Business RadioX ®

Marissa Levin with Successful Culture

by

Marissa-Levin-Successful-Culture
GWBC Radio
Marissa Levin with Successful Culture
Loading
/

Successful-Culture-logo

Marissa-Levin-Successful-CultureMarissa Levin is the co-founder of Successful Culture International, which applies a proprietary Culture Development Lifecycle (CDL) to help organizations move from current state to desired state, and helps leaders reach their greatest personal and organizational potential.

As founder of a 23-year old, multimillion-dollar business that pivoted seven times in response to market shifts, Levin has personally overcome every business challenge her clients have faced, which uniquely qualifies her to lead leaders through change.

She is also the author of Built to Scale: How Top Companies Create Breakthrough Growth Through Exceptional Advisory Boards.

Connect with Marissa on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Transcript

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

Lee Kantor: [00:00:18] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of GWBC Open for Business. And this will be a good one. Today, we have with us Marissa Levin with Successful Culture. Welcome, Marissa.

Marissa Levin: [00:00:28] Thank you, Lee. So happy to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:30] Well, before we get too far into things, tell us about Successful Culture. How are you serving folks?

Marissa Levin: [00:00:35] So, our mission is to help create extraordinary places to work. We do that through a proven culture development lifecycle, as well as comprehensive education and training curriculums that we have that really help leaders set up environments that allow employees and leadership teams to reach their greatest personal and organizational potential. So, our goal is to make sure that environments and cultures are places where employees feel seen, heard, connected, appreciated and safe. So, that’s why we exist.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:15] So, how did you get into this line of work?

Marissa Levin: [00:01:18] So, this is my third company. My first company, which is 28 years old today, which I grew to about $14 million before exiting that company nine years ago. I’ve always been committed to developing environments where employees can thrive. And really being a leader as an organization, that was really one of my favorite things to do was to create an environment that I walk in every day and making sure that as the CEO and, really, as the servant leader, making sure that my employees had everything that they needed physically, emotionally, intellectually, financially, everything that they needed to be successful in the organization. And it just gave me a lot of pleasure to be able to create an environment where people can really thrive. And so, when I left my first company, that is really kind of what I took with me and I wanted to do that for others.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:21] So, what about that kind of resonated with you of, okay, this is really a secret sauce. This isn’t just something that happened by accident. This is something you can do on purpose and it can be replicated?

Marissa Levin: [00:02:32] Oh, it definitely is very intentional. All organization have cultures, whether they are intentional or by default, and they all start with the leadership team, although they cascade through the organization. And it is incumbent upon everyone in the organization to make sure that the culture is healthy, not just the leadership team, but it starts with the leadership team when they set the core value system of the company, which really is the the DNA of the company. It’s the destiny of the company, if you will. And the culture, that’s defined by the core values. The core values are the moral compass and the North Star. They really determine what an organization stands for, what behaviors are expected, what behaviors won’t be tolerated. Core values drive every single business decision in a company when executed correctly, and they also help to drive the mission and vision. So, when an organization has the values, the mission and the vision clearly defined and is truly living those elements, that’s when the culture can really thrive.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:40] So, what do you tell those entrepreneurs that maybe weren’t intentional, that are like heads down, we’ve got to make sales quota or whatever? They were focused on something that maybe wasn’t a true, true north, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. And then, maybe, they’ve gotten a culture there they’d like to change. Is it possible to change a culture that’s kind of off track or is it something you kind of stuck with?

Marissa Levin: [00:04:02] Always. Yeah. Yes. No, no, no. Cultures are always evolving. They’re fluid, and dynamic and evolving entities. So, it’s always possible to change a culture once you are aware of it. Now, of course, when you’re launching a business, if it can be something that’s top of mind when you start, then you’ll have much greater success and a lot less pain, making sure that you’re attracting the right talent, that your environment is one that is very productive, and constructive, and effective and safe rather than being like the Wild, Wild West.

Marissa Levin: [00:04:39] And I always say that, especially for first-time entrepreneurs, building your first company is like building a plane while you’re flying it. You’re literally making decisions moment to moment, hoping that you’re steering it in the right direction, and that it’s not going to come apart, and that it’s not going to crash. And so, when you have some type of roadmap, a guidepost that can lead you down the path in terms of what you stand for, where you’re going, why you exist, it certainly makes your journey a lot easier. But if you haven’t done that work upfront, yes, you absolutely can go back, and re-engineer, and reverse engineer, put the right values in place. It’s painful. It can be painful to re-engineer and reverse engineer when you haven’t done it, but it, certainly, can be done.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:28] Now, how do you help those companies that, maybe, their heart’s in the right place, but maybe they have one or two employees that they tolerate behavior that maybe they’re not proud of, but they tolerate it because they’re productive? How does that kind of impact the team, the culture and really their true north?

Marissa Levin: [00:05:50] Yeah, that’s a really good question. So, individuals who are high performing regarding generating revenue and contributing to that type of bottom line but can be toxic in other ways, we like to consider them to be lone wolves. And it really is a hard exercise to evaluate those types of people, to really determine whether or not they are worth having them stick around, because the cost of a toxic employee, the drain on the morale, the drain on the overall level of trust that an organization has, it really actually can overshadow the revenue that someone might be bringing in.

Marissa Levin: [00:06:37] So, think about if you could fill that position with someone that also can generate that revenue but brings very positive energy and is not toxic, think about how much more that would propel the organization rather than trying to do risk mitigation, or damage control, or to contain a volatile or toxic employee. Think of all of the time, and energy, and resources that goes into trying to control somebody like that. It’s usually not worth it.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:09] Now, when you’re working with firms, do you have a sweet spot? Are you working with kind of startups? Are you working in different industries? Like who is your typical client?

Marissa Levin: [00:07:20] That’s a great question, and I get that a lot. Our typical client is any organization or any leader that truly values the investment in corporate culture and in their people. So, we’ve worked with companies that are very small, a million dollars to two million dollars in revenue, but they truly understand the importance of building the right foundation. So, they’re willing to invest in that. They’re willing to make sure that they’ve develop their values, mission, vision in the right way; that they’ve enrolled any employees, even if it’s just one or two, in defining the behaviors behind the values. They had enrolled in the the process of making sure that their hiring processes not only ensure a fit for expertise and industry understanding but that they are a cultural fit. So, even really small companies are fit for us if they truly understand the importance of investing in corporate culture.

Marissa Levin: [00:08:17] Conversely, we’ve been asked to come in from publicly traded companies. I mean, companies that are in the hundreds of millions of dollars. But if the leadership team is not behind the importance of investing in their people, we’re not a fit for them. We truly have to be a fit regarding whether or not they see the value in our services. And Lee, I’m not in sales. I’m not interested in convincing anyone about the importance of investing in your culture and investing in your people. If you don’t get it, then you don’t get it. And that’s fine. You’re not going to be a fit for us. I’m not in the business of sales. I’m in the business of transformation.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:59] Now, how about some advice for the folks out there that are dealing maybe for the first time with a remote workforce? Having a successful culture is probably difficult enough as it is in pre-pandemic when you’re seeing each other, and you can high five each other, and you can hug each other, and you can see kind of the behavior you’d like to model in person around you. But when you’re only kind of coming in and out and interacting with folks over a Zoom call or a conference call, how do you kind of create that kind of culture remotely?

Marissa Levin: [00:09:35] So, it isn’t just that we are now working with people who are remote, it’s the conditions under which we’re working. And I get this question a lot about, how can I manage my remote people? This is so much bigger than just managing remote people. Leaders today have just the most extraordinary and unprecedented situation regarding how they have to show up for their people and how they have to lead.

Marissa Levin: [00:10:04] It’s only one thing that these people who happen to be remote, okay? It’s the fact that that they’re under a pandemic, that they’re under tremendous uncertainty, that they are under tremendous pressure and stress, and worrying about not only their health but the health of their loved ones, that they are dealing with schooling and educating their students. If they’ve got K through 12, they’ve got college students home, it’s not just, “Hey, all of a sudden now I have a remote workforce. How can I manage them better?” It’s how do you manage the emotional, and the psychological, and the mental toll that is occurring right now with the people, in addition to managing the remote workforce.

Marissa Levin: [00:10:47] And leaders have to recognize both. And what I’ve recognized in working with so many clients is that the commonality across every organization in any industry, large and small business, is that leaders are trying to figure out how to straddle that line between being empathetic, and compassionate, and showing up as a human being for their employees but, also, how are they holding them accountable and how are they keeping them engaged.

