angishields, Author at Business RadioX ® Page

BRX Pro Tip: Don’t be Afraid to Make Mistakes

August 2, 2022 by angishields

BRX Pro Tips

BRX Pro Tip: Don't be Afraid to Make Mistakes

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BRX Pro Tip: Don’t be Afraid to Make Mistakes

Stone Payton: [00:00:00] And we are back with Business RadioX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, sometimes, you’re having to fight a little bit of human nature here, but it’s important, I think, that you don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:15] Yeah. I think a lot of times people’s fear of making a mistake holds them back. And it doesn’t matter what they’re doing whether you’re starting a new career and you’re a young person or you’re a startup and you have an idea and you want to kind of preplan it out a little too much. I think you’re much better served if you just start taking action, learning and iterating.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:39] I think that that formula of taking some action, learning what happened because of the action, and then tweaking whatever you learn from taking that action is much better than the folks that are just planning the plan to plan before they act. You don’t learn anything by doing nothing and hoping something is going to work out. You don’t really learn anything by just whiteboarding things over and over and playing out every hypothetical scenario without real data. You have to take some chances.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:11] Your action may work and may not work as you planned. But if you don’t take action, you’re not going to know for sure. And if you take an action and it doesn’t work out like you planned, you will have learned something. You know now something that doesn’t work. And, plus, you’re going to get market information to tell you, you know what, this part worked a little bit. This part didn’t work at all. So you are going to learn something. You’re going to be taught something from taking that action. So in my opinion, it is much better to err on the side of action, learn and iterate.

Ryan Clark with The Veld Group

August 1, 2022 by angishields

Ryan-Clark-Veld-Mergers-and-Acquisitions

Buy a Business Near Me

Ryan Clark with The Veld Group

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Ryan Clark, one of California’s top business brokers and mergers and acquisitions specialists, is the Director of Sales for The Veld Group and Veld M & A.

In 1999, Mr. Clark rejoined his childhood friends and developed The Veld Group’s Business Brokerage sales strategy, hired and trained its sales staff, and was instrumental in making The Veld Group California’s leading business brokerage.

Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn and follow The Veld Group on Facebook and Twitter.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Buy a Business Near Me, brought to you by the Business Radio X Ambassador Program, helping business brokers sell more local businesses. Now here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:32] Welcome to another exciting and informative edition of Buy a Business Near Me. Stone Payton here with you this morning and you guys are in for a real treat. Please join me in welcoming to the program with the Veld Group. Mr. Ryan Clark. How are you, sir?

Ryan Clark: [00:00:52] I’m doing fantastic. So thank you for having me.

Stone Payton: [00:00:54] Yeah, we’re delighted to have you on the show. I’ve really been looking forward to this conversation. This is a new series on the business radio network, and I can’t think of a better way to kick it off than to have you come visit with us. Before we dive in to deep, can you give us just kind of a primer, just a little bit of a background mission purpose? What are you and your team really out there trying to do for folks?

Ryan Clark: [00:01:23] Well, you know, for the last 21 years, we’ve been listing, selling and marketing companies on a very high level, honoring our clients, finding value wherever we can find value for them, and then really managing the process, facilitating the sale, sort of being kind of their guiding presence and working with other professionals along with ourselves. There are other advisors, but really managing the human component of the transaction from beginning to end.

Stone Payton: [00:01:53] So actually that’s one of the very first questions I have. I own 40% of you know, we’ve got a pretty good thing going here and we don’t have our exit strategy completely nailed down. But but I got to tell you, one of the things that that that Lee and I have surely absolutely zero clue about is how do you go about valuing your business as you begin to prepare for for an exit?

Ryan Clark: [00:02:20] You know, absolutely. It’s a great question. We started out our firm. We began as a as a certified valuation firm before we got into brokerage and M&A. So our background is valuation. I would like to tell you that valuation, you can open up a book and figure out how to value a company, but it’s definitely part art and part science. In the end, in most cases, it boils down to ultimately what is somebody willing to pay? And not every not everybody values the same business the same way, depending on if it’s a strategic buyer or somebody who’s a little bit. You’re doing an acquisition for other purposes or someone who just wants to buy your company and add on to their portfolio. But in the end, it comes down to some basic principles. There’s various valuation methodologies, but ultimately it comes down to profitability and risk. Those are the two where they really meet. And so so how risky is this cash flow or this profitability is coming from this company? Risk can be assessed using multiple variables when it comes to risk. Just company infrastructure, assets, contracts is really the stability of that cash flow or the revenue that company is generating. So there’s all sorts of things we look at risk age of equipment, customer concentration, which could be could be negative, positive in some cases where maybe all your customers are coming from one source, the strength of your supply chain, all these different variables, you kind of evaluate all of them and then you sort of put a kind of a value overall or a range of value ultimately in that company. How involved is Stoneleigh in the operations? Can anything revolve about stone and can they take a vacation? Or if they’re not there, the whole thing crumbles to the ground? I mean, that’s a huge risk factor associated with an acquisition. The independence or the autonomy of a certain company.

Stone Payton: [00:04:15] Well, I’m glad I asked, and I’m glad that you mention that, because I got to believe many of our listeners, gang, that’s one of the things you got to think about. If you’re serious about an exit and you want to get your organization ready to sell. It can’t be dependent on you, right?

Ryan Clark: [00:04:30] Well, it depends on the size of the company. You’re right, though, for sure. I will tell you, most companies in the range that we deal with, you know, first thing we do when we’re beginning the exit planning process for our clients, it might be six months before the exit. It might be three or four years before they plan on the exit. But it’s really creating a situation where key employees and people besides the ownership are they’re really empowered to perform certain tasks that are going to be valuable in an acquisition for a potential buyer, because that’s what buyers are looking at. Depending on the size of the acquisition, whether you’re larger, more institutional buyers or private equity, they’re going to want people they’re remaining they’re buying a lot of that human capital and they want them to remain in the company to be able to carry on without the ownership.

Stone Payton: [00:05:16] Now have you found in your experience that the the equation is a little different for some industries versus others, or is it just really incredibly individual case scenario?

Ryan Clark: [00:05:31] Well, absolutely both. Those things are true. Right. So it really is going to come down to the individual company. I mean, you could have two, two businesses in the same industry that will trade it completely different multiples. Right. So it’s not really industry specific. What as I mentioned at the beginning, it’s kind of where the the risk meets the the other variables of the business. How risky is this company that I’m taking on? A very low risk business, let’s say government contracts and all sorts of stability might trade at a higher multiple than a company who has much more volatility with it, with the expectations are going to be very different from the person doing the acquisition. They want to get their money back and return on their investment much sooner. And then somebody who understands that stability and willing to wait it out for maybe five, seven, ten years possibly.

Stone Payton: [00:06:20] Yeah. So I’ve got to know, man, what’s the back story? How did you get involved in this line of work?

Ryan Clark: [00:06:28] Yeah. You know, everybody has a story. I started out after school and financial planning, financial sales, setting up for one day selling insurance products, things like that. I’ve always been pretty good dealing with people, communicating, sending my message. And one of my associates, Michael, found of the company, he got back from getting his MBA in Michigan and said, you know, let’s build a company, let’s do something for us. We all had various backgrounds, whether it’s CPA, MBA valuation sales, and we decided to build a firm start it out. The main focus was helping the small to lower middle market business owner value the companies correctly, then eventually exit. So it was really about finding our purpose and where could we be the most value. That’s why we kind of carved out a segment in the in the size of transactions that we do that’s a little bit unique, too big for the typical business broker, maybe too small for traditional M&A, where we’re really adding value to the to the business, sort of the mom and pop people have blood, sweat and tears. 20, 30 years, built a company and now they want to exit gracefully. So that was really our our driving force was how can we best serve and how can we best help help the small business owner? And we found a nice niche.

Stone Payton: [00:07:43] It must be incredibly rewarding work, man. You must really enjoy it.

Ryan Clark: [00:07:50] Yeah, it is. You know what? It’s it’s a little bit of it’s obviously not, you know, it’s not for the week. I’m going to be honest. It’s like setting realistic expectations for all sides, managing human beings through a very long, emotional process, deal structure, making everybody happy, getting everybody understand perspective. Not not the easiest thing to accomplish. I will tell you that. However, when you take a business owner who’s built a company long term, 20, 30 years, not everyone is like the summer, just they’ve own it for six months, but ultimately they want to exit. But when you take especially that family, that person has put their their life on the line. Long weekends, not travel and doing all the things to build a business and grind it out, to be able to develop a plan to allow them to exit on their own terms. It is a pretty magical thing. Then on the other side, you know, depending on the buyer, if you have a larger institutional buyers, a little bit different. But if you have, let’s say, somebody getting out of the corporate world by high net worth individual who wants to buy a company cash flow and a million, $2 million, which is pretty common out here in Southern California, getting them to transition and allowing that transition from that more structured corporate space into a small business and accomplish their dream, seeing what they’re made of. Yeah, it’s a it’s a pretty magical thing on both sides. And we’re the facilitator of that, right? We’re guiding people through these processes. We are they’re psychologists where they’re educated, where their lives are. We’re all the above. Right. Talking to them on and off the ledge at every turn. But that’s part of our skill set and that’s the skill set that you’ve been able to create through time.

Stone Payton: [00:09:29] I love it. Yeah, it just occurred to me while you were talking and I’m applying a lot of it to me and Lee, right. You might have to be part therapist, you know, because. Because Lee and I are on the same page on a lot. But when he gets when it comes down to this, we may have some very you know, we’re just like a married couple, right? We’re we got this business marriage.

Ryan Clark: [00:09:50] Absolutely. You know, my goal is always to create an atmosphere where all sides work together, try to find a place where everybody’s happy. That’s not easy to find that happy space for all. And through doing that, you have to understand different people, different cultures, where people come from personality types and navigating through that. And that’s really, I would say if there’s any skill set you develop over a 20 year career doing 1000 plus transactions through all that experience, it really is understanding how to, to, to help people manage themselves and manage their own emotions. Right. Most transactions will fall apart five, ten, 20 times through the 8.2 months it takes to actually sell a company. Right. Even when you’re under contract, the deal will fall apart because people will draw a line in the sand. And that is just kind of human nature. Everybody has their limits. And so being able to getting the other side to really understand the other person’s perspective and why they feel that way, it takes it takes a lot of skill, a lot of work, you know, having to stand up to your clients, having to do what’s right for them, even when maybe through lack of experience, intuitively, they don’t really feel like it’s right for them. So you have to show them the path and show them the way. And that’s why they’re engaging us. That’s why they’re bringing us on in the first place.

Stone Payton: [00:11:11] Okay, let’s talk about me some more. It’s one of my favorite topics and it’s my show, right? No, no. I’m applying all this to to me and Lee. And we’re I think our value system, we’re transparent, our our work practices are very transparent. And I got to say, I don’t know that I would want the market to know that we’re that that we’re on the market. Can you do this with some degree of confidentiality, at least in the early stages?

Ryan Clark: [00:11:39] 100%. So here’s what I will tell you. Almost every business transaction is extremely confidential. The last thing we want is the word getting out on the street that this company is for sale for whatever reason, for staff or customers, for suppliers or vendors. I mean, it’s definitely something that you do not want to be known. So most transactions are highly confidential all the way through to the very end. Some potentially could get exposed. You kind of have a game plan in place for that, but the process is pretty is very formal. You know, a typical buyer will reach out to us through one of our various mediums, be fumbled to our company. They will complete a three page non-disclosure form, confidentiality agreement and a full financial profile. So now we know who the buyer is, what they do for a living, what they’re looking for, interest they have, and the types of businesses looking to inquire. And then at that point, we’ll send them out the full comprehensive overview of the company, right? That gives all the granular detail that they’re looking for in an acquisition.

Ryan Clark: [00:12:40] But at first they’re seeing a generic kind of teaser out there in the open market. It doesn’t really give it away. You know, it’s a radio station, it might say West Coast based radio. Station over 20 markets. Nothing specific. It could be a lot of different companies that fit that profile. And then I will say once they signed the NDA and they get through that process, the majority of buyers, they’re very respectful of the business owner. Most of them own companies. They understand what it’s like. They don’t want the word to get out, especially if there’s a serious acquisition candidate. The last thing they want to do is devalue the company by doing that and let somebody else know that it’s possibly for sale and get cut out from underneath them. So confidentiality is sort of part of the process. We make sure people understand the reasons why we keep it confidential. And it’s written in every email, every correspondence, every disclaimer is that this information we’re providing is for you and not to be shared with anybody else.

Stone Payton: [00:13:35] So you’ve mentioned a couple of times 20 plus years doing this. Have you had an opportunity along the way to to have the benefit of some mentors, a mentor, too, and have you now that you have this experience base, have you taken the opportunity to to mentor anyone else?

Ryan Clark: [00:13:59] Yeah, it’s a good question, I would say. A lot of my mentors over the years have been not really direct mentors. Just do some of my training growing up. Just experience being an athlete, coaches, I would say. And then early on in my career, studying a lot of strengths in someone like, say, Tom Hopkins, who’s a sales guru. Right. Learning, learning lessons from Hopkins, getting to having the pleasure to play golf with him. When I was young in my early twenties, reading his books and kind of taking a lot of that philosophy. So as far as direct mentors, you know, this is really interesting. We got started in this business. We were young, we were in our late twenties, early thirties, and we didn’t know a whole lot. And I will tell you, through just really grinding through transactions and learning on the fly, it really helped us develop a system that we were able to perfect and didn’t take a lot of outside influence, to be honest, to to really incorporate into the way we do things now. We did here and there, but there was really nobody directly that would say older than us, more mature, that we just took took us under our wing and we learn. Now, on the flip side, yes, I mean, take a lot of pleasure and and teaching people, giving away a lot of information, coaching people within some of my advisory groups that I’m part of.

Ryan Clark: [00:15:19] When you when you sort of when you’re really engaged in an industry and you sort of you kind of know your place in that industry, I think it becomes more common that you’re willing to share a lot of insights and a lot of information on what you’re trying to get done and how you can help people. Because ultimately that’s the goal, right, is to help people through these situations that they’re in and do it the best way possible. So I do give a lot of advice to a lot of attorneys, a lot of accountants, a lot of dealmakers, because ultimately they want to know from a real hands on experience standpoint, how should this transaction go? And there may be looking at it a little bit more compartmentalized rather than looking at it holistically from an entire transaction standpoint, we have to be in tune to a lot of the parts of the deal from the legal side, from the accounting side. Well, we’re not giving legal advice or we’re not CPAs just being aware of the various types of methodologies that people can use in the right kinds of advisors to refer them to.

Stone Payton: [00:16:17] So I know in our work there are a handful of what would you call them, misconceptions, preconceived notions, assumptions. You know, I feel like we approach our whole strategy toward leveraging media to help people and make money a little different. And so I know I can almost anticipate I’m going to run into a handful of some of the same misconceptions, preconceived notions. Are there some misconceptions, common misconceptions about about your industry or your business?

Ryan Clark: [00:16:52] You mean just in general from a I would say from an intermediary standpoint, there’s probably going to always be some, right. Because of the, I guess, misunderstanding the value that we’re bringing to the table. Right. Ultimately, when we’re being brought in on a referral basis from whether it’s a wealth manager, financial advisor, you know, ultimately everybody’s waiting for this event. And the event typically comes when we bring the buyer to the table and close the transaction. That’s when this liquidity event or major event happens for a lot of different people. So I would say the value of a good intermediary, it’s it’s the glue that holds a transaction together. It’s the one who’s going to kind of guide all sides through this process now. Yes. Can somebody get into this business without a lot of experience and really not have that volume and say they’re an intermediary? I’m a broker. I’m an expert. Of course they can do that. Right. Right. But to be a seasoned one who’s made it through, you know, all of the battles, that this is a a tough business to get through once you’ve done it for a long period of time, you sold maybe 50 to 100 companies and you’ve been through some of these battles. You definitely have a perspective that is going to be very unique and very different now as far as misconceptions go on the buy and the sell side. Absolutely. There’s dozens of them, right? The seller is always, not always, but will typically want more money than somebody worth.

Stone Payton: [00:18:18] Right.

