I do want to touch on what you guys do in the community with Saint Angela’s because like you said, you guys do a lot for the schools. So a few years ago, Stephen Norton and I had a magazine called Northwest Georgia Rising Stars, and we were going out introducing this to the schools of the idea of the concept of it. And Dan partnered with us and provided lunch for the coaches for all the high schools in Bartow County. And it’s just, you know, just to do that in itself is an amazing. But you I know you do stuff for the red Door food pantry. You do other things. You and I are partnering right now doing a monthly trivia show, rotating charities in Bartow County. So I appreciate you opening up to do that. And it’s been an amazing journey. I started the trivia there when I was working for team trivia and I was your host there for for many years. And kind of the idea of that together and merge the charity thing was a natural thing. But you also provide the lunches for the learning table for the Castle Business Club. We do there that once a month as well. So there’s a lot that you provide for the community. So share a little bit. First of all, what people can expect when they come to either a trivia night or the learning table, what can they expect from the food? Because first of all, and Jeff knows you’ve come if you walk away hungry, it is your fault, you know?

Jeff Stone: [00:40:10] Yeah, I would say that’s true.

Brian Pruett: [00:40:12] You’re also not only known as the oldest bar, but you have the best wings in Bartow County, but share what people can expect from there.

Dan Bruton: [00:40:18] So what you can expect is, you know, our is just homemade food. We have everything’s fresh. We make it on site. I think our freezer is about the size of your freezer at your house. We have like French fries and mozzarella sticks in it and that’s about it. Everything else we either make or we bring in fresh. And, you know, it’s just a little, little local mom and pop flair restaurant that we just focus on. Great food, great food quality, great service, the staff’s friendly, smiling. And in this market, it’s hard. It’s hard to find, you know, everybody’s struggling for staff. So we’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of long term staff and staff that just gets gets the message of, hey, we’re here to serve people. We provide great food and a great, great atmosphere. It’s a sports bar in Emerson, Italian sports bar, if you will. We’ve got plenty of TVs all the games on. It’s just great energy in the restaurant. It’s just a good feel there.

Brian Pruett: [00:41:11] You’ve had plenty of people from the sports world that are considered celebrities come in there, too. For my understanding, there’s been Shaquille O’Neal’s been in there, right?

Dan Bruton: [00:41:19] I believe so, yeah. I’ve also heard.

Brian Pruett: [00:41:20] Derek Jeter was in there at one time. He was, you know, so you’ve got some some big names. And one of the things Can you share I know one of the pieces that’s really popular is your cheeseburger pizza. But is that your most popular pizza?

Dan Bruton: [00:41:34] We sell more cheese pizza in pepperoni pizza. People like the Staples, you know, just cheese. But we do we support a lot of birthday parties and stuff. And for the kids and stuff, they just kind of go with that. But we have a pizza of the month every month that we special, we knock the price down quite a bit to kind of walk people through the menu on our pizzas. So every month we have a pizza of the month and that goes over really well. Of course you can create your own pizza. We have plenty of toppings. If you want to start with a cheese pizza and add just about anything that you want, we have it. We have a great gluten free pizza for people that are a little bit more health conscious or have the gluten intolerance. I have a couple people that just buy the crust and make it at home. So the product is very good. You know, when the gluten products first came out, they were a little bit a little bit heavy. But now over time, you know, technology and everything, they’ve really done a great job. And we landed on a great product that a lot of people love.

Brian Pruett: [00:42:24] And I will say for that, my mother is gluten intolerant. And so she that is her favorite place to go to gluten free pizza because that’s like you said, it’s fresh and all that. You also are very willing and working with folks, we have a couple of people that come that are severely allergic to gluten, to the events, and you allow them to get the gluten free as part of the the deal we’re doing. So I also have to give him a credit because he’s helping my sponsors for this event by letting us leave the banners and stuff up all year long, not just the night that we have the trivia. So they’re getting the advertising alongside. Thank you for that. So now let’s talk about the Giving Garden. Yes, you are on the board for that.