Marissa Levin: [00:11:17] And it’s not easy. We have come up with lots of different creative interventions for our clients in terms of how they can stay engaged, whether it’s different perks, whether it’s making sure that they’re doing regular check-ins that aren’t just work-related, being aware of personal situations that they’re going on and going through. Leaders are always under a microscope. We’re always being watched by our people on how we show up in good times and in bad. And more than ever now, leaders are under the microscope to see if they’re showing up in a very humane way. So, leaders have it tough right now, and they need to be really cognizant of showing up both as a human being, as well as a leader and a supervisor that has accountability.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:13] And you mentioned all of the different kind of stressors that are on companies nowadays. I mean, you have the pandemic, you have the work from home, you have all the individual people’s needs when it comes to just managing their home, and their work, and all that stuff. And then, you have the social unrest, and that’s into play also. So, there’s a lot of job security, I would imagine, for you and your team because there’s a lot of work to be done for those folks to get them going.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:43] How does an engagement work? What does it look like? I know you mentioned you’re not on the sales, so these people have to raise their hand and truly want to do this kind of work. How do you kind of onboard a new client? How do you kind of go through what the process looks like? And what is a reasonable length of time to see some meaningful results?

Marissa Levin: [00:13:05] Those are all really great questions. So, it really depends on what people want us to be doing. So, some of our examples, we do the values, mission and vision work. And now, more than ever, it’s so important for leaders and organizations to be continuously communicating what their values are, what the mission and the vision of the organization is because now, more than ever, employees are struggling to feel connected to their organization. They don’t feel connected to their company. They don’t feel connected to their leaders. They don’t feel connected to their other employees.

Marissa Levin: [00:13:38] As you mentioned, all of those rituals and those traditions that make up of corporate culture are nonexistent. When I was running my company, one of our favorite things to do every year was to have a huge Thanksgiving banquet where we provided the main courses and all of our employees would bring in all the side dishes, and then we would do a white elephant gift exchange. We had a movie playing in the conference room. And it just was such a wonderful day. And those types of experiences now are gone. So, how are leaders creating those even more so?

Marissa Levin: [00:14:15] And so, for us, some of our clients are bringing in to reinforce their values, mission and vision. Some of our clients are bringing us in to do culture check-ups. We do a lot of culture check-ups, like you go to the dentist, and you go two or three times a year to check for cavities, remove the plaque, remove the tartar and the buildup. It’s very similar with cultures. Cultures have a way of disintegrating bit by bit. It’s not like one day, something happened, and it blows up the culture. They literally start fraying moment to moment, hour to hour, day to day because of things that start to happen.

Marissa Levin: [00:14:53] And so, it’s really important for leaders to be doing check-ins to see how they’re perceiving the culture and what’s happening internally compared to what employers are doing. And I can tell you that a hundred percent of the time there’s always been a discrepancy. And that’s okay as long as you get in front of it and you put it in the right interventions to bridge the gap between how leaders see the culture and how employees see the culture.

Marissa Levin: [00:15:18] So, companies will bring us in to do the culture check-ins, and we’re doing a lot of that now. At the end of the year. They want us to go out and do year-in culture check-ins, see what employees think that they should be doing as we move into the new year. What are we not seeing? Leaders only see the organization from the 50,000-foot level, they’re not involved in the day-to-day. And that perspective and experience that employees have, like during the daily grind on the ground, dealing with the actual work, they have incredibly valuable perspective and insight, and leaders have to make a conscious effort to extrapolate that information and that perspective, so that they know what’s happening. So, we’ll do culture check-ins.

Marissa Levin: [00:16:03] We have a Scale Academy, the Successful Culture Events, Leadership, Education Academy. And the courses that we provide in that are things like self-awareness, using the Johari Window, making sure that people understand how they’re showing up, what their blind spots are, what they’re hiding from the rest of the world, how they can be as transparent as possible, we do a workshop specifically on self-awareness and raising your self-awareness.

Marissa Levin: [00:16:30] We do programming on emotional intelligence. We have two different offerings around emotional intelligence because that’s so important, especially in today’s environment. We have programming on conscious and unconscious bias, and creating respectful and inclusive work environments, which we’ve been doing for years, long before it became the trendy thing to do. We have programs on communication strategies, having difficult conversations, leading remote workforce teams. These are all the things that we have in place that are available online. And so, a lot of our clients purchase our curriculums to make sure that their employees know that they’re investing in them, that they they’re getting the right soft skills to show up in their most effective manner. So, that’s another way that our clients engage us.

Marissa Levin: [00:17:16] So, it’s through values, mission, vision, work; looking at recruitment practices; doing individual coaching. We do a lot of CEO-to-CEO coaching and a lot of executive coaching. Doing the culture check-ins. And then, the scale academy work. So, depending on what you need. We’ve got a client right now that has three acquisitions planned for 2021. They’ve got one coming in January, one coming in April and one coming in October. And we’re retained for the entire year to help with that cultural integration, to make sure that those acquisitions are successful, and that the team, the leadership team and the employees that are coming into those companies are fully, and seamlessly and successfully integrated into the company. We’re doing that work going into 2021 for one of our clients. So, there’s lots of different ways that our client engage us, depending on what their situation is.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:09] Now, looking forward into 2021, are you seeing any trends? Are you seeing any kind of level of maybe grace amongst the leadership and their employees because of just everybody dealing with so much of the chaos that you mentioned earlier and just so much of, now, they’re leaning on technology, and maybe there was a time where there was less patience and grace when it came to some of this but, maybe, now, people’s empathy gene is kind of turned on a little bit more?

Marissa Levin: [00:18:40] That’s so funny that you mentioned that. I don’t even know if you’re aware that I developed the GRACE model to help leaders lead and communicate with grace, which we’ve rolled out to hundreds of different organizations and leaders now. I developed it in March when the pandemic opened or came down upon us. And it stands for great resilience, adaptability, connection and empathy. And it’s a full model to lead leaders through a process to lead and communicate with grace. And it’s been really impactful and transformative for the organizations that we’ve worked with.

Marissa Levin: [00:19:17] And so, I do see the continued need to be educating leaders on how to lead and communicate with grace, because we’re all kind of pushed to the limit, and we don’t know what’s coming and when it’s coming. And we’re all pandemic-weary, we’re all quarantine-weary, we’re exhausted. So, yeah, we’re actually doing a lot of work around GRACE.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:40] So, now, if somebody wanted to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team, what’s the best way to learn more? Is there a website or social media coordinator?

Marissa Levin: [00:19:50] Yeah. So, successfulculture.com is our main website. I’m on LinkedIn. You guys can find me, I’ve got about 25,000 followers. So, I’m out there. And my email is marissa@successfulculture.com. That’s M-A-R-I-S-S-A @ successful culture dotcom. And I’m happy to take direct emails. And you guys can sign up for our newsletter, which we put on hiatus, and we’re about to start it back up along with our podcast as we go into 2021. But yeah, there’s lots of ways to reach me and definitely check out our white paper on how to create a respectful and inclusive work environment at successfulculture.com too.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:30] Now, before we wrap up, tell me why it was important to be a certified woman-owned business and be involved with GWBC.

Marissa Levin: [00:20:39] Certification as a woman-owned business is essential, especially if you’re going to be working with state, and local, and federal agencies because you want to indicate that you are a certified woman-owned business, even if it’s through an independent party. So, look, we’re moving into an era now where we have an unprecedented number of women in positions of power. I think our time has come, and I think it’s never been more important for women-owned businesses to get certified as a woman-owned entity.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:11] Now, what do you need more of? How can we help? Do you need more team members, more clients, more people?

Marissa Levin: [00:21:19] Hey, we’re always looking for clients. The other thing that we forgot to mention is I’m the author of Built to SCALE: How Top Companies Create Breakthrough Growth Through Exceptional Advisory Boards. It’s the number one book globally on how to build extraordinary advisory boards. The SCALE model stands for select, compensate, associate, leverage, evaluate, evolve and exit. You can either find that on Amazon or you can go to builttoscale.info. That’s B-U-I-L-T-T-O-S-C-A-L-E dot info. And we work with organizations to help build their best advisory board. So, any organization that is looking for improvements in corporate culture, looking to educate their employees with really, really stellar leadership educational programming, looking to put in an advisory board or looking for really high-impact transformational CEO-to-CEO coaching, please reach out to me because that’s where my sweet spots are. And I would love to work with you.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:18] Good stuff, Marissa. Thank you so much for sharing your story, you’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Marissa Levin: [00:22:25] No, we appreciate you, Lee, for having this podcast and for letting women-owned businesses get their story out.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:32] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on GWBC Open for Business.