Ryan Clark: [00:18:19] And the buyer doesn’t want to pay as much money as the business before the buyer wants to get it with no money down and seller finance and the seller wants all cash. Right? There’s all sorts of variables where you have to bring people together and set realistic expectations. I would say that’s sort of a misconception or not getting people who maybe have read a book or two on how to buy a company to understand that’s maybe not necessarily how you buy a business or what you’re going to be left with with that type of a business isn’t going to be the kind of business that you want to buy. So if you are going to buy a good business, there’s going to be general rules and principles and the way you got to go about yourself and how you have to handle your. So one thing I will tell most buyers who come to us always share a lot of information. Tell us who you are, where you’re getting your money from, what you can afford. Give us a snapshot, an accurate snapshot as to who you are. And then we’re going to be better help serving you, guiding you in the right direction, and really giving you these opportunities that may or may you may or may not have access to on the open market transactions and listings that just come in or an opportunity that we’re working on.

Ryan Clark: [00:19:27] It’s all interaction, right? It’s developing a relationship or in a relationship business with buyers and sellers and other advisors in our industry. So ultimately it’s about being transparent and being straightforward and honest. That’s the way you’re going to get it. That’s where you’re going to get what you want if you’re a buyer developing that relationship. Really common conversation I have with buyers, whether it’s dealing with myself or my company or anybody else. Find people who sell companies like that that you want to buy and develop a good long term relationship with them and get them to understand. You’re an easy person to work with. Your flexible, your liquid, what you can spend. And once an intermediary understands that part of the equation, then they can help guide you through it. If you’re going to be secretive and not tell them who you are or where your money from and just kind of demand information, you’re not going to get very far in this business. So really having that openness is really the key, I would say, working with buyers.

Stone Payton: [00:20:24] Well, as you were talking. Two things. One, I think you painted, at least for me, the absolute perfect picture that brings it into focus for why it is so important to have someone like you with the specialized knowledge, with the experience, base, the expertise to facilitate that, what can be, I guess, a pretty sometimes a pretty big gap in the beginning. The other thing that’s beginning to dawn on me a little bit, this whole world, when it’s done right, is much more relationship oriented, relationship dependent than transactional than I guess I was anticipating. Is that accurate?

Ryan Clark: [00:21:07] Oh, 100%. It really is. In the first the first comment, yes, I’ve mentioned the word perspective a few times. And I think you gain you gain perspective through wisdom. You gain wisdom through experience. So I think that as you have perspective and you can share that with people, that’s what keeps people on track, right? That’s what keeps the buyer and seller moving towards the ultimate goal because you can share real true life perspective as what will happen or what could possibly happen if they do go down a road that maybe they’re thinking about going down. And that’s helpful. That’s part of the success rate. That’s how we sell 82% of our listings. Historically, our companies wow. Industry average is about about 33%. So yeah, that’s that perspective is a huge part. Now the second part of your question, I can’t remember if you can refresh my memory on that one.

Stone Payton: [00:21:53] Well, just just just relationship. This is a much more relationship oriented than transactional. I guess I had a frame around it that was much more transactional.

Ryan Clark: [00:22:02] No, I will share with you. So we were just recently we just closed a 27 location, fast casual franchise or representative franchise. Right. So the franchise was a brand that I’ve known and well known out here on the West Coast. However, the seller of the franchise or came to me because I helped them do some acquisitions on another another large chain down in San Diego a couple of years back. Right. So I had developed a relationship with them as a buyer and then they came back through as a seller. That happens in reverse and backwards and forwards all day long, right? So there might be a company that we helped build. We helped bring them from maybe one location to 35 location, and then we’re involved in the sale 14 years later. So it is definitely a long term relationship, not one transaction at a time. You’re always thinking big picture, and I think that’s how we’ve survived really 20 years. It’s because that is our mentality and everybody knows it. So we’re always thinking about down the road and doing the right thing because this is this is your lifeblood from the seller’s side.

Ryan Clark: [00:23:10] While we represent the seller exclusively in almost every situation, many of them are just one and done. You sell their company, the retired. They’re gone. Yeah. That buyer who we don’t always represent becomes our seller down the road in the future, and they come a buyer as well. So it’s very important to balance this and be very honest and transparent through our process with the buyer and the seller. Just because we represent a seller doesn’t mean we’re going to go along with maybe their antics one way or another. We’re going to be honest with them. We’re going to be straight with them because we know that ultimately it’s going to potentially kill their transaction. So we want to be very straight about that with them and get them on the right track. And that’s really where the tough work comes in, getting people to understand your perspective and your. Where you’re coming from. It’s kind of Dale Carnegie. Maybe a mentor of mine. Something I’ve learned from him. Getting people to understand where you’re coming from is is really important and understand where they’re coming from.

Stone Payton: [00:24:09] I got to say, 82 point something percent versus down in the thirties. That’s what an impressive track record. And I think you’ve probably at least partially already answered this question. But I’m going to ask it anyway, because it’s so many of our listeners want to want to get some insight on this topic. And it’s it’s largely my role in my company. But I am curious, how does the whole sales and marketing thing work for a company like yours? It seems like it would be a it seems like once you once you’re in a conversation like this. My guess is they signed if they’re. But like like like that new business. Those those new relationships. How. I mean, can you advertise? How does that happen?

Ryan Clark: [00:24:53] Yeah, I would tell you, it’s interesting. So obviously through websites and when you have a lot of companies on the open market, even confidentially, through the various marketing mediums that you use to advertise your businesses, people see that, right? Business owners see that they’ve acquired on businesses. And when you’ve been doing it for 20 years, a lot of them have come through our system. We get a lot of sellers who came through our system at some point to try to buy a company. They didn’t buy something from us. Maybe they found something different. Maybe they moved on in a different direction. But then they did maybe acquire something and they remember us. They remembered the process, they remembered the NDA, they remembered being qualified, and they remember the level of information that our phenomenal marketing team gave them. And they said, Wow, if I ever want to sell my company, I’m getting involved. A call that’s where I’m going to go with I didn’t really care for the guy I bought the business through. I’m going to I’m going to get through that. So back it up about the 80. Yeah, when you talk about 82%, there’s so many factors that go into what’s going to give you a high closing ratio, right? The relationship with the seller, I would say before we even get into the industry, Stone, it’s about the relationship that you have with the business owner. Is this someone who we want to align ourselves with? Do they have the same? Are our incentives aligned with them through this process? If they’re just testing the waters, they’re not serious about selling or they’re thinking their expectations are much higher than what we even think the market would could eventually bear for them.

Ryan Clark: [00:26:17] It might not be worth it for us to engage them and to take them on. Right. So we have as much as decision making at the beginning is they do obviously, right. We can choose if we want to engage them or not. So that’s a big part of it. You know, pricing the companies correctly, another part of it, making sure they’re valued the right way, making sure that ultimately they’re sellable, listing the right types of businesses and then qualifying buyers and really making them go through a process. And then once we get into an LOI or a contract base, managing that process, effectively putting out fires, keeping plates, spinning all the cliches you want to come up with, that’s what gets you and translates ultimately what comes out at the end at an 82% closing ratio. It’s not just a simple, okay, we had a lot of buyers coming in, so we’re able to sell. A lot of buyers know how to find us. We’re not that difficult to find. It’s about getting through. A transaction is really where the magic happens. And that’s really the value that a real experienced intermediary or broker or M&A advisor is going to really hold that value, not just putting it on a bunch of websites and having people find you. So yeah, a lot, a lot to it in that in that in that perspective for sure.

Stone Payton: [00:27:28] Yeah. Okay. Before we wrap, if you would, let’s leave our our potential buyers and sellers out there, even people that are just beginning to think about this and want to learn more. Let’s leave them with a couple of pro tips. Just something they should be thinking about reading, doing, not doing. Just a little something they can sink their teeth into, if you would.

Ryan Clark: [00:27:49] Absolutely. There’s a few of them, right. Typically, when it comes to value, speak to a professional that sells companies. Once they start evaluating your company, don’t necessarily just take the advice of some other advisor or your Uncle Louis or somebody like that for your company. Speak to someone who does it for a living and then start setting expectations based off of that. So that way you’re going into this thing, you know, somewhat realistic knowing that, okay, if I’m going to sell, this is really what it is, but be open with a professional, share financial data with them, be very transparent. The things that keep you up at 2:00 in the morning that you’re scared of, make sure they know about that as well. So that way they can find ways to mitigate that. But so these are sort of some very high level suggestions when you get in down to like maybe more than meat and potatoes type stuff, organize your financials, make sure you have organized panels, income statements, balance sheets, tax returns. That’s sort of the financial component of it. Make sure you have your financials together because buyers are going to expect to see that and from an organizational standpoint. When I mentioned the owner’s role in the company, start empowering people maybe to take some of the menial tasks of the owner.

Ryan Clark: [00:29:05] Does preparing the company a little bit better for an acquisition? Definitely a nice component. And then a third thing I’ll say, concentration. Depending on the industry. You want to have diverse revenue streams, sometimes especially small businesses. It’s very difficult to not get stuck in a concentration concern where you’re maybe making a product for a large company and you’re sort of beholden to them. It becomes very easy to do that. So it’s not always a bad thing if their infrastructure is all also set up and they’re very reliant on you. But I would say in general, having a very diverse income stream, we’re that way, maybe not one customer, 15, 20% of your revenue, you keep it down 5 to 10%, spread it out. That’s going to most buyers are going to look at that for an acquisition standpoint. I think it’s going to be more diverse, a more stable, more steady revenue stream. So those are sort of some tips off the bat. It’s really polishing it up, making it a better company, a more refined company before you take it to the open market, because these are the things that the buyers are going to exploit very quickly. They’re going to pick them apart and they’re going to look for real value in some of the nuance that’s going to exist within your business.

Stone Payton: [00:30:17] All right. Okay. So if someone wants to reach out to have a conversation with you or someone on your team, let’s leave them with some coordinates, whatever you think is appropriate, whether it’s an email, a website, a LinkedIn. But I want them to be able to connect with you and and open up a conversation if it makes sense. So let’s leave them with some some points of contact, if we could.

Ryan Clark: [00:30:38] Absolutely. I would say our website, we have multiple sites. We have our Main Street site, which is the group dot com more of the M&A focused site where a lot of our energy goes is build Macomb V is and Victor is an Edward Ellis and Larry Diaz and David Amazon Mary A is in Apple.com. My personal email is Ryan at Veld Markham. Our phone number here locally is area code 31065283533106528353. And yeah, we have a couple different offices in Southern California. We work with buyers in some cases in different parts of the country. Our focus is California, San Francisco, down to San Diego all through this massive state. But we do work in transactions in other states as well, depending on the licensing.

Stone Payton: [00:31:29] Well, Ryan, it has been an absolute delight having you on the show. Thanks so much for coming on and sharing your insight and your story. This has been informative, inspiring and a marvelous way to invest a Thursday afternoon.

Ryan Clark: [00:31:43] Man Thank you, Stone. I really appreciate your time as well. And allowing me to share some experience with your with your audience and anywhere I can help somebody feel free to reach out.

Stone Payton: [00:31:54] Fantastic. If you would stay on the line, I’d like to chat with you for just a moment after, but we’re going to tell these folks by. Okay. All right. This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Ryan Clark with the Veld Group and everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying we’ll see you next time on Buy a Business Near Me.

Realtor Carlyn Costo

August 1, 2022 by angishields

Cherokee Business Radio

Realtor Carlyn Costo

00:00 /

Carlyn Costo is a realtor serving the North Metro parts of Atlanta, Georgia. She is passionate about serving her clients with honesty, transparency and a high level of customer service.

Although Carlyn typically specializes in helping first time home buyers, she’s there for anyone looking to buy, sell or invest.

Her goal is for each and every client to feel comfortable and confident throughout the process and she’s so thankful to be part of a career that allows her to serve others and be part of one of their biggest life decisions.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:23] And welcome. We are live at the Cherokee Business Radio facility. Welcome to Fearless Formula on Cherokee Radio X, where we talk about the ups and downs in the business world and offer words of wisdom for business success. I’m your host, Sharon Klein. And our guest in the studio today is a realtor who serves the north metro parts of Atlanta, Georgia. She’s very passionate about serving her clients with honesty, transparency and a high level of customer service. And although she specializes in helping first time homebuyers, she is here for everyone. So we want to say hello to Carlene Costo.

Carlyn Costo: [00:01:01] Hi, Sharon. Thanks for having me.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:03] You’re welcome.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:06] Well, one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you today was because, first of all, the whole housing industry. Right. For four years. Yes. But you’re still kind of consider yourself a bit relatively new to the industry. Why don’t you tell me a little bit about your history?

Carlyn Costo: [00:01:21] Yeah. So I got into the business and January of 2021, which was a crazy time to get into real estate. Now, a lot of people, they say, Oh, my goodness, what a great time to get into the business. And here I am like, well, little do you know, it was probably the craziest. I mean, I’m so thankful. I’m so grateful. Business has been good. But, you know, it has been tough. It has not been without challenge, let me tell you.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:48] So it’s interesting because you started after the pandemic, right? Yeah. So well when.

Carlyn Costo: [00:01:53] We kind of during the pandemic.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:55] Yes. So it’s in the beginning. In the beginning was what, January, February, March of 2021. Oh yeah. And then so the next that next January is when you started. Yeah. What made you want to get into the industry?

Carlyn Costo: [00:02:07] So I quit my full time job with a large retail retailer in August of 2020, and I have always been interested in real estate. I some of my memories of growing up, my mom and I and the neighborhood that we grew up in, we would always they for the 20 years that we live there, they were still continuing to build houses. And so my mom and I, we would always go in and we would sneak into these houses like illegally. Basically, you can’t do that nowadays.

Carlyn Costo: [00:02:40] We would go into all these houses. And I think that’s kind of where my love of homes just started. And, you know, she kind of instilled in me this love of interior design. Like, you know, one of our favorite hobbies to do together is just go to all these home decor stores. You know, we’re always at home goods. And so, I don’t know, I just kind of fell in love with homes and interior design, and I’ve always had an interest in that. And so yeah, basically in 2020 when I kind of realized I couldn’t go any higher up on the corporate ladder, I decided to get into real estate. And I had a good friend who we both know, James, who was in real estate. And so it just was very intriguing to me. I’ve always loved helping people. That’s like a huge passion for me. It kind of drives me with everything in my life. I just kind of if I’m not helping, I feel like I’m not doing anything. And so it just gives me purpose. And yeah, it’s a huge passion of mine to just help people. And so that’s how I got in.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:41] Well, it’s kind of cool, too, because I was thinking about this earlier, how you’re a younger person in this industry and you are dealing with veterans, and I don’t even exactly know what would some how long someone needs to be in the industry to be considered a veteran.

Carlyn Costo: [00:03:55] I mean, you get a lot of these older agents who they are constantly boasting about being 20 years in the business and all this and all. That’s great. But, you know, it’s tough because I haven’t had 20 years to be in the business. I’m only 25. So, you know, when you’re comparing apples to oranges, it’s kind of, you know, it stinks.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:15] It’s not the best.

Carlyn Costo: [00:04:16] But yeah, I mean, it’s definitely tough, especially because I look like I’m 16. So seriously, like everybody, everybody questions my age. And so I feel like when you are younger and you’re trying to be super professional and, you know, it’s it’s tough. People don’t take you seriously when you look younger than you are. Like, people are always shocked. When I say I’m 25, they’re like, oh my goodness, I would have never guessed. And I’m like.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:45] Yeah, you know, get in line, that’s everybody.

Carlyn Costo: [00:04:49] But yeah, so, you know, just a few years, I don’t know, real estate, you know, it’s it’s not measured by the time that you’re in it. It’s more so, you know, your view on it and how serious you take it, in my opinion.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:06] Well, I imagine there’s a huge degree of involvement with different realtors and seller’s agents and buyers agents and what that must be like, given your work ethic and then someone else’s. So I imagine even at your age, having the perspective that. You do and the passion that you do, having to interact with another agent that doesn’t have sort of the same thought process about how important it is to be what. Reachable and responsive. Responsive, I guess. Is that the right word?

Carlyn Costo: [00:05:38] I mean, yeah, I always say, you know, no two agents are the same. So there’s a lot of people that get into real estate and it’s just a hobby to them. And I’m not here for it to be a hobby. This is my career, this is my full time job, and I take it very seriously. So, you know, it’s tough when not every agent tackles or handles their business the same. A lot of people, you know, they don’t care. This is maybe for fun for them or more so a hobby. But yeah, I mean, I’m trying my best and.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:14] Well, I think that’s interesting. It’s something to think about the fact that this is something that is almost like, well, my extra time, I’m going to sell houses. Yes. Whereas for you and probably many other people, it’s very serious. It’s your it’s your livelihood. Yeah, it’s your every day. I was thinking about this, too. How you don’t ever get to say it’s Sunday. It’s my day off. I know, I know.