Dan Bruton: [00:43:02] I’m on the board. So in my passion for food and people, I was at this church down in Mableton and there was a property next to the church and we’re like, This would be a great spot for a garden. So Judy and Jake and I were like, Let’s start. Let’s start a garden. So we started the garden to start it in 2016 and we’re just turned into it’s an amazing thing. We actually purchased the property a few years back and we’re just a non profit community garden and, and and since then we’ve started some educational programs and camps and stuff to educate people about food. And then we have some farm animals there as well. So we do camps and talk about different animals, goats and donkeys and rabbits. We have about 35 chickens, so people can sign up for summer camps or programs and just come or just come out to the garden and hang out. It’s a great space, a green space just to come, you know, hang out, sit outside, read a book, whatever you want to do, get away from the craziness of life and just hang out. And we also once a quarter, we do different things. We just had an Easter egg hunt for each of the public. There’s things you can purchase there as well, and you can support the garden by doing stuff like that too. We we sell some of our plants. So if you’re looking to start your own garden at home, you can purchase plants from the garden and support the garden and then get your own garden at home. We’ll do a pumpkin patch, pumpkin patch in the fall where you can buy pumpkins for Halloween and stuff like that. And we’ll have a little trick or treat thing for the kids and stuff. So it’s a great program, green space and you know, it’s educational. And we have a fridge where we provide produce and stuff that people can get for free, 24 hour access and just like a garden fridge, pantry type thing that, you know, we just give back to the community.

Brian Pruett: [00:44:49] You said it’s in Mapleton, McKinney shareware in Mapleton.

Dan Bruton: [00:44:51] It’s at it’s on North Cooper Lake Road 75 North Cooper Lake Road down in Mapleton. Yeah.

Brian Pruett: [00:44:56] Oh, excuse me. Other than coming and purchasing, you know, the plants or pumpkins or things like that, how can other people help support the garden?

Dan Bruton: [00:45:04] Well, you know, we’re profit, which means we need a lot of hands make light work, right? So if you have an organization that’s looking to a community project, there’s some schools that have to do community projects. They partner with us. It’s a great opportunity to partner with the garden and do a community service day for your school or your business. If your business likes to get out in the community and do stuff, we certainly need hands for, for different things and we have different projects. Sometimes we’re building stuff, sometimes we’re moving stuff, sometimes we’re just weeding the garden or what have you. But there’s always something going on there. Of course, we’re nonprofits, so you know, donations would help too. So you can donate as little as $5 a month or or a lump sum or however that works for you. And sometimes we just need people to go pick up stuff, you know? Hey, we need chicken feed for the chickens. Is anybody available? And we just need a volunteer to go pick that up. So there’s many ways you can get involved in volunteer. And some of it’s just, you know, sweat equity, some of it’s time. And, you know, a little money wouldn’t hurt either.

Brian Pruett: [00:46:01] You like I said, you do a lot. So, Sherry, you said your passion is food and people. But why is that? Because everything we just talked about that you do, it’s an amazing thing. But why is that your passion?

Dan Bruton: [00:46:15] I think it stems from my grandma. My grandma is Italian. She’s from Naples, Italy. And she had this little kitchen. It’s about the size of probably most people’s bathrooms now. And she could cook for an army of people at that little kitchen. And it was like homemade, just, I mean, Italian, just meatballs, spaghetti, pasta, fish, whatever you wanted. She could whip out out of that kitchen. And I was amazed by it. So growing up with her, I ate a lot of pasta and a lot of food, and I just I just love food. So I love cooking at home. I love cooking. It’s just. Just something I like to do. So you can tell I.

Brian Pruett: [00:46:48] Love food, so it’s not a problem for me either. So you do a lot of networking as well. I mean, we’ve all are part of some of the same circles and stuff. Can you share a story that’s of networking that’s been positive for you?