About GWBC

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

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

Kittie Watson with Innolect

by

Innolect-logo
GWBC Radio
Kittie Watson with Innolect
Loading
/

Kittie-Watson-InnolectKittie W. Watson is President and founder of Innolect Inc., a global leadership and organization development firm that prepares executives and their teams to succeed in high-performance, high-integrity workplaces. With over twenty-five years of strategic change management experience, Kittie has been a trusted advisor to Fortune 500 C-suite officers seeking to accelerate positive business results today and create legacies of excellence for the future.

Under her leadership Innolect has developed a community of credentialed experts and executive coaches who advise, design and facilitate strategies that rewire an organization and drive outstanding leadership at each stage of executive advancement. Innolect prepares its clients to compete more effectively in diverse marketplaces by building the skilled leaders and collaborative teams that drive productivity, inclusion, enterprise agility and engagement. Towards this end, Kittie brings a deep appreciation for the challenges faced by executives in high-stakes settings and works exceptionally well with mission-critical business needs. Focused on creating more inclusive cultures, she quickly sizes up the crux of difficult situations and provides leaders with powerful solutions that pay off for themselves and their stakeholders.

Kittie has worked with the top leadership teams of Fortune 500 companies, educational institutions, government agencies and non-profit organizations. She has extensive experience in orchestrating assessment and change initiatives in organizations such as Bayer, Zoetis, Entergy, Compass, Cricket, Exxon-Mobil, Federal Reserve Board, Pfizer, Equifax, US Army, Monsanto, Red Cross, Prisma Healthcare, SonyBMG, Credit Human, Atrium, Southern Company, Genentech and Wells Fargo.

An internationally known communication and listening expert, she served as the youngest Department Chair at Tulane University. Author of 15 books, Kittie is listed as one of the top 25 most prolific women writers in communication. Her assessment tools are used globally to enhance individual and team effectiveness. Her co-authored book, Listen Up!, has been published in eight languages. She has been featured on ABC’s 20/20, Money, Glamour and Home Office Computing. Her research has been published in Harvard Business Review, People + Strategy, American Medical News, SHRM, Chief Learning Officer and Journal of Christian Nursing to name a few.

Kittie is a nationally recognized business leader. Recent awards include being awarded DA4S’s 2020 Eight that Innovate, named 2019 WBEs Who Rock by DBE Magazine, 2017 Top 100 woman-owned business, 2016 Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Babson College scholar and as a 2015 Business Star by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). Also recognized with Diversity Supplier Award for Innolect’s persistence, innovation and quality.

She serves on the WaterStone Foundation, Habitat for Humanity of York County, and Leadership Forum with WBENC. She co-founded The Institute for Intrapersonal Processes (ISIP), a 501c3 nonprofit that promotes research and development for under-represented groups and underprivileged individuals. An Honorary Women Build Chair for Habitat for Humanity, Kittie is committed to “Pay it Forward.” She is an advocate for social justice issues worldwide.

Follow Innolect on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Transcript

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

Lee Kantor: [00:00:18] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of GWBC Open for Business, and this is going to be a good one. Today, we have with us Kittie Watson with Innolect. Welcome, Kittie.

Kittie Watson: [00:00:27] Thank you so much, Lee. It’s great to be back.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:29] Well, before we get too far into things, tell us about Innolect. How are you serving folks?

Kittie Watson: [00:00:34] Well, Innolect is an organizational and leadership executive development consulting firm. And we say, we grow the leader in every one. And now, of course, just like the rest of the world, we’ve had to rethink what we’re doing. And so, we’re serving our clients and working with executives remotely.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:55] Now, the is hypothesis that there’s a leader in everyone still standing despite this major chaos and crisis. Have you found that to be true?

Kittie Watson: [00:01:05] We definitely have found that to be true. And, as you might be aware, we have had a partial virtual business for a number of years. And based on one of our employees wanting to move and asking us if they could work with us remotely, we ended up leaving brick and mortar and becoming a virtual organization. And what we’re seeing is that, leaders are stepping up in many different ways. Some have had to learn new skills and we’re helping them with that remotely. Sometimes we’re helping organizations think through what they’re doing with some of the social issues that are happening. So, we’re seeing leaders step up in very different ways. And some struggled at the beginning and we’re beginning to see them emerge stronger than ever before.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:54] Now, when the pandemic hit and maybe some people thought, “Oh, this will just be a few days and next week we’ll get back to it.” How did your team kind of plan for this and say, “Okay. This could be a few weeks, but it could be longer. How are we going to deal with our clients?” Like, what was your kind of crisis team or how did you attack that when it was right in the midst of it?

Kittie Watson: [00:02:16] You know, it’s interesting because we worked with other organizations to look at crisis and issues management. And as an entrepreneur, I am an optimist. And so, initially, I looked at things as, hopefully, being a short term rather than long term. Even so, we immediately had to look first at just how to protect our staff, and our team, and our consultants as much as possible. So, I had to look at the financial implications and, of course, take advantage of some of the things that were being offered to us and thinking about what we could do differently.

Kittie Watson: [00:02:55] And so, what we did is we were already doing many things, especially executive coaching, blended model of virtual and face-To-face, and could easily move to the virtual platform. What we hadn’t done as much of that we’re doing now is so much more with workshops and strategy sessions and working with teams remotely. And that has been different. And because we were already in that space, we were actually able to help leaders think about how to engage teams and how to work with them differently now that they’re working from home. It’s funny to me, Lee, is that often organizations say they want their employees to bring their whole selves to work, but they didn’t know what that was until the pandemic.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:43] Right. And now they’re bringing their work to their whole selves.

Kittie Watson: [00:03:48] Exactly. I mean, there are the distractions, of course. There are families that are helping their children with education. There are pets. There’s so many things that are happening that people had to adjust to. And we’re a resilient society and, I think, as a whole, resilient people. But that’s a really good thing that we’re seeing now, is we’re helping organizations and individuals assess their own resilience.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:17] Because I’m seeing this, but tell me if you’re seeing this as well, this kind of a level of grace that maybe didn’t exist before. Like, if you were working at home, maybe you were trying to fake it and you’re like, “I’m at the office.” And, you know, now a kid walks by a Zoom call or, you know, a dog barks and everybody laughs it off or wants to see pictures of the dog or cat. Are you seeing kind of that kind of generosity and grace a little bit because we’re all in this together.

Kittie Watson: [00:04:45] We definitely have seen that part of ourselves emerge. You know, with technology, even, I think people are much more impatient with technology prior to COVID. And, now, they understand that there may be several people in a home trying to use the same internet, and so there may be disruptions. And so, we have alternatives, you know, sometimes we’re on a Zoom call seeing each other and then at the same time on the phone because we want to have that back up. The other thing, though, that I’m seeing and I do see grace and we work to create an organization in a workplace that is respectful and inclusive in everything that they do.

Kittie Watson: [00:05:30] But through this long period of time, what I’m seeing is that many people also are becoming very brittle. And what I mean by that, not even realizing the stress or toll it’s taking when leaders are not doing as good a job of taking care of themselves. Finding a way to exercise, for example, or meditate, or pray, or just taking some time to center themselves. Because what we’re finding, especially initially, is people are working longer hours. Maybe it was because of anxiety of what was going to happen next. But not taking as good care of themselves.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:15] Now, when you’re working with a client, are they coming to you in the same manner they were pre-pandemic? Or are you getting a lot of work from existing clients that are doubling down and go, “Look, we need some help here and all hands on deck. So, we have a trusted advisor in Kittie’s team, so let’s kind of lean into that.” Or are people saying, “You know what? There’s a hole on my swing here. I think we need some experts kind of helping us guide us through this.”

Kittie Watson: [00:06:43] Well, I would say both. And I’m very thankful for the loyalty and support and confidence that our long term clients – our first client is still a client today. And so, we do form long term relationships because we become so committed to the people in the organization with which they work. There are some new clients because of a new practice area that we’ve developed.

Kittie Watson: [00:07:10] And because my heart really was impacted so much by George Floyd’s killing and some of the other things, we actually started with a webinar on Bridge Builders for Social Justice. How can we create a world that is more inclusive, respectful, and to build some of those bridges? And so, because of that, we’ve seen other opportunities where people are reaching out curious about what we can do to help within their organizations to build more equity, inclusion, and a greater sense of what diversity truly means.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:51] So, now, let’s kind of help our listeners. Is there any low hanging fruit that they can be doing to kind of make that dream come true in terms of diversity and inclusion?