Carlyn Costo: [00:06:36] That’s what I say a lot of times to anybody who’s kind of looking to get into the business because, you know, I think a common misconception about the real estate industry is that we have a lot of flexibility, which we do, but we don’t have freedom. So I think that’s definitely a misconception. You know. Yes. Are there Saturdays and Sundays where I don’t do anything? Absolutely. Tomorrow will be one of those days. I’ve got family coming in town and, you know, I just happen to have all my ducks in a row. But that’s not every Saturday in real estate is a lot of times, night times and weekends. And so and I think that’s another reason why it is, you know, it gravitates towards a lot of people who want to do it part time. But, you know, this is an industry that it kind of takes if you take it as seriously as I do, it takes your 100% of your focus and your energy and your time and you’re constantly consumed. I mean, at least for me, I’m constantly consumed by it. I’m always checking the I’m always doing something. I’m either creating content or emailing or phone call and, you know, just whatever I can do. But yeah, it’s definitely tough when there’s part time agents and they, you know, there’s a lot of agents too, that will only work 9 to 5. But, you know, I always share with any anybody who wants to get in the business that, yes, we’ve got flexibility, but we do not have freedom.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:59] Is there something that you wish you knew back when you were getting started, that someone could have told you that could have helped you out, that you know, now?

Carlyn Costo: [00:08:07] Yeah, I mean, that’s a great question. I mean, you know, I think that and this is kind of a life thing that your mindset is everything, you know. So if you don’t have the right mindset, you won’t be successful really in anything you do. So, you know, I think that was probably the toughest thing, the toughest obstacle I had to overcome last year with last year being my first year in real estate, that, you know, everything is kind of long term, nothing is short term, nothing is quick. And, you know, we live in a world where everything is, you know, instant gratification. We want things instantly. We want them now. We want Postmates and Netflix and the next episode and the next season and whatever it may be. And so I think that’s so easy to just have the mindset of like, okay, what’s my next thing? But for me, I’m constantly focusing on the bigger picture and the long term. And, you know, I think I’ve adjusted my mindset at least last year. It was a huge thing for me to do and to prioritize because truly, if you do not have that mindset that you know, your real estate business is everything’s for the long term, you will not make it.

Sharon Cline: [00:09:25] So beaten down emotionally. Yeah, I find the same thing for me when I’m doing voiceovers, when I’m trying to audition, audition, audition, and I just do the best I can. And then you never I just send it out there and just hope that someone likes it and you just never know if it’s going to have anything with fruition. I mean, obviously you learn everything that you’re doing and probably every house you look at, you download something you like or not like about it, whether you sell it or buy it or whatever. But I wanted to ask you as well, who who is a mentor of yours? Well, no. I actually want to ask you about marketing a little bit, if that’s okay. You would talked about how you have all of these different things that you’re thinking about constantly. Right. And if you’re not actually walking through a house or directly dealing with a client, you are thinking about your business. What is that like? What do you have to do?

Carlyn Costo: [00:10:12] So are you asking more so for like, let’s say, like today, for instance, I did not look at any houses. So today, or at least for me, I. I always have some bit of content creation in my day that is very important to me in my business. And I understand, you know, the fact that consistency is key. So if you’re not consistent, you know, you’re not out there, you’re not building trust or value with your customers. And so I’m always wanting to do something, at least in my day, that benefits me. So whether that’s connecting with somebody, following up with people who maybe six months ago said, hey, you know, I am looking to buy an August and I and the conversation by saying, okay, I’ll follow up with you at the end of July, I make sure that, you know, I’ve got those things. I will get things organized paperwork, you know, I do emails, whatever. Let’s say if I’m in a in the middle of a transaction, you know, I’ve got to follow up with those types of things. You know, it’s kind of just the day, day to day, little tiny tasks that collectively form to build out my day. Now, I mean, the thing about real estate, like I said, there’s a lot of flexibility. So, you know, I may not work 8 hours in a day, but there are certainly days where I wake up and real estates all I’ve done all day. So like given, you know, let’s say I’ve got a few transactions going on at once, that’s a lot in a 30 day time span to, you know, kind of sit down, organize, make sure all the time frames are going well. Anything in the contract that needs to be done is being handled that I’m connecting with the closing attorney, the lender, my clients, you know, everybody on a regular basis. But yeah, so really the only consistent thing I do in my day is going to be content creation. So Instagram, that’s really primarily where I live. I’m trying to go out to tech talk.

Speaker4: [00:12:16] But it’s a little.

Carlyn Costo: [00:12:18] It’s a little intimidating, it’s a little bit scary. So I’m trying to get there. But yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:23] Do you feel like I don’t know if it’s your generation or if it’s I mean, I think it’s just the nature of our world is so social media. Yes, it is. Do you feel like there are some real estate agents or real tours that don’t use social media?

Carlyn Costo: [00:12:41] Oh, yes, absolutely.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:42] How hard is it? Is it harder for them, do you think?

Carlyn Costo: [00:12:45] I think so, just because so I’m kind of one of those people that if I’m not learning and I’m not constantly growing, I’m not becoming better. So another thing that I do constantly in my day is I’m always listening to podcasts. I’m always wanting to be the most educated. And like I said, if I’m not learning, then I’m not growing. So for me, social media is integral. Now for another agent who let’s say they’ve been in the business 25 years, you know, it’s much harder to adapt, but you’ve got to adapt with, you know what? Well, and I’ll say this also, you know, maybe like a 50 year old is not going to be going after the same type of clientele that I’m going after. So I know my niche market and I know that my niche is going to be those first time buyers. Now, yes, I can help anybody and everybody in the state of Georgia. But, you know, just with my age, I know that those are the types of people who are going to gravitate towards me. And so I think that video is essential, especially short form video. That’s kind of where everything is geared towards right now. And a lot of people my age and I’d say most millennials are going to Instagram or social media to find, you know, whatever it may be. So realtors included, you know. So I think that it’s a huge part of business, but not every agent does it. Some agents are definitely stuck in the older marketing ways, and that’s okay because, you know, everybody runs their business differently. Everyone’s going to have a different perspective on it. And no two agents are the same, so nobody’s going to have the same business plan. But yeah, for me it’s huge.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:37] Well, you’re going to be helping me, I think in the future.

Speaker4: [00:14:40] Not all radio hosts know how to do that either. Oh, my goodness. That’s so true. I need help, girl. I got you.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:46] Well, okay, so. No, thank you. I wanted to ask you, who are your mentors who help who help kind of guide you?

Carlyn Costo: [00:14:52] I mean, I don’t want to say nobody because I mean, I don’t I wouldn’t really say I’ve got a mentor. So I did have a mentor at my previous brokerage. And she was wonderful. She was amazing. But, you know, like I said, there are no two similar agents. So it’s really hard to align yourself with somebody else’s business who, you know, you’re not going to structure your business their way. So. Yeah. They can have advice and ideas and they can, you know, kind of point you in a certain direction. But I think at the end of the day, it’s really about asking yourself how you want your business to look and what’s important to you, what kind of values are matter to you. So I mean, this is kind of silly, but a lot of my mentors that I or I guess would say people who I idolize and then I want to align my business with, have podcasts and I listen to them. So. Or somebody like Ed Mylett. If you haven’t listened to his podcast, I highly recommend he is amazing life changing. But I mean, I listen to like Tom Ferry, I listen to Brian Buffini.

Carlyn Costo: [00:16:09] I don’t know if you’ve heard of Brian Buffini, but he is another huge real estate mogul and he is kind of also in the space of like lifestyle and just living a good life. He just changed his podcast title to actually like Living the Good Life or something like that. He’s all about that. It’s it’s a lot of, you know, just wellness within as a person and always becoming a better person and just being smart and wise about business. And yeah, and then I mean, there’s a lot of people, but there’s an agent. Her name’s Casey Rutherford. I love how she runs her business. She is a lot of times on social media, and that’s kind of how she gets a lot of her clients. And so, yeah, I mean, like I said, I’ve had the one mentor, Karen, shout out to you, Karen, you’re amazing and I love you. But, you know, it’s definitely tough because, you know, real estate is a self-employed business. At the end of the day, I work for myself and, you know, every agent works for themselves. So unless you’re on the team. But yeah, I mean, it’s a tough question.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:18] It is, I imagine, because like you said, you’ve got a lot of different resources. Yeah, I love the notion of someone promoting a lifestyle of balance and health because I can imagine it’s.

Carlyn Costo: [00:17:29] So.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:29] Important. Yeah, you don’t have the days off, like I was saying. So you could get sucked in at three in the morning because a house.

Speaker4: [00:17:35] Went on live. I’d be asleep at 3 a.m., but I wish I were. My goodness.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:40] Well, I also wanted to ask you, what do you think has been the most challenging? Is it balance?

Carlyn Costo: [00:17:46] No, I’d say the there’s a lot that’s challenging about real estate. And I think the most challenging part about real estate is that nobody knows how challenging it is. You know, it’s tough and you constantly have to like I said, you’ve got to have the right mindset. You’ve got to understand that everything that you do is going to you’re going to have results in 60, 90, 120 days, you know, 365 days. I mean, I’ve had people where I’ve spoken with them for leading up to maybe about seven months before, you know, I just sold a house and that was like a seven month thing. So that’s really tough. I think the other thing that’s really tough and it’s kind of funny because you mentioned this on your previous radio show, but is just feeling kind of what’s.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:40] The word imposter.

Carlyn Costo: [00:18:41] Syndrome. Yes. Thank you so much. It’s imposter syndrome because, you know, and especially with social media in this day and age, I never, ever want to come off like, you know, life is amazing because we always we all have our tough times. We all go through things in life. So a lot of times on social media, it can kind of come off like it’s easy and it’s fun and you know, you’re making all this money, which you’re not. And, you know, I think it’s just there’s there’s several things that are challenging. But if I had to choose one, it would probably be the imposter syndrome, because I get a lot of times like, oh, my goodness, you’re, you know, you’re killing it. You’re doing so great. And while I am, I am the toughest person on myself. And I don’t think I am, you know, so I don’t know. There’s there’s a lot to real estate. There’s so many pros and there’s a lot of cons. But I mean, I think just real estate as a whole, it’s tough. You know, you compare yourself, yeah.

Speaker4: [00:19:44] You compare yourself.

Carlyn Costo: [00:19:45] So much to other agents and kind of like what I was just saying a lot. Most agents, that’s what they use social media for it. It’s a it’s a shouting from the rooftops. Look how great I am because you want people to use you. And so I think that’s kind of tough to see every day from all these agents that I follow. And, you know, I love following other agents. I love connecting with other agents. I think we can all help each other. I have several agents who I meet up with on a weekly basis to go get coffee and we just chat all things real estate. But you know, it’s tough when you’re comparing yourself to people who are ahead of you who maybe got. In the business five years ago. And, you know, I understand when you say it out loud, you can’t compare yourself to somebody who’s been in the business for much longer than you because you haven’t had that time. But, you know, comparison is the thief of joy. And I try to just, you know, remember that always. And I try my hardest not to compare. But, you know, some days that gets you down and you’ve got that imposter syndrome that creeps up.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:47] I told you, I think I live in imposter syndrome.

Speaker4: [00:20:50] I think.

Carlyn Costo: [00:20:51] We all.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:51] Wonder when they’re going to bust down the door.

Speaker4: [00:20:53] Drag me out of here. They let you in here. Oh, my goodness. No, I mean.

Carlyn Costo: [00:20:57] Truly, I think there’s an element of imposter syndrome in all of us. I think we all think that way. But, you know, at the end of the day, you just got to recognize you are awesome and you’re doing your best and you know, your best might not be somebody else’s best, but hey, you are doing your best and that is all you can do.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:16] So far. So far, so good.

Speaker4: [00:21:18] Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:19] If you’re just joining us, I am speaking with Carlyn Casto. She is a realtor here in Georgia. And I was thinking how the pandemic has made things so difficult in so many aspects of our lives, but in particular, it was just super, super hard on your industry. Yeah. Can you talk a little bit about what you’ve seen happen? And I know it’s changing even as we speak, but that’s part of it, right? It’s like so volatile and unpredictable.

Carlyn Costo: [00:21:46] Yeah. Yeah. There’s a lot out there right now about the market. And I mean, you know, real estate is so hyper local. So me commenting is kind of more so about like Cherokee County because that’s really like my hub. But yeah, the pandemic, I think, you know, we had a really slow moment in like March of 2020 and then by I think it was like June of 2020, things like sped up. So what we thought was a terrible market in 2020, it turned out to be an amazing market, right? So 2021 was the toughest year to buy.

Speaker4: [00:22:21] Which is when you bought.

Carlyn Costo: [00:22:23] And this year, honestly, I mean, it has gotten tougher each year really. So I would say I mean, really, this year has been the toughest. I mean, I’ve had buyers like waiving everything and just yeah.

Speaker4: [00:22:36] It was.

Carlyn Costo: [00:22:36] Insane.

Speaker4: [00:22:37] I was right. Oh, okay.

Carlyn Costo: [00:22:38] But but we are no longer there. Really. Yes. You’ll get my email newsletter. And so yeah, I mean, we have seen a huge shift, like huge shift.

Sharon Cline: [00:22:50] In the last shift. Yeah, it was like a couple of weeks.

Carlyn Costo: [00:22:53] So I mean, you know, nobody can predict. All we can do is kind of look at the data of where we are at now. But I would say as for right now, and this is so, so dependent on the House, the condition of the home, the location, the price range. I mean, it’s so different and the below 300 from the 305 hundred and then from the 500 plus. I mean, even million over all those markets are very different. They could be the same location, very, very different markets. So, you know, it’s tough to say, but I think with like let’s talk about interest rates, I guess they were so, so artificially low. And the twos, I mean, that is artificial. That’s not you know, that’s not something that’s going to be productive longevity. And, you know, it’s kind of difficult when a lot of people, especially my age, you know, we heard about the twos and the threes and we are no longer there. We are in the fives. I think I just saw this morning, it was like 5.33, which is really good historically. That is an amazing interest rate. But when you’ve got people comparing it to the twos and threes, they think it’s terrible. But you know, a common saying in the real estate industry is to marry the home and date the rate. And it’s so true you cannot predict, you know, what’s going to happen. But if you are financially ready and you’re prepared to buy a house, get in the market, get in there, buy a house, because, you know, there’s nothing better than buying real estate and waiting, you know. Yeah. Are there going to be ups and downs and ebbs and flows? Yes, absolutely. And especially with our market right now, like we are heading towards a recession. Some may say we are in a recession. And I’m not going to say we’re not because we pretty much are.

Speaker4: [00:24:48] But.

Carlyn Costo: [00:24:51] You know, all the data just says right now that home prices are still going to go up. Interest rates, they are kind of on the rise. I’ve seen some interesting data these last few days that they should kind of top off in the fives. So in December of 2022, we’re looking around the five point twos, which again is it’s all a prediction. We never know. They could be wrong, who knows? But that’s what the data is saying. And, you know, historically, a home is, you know. It’s a huge asset against inflation. It’s your largest asset against inflation and your home, you know, it appreciates and we’re not going to see depreciation this year. We’re not supposed to see it really any year coming soon. So, you know, it’s been tough. It’s been crazy. I think that is why the market went where it did because of those artificially low rates who can’t afford a house really at a 2% interest rate. You’re basically stealing money at that low of an interest rate. So, you know, but now we’re in the fives. It’s kicked out a lot of buyers, which, you know, is really sad. I know it’s you know, it’s really tough for people right now, especially with rentals. Oh, my goodness. I’ve had friends who cannot find places. You know, it’s heartbreaking, but and I wish I could change it. I literally told a friend the other day, I said, you know, if I had all the money in the world, I would be a builder and I would build cute as heck little to bed to bath homes. I just like a little cottage, you know? That’s all that the first time buyer needs most. Most of the time. But they’re not doing that.

Sharon Cline: [00:26:31] Do you think people have unrealistic expectations?

Speaker4: [00:26:35] Yes.

Carlyn Costo: [00:26:36] Yes. Especially. I mean, you know, when you’re a first time buyer, you’ve got to look at a house as a building block. It is a stepping stone to get you into another house. So as long as you’re in that first home for two years, you are good to go. You’ve got to stay there two years and that is it. After that two year mark, you can move and I mean, you can move before the two year mark, but you’ve got to pay the capital gains tax, which nobody wants to pay. So that is not my advice.