Dan Bruton: [00:47:00] I think the most positive thing for me is just, you know, going into networking. I don’t go there necessarily for myself. I go there to see how I can help others. I think that’s the best story because it does take a village. A lot of people say, say it takes a village to raise your kids, but it takes a village to raise the village as well. So I go in with the mindset of, you know, I know what I’m doing and capable of doing. I’m seeing what I can use my talents and abilities or it’s space at the restaurant for whatever I can do to help somebody else out. So like Big Rich comedy, he’s, you know, he’s looking at book stuff. I said, Well, if you ever have a booking that you need a space for, reach out to me. I’ll see if I can just use my space if it’s available, you know, just stuff like that. Seeing how I can help other people in the community. And then from that, it’s just the collaboration with, you know, I talk to other agents and networking and we bounce ideas off of each other in different scenarios so you can learn as well and teach at the same time. So as I’m learning from another agent, I can teach them what I did in a similar situation or what have you. So and then the third part is just connecting people, right? If somebody is looking for something and I know somebody that kind of does that or knows somebody that knows somebody that does that. And Bryan, you’re really good at that. Just connecting people with people that can help them out. So. Whether I do it directly or just introduce them to somebody that can can get them where they need to go is a big one for me. On the networking side.

Brian Pruett: [00:48:26] Anything you can do different, you can share about why it’s important for being part of the community. I’m sorry, being part of the community other than what you’ve already shared. Yeah, I think.

Dan Bruton: [00:48:36] It’s just important to get out in the community and you know, and I have kids. I like to know what’s going on in the community. And the more I’m out in the community, the more I know, you know, what’s a good, positive, comfortable environment for my kids, my family. And sometimes, you know, there’s areas that maybe are not so positive. And with that, not necessarily that I need to stay away from it, but how can I impact that to make that more positive for that, that specific area of the community? So but I think it’s just important to be out there and involved. I coach my son’s baseball games. I’m very involved with Smyrna Little League on that aspect. I got three kids in three different leagues there. So we’re constantly at the baseball fields. We’re doing football on Friday nights. I’m helping coach that. So I got a lot going on. But it’s all good stuff, all positive stuff. It’s stuff I really enjoy. You know, when I wake up in the day, I’m saying it’s going to be a good day. I know it’s busy, but it’s good. It’s all good stuff.

Brian Pruett: [00:49:29] Know Well, I was going to ask, how do you how do you manage the all the work life with family time? Because there is a lot going on. So how do you how do you balance that?

Dan Bruton: [00:49:38] Well, I’m fortunate in the sense that I can write my schedule for for everything I do. So the real estate side, I can schedule things when I need to schedule them on the restaurant side, I schedule things. I mean, there’s times I need to be there, but for the most part I can write my schedule. If I need to work in the morning, I can work in the morning. If I need to work at night, I can work at night. So it’s challenging because there’s a lot of moving parts. But you know, fortunately I’m able to schedule for the most part according to what I need to do and get things done.

Brian Pruett: [00:50:07] How do people separate you? Because most people, especially up in the Bartow County area, don’t relate to the high caliber part. They they mostly of the Saint Angelo’s part. How can you separate those two moving forward with some folks?

Dan Bruton: [00:50:22] That’s a great question. I don’t know. I think I think I’m always going to kind of be tied to both, which is fine. You know, I think people know me as the restaurant guy and hopefully they’ll know me as a real estate guy as well. So yeah, but I think it’ll be twofold for a while. All right.

Brian Pruett: [00:50:35] Yeah. The other thing, we won’t hold this against you, but he’s a Florida Gator fan, so.

Dan Bruton: [00:50:40] I actually went to school there, so that makes a little sense. It’s not like some of these schools that have fans that people don’t go there, right? Yeah, right. Yeah.

Brian Pruett: [00:50:49] All right. So if somebody wants to get ahold of you, either for the real estate, for restaurant for because you guys do some catering as well, or birthday parties wanting to get involved with the Giving Garden. How can somebody get a hold of you for any of that?