Kittie Watson: [00:08:04] One of the things that we found, Lee, through our research, and we see this out in other places as well, is that, many leaders have been very uncomfortable to have those conversations about race or difference. And so, rather than saying something or having a real dialogue, some have allowed their organizations to do it externally or have the CEO have a broad town hall meeting. And in actuality, individuals want to be touched one by one.

Kittie Watson: [00:08:39] And so, what we’ve been doing is helping organizations build capacity and their leaders to have those uncomfortable conversations, to listen with empathy – and we call it the radical empathy – to listen non-defensively, to have the courage to reach out to people. I think that was one of the things that hit me the most when I started reaching out to my friends and colleagues and clients of color that so many reached back and had long stories to tell and wanted to get on the phone.

Kittie Watson: [00:09:16] And one in particular affected me when this one woman said, “Not one white person in my organization has reached out to me.” That struck a chord with me and I wanted to figure out – since our vision for Innolect is to better the world by growing leaders and building creative high integrity workplaces, we’ve actually built a whole new practice area around Bridge Building for Social Justice. That is for all people to create those organizations that are respectful, inclusive, and that allow us to bring our true best selves to work.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:53] Now, when that woman said that no white person has come up to them, you know, that some white people wanted to come up to her and probably just didn’t have the tools, or didn’t know what to say, or didn’t want to say the wrong thing. So, what are some ways that the dialogue can begin? Is there things that people can do to just have that conversation in a way that feels safe for both sides?

Kittie Watson: [00:10:21] I think there are so many, Lee. And I think the first, though, I would say is, if there’s discomfort, it’s really going inside to find that courage to act, to do something. It might be writing a note, if that’s more comfortable for a person, just to say, “I’m thinking about you. I’m imagining that this is a difficult time.”

Kittie Watson: [00:10:44] What I really stress for people, though, is to remain curious, to get to know what another person’s story is. Right now, we’re doing more on storytelling, but it’s really story listening. To listen to other people’s story. Once we do that, there’s a different kind of relationship that’s built. And yet, often, we’re in a world that has learned to be advocates, to talk, to share your own story rather than to be those that are listening, asking questions, curious and wanting to know more about another person. So, there are so many tools that we can use. But part of it is, we have to practice doing something uncomfortable to get into more of a new habit of reaching out to people.

Kittie Watson: [00:11:36] And there are going to be situations that come up not just about race. There’s going to be some situations that come up about other topics. And we have seen that, whether it’s politics, that we’re still kind of in the midst of, or how a person’s religious beliefs, how can we be more curious and interested. And where another person’s coming from is a first step and then creates the kind of environment where people will speak up, have a voice. And we find that it leads to greater collaboration, greater innovation, and more productivity.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:14] And I would think that this is an area where if you hadn’t done this before, it may be better to have an expert, like you and your team, come and facilitate this. Because it takes some of the politics and the history out of it. And it looks like it’s a clean slate and it’s kind of an unbiased facilitator rather than, “Oh, that’s Bob. I remember five years ago Bob said that crazy thing, so he doesn’t really mean that.” So, like, it takes some of that away from it where you’re coming in kind of neutral and there to help and listen. And I think it would be more well-received coming from, you know, kind of a stranger or kind of this unaffiliated person as opposed to somebody like, “Oh, that’s the executive just checking a box.”

Kittie Watson: [00:13:04] Well, Lee, I do believe that there are, initially, that discomfort. There is a need, people want to reach out to have some help and support. But one of the principles of Innolect is that, we build internal capacity. We really don’t want the organization to be dependent on us. We want to build and believe that people develop and learn. So, what we’re doing now is working with organizations to help the leaders be able to do that and to recover if there’s been a mistake five years ago.

Kittie Watson: [00:13:40] Because there are long memories in organizations about things that were hurtful or some incidents that occurred. And so, part of it is that we want people to learn to tell new stories. And for a leader, even, to have the humility to say, “There was so much I didn’t know about what you, as an individual, have been going through. I’m learning and I need your help to continue to learn.” And so, what we’re seeing is, is that we’re finding ways for organizations to build that capacity for dialogue, whether it’s teaching a leader more about how to facilitate the types of questions to ask, how to listen non-defensively. And, also, what are some of the other things that can be done creatively to allow people to talk amongst themselves.

Kittie Watson: [00:14:36] So, for example, a number of our clients have started book clubs with different books that might get people to think differently. And it is important to have someone that can monitor, watch, notice when someone feels uncomfortable and to really talk that through or any conflict because of their own hurt. We’re finding that in so many people. We talk about PTSD and certain situations, and we’ve talked about that with the military. All of us have it. And particularly people of color that have had, what some people call, microaggressions, others call it assault. And so, as those happen over and over again, they can react in a way that’s even surprising to them. So, we have to have people well trained internally to handle those situations because it can be ones that you just need a different kind of sensitivity. And so, I appreciate you’re understanding that, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:48] Yeah. I think that the overall arching goal, I would hope, would be to make the organization kind of be able to do it on their own. But I think at the beginning there has to be a bridge because it’s hard to just create that level of trust, and safety, and comfort, and empathy with people who have – you know, there’s a saying – what is it? – one film, two screens. People are looking at the same exact movie, but getting two different kind of understandings of what reality is or what’s happening on the screen. And I think a lot of this is the framing of it. And first, you need some kind of a neutral trusted authority to help kind of, at least, open the floor in a safe, comfortable way.

Kittie Watson: [00:16:35] And I agree 100 percent with that. And, also, believe that we don’t want leaders to be dependent on us for that. Because we also know from research that leaders think that people feel more trust and safety with them than they actually do. Actually, some of the research shows that as individuals rise in an organization, that they have less empathy because they forget where they’ve come from. And so, part of our role is to help leaders see that and to see what their own blind spots might be so that they can do that on their own eventually.

Kittie Watson: [00:17:17] But agree with you that, initially, we’re finding that organizations need some help within human resources, even, to deal with some of these topics or when they’re groups of people. It may be easier for someone one-on-one than in a group. Or, especially, when we’re working remotely, we’re thinking about handling these dialogues on a social media platform like Zoom, or WebEx, or Teams. And so, there are different skill sets that are needed. And what we find is that, we need to partner with someone on our team or someone internally to manage that process when there’s a larger group of people involved.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:04] Yeah. I mean, we’re all learning. And the people who are going to probably reach out to you have, at least, some self-awareness that there is a need to discuss this or else they wouldn’t be reaching out to you. So, they’re almost there intellectually and emotionally. Or if they weren’t thinking that way, they wouldn’t even care to call you.

Kittie Watson: [00:18:23] Right. And the thing is that, we really are wanting to help organizations see is that it’s not a check the box, a one time event. That we need to create the kind of culture that there’s ongoing dialogue. And that’s why so many programs and initiatives that were started in inclusion and diversity – or used to be diversity and inclusion, and now the name is changing some. And now there’s equity within there, too – is that it is a process. It’s a culture change in many aspects. And to have one course that a person goes to is not going to be enough. And we also know from our own research and others that, if people just hear what they need to do without practicing it, then when the time comes for them to say something, to speak up for someone, they don’t do it unless they practiced it ahead of time. So, what we’re trying to do is to give leaders, and individuals, and teams opportunities to practice listening to and engaging each other in respectful ways.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:35] Right. And if there was ever a case for the importance of a strong culture, it’s in a situation like this where we are remote, and we’re not around each other physically, and we’re not kind of having those serendipitous moments together. And the learning opportunities where I can just, you know, look over your shoulder, you can look over mine. Those are kind of not available anymore. So, we need a strong culture. And culture is one of those things. It’s going to happen with or without you kind of trying to shape it, so you might as well be intentional.

Kittie Watson: [00:20:07] Yes. Definitely. And, you know, the cultures that people have right now, sometimes we’re not really aware of all the subcultures within the culture and how do we bring people into that organization in a very different way. And this is such a great opportunity to do the right thing because we want to create that culture. And for organizations, it’s also profitable to do.