Speaker4: [00:27:05] Do not move before two years. You don’t want to pay that.

Carlyn Costo: [00:27:09] But, you know, I think that just with all these shows that we’ve got in social media and all the stuff, Pinterest and everybody’s got unrealistic expectations. And, you know, I’m even in that because, you know, I look at all these houses all day long and I’m like, oh, my goodness, the pretty white and the wood beams and the gorgeous shaker.

Speaker4: [00:27:31] Yeah, and the.

Carlyn Costo: [00:27:32] Oh, my goodness. The quartz countertops and oh, my gosh, look at this faucet and the light fixtures and all these things. But, you know, realistically, you’ve got to think of ways to increase the value of your home. So let’s say you get into a home and it’s not, you know, the perfect house a it’s a building block to your next home. And B, you know, the fun of a home is making it yours. So, you know, throw up an accent wall that’s super cheap, super easy to do. You know, paint paint can really, really lift and increase what a home looks like. I mean, slap some white paint on the walls or whatever, you know, paint color. It might be it can change the whole room. Same with light fixtures, you know, people I don’t think anybody pays as much attention to light fixtures as I do because a light fixture can change the whole room. I mean, same with furniture, you know, it’s just it’s about maximizing your natural light and playing off of that that can make a space look bigger and wider and lighter and brighter. And when we feel like that, we feel more comfortable in our home. And anyways, yeah, there’s just, you know, there are certain things that you can do to make your home your own. But also you’ve got to realize that your first home is a building block and a stepping stone to your next one.

Sharon Cline: [00:28:51] That’s a good point. It’s small things that they can do that’s not going to break the bank. That will make a big impact. Yeah. What do you think is your biggest mistake?

Speaker4: [00:29:01] Are you okay? My biggest mistake? Oh, well, is it okay for me to say that I don’t really have one? Oh, I mean.

Carlyn Costo: [00:29:10] I don’t know. I mean, that’s like a terrible answer.

Speaker4: [00:29:14] I don’t want people to think.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:15] I don’t think things are, though, because we.

Carlyn Costo: [00:29:17] Are so far.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:18] You’re still new in the industry and so far you’re just trying to do as much as you can to not have a mistake.

Carlyn Costo: [00:29:24] I’ll say this, I’m very aware of myself, but I will say the number one mistake that I made and I’ve touched on this is my mindset. When I first got into the business, just like so many others, you know, you think, Oh my goodness, I’m going to be closing homes left and right and everyone’s going to use me. And that is not true. You’ll find out very, very, very.

Speaker4: [00:29:47] Quickly that nobody.

Carlyn Costo: [00:29:50] Nobody trusts you. You’ve got to, you know, spend that time and, you know, build your trust and your value. And no one’s just going to hand you the keys to their largest financial asset to sell or, you know, help them buy if you don’t know anything. So I would say my yeah, my mindset in the beginning it was a very tough obstacle to overcome.

Sharon Cline: [00:30:15] So, you know, the show obviously fearless formulas we talk about a lot about ways that we anybody in a. This can kind of get knocked down and even mentally, not just something that’s a major event that happened, but just mentally get knocked down. What do you do to get yourself out of a mindset that is not conducive to building your business?

Carlyn Costo: [00:30:38] I would say great question.

Speaker4: [00:30:40] Oh, my goodness. You think I have good questions? Oh, my gosh, you’ve had my questions.

Carlyn Costo: [00:30:44] I would say I’m a bit I’m a big podcaster, so I would either go to listen to a podcast or, you know, you hear a lot about like journaling and meditating. And I recently just kind of realized how large of an impact that has on your life. I don’t know, just kind of being really aware with yourself. And when you get into a negative thought loop of thinking, I’m not enough or I’m not worthy for this or I don’t deserve this, or why does life suck or why this? Why that? You know, turn it into what can I what can I learn from this? What can I do to benefit from this? What can I do today to help myself be better? Kind of, yeah. It’s just it’s all about mindset. I mean, really, like, your mindset is so important in life. I mean, it is everything. So if you can get, like, a handle and a grasp on your mindset, you know, you’ll be okay.

Sharon Cline: [00:31:51] I’m going to take that to heart. I can use I can use some adjustments in my mindset.

Speaker4: [00:31:55] We all.

Carlyn Costo: [00:31:55] Can, you.

Sharon Cline: [00:31:56] Know. You know, it’s very easy. Yeah. Particularly for me to get in my own loop in my head about the things I do wrong and.

Carlyn Costo: [00:32:02] See if you stop that loop and you recognize that you’re in a loop and you say, You know what, I’m not going to be negative anymore. And you stop yourself right there and you say three positive things or what you’re grateful for. You know, that does wonders for your brain and your mind and you know, or oh, I would love to say this recently, you know, everyone’s walking. But I mean, you know, I’ve always grown up with my parents who they walk like five or six miles a day, like every day. And so, I mean, just with all these podcasts I listen to, I just really realize the importance of getting outside in nature and moving your body. It doesn’t matter if it’s 20 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, anything will help. So if I’m like in a really bad mindset and I’m really upset or I’ve had a terrible day, you know, you get ghosted a lot in real estate and you have a lot of people who say that they’ll buy or sell with you and then you don’t hear from them for two weeks. And then you see on their Instagram that they bought or sold with another agent, and then you’re like, okay, you know? And that hurts. Yeah. So, you know, going for a walk that does wonders for you.

Sharon Cline: [00:33:14] I love that there are some endorphins that get released and can be helpful. I’ll be doing that shortly as well as I get out of physical therapy. But no, and I’m looking forward to it because I can tell in my own mind that not I feel like very out of touch with my body at the moment and how that affects a lot of the way that I think like this. The first thing I think about when I get up in the morning, it’s the last thing I think about what did I do today? Did I do anything physical to try to get me to connect back again? Because when you get an injury and you’re told not to move, it makes it really challenging. I didn’t even realize how much that affected my mindset, so I really I value that and I’m glad that you have that experience. Even for me to say, Yeah, I know Cali. Cali said it was good ways. Okay if I call you Cali as opposed to Oh my goodness, of course. Yes. I didn’t really specify. No.

Carlyn Costo: [00:34:01] Oh, my gosh. I tell everyone, I don’t listen. If you call me Cali or Carlin, I hear like the first part.

Speaker4: [00:34:07] And then I’ll. Yeah, I turn my attention. I’m like, Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:34:11] How hard is it to have repeat customers? Have you had any yet? What do you do so that because it’s an industry that doesn’t obviously you buy a house and you’ve got, what, seven, eight years? What is the average that people keep their homes? I don’t even know.

Carlyn Costo: [00:34:25] Yeah. So it used to be, I want to say like seven the number. I mean you ask ten different people, you’re going to get ten different responses. Sometimes it’s nine, sometimes it’s seven, sometimes it’s lesser than that. The trend usually is a lot of first time buyers will hold their home for 2 to 3 years and then sell. But I mean, that doesn’t take up a huge or the larger part of the market. So I’d say about seven years. That’s about the average across the United States.

Sharon Cline: [00:34:53] And you keep in touch with your clients it just to. Yes. And also for referrals, is that right?

Carlyn Costo: [00:34:58] Yes. Yes. So referrals are super, super important in real estate, or at least if you want to run the business like I want to run my business. So I’m strictly word of mouth referrals, sphere of influence. So sphere of influence is all the people that you know. And then of course you rely on word of mouth and referrals from clients, past clients, friends, anybody who knows you. So I do a lot of like I love Popeye’s, you know. I’ve got one coming and like August or September it’ll be like s’mores. But I love like cute little marketing things, sending out like little postcards. I just had one with a lottery ticket in it. I had a few different pass clients like send that to me that they won like a dollar or $5 or whatever. Off the scratch off. That was really cool. But yeah, I heavily rely on that. That’s really just how I run my business. A lot of agents, they pay for leads or you know, they’ll go doorknock and they just, you know, do a whole entire community of 90 homes and they go to every single door. That is not me. I know that about myself. And, you know, I want to work with people who know like and trust me at the end of the day. So that’s where, you know, it’s so important for like past clients and things to do that. But for them to do that, they’ve got to remember you. You’ve got to keep in contact, you’ve got to continue touching them, which is something that we say in real estate, a touch. It just means, you know, sending something in the mail or doing a pop by or doing a phone call or text or whatever it may be just to say, hey, you know, I appreciate you and I hope you’re doing well.

Speaker4: [00:36:40] So, yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:36:42] I love it because, you know, it’s all about relationships. Yes. So and that’s such a cute way. Like, how do you get your ideas like coming up with a lottery ticket idea and sending like a little card out? How do you come up with those?

Carlyn Costo: [00:36:55] Well, I cannot take credit for that.

Speaker4: [00:36:58] It’s a website.

Carlyn Costo: [00:36:59] So one of my favorite websites, it’s called Market Dwellings, cutest marketing, like mailers and cards and all this stuff. But I kind of knew as soon as I got in the business that this is kind of how I wanted to set my business up. Very, like you said, relationship. It’s so focused on relationships. So that’s yeah, that’s really how I do that now. I mean, it does come down to my idea with how I want to utilize the card. Like I didn’t have to put, I guess a lottery ticket in there, but I did. I could put a gift card in there, I could do whatever I want. But yeah, I cannot take credit, unfortunately, because it’s just an easy fix. If I were to spend time creating all of that stuff, oh my goodness, I would spend hours. I’m such a perfectionist. So, I mean, it’s hard enough to create like anything on my Instagram. If I had to create that, oh my gosh, I would never get it done.

Speaker4: [00:38:02] Let me tell you.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:04] Well, and there’s so many different ways. Everything’s so visual, everything so visual. So there’s so many different ways to market that. Right? Like, I haven’t even begun to think about it.

Speaker4: [00:38:11] I’m just like, Oh, I guess I’ll just. I know and hope it’s a lot. Yeah.

Carlyn Costo: [00:38:14] Well, and you know, when you’re getting started in anything, there’s going to be a learning curve. You’re going to. You’re going to figure out what works best for you, what you like, what you don’t like, what you want people to think of when they think of you. So, like, you know, I wear a lot of pink. I always usually have a pink water cup with me. I have like a pink laptop. Pink, you know, literally half my.

Speaker4: [00:38:37] Colors. Yes.

Carlyn Costo: [00:38:38] I mean, I love pink. But, you know, it’s funny because a lot of people know that about me and will send me random pink things. So I tend to like kind of utilize that sometimes in marketing. I’m very girly, you know, I love that. I just love like cute stuff.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:57] Well, what do you think is a common misconception about what it’s like to be you in this industry?

Carlyn Costo: [00:39:05] That it’s easy? I would.

Speaker4: [00:39:07] Say.

Sharon Cline: [00:39:07] Yes. So anyone out there that’s listening that is feeling defeated in some way or feels like there’s something wrong with them because they’re not succeeding super hard like they thought. What would your advice be to them?

Carlyn Costo: [00:39:18] My advice would be.

Speaker4: [00:39:20] To.

Carlyn Costo: [00:39:22] That’s a great question. I mean, I know I keep harping on this, but just coming back to mindset, I mean, you get your mindset right, you will get your life right. And I firmly believe that. And, you know, if there is one thing that you can do positive for yourself every day, do it. I mean, it can be as small as just smiling at yourself in the mirror. I don’t know. I just heard that on a podcast.

Speaker4: [00:39:47] So I just regurgitated it to you. But it’s your idea.

Carlyn Costo: [00:39:50] It’s your idea? Yeah. She’s like the number one. It was like Coldwell Banker’s President or whatever. I guess her name was Betty Graham and. Oh, my gosh, cute as a button. She I just listened to an interview with her, and that’s what she does every morning. She goes to her mirror and she smiles at herself and she says, That’s the nicest thing that you can do for yourself. And it starts your day off, you know, well. And if you start your day on a positive note, you will have a positive day, most likely.

Sharon Cline: [00:40:17] That’s so sweet because it’s free.

Speaker4: [00:40:19] Yes, it’s easy. You can. Do it yourself. Yes, exactly.

Carlyn Costo: [00:40:23] But yeah, I mean.

Sharon Cline: [00:40:24] Don’t even know how much that would impact someone’s just mindset.

Carlyn Costo: [00:40:27] Right. And and it’s even like, you know, it goes back to I don’t know if you’ve heard this a lot, but again, I’m constantly listening to podcasts and you know, what I am attracted to in podcasts is everything about mindset and business and wisdom and just aligning yourself mentally, spiritually, physically, emotionally. I mean, you know, you’ve got to be in such alignment to carry on. I feel like just like a happy, positive life. And I mean, I’m not there yet. I’m still in my little journey here with it, but I just find it so interesting and intriguing that, you know, everything that you do in your day, you know those little minuscule tasks or you know the way that you talk to yourself, they all build up. So if you’re not talking yourself positively, you know, in your head, obviously not out loud. Maybe some people talk to themselves out loud.

Sharon Cline: [00:41:19] Oh, I do.

Carlyn Costo: [00:41:20] I berate. I’m like such a barrier in my mind. I’m like, you know, the hardest person on me is me. And if you feel that and you connect with that, you know, get out of your brain and just realize that you’re awesome. You can do anything that you put your mind to. And it doesn’t matter how hard it is. If you have got your mind set on it, you can achieve it. And it doesn’t matter if you don’t know how you’re going to get there because you will get there once you focus. There’s this quote that says what you focus on expands and it is so true. And it’s just kind of like the law of attraction. You what you put out there, you get back, you receive. So, you know, if you are struggling and you have started like a new career or you’re just having a tough time in life, you know, we all go through those things really kind of just try to connect with yourself at your core and, you know, just speak kindly to yourself, you know, even if that’s one little tiny thing that you do in your day, do it. Read a book, read Atomic Habits, read. You know, we have gotten so far from reading books, I’ve been so excited because as of lately, I feel like that’s kind of like a trend, I guess, quote unquote is.

Speaker4: [00:42:34] Yeah, like.

Carlyn Costo: [00:42:34] You know, everyone’s reading right now, which is amazing. But yeah, read a book, do something that’s good for you, go out on a walk and connect with yourself. I don’t.

Sharon Cline: [00:42:44] Know. I think that’s the best advice. And I love that you’re actually helping people right now, hopefully out there that’s you’re putting out there into the universe. Yeah, very positive. And hopefully practical tips for.

Speaker4: [00:42:55] People who who start. And I hope so.

Sharon Cline: [00:42:57] I’m going to take them I’m might take them. If anyone wanted to contact you, what would be the best way?

Carlyn Costo: [00:43:03] The best way? I mean, I guess you could connect with me on Instagram. You can find me at your realtor. Karlan. Karlan is c r l y n. That is my Instagram. If you want to email me. It’s that same thing at gmail.com and we can go from there.

Sharon Cline: [00:43:23] Yay. I hope you do get some some really great business and I appreciate you taking time to kind of spread something positive out there too, and give some people words of encouragement, because I know I can use them and I’m sure I can all use it. Everyone out there can.

Speaker4: [00:43:36] Too tough. Yeah.

Carlyn Costo: [00:43:37] Well, I appreciate you having me on. It’s been so fun. And you’re just such a joy.

Speaker4: [00:43:42] So. So are you mutual admiration? Yes.

Sharon Cline: [00:43:47] Well, I want to thank everybody for joining us on Fearless Formula. And again, this is Sharon Klein reminding you that with wisdom and understanding, we can all have our own fearless formula. Have a great day.

BRX Pro Tip: Give Yourself Permission to Say No

August 1, 2022 by angishields

Access to this series is restricted to Business RadioX® Studio Partners.

Rome Floyd Chamber Small Business Spotlight – Megan Otwell with the Downtown Development Authority, Hannah Bagley with Keep Rome-Floyd Beautiful, and Ben Winkelman with the Rome-Floyd E.C.O. Center

July 29, 2022 by angishields

Rome Business Radio

Rome Floyd Chamber Small Business Spotlight - Megan Otwell with the Downtown Development Authority, Hannah Bagley with Keep Rome-Floyd Beautiful, and Ben Winkelman with the Rome-Floyd E.C.O. Center

00:00 /

2022 WBENC: Kittie Watson with Innolect, Inc.

July 29, 2022 by angishields

Kittie-Watson-GWBC-WBENC-National-Converence

GWBC Radio

2022 WBENC: Kittie Watson with Innolect, Inc.

00:00 /

Kittie Watson, Innolect, Inc.