Dan Bruton: [00:51:00] So for the for the restaurant, it’s Dan at Saint Angelo’s. It’s s t a n g e.com. Angelo’s is how it sounds phonetically. And then for real estate, it’s Dan at high caliber Realty.com for the Giving Garden. It’s our giving garden.org. It’s a nonprofit down in Mapleton. Beautiful websites got all the information on their camps, programs, pop ups, all that kind of stuff. Spot to donate, spot to volunteer as well. So that’s a great resource. And then if you just want to call me, my number is (770) 876-7243 Cell phone. Awesome.

Brian Pruett: [00:51:35] Dan, thanks for sharing your story. When we wrap this up, I always like to ask this question. Wrapping the show up, I’d like for each of you to share either a word or a quote or some nugget to live today and beyond with to leave somebody with some positivity. Kathy, I’ll start with you.

Kathy Lathem: [00:51:50] Oh, put me on the spot. Why don’t we pass it off to Jeff? I think about that one.

Brian Pruett: [00:51:55] How about you, Jeff?

Jeff Stone: [00:51:57] Well, I always, you know, I think of, you know, inspiring things. I like a lot of inspiring quotes, but the one that always sticks with me is only those who are willing to go too far. Never know how far one can go.

Brian Pruett: [00:52:11] That’s it Makes you think, too. That’s good. Yeah. Dan, what do you have? We’ll come back to Kathy.

Dan Bruton: [00:52:15] I heard one the other day, so I’m going to steal it from from this guy that we had in the networking group along the lines of inspiring. And I hope I don’t mess it up. But he said, I want to inspire. I inspire to inspire before I inspire. Wow. So he plans to inspire other people before he expires. So that’s good. I thought that was pretty pretty moving. Yes. New to the group and he just came out with that. So that’s pretty, pretty good. Pretty strong.

Jeff Stone: [00:52:45] Right there. Can I give Kathy one more second? Sure. Yes, sure. Go ahead. I would say for the idea that we’re all networking and stuff like that, one thing I really I tell my kids this and I and I, I think it’s important for networking is seek to be interested. Not interesting.

Dan Bruton: [00:53:03] Yes, that’s a good point.

Jeff Stone: [00:53:05] You know, and if you because I noticed a lot of people in networking are trying to be interesting. Oh, I do this and I do that and I’m this and that. Well, no. Be interested. Instead.

Brian Pruett: [00:53:15] I’ve I’ll touch on that because we had a young man start coming and he I was we would go around the room and people would thank you for, for introductions or referrals and stuff like that and and happened to be one day that I had given a lot of folks some some folks, you know, introductions or whatever. And I was getting thanked quite a bit. And this young man, he was new to networking emailed me like right after the meeting and said, Hey, you know, everybody else referrals, can you send me some? And my email back to him was you can take this however you will, but you need to come in and establish relationships and learn more about them before you start selling a thing. He’s never come back to a meeting since. Wow. So. All right, Kathy, what do you have? Well, we.

Kathy Lathem: [00:53:54] Do do business with people we know, like and trust, Right. And if you don’t spend time with someone, you don’t know them. You don’t learn to trust them. Right? Right. And you don’t find out what they do. So I think we’ve all touched on it the same. You have to inspire others. You have to be interested and you have to listen. Chatty Cathy You know, it’s easy for me to engage, but I have to stop and really listen to people, not just hear, but listen. So that’s very important, I think, for all of us to take on a daily basis. But then it goes back to Scripture for me, to whom much is given, much shall be required. There’s not one person in this room who has not been given much, and we are required to take what has been given to us, be good stewards of it, and not keep it in our hands. But to pass it along, whether it’s knowledge, whether it’s tangible goods, whether it’s finances, our time, whatever it is we have to be willing to give.

Brian Pruett: [00:54:52] Awesome. Yes. Well, again, Kathy, Jeff, Dan, thanks for coming. Everybody out there listening. Let’s remember, let’s be positive. Let’s be charitable.

 

Tagged With: Clearpoint and Associates, Cobb Senior Services, High Caliber Realty

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