Kittie Watson: [00:20:38] And so, at the same time, you know, if you think about the cost to businesses with discrimination cases in the U.S. in 2019 – there were over 70,000 EEOC discrimination cases, many of them are around race – it’s an estimate over $359 billion. So, if you think about that cost, that’s one thing. But what we’re really looking at is that, if we can create the kind of place that people want to work, bring their best selves, and are really committed to the mission and goals of that organization, then you’re going to have the organization that’s more profitable, that is going to give back, that is going to make a difference. And so, that’s where we’re really focusing some of our energy with this new practice area.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:34] Now, if somebody wanted to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team, what’s the best way to get a hold of you?

Kittie Watson: [00:21:40] Well, they could reach out to me individually at kittie, and it’s K-I-T-T-I-E-W, @innolectinc.com. And to spell it – it may be a little difficult or challenging – it’s I-N-N-O-L-E-C-T-I-N-C.com. And, of course, on our website, which is innolectinc.com. They can find a lot of information. There are a number of free resources and some tool kits and templates that leaders can use to help them with their journey of creating the kind of organizations that they really want where people do feel valued, included, and respected.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:25] Now, before we wrap, just a little plug for GWBC. Why was it important for you to be a member there and make that organization a part of your organization’s kind of DNA and culture?

Kittie Watson: [00:22:39] Well, I appreciate GWBC for a number of reasons. I was on the board for a number of years. And I believe it’s another type of organization that’s working to be more inclusive. And in this case, it’s women business owners and giving us an opportunity to bid on projects, that maybe we wouldn’t have had otherwise, through introductions that we’re making within corporate arena. In addition, we’re getting to support each other as women-owned businesses and learn from each other.

Kittie Watson: [00:23:13] GWBC, through the certification, allows us to have resources and learning and to gain that, I guess, it’s a seal of approval that we truly are a woman-owned business. And that we are working to create an opportunity for lots of people in the world. And we partner with so many different people through GWBC with corporations, with government agencies, and there’s an opportunity for us to learn from each other and with each other. And that’s been a value to me.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:53] Now, any advice for the woman-owned business out there that hasn’t got certified or joined GWBC? What is kind of a business case for kind of immersing yourself into that organization?

Kittie Watson: [00:24:08] Part of what I just said, I think, is that we learn from each other. And family members have a hard time understanding of a business owner of any kind until they’ve lived it. It’s that similar empathy. And so, if you work within GWBC, you’re going to be meeting with others that have the same kinds of challenges with PNLs, and hiring, and developing the ideas that you want, especially within this environment. In addition to that, someone that’s not certified, it will give you an opportunity, not to get a contract necessarily, but it will open doors to learn about opportunities that are there. And then, give you the opportunity to compete with other organizations to grow your business.

Kittie Watson: [00:24:59] So, this is a way, again, I really see it about learning and change and collaboration. There are ways for us to gain new insights. And we have a new book that just is coming out that is called, Ignite Your Imagination: 21 One Days to Learn. And that’s what I think we get from GWBC and just WBENC in general is a way to learn and grow and thrive with each other.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:28] Right. And it’s like you said, this is a safe environment where you can share your fears and your successes and everybody’s rooting for you. It’s very collaborative and and it’s amazing knowledge you get from people in totally different industries that you can bring into your own. The learning is so diverse and it’s so powerful because it’s right from the horse’s mouth. It’s right from the people that are living it. It’s not hypothetical or theoretical. This is real information from the people that are the boots on the ground doing the work.

Kittie Watson: [00:26:00] And I would say some of my closest friends have come from this, too, and we help each other. I mean, even during the pandemic, another woman-owned business introduced me to another woman-owned business, and we partnered on a contract for a government agency. And we’re working that one right now. And so, I wouldn’t have known about that if it hadn’t been for this other person and the relationship that we’ve built through the years.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:29] Now, what do you need right now? How can we help you? Do you need more team members? Do you need more clients? What do you need?

Kittie Watson: [00:26:37] I mean, we are always open to new consultants that work with us that see differently within our business model. And with clients, we, obviously, want to work with organizations that are like-minded that are wanting to make a difference. I think the main thing that we all need right now is just patience to come back to where we thought we were headed and the changes that we have.

Kittie Watson: [00:27:13] But I appreciate the opportunity just to be on this show with you, Lee. And we do have so many resources on our website that people could use. And even our products, and assessments, and tools that would encourage people to just look there to find something that might help them as they continue to navigate into 2021, in just a month from today.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:40] That’s right. Well, Kittie, thank you so much for sharing your story. We really appreciate you and the important work that you’re doing.

Kittie Watson: [00:27:46] Thank you, Lee. Thank you for having me. Appreciate it.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:49] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on GWBC Open for Business.

About GWBC

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

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

N.Z. Bryant, Jr. with Patterson-Bryant

by

NZ-Bryant-Jr-Patterson-Bryant
Detroit Business Radio
N.Z. Bryant, Jr. with Patterson-Bryant
Loading
/

Patterson-Bryant-logo

NZ-Bryant-Jr-Patterson-BryantN.Z. Bryant Jr. and his late partner Darryll Patterson, started Patterson-Bryant and Associates Inc. over 30 years ago. He has helped many companies build very affordable benefit packages for their employees both locally and nationally. His company has offices in Michigan, Nevada, and Texas.

He has a heart for helping and as such, he gives an annual golf outing to help raise funds for Alternatives for Children and Families, which is an adoption agency for abused and neglected children. N.Z. has a standing list of countless charities and non-profits he partners with annually.

N.Z. is also a Financial Advisor with over 30 years of experience. He has been awarded the Wealth Manager of the Year by Hour Magazine, he was selected C.E.O. of the Year by Corp Magazine, and Businessman of the Year by Washington D.C.’s Business Advisory Council. His financial acumen has placed him on The Wall of Distinction at his Alma Mater, Western Michigan University, where he received his B.S. and M.A. Degrees. He has also received Delta Sigma Theta, Pontiac Chapter Community Appreciation Award. None of these things would have been possible without his firm belief and faith in God, standing on Bible verses like “If you have the faith of a mustard seed…nothing shall be impossible unto you”.

N.Z. is a partner in VIP Sports Management. VIP Sports Management recruits top talented athletes to play football for the National Football League. He expects to have two of his highly talented players selected early in the upcoming NFL draft.

Connect with N.Z. on LinkedIn.

Ari Rastegar with Rastegar Property Company

by

Rastegar-Property-logo
Atlanta Business Radio
Ari Rastegar with Rastegar Property Company
Loading
/

OnPay-Banner

Rastegar-Property-logoAri Rastegar, Founder and CEO of Rastegar Property Company, has established a reputation as a thought-leader in real estate with his innovative, technology-driven investment approach and strategies. Ari’s real estate investments span 32 cities across eight states, and include vintage multifamily units, mixed-use complexes, storage facilities and more.

Ari began his work in real estate investment in 2006 while still in law school, before eventually founding Rastegar Property Company in 2015. Ari specializes in recession-resilient real assets and multifamily real estate developments and has built portfolios designed to reduce risk and maximize capital appreciation potential.

Known for his thought-provoking insight and no-nonsense delivery, Ari and Rastegar Property Company are regularly featured in both national and local news outlets including GQ, Commercial Observer, The LA Times and the Austin American-Statesman. Ari is also a frequent contributor to prominent publications like The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CBS and International Business Times.

Ari holds a Bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University, as well as, a Juris Doctorate degree from St. Mary’s University Law School. Ari became licensed to practice law in Texas in May of 2009.

Ari has maintained his personal commitment to a purposeful life, which drives the culture at Rastegar Property Company. Ari is a longtime supporter of charitable organizations that give back to the community like the Central Austin food bank, the Maharishi Foundation, and Ronald McDonald House.

Connect with Ari on LinkedIn and follow Rastegar Property on Facebook.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • How renters fleeing coastal cities are creating real estate investment opportunities in Atlanta
  • How vintage multi-family apartments in smaller cities, like Atlanta, are the future

About Our Sponsor

OnPay’sOnPay-Dots payroll services and HR software give you more time to focus on what’s most important. Rated “Excellent” by PC Magazine, we make it easy to pay employees fast, we automate all payroll taxes, and we even keep all your HR and benefits organized and compliant.

Our award-winning customer service includes an accuracy guarantee, deep integrations with popular accounting software, and we’ll even enter all your employee information for you — whether you have five employees or 500. Take a closer look to see all the ways we can save you time and money in the back office.