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for GWBC Radio’s Open for Business. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:18] Lee Kantor here live from the WBENC National Conference 2022. This is the 25th Annual Conference for WBENC. And we’re inside the Georgia World Congress, and we’re inside of GWBC’s booth, Booth 1812, if you want to stop by and check us out. Today on the show, we have Kittie Watson with Innolect. Welcome, Kittie.

Kittie Watson: [00:00:41] Thank you. It’s great to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:42] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about Innolect.

Kittie Watson: [00:00:47] Well, Innolect is an executive and organization development consulting firm. And what we do is, we prepare leaders for the future. We also ensure that you have the right kind of culture to address the great resignation.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:00] So, your tagline says “growing leaders”.

Kittie Watson: [00:01:03] That’s right. We grow the leader in everyone.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:05] So, you believe that there is a leader in everyone, that’s the premise, right?

Kittie Watson: [00:01:10] That is the premise. And it may not always be seen easily or it might need to be refined, but every person has that ability.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:18] Now, when did you start believing that to be? So, is that something since you were a kid, you were like, “Oh, everybody can be a leader. I can see that. I see that kid over there in the playground eating the rocks, I think somewhere in there, there’s a leader.”

Kittie Watson: [00:01:32] I think it actually started when I started teaching at Tulane University. I was chair of the Department of Communication, and is working with students. And then, moving into the corporate arena, I began to see where a lot of people just didn’t have confidence, particularly women. And, initially, I was working with a lot of women to help them move up the corporate ladder and think about that differently.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:52] So, now, internally they have to have a mindset shift, right? They have to stop self-sabotaging themselves and really have these self-limiting beliefs.

Kittie Watson: [00:02:02] Or other people sabotaging. Yes. Definitely.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:05] But, also, they have to believe that they are the leader. They have to take that first step because you can’t want it more than them.

Kittie Watson: [00:02:12] Well, I think in some cases, really, people just have never had an opportunity. They haven’t been put in roles where they’re actually maybe leading. And they think that leading is the same thing as management. And so, we all can have a voice and say the right thing. And I see this particularly within the inclusion and equity and diversity space where people can be a leader, and show up, and express what they think is right in that particular environment.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:42] And that’s where the importance of representation is, to see that it is possible for a person of all types of people.

Kittie Watson: [00:02:51] It’s true. And all of us want to be seen and heard. And there’s an opportunity now because, as I just mentioned a while ago, there’s this Great Resignation and 26 million people have left their jobs in the last six months. And it used to be that people left for pay and benefits. But, now, they’re leaving because they want flexibility. They want to work with an organization that has purpose and meaning where they feel like they’re doing something worthwhile. They also want to learn, and grow, and have advancement possibilities. But the biggest one is to be included and to have a manager who cares. So, what we’re doing often is helping develop those leadership skills so that employees want to stay.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:34] So, now, what are some symptoms that a company is having that they might have a problem but they don’t know it yet?

Kittie Watson: [00:03:41] Well, there are a lot of examples of that, but most of the time they don’t know it and people leave, and so they haven’t realized it.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:48] So, turnover or something like that could be a clue that maybe something is wrong internally. That maybe it isn’t that we can’t find the right people. It’s just maybe something internally is happening that we’re not attracting or we’re turning away people.

Kittie Watson: [00:04:04] Well, what we know is that people want to be listened to, understood, and they want what they’ve said to be acted on in some way. So, organizations have gotten so involved in doing another survey, but then they don’t respond to the survey. And so, employees keep waiting and nothing happens. Or they have managers where they’re not included in decision making. So, they don’t get to impact things that might impact them. And so, we really try to help the organization think, both quantitative and qualitative, about what they can do to become listening leaders, really, and to demonstrate that they care.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:44] Right. Because it’s one thing, I think, that employees are getting, kind of been there, done that, “I’ve heard you say that a million times. You say that people are your most important asset, but then you’re treating me the same as you treated me five years ago. So, you’re not walking the walk.”

Kittie Watson: [00:05:00] Right. Well, and even today, there was an article that came out in McKinsey and just talked about the wage gap from the CEO C-suite to the worker that’s making the difference in the business. And that gap is widening. And, now, with the cost and inflation and all those things, people are thinking, “People don’t really care about me.” So, they’re beginning to look for those organizations that truly live the values, don’t just put them up on a piece of paper on the wall. And they are included. They are involved. They are given opportunities. They’re given feedback, tough feedback sometimes. But they are given opportunities to grow and learn and make a difference.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:42] So, what’s an example of a client that you’ve had that you’ve helped get to this new level, that maybe they were struggling? You don’t, obviously, name the name of the company. But what is their issue they were struggling with and then how did you help them get to this new level?

Kittie Watson: [00:05:55] Well, with one company, they brought us in because they were having a lot of litigation and discrimination.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:02] That’s a clue, right?

Kittie Watson: [00:06:03] Yeah. A clue, yeah.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:05] We’re getting screwed a lot, is that normal? Does everybody get screwed this much?

Kittie Watson: [00:06:10] And it was a culture that had been created and that finally just blew up. And so, we were brought in to begin to understand what was happening in leadership, or lack of happening in leadership or management. And got involved with focus groups and interviews and a survey that we listen to. And then, we were able to begin at the top to help leaders see what they were doing that might be getting in the way. Then, we engaged through a cascade, all people in the organization, and had their voices heard. And there were times where some employees were not a good fit for the organization and the culture they wanted. So, not everyone got to stay.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:54] Sure. And it works both ways, right? They can self-select out and then the company can decide they’re not a good fit.

Kittie Watson: [00:07:03] Exactly.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:03] And that’s the empowering thing that every individual has. They have the power to say, “Yeah. This isn’t the right fit for me.”

Kittie Watson: [00:07:10] And I think a lot of times, you know, something else that we’re working on right now and have been, as you know, after George Floyd was killed, there were a lot of organizations that gave money externally, but they really didn’t do much internally. And so, what we’ve been doing is really helping those organizations look at the kinds of training that can stick not just, “Okay. Check the box, we did that.”

Kittie Watson: [00:07:34] But really thinking about what could we do differently, what kind of dialog, what skills do people need so that they can talk about what’s going on with them. We’re working with the city government right now that had a lot of racial issues in the city. And so, bringing the community together with city workers and city employees to have a voice and talk about what made them feel less than, and how can we do things differently and equitably for all employees.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:04] It’s kind of a version of that think locally, act globally. You have to start within first, try to change what you can change and control internally. And then, kind of broaden it rather than, “Oh, yeah. We cut a check to this big national organization. See, we’re good guys.”

Kittie Watson: [00:08:18] Yeah. The optics were great. And yet people then thought, “All right. They’re doing this, what are they going to do for us?” I mean, “What about the manager that said this to me last week?”

Lee Kantor: [00:08:29] Right. “What about Mary? What about her issues? What are we doing for Mary, who’s on our team?” And they’re like, “No. We’ve already donated. Then, you see, there was a press conference.”

Kittie Watson: [00:08:38] And there are a lot of people that they don’t know what they don’t know. And so, we’ve done a lot of what we call change guide coaching and helping really move through those changes that they need to make. Or we’ve worked with teams to have them talk together and look at purpose and why they’re there. And even with the hospital systems, for example, where they have been so discouraged, we’ve had to remind them about why they went into health care to begin with.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:05] They kind of lose sight of that, right?

Kittie Watson: [00:09:06] Oh, my goodness. Especially in the last two-and-a-half years.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:09] Right. They’re just kind of running. They don’t know where they’re running or where they’re running to.

Kittie Watson: [00:09:13] And so, we are seeing a lot of good people leave.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:17] Right. They’re just so frustrated.

Kittie Watson: [00:09:19] Exactly.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:20] And then, the event here today, the WBENC National Conference, what brings you here? Do you go to all of them?

Kittie Watson: [00:09:28] I go to most of them. I mean, there are several things that bring me here. I mean, GWBC, I’ve been on the board before and very committed to that, of course. And I’ve met a number of good clients through this process that I’ve gotten to have conversations with and opened doors. I also am a mentor for the Collegiate Accelerator Program, so I love being able to mentor young leaders as they’re starting, and that always gives me kind of a jolt to be able to do that.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:57] Sure.

Kittie Watson: [00:09:57] So, there are lots of reasons. I have many friends here that I’ve made through the years. And it’s a great way to stay in contact with clients, particularly after we haven’t seen them in so long.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:08] Right. This is the first time in forever that we’ve seen people face to face like this, especially this quantity at one place.

Kittie Watson: [00:10:14] Yes. But it’s so spread out here, though. It’s so different than in the past, but it’s great.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:19] Now, for you, any advice for that young person that says, “You know, I’d like to be a leader. I think I could be a leader,” what are some action steps they can be taking today so they can become a better leader tomorrow?

Kittie Watson: [00:10:31] Well, the first thing that I usually say to anyone is an area I’ve done a little research in, and that is learn to listen. Listen to what the organization needs and your management needs. And if you can listen and meet some need, you’ll be recognized for that. Because most people want to talk as opposed to really listen.

Kittie Watson: [00:10:52] The second thing I say, is, to ask for that. Tell people what you want, what your aspirations are, and ask how they might help you for that development. And to create your own individual development plan. Even if your manager is not supportive, think about what are the skillsets that you could use that would help you move to the next level. Also, get feedback. Ask for it, ask for the feedback that will help you learn and grow. We know that when people come out of an education system, they’re at one level of maturity. And we see maturity grow in people when they start asking for feedback and really want it.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:30] And not everybody has the confidence to do that. You have to be vulnerable and you have to be ready to hear things that maybe you don’t want to hear.

Kittie Watson: [00:11:39] Exactly. And that’s a tough thing. I mean, because we are sensitive that way. And, often, it’s difficult to get that feedback. But it truly is a gift, and we learn from it, and we can be better for it.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:52] Now, a lot of young people dream of having a mentor, somebody that’s going to guide them throughout their careers, are there any tips you have for them on how to get a mentor and how to be a good mentee?

Kittie Watson: [00:12:04] We’ve actually developed mentor and mentoring programs, and, again, it’s clarity at the beginning of expectations and roles. And I know that there are a number of organizations that have formal mentoring and they match. I think that can work really well. We see it working extremely well at WBENC within supplier diversity.

Kittie Watson: [00:12:26] Yet, also, it is watching people within your organization that you admire and respect. And asking them questions, and eventually asking if they’d be willing to meet with you maybe once a month or once a quarter. But be very specific, but honor who they are. And, generally, people are pretty honored when you ask them to guide, or to give advice, or something like that.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:52] So, be bold. Take the risk.

Kittie Watson: [00:12:54] Be bold, yes. Take that risk.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:56] And if somebody wants to learn more about Innolect, what’s the website?

Kittie Watson: [00:12:59] It is innolectinc.com, and that’s I-N-N-O-L-E-C-T-I-N-C.com.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:07] Well, Kittie, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Kittie Watson: [00:13:12] Thank you. Thank you. It’s great to be here. I appreciate it.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:13] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We are broadcasting live from WBENC National Conference inside the GWBC booth. We’ll be back in a few.

About WBENC

The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) is a leading non-profit organization dedicated to helping women-owned businesses thrive.

We believe diversity promotes innovation, opens doors, and creates partnerships that fuel the economy. That’s why we not only provide the most relied upon certification standard for women-owned businesses, but we also offer the tools to help them succeed.

About GWBC

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

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

Matthew Atwood with TimeWise Financial and Trivon Thompson with Thompson Realty Group

July 27, 2022 by angishields

Cherokee Business Radio

Matthew Atwood with TimeWise Financial and Trivon Thompson with Thompson Realty Group

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Brought to you by The Innovation Spot and Alma Coffee

Matthew Atwood CFP® is a Georgia native from Clarkesville, GA. He attended the University of North Georgia where he received a bachelor’s degree specializing in Finance.

Before his start with TimeWise Financial, he spent time as a Licensed Broker as well as a Pricing Analyst. His experience in both security sales and analytics will be of ongoing value to our clients.

Outside of work he enjoys playing golf, trying new restaurants and cheering on The Atlanta Falcons.

Connect with Matthew on LinkedIn and follow TimeWise Financial on Facebook.

Trivon Thompson is a conscientious realtor who exudes credibility, commitment, and determination. His passion for real estate is apparent through his excellent communication skills, warm & friendly approach and investing experience.

As a REALTOR®, Trivon’s priority is ensuring his client’s happiness. He will listen to your wants and needs to achieve the best outcome in every transaction and will strive to ensure that the buying or selling process is fun, easy, and stress-free. Clients can count on Trivon when they have a question or a concern.

Trivon began his real estate journey in early 2020 and he hasn’t looked back since acquiring properties of his own, purchasing hisprimary residence, and helping others fulfill their investment and home ownership dreams.

Contact Trivon here and follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:23] Welcome to another exciting and informative edition of Cherokee Business Radio Stone Payton here with you this morning. And today’s episode is brought to you in part by Elma Coffee, sustainably grown, veteran owned and direct trade, which of course means from seed to cup, there are no middlemen. Please go check them out at my Alma coffee dotcom and go visit their Roastery Cafe at 3448 Holly Springs Parkway in Canton. Ask for Harry or the brains of the outfit Leticia and please tell them that Stone sent you. You guys are in for a real treat this morning and please join me in welcoming to the broadcast. First up on Cherokee Business Radio this morning with TimeWise Financial, Mr. Matthew Atwood. Good morning, sir.

Matthew Atwood: [00:01:12] Good morning, Stone. Thanks so much for having me on.

Stone Payton: [00:01:15] It is a delight to have you in the studio. I think maybe we initially connected at Y Power Woodstock Business Club or both. I don’t know.

Matthew Atwood: [00:01:23] That’s correct, y pal. Yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:01:24] Yeah. All right. So time wise, financial mission, purpose, how would you describe what you’re really out there trying to do for folks?

Matthew Atwood: [00:01:33] Yeah, of course. So time wise, really tries to strip away the jargon. So we’re certified financial planners, but what we found in our time in the industry is a lot of people’s business model in this industry is to show their value to their clients by showing how much they know relative to the client, speaking of their head, if you will. And so we try to strip away the jargon and really align their portfolio with their purpose. And so that’s a core tenant of the plans that we build is first focusing on, you know, what is your ideal day in retirement look like? Because in our experience, a lot of people, you know, when they lack structure, they’ve had structure for 40, 50, 60 years during their working years. And as soon as they quit working, if they’re not careful that all that structure kind of falls away and they can lack a purpose. And so first we want to design a purpose for their retirement. What does that look like, travel domestically or internationally? You know, does that look like some volunteer work in their community? What what does retirement look like? And then we can design a plan that aligns with that purpose. So that’s really what we do at timewise.

Stone Payton: [00:02:47] So I got to ask, why finance, you know, when when our next guest, Siobhan and I were playing cowboys and Indians or cops and robbers. Were you like counting money? And what was the catalyst for you to get into finance, man?

Matthew Atwood: [00:03:02] Yeah. So at 17, I wanted to be a corporate attorney. That was my my goal in life. And so I went to college and did about nine weeks of a pre-law poli sci program. And my roommate, freshman year, both of his parents were successful real estate attorneys in the Atlanta area really looked up to them instantly because, you know, I looked to get into their industry in a way, one way or another. And they kind of gave me a warning at the time, and I wasn’t really enjoying my coursework either. And they said, Hey, if you want to be in a courtroom, just know that for every hour of litigation, there’s about 20 hours of paperwork. And that didn’t really sound like what I wanted to do. And so I was kind of at an impasse and I was like, Well, if I’m going to study something, I want it to at least have some value. And worst case, if it doesn’t work out and I decide to go be a park ranger or something, finance is a degree path that at least serve me. You know, I can learn a little bit about how to manage my own money and put it to work. And I quickly became impassioned by the field. And I’ve always been an educator. And the reason, you know, kind of one I guess point to validate that is when I would study for my test, I would invite people to come in, classmates, that is. And the way I would study for the test was to kind of teach them. That’s how I learned was to teach.

Speaker4: [00:04:23] That’s brilliant.

Matthew Atwood: [00:04:24] And so there was a charge, you know, maybe like a Chick-Fil-A sandwich to come in and.

Stone Payton: [00:04:29] And he’s making money. You hear this?

Trivon Thompson: [00:04:31] I tell you.

Speaker4: [00:04:32] Yeah.

Matthew Atwood: [00:04:33] And so I always enjoyed educating and financial planning and working as an advisor to individuals who maybe their education is focused in engineering or some other field really allowed me to do that. And that’s when people ask, well, what is a financial planner do? At least at our firm, we the core tenant, is education. We like clients to know what they own and truly understand it. And so it really aligned well with my goals.