Follow OnPay on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

BRX Pro Tip: Important vs. Urgent

by

BRXmic99
BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: Important vs. Urgent
Loading
/

BRX-Banner

BRX Pro Tip: Important vs. Urgent

Stone Payton: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Business RadioX Pro Tips. Lee Kantor and Stone Payton here with you. Lee, I’ve been blessed in a lot of ways, not the least of which is the opportunity to study under, work with a number of just marvelous mentors. And I think each and every one of them, at some time or another, tried to impress upon me this distinction between important versus urgent. I’d love it if you’d take a swing at it too.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:00] Sure. This is the Stephen Covey’s matrix using important as urgent as the axis. And that’s supposed to help you focus on where should you be spending your time. And, obviously, one quadrant has urgent and important, one quadrant has not urgent but important, one quadrant has urgent but not important, and one quadrant has not urgent and not important. It’s important to understand why each of those quadrants are important.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:00] A lot of people spend the bulk of their time in that quadrant four of not urgent and not important, and that’s the quadrant you should get rid of. I like to look at things in terms of dollar in our work. You’re spending negative money in that quadrant. There’s nothing good happening there. And so, you shouldn’t spend any time there really during your workday.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:26] But the quadrant that gets neglected is that not urgent but important planning quadrant in quadrant two. And that, to me, is your thousand-dollar-an-hour work. That’s the place where the big thinking happens, the deep thinking happens, and that’s really what’s going to move the needle in your business, and that’s where you should be making sure you’re investing some time each week in that quadrant because that’s where you’re going to grow. That’s where going to come up with the ideas that are going to take your business to the next level.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:58] But sadly, most people focus on the $10-an-hour quadrants of doing work that it seems urgent, but it’s not really important. And that’s where most people get bogged down. So, that’s the kind of work. You got to delegate. You got to find somebody else to be doing that kind of work, so you can focus on the more important work. And that happens in quadrant two of not urgent but important.

Karen Hertz with Holidaily Brewing Company

by

Holidaily-Brewing-Company
GWBC Radio
Karen Hertz with Holidaily Brewing Company
Loading
/

Karen-Hertz-Holidaily-Brewing-CompanyKaren W. Hertz is the founder of Holidaily Brewing Company. In her early 30’s, Karen survived both melanoma and thyroid cancers, leading to a treatment regimen including a gluten-free diet.

After adopting a gluten-free diet, Karen struggled to find a great tasting, 100% gluten-free beer. With an MBA in Entrepreneurial Studies from the University of Colorado at Denver and 10 years of beer industry experience under her belt, Hertz researched gluten-free ingredients, taste-testing alternatives, and gaining an understanding of brewing processes in order to create a better solution. Thus, the idea for Holidaily Brewing Company was born.

Since opening the brewery in 2016, Holidaily has grown over 700%. After years of exponential growth in Colorado, Holidaily Brewing opened the doors to a new production brewery in May of 2019, making them the largest dedicated gluten-free brewery in the U.S. The expansion increased their brewing capacity, allowing them to grow regional distribution.

Holidaily’s success has garnered recognition from Bon Appetit Magazine, Denver A-list, Gluten-free Living Magazine, USA Today, Esquire and more. More recently, the brewery won the Gold Medal in the gluten-free category at the Great American Beer Festival and was selected by Denver A-List as the 2020 best brewery in the Denver area.

Since opening the brewery, Hertz has received recognition of her own. In 2017, she was awarded the 40 Under 40 recognition by the Denver Business Journal. She has won Innovator of the Year in Jefferson County, Colorado. In 2020, ColoradoBiz Magazine identified her as a finalist for their Entrepreneur of the Year and she was recognized as a top 100 CEO in Colorado by the Titan 100 Awards. Hertz has participated in a number of local and national speaking engagements covering the craft beer and the gluten-free industries, entrepreneurship, women in business and work-life balance.

Outside of her role as Chief Brewista, Karen enjoys living in Golden with her husband and twin daughters and taking advantage of all that Colorado has to offer including watching her favorite sports team while enjoying a Holidaily beer at Mile High Stadium

Follow Holidaily Brewing Company on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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 hostLee Kantor:
[00:00:18] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of GWBC Open for Business. And this will be a good one. Today, we have with us Karen Hertz. And she is with Holidaily Brewing Company. Welcome.

Karen Hertz: [00:00:28] Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:30] Well, before we get too far on the things, tell us about Holidaily Brewing Company. How are you serving folks?

Karen Hertz: [00:00:35] Yeah, sure. So, Holidaily Brewing Company is one of the country’s only dedicated gluten-free breweries. We are located in Golden, Colorado. And really, the history of the brewery started with a combination of my education, and my work experience and my personal life. I had an MBA in Entrepreneurial Studies from University of Colorado at Denver, and I was working in the beer industry. I worked at MillerCoors here in Golden, Colorado. And primarily worked on distribution, getting Coors beer and Miller beer from Golden to distributors throughout the central region of the United States.

Karen Hertz: [00:01:18] And then, I ran into some health issues. In 2007, I was diagnosed with melanoma. And in 2008, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and then autoimmune thyroid disease. So, two-time cancer diagnosis, an autoimmune disease, and doctors had told me I needed to be gluten-free. And I was working in the beer industry, and had this degree, and tried the gluten-free beers that were out there and didn’t feel like they were the quality of great craft beer that I know Colorado is getting used to. And I know in Atlanta and all across the US, other people are really growing this craft beer culture and there wasn’t great gluten-free options.

Karen Hertz: [00:02:05] And so, I put all of that together and opened this brewery in February of 2016. And when we opened, it was really just myself and a brewer. And we were open three days a week, and we had three beers on tap. And by the end of year one, we had ten beers on tap, and two beers in distribution, and it’s grown a ton since then.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:29] So, talk a little bit about what it takes to make a beer gluten-free, because that seems like kind of hard to wrap my head around.

Karen Hertz: [00:02:37] Yeah, that’s a great question. So, in most beer and all beer, really, the recipe is grain, water, yeast and hops. And that’s really a majority of what goes into everywhere. So, water is gluten-free; hops are gluten-free; yeast, we can source relatively easily gluten-free but the challenge in beer is the grain. So, most beer utilizes wheat or barley, and both of those grains have gluten in them. So, rather than utilizing those grains, I had to find alternative grains that still made great craft beer. And, ultimately, found a company that’s here in Colorado, and we purchased millet and buckwheat from them. So, we purchased grains that are gluten-free from the beginning and utilize those in our beers. And that’s how we do it.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:29] And then, how long did it take to kind of tweak the recipe to get the right combination, to get the flavor you were looking for?

Karen Hertz: [00:03:36] Yeah, that’s a great question. I really started, when I was working in the beer industry, I was primarily working in distribution. I wasn’t a brewer. And my goal wasn’t to be the head brewer forever, but I did start home brewing to learn about the process and ingredient options. There’s not a ton of gluten-free brewing ingredient options out there. And the ones that were being used weren’t coming out with great flavors. So, there was a lot of experimentation, I would say about a year and a half.

Karen Hertz: [00:04:09] And one of the lucky – I don’t know – serendipitous things that happened was I was looking for a brewer that would help, and I didn’t know who would brew gluten-free beer at the time. This was about five years ago. Really, six years ago. And it wasn’t really a thing yet, and it may not be in a lot of places even still. So, getting a brewer with a lot of experience that was going to help me was key. And I ran into – he just happened to be looking for a job and I was looking for a brewer. But a 25-year veteran that has brought tons of award-winning beers for big breweries across the US like Bell’s in Michigan, which is a real famous one, and some bigger breweries here. And he was willing to help me out and really elevate the quality and the level of beer from the very beginning that we were putting out.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:01] And then, when did you kind of have some clues that, ‘Hey, this could be something there. I know there’s a big audience for gluten-free. We just have to kind of find them and let them find us”?

Karen Hertz: [00:05:12] Yeah, in the beginning, I wasn’t totally sure. I just felt like there had to be other people out there like me that go to a tailgate party and want to have a beer or a baseball game and want to have a beer. It’s just tied to some of those occasions. And so, I started out just real slow. And ultimately, the taproom alone grew a ton. We started self-distributing. I literally was in my car knocking on a liquor store and restaurant doors and delivering the beer. And I say, in my mom car, I would fill it up and take it to these places. And it really did start taking off and growing here locally.

Karen Hertz: [00:05:50] And ultimately, I mean, every day we get asked via social media, “When are you coming here? When are you coming here?” Right now, we distribute throughout Colorado and throughout Arizona, but are looking to expand. And we have that demand, I mean, internationally through our social media, our website. So, I do think there’s a ton of opportunities still out there for us.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:12] And then, now, what are some of the challenges that you’re finding? Has the pandemic, I would imagine, is your is your business also kind of a bar where people go, and hang out, and drink? Or is it all you’re distributing everything?

Karen Hertz: [00:06:27] Yeah. So, it’s a combination of both. It’s almost two sides of it. We still have this taproom where that was all we started and all we had. And then, we have a distribution side also. And both have been impacted by the pandemic. Obviously, on the the taproom side, we have restrictions here on what we can and can’t do. Right now, in the level red that we are in in Colorado, people can sit outside. So, we have a lot of outdoor seating that’s spread out, and our parking lot can be used. So, people even come and tailgate in the parking lot. And we can do beer-to-go.

Karen Hertz: [00:07:07] Earlier this year, when things were shut down even to a higher level, it was only beer-to-go for us. But we held pretty strong. Luckily, we have this niche that they don’t really have a lot of other options or places to go. If you want to IPA in Denver, Colorado, you have 300 plus breweries to choose from. If you want a gluten-free IPA anywhere in Colorado, you’ve got one. And so, I really think that has helped us survive some of these harder times.

Karen Hertz: [00:07:37] As far as our distribution, we do distribute throughout all Colorado, all of Arizona. And having all those restaurants be shut down has impacted our sales and our growth. We also are in stadiums here in Colorado. We’re in Mile High Stadium, which is the Broncos and the Rockies, Chris Field, the University of Colorado, all other sports facilities. So, having those shutdown hurts our growth and our volume for sure. Just having those things be shut down, you don’t realize the reach of how many businesses are impacted. And we’re definitely one of those.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:14] Now, when you’re kind of managing all of this disruption, I mean, it’s hard enough to start a business by itself just in good times. And then, you layer this on top of it, which adds … it kind of magnifies it by a thousand, the degree of difficulty. How do you kind of keep your team going and motivate them to kind of, “Okay, we can do this. We can keep adjusting, and we’ll keep tweaking, and we’ll keep hanging in there,” because there’s a light at the end of this tunnel. I mean, I feel like we’re getting closer and closer by the day.

Karen Hertz: [00:08:47] I so hope you’re right. We’ve done a couple of things. One thing that I have done and, really, just the very first shutdown, when really things where no one knew what was going on, right away, we put together a leadership meeting that we do the very first thing in the morning. Except for today. You beat the leadership meeting today. This is an early one, but at 8:00 a.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. And I pull my leadership team together every single week, those two days, just to make sure we are communicating with all departments, and on all fronts, and really addressing any questions. Maybe staff goes to one of my leaders and not another, and we can address just questions together, how we want to communicate as a team. And I think that’s been really effective for us.

Karen Hertz: [00:09:36] As far as moving forward, I have a board that’s really supportive of us and a leadership team that’s really hungry to win and grow. And we decided from the beginning that this wasn’t going to be a time for us to sit back and just sort of survive. We really wanted to take some action in building volume on our own. If distributors are hesitant to take on new brands right now, and understandably so, or we’re losing some volume in stadiums, we decided, “Well, then let’s figure out a way to make some on volume on our own.”

Karen Hertz: [00:10:10] And so, we put together, really, a set of about five different projects and divided and conquered. And it was everything from, “Let’s make cakes available for sale in our taproom. So, if people wanted to put a cake in their home on a kegerator, let’s figure out how to do that,” all the way to “Let’s come out with few new styles of beer in distribution.” And having just written-down goals that we were focused on rather than just being sad about and and frustrated about what’s going on around us, what are some things we can control, and move forward, and build our own volume with? And I think that’s helped motivate the team to stay focused.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:51] Right, you’re controlling what you can control, and you can move forward with that every day. There’s nothing stopping you from that. So, that’s kudos to you for that attitude and that inspiration for your team.

Karen Hertz: [00:11:04] Thanks.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:05] Now, how has the adjustment been for you when it came from … you were working for these large companies that kind of show up and win. I mean, I’m sure at the beginning, it wasn’t like that for all of them, but they’re at a size where they show up and they’re there. Like it’s a choice no one is going to get fired over to put Coors in. They take a shot with you, and then someone could get in trouble. So, how have you handled that kind of adjustment from going more from a corporate environment to this more scrappy entrepreneurial environment. Has that been difficult for you? Because it’s a different, I would imagine, mindset.

Karen Hertz: [00:11:49] Yeah, wrapping your head around it is crazy. When I first wrote my business plan, and I showed it to a friend that was working with me at Coors, and I was working at the warehouse at Coors that I was working with, we shipped 150 trucks of beer a day out of this warehouse. A day. Every single day. And I gave my friend this business plan. He was a buddy at Coors. And he read it and said, “Karen, it’s great.” He said, “But you do realize you’re going to ship off truck in the first year and wrapping that amount of volume of 150 trucks a day to one truck in the whole year.”

Karen Hertz: [00:12:28] It was a little bit defeating and deflating. But kind of to like what you said, I had to start somewhere. And we still are so much smaller than Coors, and I have to remind myself all the time of that. I mean, marketing budgets that are a hundred times more than that we make a year, it can get frustrating. And it’s easy to get frustrated because, really, the distributors, and the retailers, and all the marketing is behind those bigger brands. It’s behind MillerCoors. It’s behind Anheuser-Busch. And I know that. I know that part of the game.

Karen Hertz: [00:13:11] So, I just try to utilize that to my advantage. They don’t have a gluten-free beer. So, let’s go in as we’re the choice for Colorado gluten-free beer, period. Let’s just act like we’re the big boy for gluten-free beer. And I think it helps me think bigger and set bigger goals. I mean, I see where it can go and how it operates at that size. So, it’s a little bit of fake it till you make it. And I think I’ve learned a lot from them. I don’t have anything against those guys. I have learned a lot. And it’s it’s sort of like a goal that’s out there. We can be big, we can operate in that way, but we’ve got to start out this way as the little guy.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:52] Right. And it’s also that you’re more nimble. I mean, I guarantee you, they can’t crank out two new flavors in a month like you did. Like how many layers of approval they’d have to get just to even talk about it.

Karen Hertz: [00:14:05] That’s very true. And I think, even with the pandemic, that’s been an asset to us. It’s, “All right. Then, let’s switch it.” One of my theories as an entrepreneur is I always say, “Ready, fire, aim.” And we might fire the wrong way, but we can make some quick adjustments; where a lot of people are just aiming forever, and either they never fire or just takes forever to do it. And I think that’s part of those bigger corporations is they want to, but they just got to turn the whole ship, where we can do it a heck of a lot quicker. And so, I like that piece of entrepreneurship in being a smaller brewery.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:45] Right. I think that nimbleness, that’s kind of an advantage that you could move in a day where they can’t. It’s just impossible for them to move fast. And that’s just built into the process. That’s the ramification of being so large. There’s so many layers of decision making, they can’t physically move that quickly. It’s just too much bureaucracy. Now, for you as a woman-owned business in this industry, I don’t know this industry very well, but is this a male-dominated industry?

Karen Hertz: [00:15:18] Oh, yeah. Studies are finding about 29% of people employed within the industry are female, but as far as owners, it’s only about four. So, 4% women-owned.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:32] Wow! That’s a short list you’re on. Short list.

Karen Hertz: [00:15:34] The short list, yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:36] Now, why was it important for you to become a certified woman-owned business and not just kind of battle out there on your own without that certification?

Karen Hertz: [00:15:45] Yeah, there really were a couple of reasons for me. One in particular is with us growing this distribution and wanting to get into some of these bigger accounts, whether it’s stadiums, airports, big box retailers and chains, all of those companies have diversity and women-owned supplier requirements. And I knew that and thought, “We can kill two birds with one stone,” which is I get access to some of those accounts that maybe I wouldn’t otherwise, and they get to utilize Holidaily as a check box for some of those requirements in diversity and women-owned businesses.

Karen Hertz: [00:16:32] So, I knew there was some opportunity there and wanted to do it for that. Also, I want to network with other women, whether they’re suppliers and even recruiting. We want to grow and we want to grow throughout the country. And this is a network of women that are everywhere. And I felt like that was a great opportunity for Holidaily as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:54] Now, because you are in this niche of gluten-free, are you networking with other gluten-free providers of other kind of foods?