Stone Payton: [00:04:59] Okay. But that path that path has some academic rigor to it as well. So you went down that path for your formal education and then there’s tests and stuff you got to pass to be able to do what you’re doing. Right. Tell us about that and qualifications, credentials, that kind of stuff, no doubt.

Matthew Atwood: [00:05:15] Yeah. So as soon as you get out, you’ve got some federal exams, you’ve got to take the series seven, series 63 you might have heard about. Those and those tests are no joke. They definitely and I was actually starting my career e-trade and the rules of the engagement were if you fail to seven, you lose your job. So I’m fresh out of school, I got some student loans and the test had a lot more, I guess, meaning to my trajectory at the time because I couldn’t afford to lose that job.

Trivon Thompson: [00:05:44] Yeah, no pressure.

Matthew Atwood: [00:05:45] And so.

Speaker4: [00:05:45] Yeah.

Matthew Atwood: [00:05:48] And then I went on and took the certified financial planning exam, which also includes a rigorous almost 4000 hour course that you are required to knock out first. And so that really I think while it gives me the credentials in the industry, it really also as a young professional in the industry, gave me the confidence that I truly do know what’s going on because the test is proven to be quite rigorous. And, you know, I got through it not necessarily with flying colors. You know, I definitely had some some good days and bad days along the way. But I now can, I guess, back up my knowledge with the coursework that I completed.

Trivon Thompson: [00:06:29] Fantastic.

Stone Payton: [00:06:30] So you briefly mentioned E-Trade and it’s I’m under the impression that there are a lot of online opportunities to go and do and do your investing on online. Is that what is the differentiator? How do you how do you operate in a world that also makes that available to the layperson like me?

Matthew Atwood: [00:06:53] Yes. So at the end of the day, time is money. And if you spend enough time, anyone can do exactly what I’m doing. You could manage your own portfolio, you could manage your own investments, but it’s going to take an input, which is time. And so you can take the online route or use a robo advisor. And finance, at least investing, in my opinion, is, you know, 80% emotions, while only about 20% head knowledge. And so managing your emotions along the way is the real challenge of being a disciplined investor. And so having an independent third party like us who isn’t necessarily as emotionally attached to the dollars and cents in your portfolio, we’re vested because we’re a fiduciary and fee based, so we have a vested interest in having your portfolio appreciate, but we can take help. You take a step back and say we’re focusing on three months of market performance right now, but your portfolio we can show you historically over the long run has never lost money over a ten year period or 20 year period. There’s never been a single market cycle. Even if we start in 2001 and include, you know, 911, the Great Recession, the, you know, the war over in Iraq, all those things. That was one of the worst market cycles that we’ve seen in a long time. Your portfolio still made money over the long run. And that long term perspective, that independent third party perspective is, I think, where we can really add value to any investor’s portfolio.

Stone Payton: [00:08:28] So I resemble that remark because I can envision me getting, you know, a tip at the club. Right.

Speaker4: [00:08:34] Right.

Stone Payton: [00:08:35] And wanting to jump on it, because I’m excited about the industry or, you know, I just I just want to play. So I got to ask, do you ever find yourself almost being a therapist because you’re working with couples a lot, families and stuff? Right. You got to have that.

Matthew Atwood: [00:08:51] No doubt. No doubt. Yeah. And it’s crazy what kind of you know, I guess you could say minor conflicts can come up in the meetings because to two people in a couple may have discussed, we want to travel when we retire, but the whole time one may have been envisioned, you know, travel up in Gatlinburg in the mountains and other down in Fort Lauderdale, you know, and so when we get close to the end, they may realize, hey, we aren’t necessarily aligned in our purpose or our goals. And additionally, you know, during those market downturns when people are really panicking and the news nowadays, I tell people, you know, back when a lot of my clients were my age, Walter Cronkite was on for 30 minutes a day. You know, that was the only news coverage you got to see. Nowadays. We have 24 seven hysteria filled news just flooded the marketplace. And so it’s much more challenging to keep your emotions in check as an investor. And so that is where we can really step in and add value for our clients.

Stone Payton: [00:09:50] So I know in my business with digital media, digital radio, there’s a podcasting aspect to the work that we do. There are a lot of misconceptions. And so there’s a there’s a great deal of education that we might do with a prospective client or sometimes even a guest, so that they get the most out of hanging out with us and interacting with us. I got to believe that you run into a number of misconceptions and maybe see some patterns and maybe to the point that you. We already are pretty well equipped to get some of those out of the way pretty early in your conversations. Can you speak to that a little bit?

Matthew Atwood: [00:10:28] Yes, I would say people, I guess, have a misconception of they just need to buy stocks index and forget. They think that they don’t necessarily need a custom tailored suit. And so. But what it comes down to is as you start to build wealth, they start to be some real tax implications. You have to keep in mind, they start to be some estate planning strategies you want you might want to keep in mind. And the real question comes, you know, once you turn 65 or 60 or when you reach that retirement, everybody might know how much they want to pull from their retirement. But we can help build a plan that, you know, designed to strategically source those assets throughout your retirement and minimize your taxes. So I think one misconception of at least our firm is our industry, rather that it’s quite simple at face value. And you can just listen to Clark Howard and do a few tips and you’ll be set. But I really think much like, you know, I don’t do my own C.T. scans, I don’t do my own surgeries. There comes a point where you need to involve a professional.

Stone Payton: [00:11:39] Well said. So let’s talk about mentors a little bit and I’ll ask on both sides of the equation, have you had the opportunity to be mentored at points in your career and have you yet taken advantage of the opportunity to try to to try to be mentor to others?

Matthew Atwood: [00:11:57] Of course, yes. So in college I started a student investment club at our university where it was for all majors. We had biology, physical therapists, some business professionals as well. And the whole purpose of the club was to, you know, educate people about investing. But the real value that we had was we would bring in industry professionals from banking, you know, investing and other industries and have them really speak to what they do, how they got there. And it was an opportunity for the club members to connect with that person, you know, and in one case, Layne Steinberger, he’s a, you know, an investment professional in the Alpharetta area who was a valuable mentor to me and helped me navigate my job selection as I was getting ready to enter the industry. And it was a very valuable experience. Now on the flip, now that I’m, you know, in the industry and started to get set up, the opportunities to serve as a mentor have been to club members now you know, members that are still, you know, you an alumnus or still at the school will reach out and oftentimes I’ll meet them for lunch. And they’re just, I guess, overwhelmed with the decisions that are facing them. And I’ll help them kind of navigate it and ask some of those questions that maybe they haven’t really thought about their their problem in a certain light and help them find a solution or direction as to where they should go. And additionally, we started up an internship program at our firm time wise where we’ve, you know, with KSU and UGA are looking to bring on interns each summer to, you know, give them an idea of what this industry is like. Is it a good fit for them and maybe even an opportunity to join our firm?

Stone Payton: [00:13:46] I think that’s fantastic. And my instinct is and maybe you’ll agree with me that when he mentors, they buy lunch.

Speaker4: [00:13:53] Yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:13:54] Just based on what we’ve learned so far.

Trivon Thompson: [00:13:56] Right? Right. All right. Chick-fil-a.

Stone Payton: [00:13:58] I think you’ve probably already touched on at least part of this answer with your comments about education being such an important part of your work. But but I’ll ask. I’m kind of wired. I came from the training consulting world, but I gravitated much more toward the sales and marketing side. I did a little design and delivery work, but that’s but but I’m a sales guy, right? So I’m always interested. How does the whole sales and marketing thing work for a business like yours? Because I’ve got to believe it’s it’s I mean, it would be tough. You can’t just pick up the phone and say, hey, Trayvon, you know, would you like to explore some ideas for investing your hard earned money? Like, what is the process?

Matthew Atwood: [00:14:42] It’s very tough because our industry is so trust based. So it’s you don’t just hand over your life savings and have someone management to the, you know, a guy you meet off the street, you want to build some trust first. And so you look, you know, nowadays for a lot of industries, web based or social media based marketing is a huge influx of their business. But even the big firms like ETRADE or TD that are huge behemoth companies in our industry don’t get much engagement on their social media, you know, and they have they’re investing many more dollars than we are into those posts and those marketing efforts. And so the way we really. Are able to grow. Our business is through referrals. So by treating our existing clients to the with the best level of service that we can, they get a level of confidence to where when one of their friends out on the golf course or at a dinner is talking about, you know, they’re getting ready to retire, they we come to mind and they say, you need to give Matt a call. You know, you need to reach out to him. Additionally, we can partner up with other businesses in the community. We call them centers of influence that are maybe in a related field. Maybe they are a CPA in the in the in the local area who they manage taxes, but they might have clients who have financial planning needs and we can kind of scratch each other’s back know.

Matthew Atwood: [00:16:01] And so those are the really the ways and it’s a slow burn, you know, a car salesman when they go and try to create a sale, it’s a very quick sales cycle. You know, you just a prospect walks in, they enjoy the car, they don’t and you close the deal. Yeah. Whereas our process is because we have to build that trust is a multi month process where we’re getting to know the client and ensure, hey, they are a good fit for us because it’s a fool’s errand to assume that every person that walks in the door is going to be the best fit for our firm when there’s hundreds of thousands of advisors across the country. But also, are they a good fit for, you know, are we a good fit for them? Rather? And so there’s a little bit of a dance that happens in the first phase to make sure, hey, we align with one another, we’re a good fit because otherwise we don’t want to waste their time or, you know, and put them out by maybe they don’t really align. They don’t care about their purpose. They don’t care about the core competencies that we offer. So we want to make sure there’s a really good alignment there first before we even pursue a business relationship.

Stone Payton: [00:17:08] That’s good. So that makes me want to ask about as a layperson, seeing all these people out there, particularly at this point in my career, I don’t we’re on some lists somewhere. We we get invited to the state dinners and all this stuff. And I got tickled the other day. I told Holly, I said, if something happened to our financial picture that I don’t know about because I’m used to getting an invitation to go to like Prime 120 or one of these things. And this one came and it was at Golden Corral or something. I don’t know about our standards, but no, the question is, are there some red flags that people and I should be looking for? Like, if you see this, you know, run, do not walk, run away?

Matthew Atwood: [00:17:50] Yeah. And some of this is based on my experience in the industry, but there’s some firms that operate entirely on commission. And so those firms, it’s easy for not all the advisors in those roles do this, but it’s easy for them to sell you a product, collect the commission and never talk to you again, and not have that meaningful relationship with their clients. So I always encourage people to ask their financial advisor to ensure that they’re bound to be a fiduciary. A CFP is always bound to be a fiduciary. So if you’ve got a professional who’s a CFP, that’s a good start and make sure they’re fee based because the way it works is with a commission that that professional collects all their payment on the front end, where as we as a fee based firm, we charge a fee each year. But because our firm’s revenue is dependent upon the size of your portfolio, if your portfolio appreciates, our fee appreciates as well. So we have an extremely vested interest in minimizing your participation on the downside while maximizing your participation on the up side and ensuring we all win together.

Stone Payton: [00:18:59] All right. So let’s walk it through. Let’s well, let’s talk about me for a minute. It’s one of my favorite topics. So my wife, Holly, she has a real job with a little company some of you may have heard of called IBM. And and she’s I don’t know when she’s going to hang up her cleats, but, you know, it’s it’s on it’s on the horizon. And, you know, we’re very blessed. We’ve done pretty well. And I own a pretty good chunk of the network. And I have this separate business here. So if we made it through all the all the muck and we found you or you found us, what does that look like? Walk us through, like the the early steps of the relationship or the engagement. What cycle, what could we expect as we get to know you and your firm?

Matthew Atwood: [00:19:45] Yeah, of course. So the first goal is we’re going to have a get to know you call. And that’s where we’re just going to learn a little bit about why you’re seeking the services of a financial planner and give you a little bit of information about us. It’s where we first start to determine, hey, is this going to be a good fit because we do financial planning. You know, if you’re looking for someone to open a bank account, like that’s not necessarily what we do. And so first, we want to make sure you are looking for the right services. Then we’re going to set up an initial consultation. And this is more getting into the details of. Your financial picture. And we’re going to learn more about your cash flow situation. What are you making now? What would you like to make in retirement? You know, what type of estate plan you have in place already? Is it sufficient for your goals? We’re going to learn all these details. And at the end of that meeting where you’re going to decide to pursue a financial plan or not.

Matthew Atwood: [00:20:36] And if you guys like the the vibe of the meeting and like the direction things are going and want to pursue a financial plan, at the end of that meeting, we will spend about 8 to 10 hours between our team developing a financial plan for you, and then we’ll have a recommendations meeting maybe a month or so after where we present all of our findings to you, whether your portfolio was aligned with your goals, did you have any shortfalls in your insurance coverages? Did your taxes were you overpaying in taxes last year? And and then you guys can take that plan and do with as you please. You know, you may just want a second opinion. You’ve already working with a professional. You want to see if you’re on the right track. You may enjoy managing it yourself. You can take that plan and implement it yourself, or you can decide to move forward with us and implement and engage us as investment managers where we actually implement and monitor your plan going forward. And so that would be the initial process.

Stone Payton: [00:21:32] So you mentioned estate planning. So when there’s something like that, an additional service that that that serves the entire mission and purpose of what we’re trying to accomplish. And let me know if this is accurate. I can almost see you or somebody on your team being the quarterback like and you’ve got like best in class people. Like if we need an accountant or an estate planner, you’ve I get the idea that you’ve built this this this cadre of people that you know and you trust and you can trust with your clients. Is that is that accurate?

Matthew Atwood: [00:22:09] No doubt. Yeah. We work with a few people in the community. One, for example, is Mike Wooten with Cornerstone Estate Planning, who is just an all star estate planner.

Stone Payton: [00:22:19] Well, thank you for that. I’ll send him an invoice.

Speaker4: [00:22:21] Yeah.

Matthew Atwood: [00:22:24] And so we we we first review their clients estate plan, but we’re not lawyers. You know, we can tell you if there’s a shortfall or maybe a blind spot in our estate plan that needs rectify. But we can actually draw up the paperwork. But we have partnerships with local firms that offer our clients discounted rates for their services to make sure that we get that in check for them.

Stone Payton: [00:22:48] Yeah, so we’ll switch gears on a little bit. It’s a question I often like to ask because so many of the people who tap into to our work, they are entrepreneurs or they might work for a firm, but you know, they’re really like CEO of MI Inc.. I mean, they’re, you know, they’re they’re running their own show. I’m interested to know where you go. And I don’t really mean necessarily a geographic location, but but where do you go for for inspiration to get recharged and, you know, kind of kind of get the enthusiasm back and get ready for the for for the next wave. Is there an activity?

Matthew Atwood: [00:23:31] Yeah, yeah, yeah. So for me, I really find energy in the outdoors. So areas like Lake Fontana up in North Carolina, near Robbinsville and one addition to that area, there are some really fun roads to drive. And for me, I’m a motorsport enthusiast. You know, I really love a nice a nice backcountry drive through the mountains. And I also love watching motorsport, whether it be, you know, Formula One or Moto GP. And so these are some of the activities that I engage in, you know, on the weekends or during my time off that I guess allow me to recharge and really spiritually, emotionally, all those things, nature and being out on whether it be the Appalachian Trail or just out on the lake is just a really great way to get away from all the noise that, you know, you can hear here in the cities and and reset.

Stone Payton: [00:24:28] Yeah, it sounds marvelous. So we were talking a little bit before we went on air about Formula One and it sounds like such a really cool ecosystem. I have a little bit of familiarity with NASCAR, but I’ve never been to a Formula One race, so maybe I’ll start watching someone on television.

Matthew Atwood: [00:24:46] Yeah, I would encourage anybody who’s maybe interested in just scratching the itch of checking out Formula One to check out. There’s a series on Netflix called Drive to Survive and it it gives a great glimpse into the world of Formula One is what got me into it when it released back in 20 2019. And it’s really, I guess, sparked the enthusiasm for the sport. But it’s an amazing sport, the peak engineering of motorsport. And it’s amazing what innovations, you know, that we use in our cars today have trickled down from the sport, whether it be, you know, your abs. Braking system or your traction control. These were all things that were invented by, you know, technical directors in Formula One, first for those race cars, and then trickled down to the manufacturers. And now in the cars that we drive every day.

Stone Payton: [00:25:32] Pretty cool. Who knew?

Stone Payton: [00:25:35] All right. So before we wrap, let’s make sure that our listeners know how to get in touch with you, speak with you or someone on your team if they’d like to learn more about some of these topics, maybe set up one of those calls that you mentioned or or get together with you or go hang out at a Formula One race or whatever, whatever you feel like is appropriate, whether it’s email, phone, website. But let’s leave them with some coordinates.

Matthew Atwood: [00:25:58] Yeah, of course. So I would encourage you guys to check out our website, Time Wise Financial SI.com. Also check us out on LinkedIn. We have some great videos we put out for our clients and people who follow us about what’s going on in the market. So it’s a great way to get a taste of the flavor that our business offers. And then you can engage us via phone at 7704202954 or shoot me an email at Matt at t w f that’s Tom whiskey foxtrot wealth dot com.

Stone Payton: [00:26:29] I love it. Well, thank so much for coming in and sharing your story, man. This is this has been every bit as much fun as I thought it might.

Matthew Atwood: [00:26:37] Be, no doubt. And I really appreciate you having me on Stone.

Stone Payton: [00:26:40] Yeah, glad to do it. Hey, how about hanging out with us while we visit with our next guest?

Matthew Atwood: [00:26:45] I’d love to.

Stone Payton: [00:26:46] All right, gang. Y’all ready for the headliner? He’s. He’s been very patient. He’s been nodding his head. He’s been. He’s been taking notes. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with Thompson Realty Group, the man himself, Trivon Thompson. How are you, man?

Trivon Thompson: [00:27:01] Doing fantastic. Stone Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

Stone Payton: [00:27:03] Yes, sir. So what did you learn in that last segment?

Trivon Thompson: [00:27:07] That we have a similarity in our love for Formula One? Oh, wow. That’s pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, yeah, financial. The financial world is pretty, pretty crazy. Pretty cool. Yeah. There’s a lot to learn there.

Stone Payton: [00:27:22] You never know what kind of connections get made in the studio when we do this one. Things that I love about if you want to be the guy in town that is known for connecting people, get yourself a radio show, right? No, seriously. I mean, because it’s fun whether you’re doing it like out on site or in the studio or even if when you’re doing virtual interviews. All right. So Thompson Realty Group, first question that comes to mind for me, probably for many of our listeners, incidentally, guys, if you’re listening to this six months from now on demand on the site, we’re in late July of 2022. So I know this is a little bit of a time specific question, but let’s get like an update like state of the market, what’s going on out there, man?

Trivon Thompson: [00:28:06] So it’s still pretty fun. It’s still pretty active. We are still in an extreme seller’s market, for instance, you know, a balanced market is anything from 6 to 7 months of inventory. And what that means is if we stopped listing homes today, it would take 6 to 7 months to sell off everything that was that’s currently on market nationwide. We’re at 2.2 months of inventory. Oh, right. In Georgia, however, we’re fluctuating between 1.6 and 1.8 months of inventory. So Metro Atlanta, if you, you know, whittle it down even further, it’s even tighter. So, you know, we’re we’re pretty hot spot. It’s still still happening around here. So, you know, even though the market is, you know, quote unquote, slowing down, the slowing down is a factor of price deceleration. So what that means is price prices were accelerating at an extreme pace over the last two years, some some upwards of 30%, 24%, 18% in some markets. Now, it’s really more like 10%, 8%, 9%. It all depends. So just price deceleration still going up, but not at a crazy rate.

Stone Payton: [00:29:17] Well, that’s an interesting perspective. It reminds me of when I finally discovered that a federal budget cut wasn’t like a budget cut at the House. Like, you know, we did spend this on groceries and now we’re going to spend this. It’s like the increase is not as much. Right?

Trivon Thompson: [00:29:32] Right. Yeah, it’s all about the wording. Right.

Stone Payton: [00:29:35] I’ll tell you, Holly and I, we feel so blessed. We moved here a little over a year ago and we put the we have a little home right here on the on the edge of town. We kind of downsize. And we bought what my my dad would call a patio home. And my first lily pad is IPS on the on the wall at the town. Right. So I mean, I’m right there on the edge, on the edge of town. And we just love everything about this community. And we feel so blessed because we went ahead and nailed this thing down without a contingency offer, you know, because we felt confident that we could sell the house and we were able to to work that bit, but we were able to get into it just a little bit before things went nuts. And then we’ve always been the Christmas house. So the big house in Marietta. She didn’t want to sell it till after Christmas. So so we got into that. When we got we got that nailed down before Christmas and then we listed this thing and we never had to show it. We were asked to leave one time just when they first were getting the word out and the first family came in, made a full price offer.

Stone Payton: [00:30:39] And I don’t know, maybe we left some money on the table. But I thought, man, the headache of showing it and all that, the money worked, you know? And I just, you know, I just dusted my hands off. I said, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, we’ll we’ll take it. So we feel so blessed. And from my understanding already, at least on paper, the value of our little place has really appreciated remarkably. And then the other reason we feel so blessed is whenever family comes to visit us, even here in town, but out-of-town family, they’re like, Oh, we want to live here, you know? So and we actually I have a sister in law, one of Holly’s one of five. She’s very seriously considering it, right. She I mean, she wants to to she’s already retired. She wants to come here and live. So it’s a wonderful community. It’s a great place to live. But all that to say, everything you just described must be true in spades for this whole Woodstock, Cherokee County area. Right.

Trivon Thompson: [00:31:37] I mean, so Woodstock is is very unique. So, you know, the appreciation in Woodstock was immense. Yeah. You know, that’s that’s just one word to describe it. You know, nowhere else have you had prices almost double in a couple of years here. I mean, you’ve probably seen estimates on your equity, right?

Speaker4: [00:32:02] Right.

Trivon Thompson: [00:32:02] And you go, you know, you rub your eyes and you go, is that correct?

Stone Payton: [00:32:06] The only problem is I don’t want to go anywhere. So I’m never going to my kid. My kids are going to get that right because I know I’m not going anywhere.

Trivon Thompson: [00:32:13] Absolutely. And you know, you’re here and you’re you’re and that’s just a small bit of the story, too, because a lot of people, they they want to know, hey, where am I going to go next if I want to move from here or if I want to get out of downtown Woodstock or wherever I’m at? Like we moved from East Cobb back in 2019, you know, just before this thing took off. Right, right. We bought in summer of 2019 and we didn’t know what was going to happen, you know, and that was I was actually a year later, I left my corporate job, you know, and in the middle of COVID.

Stone Payton: [00:32:46] Oh, wow. Did you really?

Trivon Thompson: [00:32:48] I did. And so, you know, there goes that. But I had already been investing in real estate, so I figured, hey, why don’t we move up to Canton, buy our place, make some roots, get the kids in some good schools. Yeah. And call it a day. And we did. And our equity, let’s just say we’ve added a couple of hundred thousand to our.

Speaker4: [00:33:09] Equity as well Pete.

Trivon Thompson: [00:33:10] Since then. So it’s, it’s been wild to see that. I mean that’s an almost, what, 40% increase for us. Yeah, almost 50%. So it’s it’s crazy.

Stone Payton: [00:33:21] All right. So that’s the residential primary residence kind of kind of thing. But let’s talk about real estate investing, because you personally are a real estate investor and you help people along these lines.

Trivon Thompson: [00:33:34] Absolutely. And that’s one of the things I’m most passionate about. So back in, say, 2018, I reread the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I had read it maybe eight years earlier, right before I got into my my corporate job. And I read that book and I also read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. And my.

Speaker4: [00:33:54] Mind. Yes.

Trivon Thompson: [00:33:57] Talk about, you know, you melt one brain away and grow a whole new one.

Speaker4: [00:34:02] Yeah.

Trivon Thompson: [00:34:02] So that and Rand’s book changed my mind reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad again, like reignited a fire in me. And I kept asking myself, why don’t more people do this? Like, this is this is the American dream, literally, to work, you know, save your money, invest and then live a care free life. Right. I mean, most people only dream of that in other countries. My my parents, for instance, they came from Jamaica, brought us here to have a better life. And I had no clue my dad was the poor dad in that book. So it was really inspiring to read that and see that there is a way out instead of working till you’re 97, you know, just just to afford the place where you live. But yeah, that’s how I got started. I, you know, 2019 found my house and then we, we got two more investment properties in January 2020 and then July of 2020. And then I left my corporate job with that August. I took a six week sabbatical or whatever you want to call it, because, you know, my mind was just changing constantly. I kept reading, reading, reading and reading. Like one of the books I read was Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss. And yeah, that was another mind meld, right? So it was my my whole. Psyche. My whole mindset was changing and I didn’t want to work for somebody else creating their dream and on leaving mine on the table, right? So I left that job and I was, you know, chilling for a little bit because, you know, you’re in corporate for ten years and you’re just chilling and, you know, relaxing. And the fiance was like, so when are you going to get a real job?

Speaker4: [00:35:44] I was like.

Trivon Thompson: [00:35:45] Well, you know, I’m taking my time, I’m relaxing, I’m decompressing, you know, you know, I’ve got to get my mind right. She’s like, No, no, no, you need a job. So I was already doing real estate investing. I was already deep into it reading books like, you know, The BR Method and the Rich Dad, Poor Dad’s Guide to Investing and all this other stuff. So I figured if I really want to teach people how to do this and if I really want to get the most out of this, I’m going to be a realtor and I’m going to help people learn how to invest, not just buy and sell or help you build your dream home. But why don’t I help set you up for the for the future, show you how it can be done and help you get educated. And that’s where all of this was born.

Stone Payton: [00:36:29] Okay, let’s talk about me some more. Oh, no. So. So Holly and I. So the big speculative stock in our portfolio is Business RadioX, right? Because Lee and I are trying to grow the network, you know, and I’ve got I’m one of the 19 folks that have a studio like this, and we’re in 37 markets. We’re trying to grow this thing. And then we do have like the the the 401. K stuff invested from the real job that Holly has. And we’ve been blessed. We’ve done pretty well, by my standards. Anyway, we don’t have any real estate investments other than a property that Holly owns a fourth of because her sisters are fifth or whatever it is of a place. So let’s say Holly and I knew we sit down and we have a cup of coffee and we say, okay, Trevon, we we want to take a look at this real estate investing thing. What does that look like? What does that conversation like?

Trivon Thompson: [00:37:25] So I like an in-person conversation. I’m kind of old school when it comes to that. So if we if you are okay with that, we’ll sit down, have some coffee, maybe, you know.

Speaker4: [00:37:37] Maybe a beer or beer. Let’s talk your market.

Stone Payton: [00:37:40] You got to know your customer tomorrow.

Trivon Thompson: [00:37:42] Exactly. So, you know, I’m flexible. I’ll go wherever.

Stone Payton: [00:37:45] All right.

Trivon Thompson: [00:37:46] So we’ll sit down and we’ll have what kind of like a discovery meeting. So what are your goals? What does real estate investing look like to you? And once you’re finished talking about that, I’ll show you how your goals can fit into either a buy and hold situation where you purchase a property, you put some renters in it, you do a fix and flip where you purchase a property, you renovate it and then you resell it, right? That’s a part of the BR method or whether a real estate investment trust is better for you. So that’s called a right and there are quite a few of those around. And you know, Matt shaking his head here so he knows.

Speaker4: [00:38:20] He knows.

Trivon Thompson: [00:38:21] Right. Right. So, you know, Cardone capital is one of the more famous ones of late. Right. You know, by Grant Cardone. And then you have Opendoor Capital by Brandon Turner. And he was one of the founders of Bigger Pockets, which is a great resource for anybody looking to self learn about real estate investing. Right. So Brandon Turner, he generally deals with mobile homes and mobile home parks, which a lot of people really don’t think. There’s a lot of money there, but there’s a tremendous amount of.

Stone Payton: [00:38:52] Money that mobile home.

Trivon Thompson: [00:38:53] Parks. Yeah, I mean, people pay on time for the most part. There’s little to no maintenance, you know, because for the most part, they’re taking care of the stuff themselves, right? You hire a property management company to come in and take care of most things for you and you’re living a hands off, carefree life. So, you know, it’s all about whatever route you want to go down. And then depending on, let’s say you do a buy and hold, we’ll talk about how you separate your your cash flow, your cash on cash return, your property management fees or capital expenditures, or whether you want to put the extra money back on the principal of the loan to pay the property off faster, you know, to appreciate your value more quickly. You know, it all depends on what your strategy is, how close you are to retirement or how close you are to your goals. You know, we even punt it over to a financial advisor, right? Financial planner, right, to see how those will fit into your goals. And then we’d be off to the races, purchase the property and, you know, learn from there, go from there.

Stone Payton: [00:39:59] So are there some differences in funding this kind of thing, borrowing money for this kind of thing from what it is like when you’re doing a primary residence?

Trivon Thompson: [00:40:10] Absolutely. There’s a myriad. So, you know, let’s start with the one with the most stigma, you know, hard money loans. Right? Let’s start there. Okay. So. Hard mean loans get a bad rap because it’s like dealing with a loan shark. But I mean, they’ve grown into a wonderful industry that treats you just as well or even better than you’re a traditional mortgage lender. I’ve got a relationship with one guy right now, Matt Leinberger. I mean, they they are charging now this is with excellent credit, 7 to 8% on a hard money interest. And that’s unheard of. You saw it.

Speaker4: [00:40:45] You saw that. Right.

Trivon Thompson: [00:40:46] Right. So but you don’t ever see a hard money loan with interest in the single digits. Like, nobody sees that.

Stone Payton: [00:40:53] Gotcha.

Trivon Thompson: [00:40:53] But the guys at Lehman one, they can they can offer that. So, you know, hard money is for people that don’t know 3 to 6 to 9 to 12 month loan that you it’s a short term loan, obviously. And by the end of the term, all of the money is owed. So this would be a good fit for fix and flip. So got it. You know, you buy a property for 161 50, it takes 60 K to to fix it up to flip it. You know, you have an RV or after repair value of 275, you know, you’re going to walk away with a good chunk of change there. But that’s a dream scenario, though, right now. So, you know, nobody go looking for that.

Stone Payton: [00:41:29] But but if you have a good credit rating, this is. Well well, I was going to say something to go explore. No, don’t go explore. Have a beer with Trayvon, because these different paths are going to fit different personalities, different sets of objectives. There may be a little couples therapy involved for you, too, because, Holly, you know, I thought we wanted to do this. Well, no, obviously, we do that.

Trivon Thompson: [00:41:52] And that’s when I tell you, well, let’s lay all the options on the table. You guys go home and talk and then call me later.

Stone Payton: [00:41:59] So I asked Matt a similar question, but I’m interested in where the business comes from. Again, I don’t know that that a billboard. I don’t know that that’s really necessarily the ideal path for for a guy like you. Right?

Trivon Thompson: [00:42:15] No, no, no, no. You do have realtors that are on billboards and big teams that are on billboards. But I find it personally more gratifying to network with people or meet new people and go out and talk to people and just, you know, if what I do comes up or if I bring it up and you’re interested, we’ll talk. It’s not a a thing to where I’m just going to go throw it in your face 24/7. Right. This is an organic conversation. And you can’t force somebody to invest in real estate. I mean, yeah, it’s it’s one of the best returns on investment over the last 30 plus years. I mean, it’s beaten stocks and bonds and so forth and so on for forever. So it speaks for itself. But you can’t just tell people that, you know, most of the one of the sales tactics you’re a sales guy, you know, is asking people towards the issue or towards the solution. Yeah, ask them the questions and then they’ll turn around and they go, Oh, and that’s when they’ll go. All right. Let’s talk about investing in real estate. So you never force it on anyone. You just show them, show them what it can do, ask them what their goals are, that kind of deal. But I like meeting people. I like going out and meeting people and sitting down for a beer and having a conversation. And then if it comes up, it comes up. If not, hey, let’s, you know, let’s just be friends.

Stone Payton: [00:43:38] Cool. Yeah. And when you invest, genuinely invest in a relationship like that, even if for whatever reason, you know, Holly shuts me down or we, you know, we decide to get a golf cart this this summer instead or what? Let’s see there. That’s the other thing, right? You’re the guy who knows the guy because you invest in those relationships. Still, when I’m when I’m down in Florida hunting with Rusty and he says, you know, I really I got to tell you, this conversation happened. Russ really enjoys the mountain biking. And, of course, we’re like apparently, you know, nirvana for for the mountain biking. And he’s got this idea of getting a place that that would that he would rent out and rent to bikers. Right. So, you know, and I’d say, well, you know, if this something you seriously considering a if it’s going to work, let me in and I’ll pay you back later.

Trivon Thompson: [00:44:31] My partnership.

Stone Payton: [00:44:32] My my brother is younger, better looking and makes more money than me. I don’t like him at all.

Speaker4: [00:44:38] You don’t have no use for it.

Stone Payton: [00:44:39] But no, I’m much quicker to mention you to him. You just. You never know where things are going to go when you just establish that that genuine relationship. Right?

Trivon Thompson: [00:44:51] Absolutely. And that’s why I love it so much. It’s part of why I love meeting people. I like serving people. And if I if I can’t help you in my profession and in you, you need something else. I’ve got a guy. I know somebody that can. So that’s I’m the connector. So that’s that’s it.

Stone Payton: [00:45:08] So you mentioned several books as we were talking. I’m curious, what’s on what’s on your nightstand right now? What do you what are you reading now?

Trivon Thompson: [00:45:16] So I just reached the end of. Profit first by Mike. Mike?

Stone Payton: [00:45:21] Yes, we interviewed him. Yeah. Oh, man. We run our business on those principles. Yeah. We being me and Lee and here in my shop.

Trivon Thompson: [00:45:28] Yeah. It’s so fascinating. Like, to to understand that you take your profit first. And at the end, I don’t know, he says in the book. It’s so it’s mind blowing to everyone because nobody does it, and it’s never been done like that before. So that’s wonderful. And then what what do I what am I rereading right now? I’m rereading the Burr strategy, right. And I just started listening to Ed Mylett and I have one of his books in my Audible library right now, but I can’t remember the name but the Ed Mylett show, the podcast and his books. Great guy. Yeah. So that’s that’s what’s on my nightstand right now.

Stone Payton: [00:46:05] Well, I got to say, I love the advent of audio books. I love the advent of, like the podcasting community. There’s so much content out there and you can wait through that and get a hold of what you want. But something that you said really kind of created a twinkle in my eye. And I think it is so powerful to reread, you know, especially these classics that are just chockfull. It’s like you’ll learn something new and different every time you do, don’t you?

Trivon Thompson: [00:46:34] Yes, absolutely. And it’s like, how did I miss that the last time? Or why was not paying attention on this page the last time? So much so that you want to take notes and you write stuff down and you’re like, All right, cool, I have to use this. I have to use this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Every time I reread a book, that’s that’s the way it is.

Stone Payton: [00:46:52] So you’ve been at it a while now. Clearly, it’s working. It’s going to continue to to work. What what are you finding the most rewarding? What are you enjoying the most about this work, maybe versus corporate or just by itself? What are you finding the most rewarding?

Trivon Thompson: [00:47:08] Well, let’s just you know, I can choose who I want to work with. No.

Stone Payton: [00:47:13] No, that’s important.

Speaker4: [00:47:14] Right?

Trivon Thompson: [00:47:15] It is important. It is important, you know, for sanity, for happiness, all that good stuff. But the most rewarding part, especially on the residential side, is the finality of emotions that come across the table. When you’re sitting at that final closing table and you see the relief or the happiness or the relaxation in your client’s face, like I finally sold my place, or I’m finally buying a house for the first time or the 10th time, or whatever it may be. You know, that is satisfying to me. And to know that I had a hand in helping them get their. You know, it brings joy to me every time.

Stone Payton: [00:47:52] Oh, bad. So you are such an enthusiastic person. Your authenticity, your your your your vigor for this work, just I mean, it comes I’m sure it comes through over the airwaves. I guarantee you guys it comes through here in the studio. And, you know, you’re human. You got to from time to time, your batteries got to be running running low. So I’ll ask you the question. The same one I asked Matt, where do you go, man, to to kind of get recharged and get inspired? Is it the books or is it beyond that?

Trivon Thompson: [00:48:24] So the books, yes. Like I like to sit down with a good book and, you know, relax, but I don’t podcasts as well, going outside, taking a run and CrossFit. I mean, I call myself the CrossFit and realtor for a reason. So, you know, he’s a.

Stone Payton: [00:48:40] Very fit guy. I don’t know if you can tell from his headshot on the published piece, but Toronto is very fitting. He reminds me of the Old Spice. You ever watch the Old Spice curry? Yeah. No, I’m on a boat. No, I’m on a horse.

Speaker4: [00:48:53] Yeah, exactly.

Trivon Thompson: [00:48:53] Like that as a.

Speaker4: [00:48:54] Compliment.

Trivon Thompson: [00:48:56] But, yeah, I’m throwing some weights around really, really relieve some stress. I mean, yeah, I like doing it first thing in the morning, you know, because if I don’t do it first thing in the morning, I’m not going to do it. I’m going to get too busy. So, yeah, you know, it’s another book I read, Eat the Frog, you know, do the thing that’s going to take the most time or that or that you hate doing the most in the morning.

Stone Payton: [00:49:17] Who is that author? We interviewed her years ago. Oh, my gracious, I. But I I’m going to dig that up for you. And I’m going to it’s funny, I don’t remember the author’s name, but I remember that that title has marketing legs.

Matthew Atwood: [00:49:30] No doubt.

Trivon Thompson: [00:49:30] Yes, it does.

Stone Payton: [00:49:31] But it’s such great advice, right? Yes. Eat the frog. So explain to him what that what that means, eating the frog.

Trivon Thompson: [00:49:38] So yeah, yeah. The concept is I mean, nobody wants to, you know, most people really don’t want to get up and work out at 530 in the morning. Right. Right. Who wants to go do that? Right. But are you going to do it later after you get off work? What’s the likelihood of doing that? You know. Exactly. So wake up, wake your behind up. Go to the gym, get get going and you’ll be re-energized. And you know, after doing that, everything else seems easier.

Speaker4: [00:50:03] Yes.

Trivon Thompson: [00:50:03] Everything else is downhill after that. Do the thing you hate the most if if your job includes making cold calls. An administrative work, make the coal calls first, you know, get that out of the way and then you’re done. After a couple of hours and you go, Huh? I don’t have to do that for the rest of the day. So, you know, eat the frog. Do the thing that you dread doing the most in the morning. And the rest of the day will serve itself.

Stone Payton: [00:50:31] Yeah. And side note, how impressed are we all that I’ve interviewed two authors that you mentioned.

Speaker4: [00:50:37] Very impressed personally.

Stone Payton: [00:50:41] All right, let’s let’s leave our listeners with a way to touch base with you, man. How can they get in touch with you and sit down and have that cup of coffee or beer or beer?

Speaker4: [00:50:49] Yes.

Trivon Thompson: [00:50:49] So you know Trayvon at Qualcomm. 4049671314. You can catch me on Instagram at CrossFit and Dot Realtor or Facebook, LinkedIn, all of the above. I’m there or go to my website. Contacts sold by Trayvon.

Stone Payton: [00:51:07] Fantastic. Well, thanks for coming in and hanging out with us today. Man, this has been a great deal of fun.

Trivon Thompson: [00:51:11] Yeah, this was an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much for having us. And man, this is great.

Stone Payton: [00:51:18] All right. This is Stone Payton for our guest today and everyone here at the Business RadioX family say and we’ll see you next time on Cherokee Business Radio.

2022 WBENC: Nino Campos with Randstad

July 27, 2022 by angishields

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GWBC Radio

2022 WBENC: Nino Campos with Randstad

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Nino Campos, Randstad

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for GWBC Radio’s Open for Business. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:18] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of GWBC Open for Business, but this is a special one because we’re broadcasting live from 2022 WBENC National Conference, and we’re in the GWBC booth 1812 if you want to come by and check us out. Right now, on the show, we have Nino Campos and he’s with Randstad. Welcome.

Nino Campos: [00:00:39] Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:41] Well, for the two people out there who don’t know, tell us a little bit, kind of the elevator pitch for Randstad. I know you guys are serving people all over the world.

Nino Campos: [00:00:50] All over the world, globally. So, we are the leading, in the top 50 in Diversity Inc as the top staffing company in the world right now, diversifying the world as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:03] So, this is a perfect conference for you to be at. Talk about your involvement as a corporate partner. Why was it important for you to kind of lean in and immerse yourself in the WBENC world?

Nino Campos: [00:01:13] Yeah. So, I’ve been in this industry for the past 13-plus years, serving the supplier diversity, the diversity and inclusion world. Very important being part of the GWBC is that they are not only the leading organization here in Georgia, but one of the ones that are very—where the rubber meets the floor or the rubber meets the street, right?And really advocating for the women businesses, business entrepreneurs out there, and making us work, making us think, making us be creative, making us go out there and serve the right way as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:48] So, now, any advice for a small business that wants to do business with Randstad, what do they have to do to to be ready for you to say, okay, this might be a good partner for us?

Nino Campos: [00:02:01] Well, it used to be a difficult—that’s a difficult question, usually. Usually, there’s a gantlet of things for a small, diverse business or a woman-owned business to get an opportunity, what they call a Fortune 500 business, get those opportunities, get that million-dollar revenue. And so, Randstad leading and best in class in providing opportunities has opened the doors in digitizing their supply chain.

Nino Campos: [00:02:28] So, offering opportunities to all comers, meaning these women businesses who have an idea, or have the opportunity or services that they could provide large businesses like Randstad to come and develop a digital portfolio for themselves. In doing so, getting mentored and developed on working with big large companies, not just ourselves, but with our client base as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:51] So then, it’s that simple, they go to a website portal, and then they can sign up and put their information, and then they kind of have the chance?

Nino Campos: [00:02:58] Yeah, believe it or not, it is that easy. It is going to our register on our external website. Enter your business name, see if you’re already there. If you’re not, you will meet supplier diversity immediately. There is no black hole or lag time. It is quite quick. So, immediately, you’ll start developing a digital portfolio at no cost and have a live consultant, someone on my team that will start to build out your portfolio to be able to network, if not mentor you for opportunities.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:24] So, that’s game-changing, because one account for a small business that could change the whole trajectory of their business.

Nino Campos: [00:03:31] Oh, of course, because now, we don’t have to network or market these suppliers to a line of business, or even a buyer or procurement, we’re going to the executive c-suites to introduce these suppliers for an immediate decision, find those opportunities immediately.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:47] So, if there’s other kind of enterprise level companies that want to streamline their process and create this kind of elegant solution that you have, are you talking to them as well, because I would imagine this is almost a competitive advantage for you?

Nino Campos: [00:04:01] Yeah, there’s really no one that I know of yet that is doing what we’re doing. We are digitizing the complete diverse supply chain, so that means every diverse supplier that’s certified, actively certified, and doing successful work has a digital portfolio. That digital portfolio, that information is on 340-plus databases to be located.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:21] Oh, so it’s not just Randstad?

Nino Campos: [00:04:23] Not just Randstad. When we say socioeconomic growth, we don’t mean only Randstad, we mean for the world.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:29] Uh-huh. And then, so how do the enterprise-level companies get involved and get their kind of information in part of this portal?

Nino Campos: [00:04:36] So, they would, hopefully, with the right third-party solutions that is accurately scrubbing their data, and those suppliers or the supplier that we utilize would be able to provide them that access to that database.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:50] Okay. So then, you’re all kind of in it together and you’re all sharing the information, sowhen like one of the WBENC folks or the GWBC folks puts their name in the portal, it’s giving them access to Ronstadt, but also several hundred other companies that kind of believe what you believe in, that this is important.

Nino Campos: [00:05:09] Yeah. So, what we’re doing with these digital portfolios, so let me give you a picture of it. Historically, what we would do, would give somebody an opportunity, would be they’ve come to us ,and say, I have something in IR. And so, you have a buyer, you have lines of businesses, and you have to sell.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:24] And it’s like on a one-on-one and it’s a one-off kind of thing.

Nino Campos: [00:05:27] Right. And you have those RFPs and you have multiple suppliers. Those preferred suppliers are on that RFP, right? If you want that business, continue business, how do you introduce a new business to that? How can you provide credibility, accessibility, all those things that would make it easy to make a decision? So, this digital portfolio is relationship-building, too, meaning that you put their capability statements in here, you put their NICS cost, you upload their certificates, their active certificates.

Nino Campos: [00:05:55] They’re being validated immediately through a third-party solution to certify that they are certified, and they can actually put their video, they can actually put their photos. It actually gives you a demographic of who they are ethnically, gender-wise. And so, it’s an enhanced way of doing an interview, per se, a presentation. So, here you are-

Lee Kantor: [00:06:15] And it’s so much more efficient. They don’t have to do this 300 times. They do it one time and it’s going out to 300 people.

Nino Campos: [00:06:21] It’s a URL, right? So, I directly report to the chief diversity officer of Randstad. Now, she’s the global equity officer of Randstad, the first of her. She now only expects a URL, right? And so, that URL provides a visibility to her best suppliers that are out there.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:42] Right. And then, this makes it easy for the Randstads of the world to say, okay, who do we need? And we can say, okay, we want to attract more Hispanic-owned businesses, so we can kind of target that, right? You can get as granular as you want to get, because it’s digital.

Nino Campos: [00:06:59] Yeah, it’s also instant governance or what we call scorekeeping. There’s an opportunity to score there. Actually, it needs notes.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:04] So, it’s almost a dashboard, too, where you can see everything, and see where you’re at, where you need, hey, maybe we should put a little more emphasis over here and less over here?

Nino Campos: [00:07:14] That is correct. And it’s also able to provide as visibility onto how much spending we’ve had with them already, finally, so we have a good visibility of what we have. And so, the scorekeeping that we do is non-corrective criticism, meaning that we only add in success and achievements to it. Now, if there isn’t any, that means—or they have dropped expenditures like we see-

Lee Kantor: [00:07:36] The trends, right?

Nino Campos: [00:07:37] … we go back and mentor them. We don’t just drop them. We go back, and mentor them, and find out what has happened on the client side or internally, and then mentor them. And we have now—developing right now, we’re creating a mentorship development-certifying program that will certify three curriculums of phases for the supplier. So, those top tier ones won’t get something they already have known for years.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:57] Right. But then, these newer, these emerging brands get an opportunity to learn and grow.

Nino Campos: [00:08:02] Correct.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:03] And then, everybody wins again when all the people are working together like this, it’s amazing. Congratulations on this. It’s a big initiative.

Nino Campos: [00:08:12] Thank you. Well, I want to level the playing field a little bit. I want everyone to understand that we are inclusive of all. Everybody has a thumbprint, right? Everybody has a niche service. Let’s not to call it an umbrella of things that you do, but what do you do best, and how can you do it best for us?

Lee Kantor: [00:08:26] Right. What’s your superpower, and how can we kind of match you up with the right person on our team, so we can kind of create this win-win?

Nino Campos: [00:08:33] Yeah, because we don’t have the time to play. We don’t have time for RFP these days, right?

Lee Kantor: [00:08:37] Right.

Nino Campos: [00:08:37] When someone says a new normal to me, I think like, well, then we’ve got to take away this RFP process and just put the right person in place, right?

Lee Kantor: [00:08:43] Right.

Nino Campos: [00:08:44] So, we’re in talent management, we’ve got to put the best talent in place.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:47] Right. And that removes a lot of bias and it removes a lot kind of the I know a guy kind of situation.

Nino Campos: [00:08:55] Exactly. And you start removing the tearing, right? If you remove the tearing and you put in the best possible service or individual, you’re going to have success.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:05] Right, and you get that win-win outcome that everybody’s looking for. Well, if somebody wants to learn more about this process, what’s the coordinates? Should they just go to the Randstad website and they can kind of find it from there?

Nino Campos: [00:09:15] Yeah, it’s very easy. Randstad.com, supplier diversity, and there is a registration there for you to just register your name, and you immediately will be entered into creating a digital portfolio.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:26] Well, thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Nino Campos: [00:09:30] Thank you very much for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:31] Alright. This is Lee Kantor, broadcasting live from WBENC National Conference in the GWBC booth.

About WBENC

The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) is a leading non-profit organization dedicated to helping women-owned businesses thrive.

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Kid Biz Expo July 2022

July 26, 2022 by angishields

Cherokee Business Radio

Kid Biz Expo July 2022

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This Episode was brought to you by

The Kid Biz Expo 2022 is one-of-a-kind! All of the vendors are kid-owned businesses! Kids from around the surrounding areas came together, set up shop and showcased their businesses among other kiddos with the same entrepreneurial ambitions.

Empowered Youth Entrepreneurs is a 501c3 non-profit organization created to support the entrepreneurial spirit in kids! Creating markets, workshops and mentorships to give kids (and parents) the tools and resources they need to succeed!