Karen Hertz: [00:17:03] Yeah. So, we do a lot of partnerships with other gluten-free food suppliers, whether it’s in Whole Foods, and we do a display of their product and our product on the floor. We do giveaways in our taproom. We do social media giveaways often with different gluten-free food suppliers. So, yeah, we’re out there looking for other gluten-free companies that we think would pair great with beer.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:30] Yeah, I would imagine that this is a blast for you. I know you’ve been through a lot, and this is challenging. I don’t want to say it’s hard, but you’re kind of going for untapped market here, and you’re doing something unique, and it’s aligned with what you’ve done. And in hindsight, it’s going to look like this all made sense because of what you’ve been through.

Karen Hertz: [00:17:52] Yeah, that’s true. It does feel, like I said earlier, serendipitous. There’s just some things around this that, sort of, things have fallen into place. And so, I really lean on that during, especially, times like a pandemic when, man, it’s tough out there right now, but it feels very much meant to be.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:13] Well, a lot of great businesses have started during the worst of times. So, this is an opportunity for some folks.

Karen Hertz: [00:18:22] I agree. And I think having that attitude of looking at opportunities rather than just living in fear and trying to survive is hopefully an advantage in the long run for us.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:37] So, now, what are you most looking forward to as we get into next year? Have you started forecasting or is that even possible?

Karen Hertz: [00:18:43] Yeah, it’s it’s difficult but, ultimately, my ultimate goal with this brand is to be the obvious choice for gluten-free beer across the country. And so, we have built a facility last year in order to let us grow regionally quite a bit. And so, for me, I’m really just hoping that markets open up and distributors are willing to take on some new brands, which allows us access to other states even around us. And I can’t wait to have our bar open again. I mean, right now, it’s sort of like a fishbowl. We got plastic around the bar, and no one can sit at the bar, and everyone’s outside. And I’m ready to take all that down, and just hug all my customers, and get the band back together again. I’m really hoping that’s the direction we’re headed in the next year.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:39] Yeah, I hope you’re right in that. I think that we are going that way. And humans are social creatures. We have to be around other people. All this virtual, it works, it’s efficient, but it’s not the same. And I think there’s a lot of pent-up demand for that human-to-human interaction.

Karen Hertz: [00:19:56] Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:56] And and as soon as this thing breaks open, it’s going to be kind of game on again for you guys.

Karen Hertz: [00:20:03] I hope so. You’ll have to fly out to Denver and come out to Golden and have a beer with me.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:07] That sounds like a plan. Now, if somebody wanted to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team, or get to know Holidaily, where can we find you? What’s the website and maybe some social media coordinates?

Karen Hertz: [00:20:21] Yeah. So our website is a holidailybrewing.com. And it’s H-O-L-I-D-A-I-L-Y. just a quick side note, I named it that with the idea of making every day a holiday. Just making the most of life. We never know what’s going to happen. And that just helps people remember it too. We get called Holiday all the time, but it’s actually Holidaily. Like make the most of every day. Every day is a holiday. Info@holidailybrewing.com is a great place to reach out to me or any of our staff. They can get that email to anybody. And then, we’re @holidailybrew on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:03] Good stuff. Well, Karen, thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing amazing work, and we’re proud of you, and we appreciate you.

Karen Hertz: [00:21:10] Thanks so much, Lee. I appreciate you and everything that GWBC does.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:14] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We will see you all next time on GWBC Open for Business.

About GWBC

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

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

Dr. Felicia Phillips with MogulCon

by

Dr-Felicia-Phillips-MogulCon
Atlanta Business Radio
Dr. Felicia Phillips with MogulCon
Loading
/

OnPay-Banner

MogulCon-logo

Dr-Felicia-Phillips-MogulConDr. Felicia Phillips is a Master Business Strategist and the CEO Of PPICW, Incorporated which is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. PPICW is an award-winning, certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) specializing in program development , supplier development and training, as well as business and executive coaching. I’ve built my 30-year entrepreneurial career on serving, educating and mentoring small and diverse businesses.

I love creating experiences and platforms for women of color, small business owners. My mission is to help you gain access to opportunities for diverse suppliers with corporations who are looking to procure the products and services you offer. MogulCon is just that platform. A 3-Day experience that attracts hundreds of women of color that are looking to grow and scale their businesses globally.

Connect with Dr. Phillips on Facebook and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • About the U.S. Business Women’s Network and what made Felicia develop this network
  • What motivates her to create awareness about things that people do not understand when it comes to women of color and business
  • What inspired Felicia to start MogulCon
  • About the MogulCon Cyber Conference
  • What attendees receive when attending the MogulCon Cyber Conference

About Our Sponsor

OnPay’sOnPay-Dots payroll services and HR software give you more time to focus on what’s most important. Rated “Excellent” by PC Magazine, we make it easy to pay employees fast, we automate all payroll taxes, and we even keep all your HR and benefits organized and compliant.

Our award-winning customer service includes an accuracy guarantee, deep integrations with popular accounting software, and we’ll even enter all your employee information for you — whether you have five employees or 500. Take a closer look to see all the ways we can save you time and money in the back office.

Follow OnPay on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Franchise Bible Coach Radio: Scott Talley with Network in Action

by

Network-in-Action
Denver Business Radio
Franchise Bible Coach Radio: Scott Talley with Network in Action
Loading
/

Scott-Talley-Network-in-ActionScott Talley is the founder of Network In Action (NIA), a collection of franchised networking groups that focuses on using a combination of technology and face-to-face networking.

NIA is the only player in the industry who offers professionally-run, monthly meetings with great technology. For more information about becoming a franchise owner with NIA, visit www.Franchise.NetworkInAction.com.

Connect with Scott on LinkedIn and follow Network in Action on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Show

The Franchise Bible Coach Radio Podcast with Rick and Rob features no-nonsense franchise industry best practices and proprietary strategies that franchisors and FranchiseBibleCoachRadioTilefranchise owners can implement to improve their profitability and operational efficiencies.

Our show guests are franchise superstars and everyday heroes that share their tips for growth and strategies to survive and thrive during the current challenges.

About Your Hosts

Rick-GrossmanRick Grossman has been involved in the franchise industry since 1994. He franchised his first company and grew it to 49 locations in 19 states during the mid to late 1990s. He served as the Chief Executive Officer and primary trainer focusing on franchise owner relations and creating tools and technologies to increase franchisee success.

Rick developed and launched his second franchise organization in 2003. He led this company as the CEO and CMO growing to over 150 locations in less than three years. He developed the high tech/high touch franchise recruiting and sales system.

Both companies achieved ranking on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 List. During this period Rick served as a business and marketing consultant to small business and multimillion dollar enterprises. He also consulted with franchise owners and prospective franchisees, franchisors, and companies seeking to franchise.

Rick had the honor of working with his mentor, Erwin Keup as a contributing Author for the 7th edition of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise Bible published by Entrepreneur Press.

Mr. Grossmann has been chosen as the new Author of Franchise Bible and his 8th Edition was released worldwide in January of 2017. He currently serves as an executive coach and strategist for multiple franchise clients.

Follow Franchise Bible Coach on Facebook.

RobGandleyHeadShot250x250Rob Gandley has served as SeoSamba’s Vice President and Strategic Partner since 2015.

With 25 years of experience in entrepreneurship, digital marketing, sales, and technology, he continues to focus on leading the expansion of SeoSamba’s product and service capabilities and US market penetration. SeoSamba specializes in centralized marketing technology built for multi-location business models and continues to win industry awards and grow consistently year over year.

Concurrent with his work at SeoSamba, Gandley is a strategic growth consultant and CEO of FranchiseNow, a digital marketing and sales consulting firm.  Gandley consults digital businesses, entrepreneurs, coaches and multi-location businesses across diverse industries.  Prior to SeoSamba, he built an Internet Marketing business and platform responsible for generating over 100,000 qualified franchise development leads used by more than 400 US-based franchise brands for rapid business expansion.

Gandley also held various senior sales and management positions with IT and Internet pioneers like PSINet, AT&T, and SunGard Data Systems from (1993-2005) where he set sales records for sales and revenue growth at each company.  He graduated from Pennsylvania State University’s Smeal Business School in 92’ with a BS degree in Finance and emphasis on Marketing.

Connect with Rob on LinkedIn.

BRX Pro Tip: Improvement vs. Exposure

by

BRXmic99
BRX Pro Tips
BRX Pro Tip: Improvement vs. Exposure
Loading
/

BRX-Banner

BRX Pro Tip: Improvement vs. Exposure

Stone Payton: [00:00:00] And we’re back with BRX Pro Tips. Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, when it comes to strategy for developing your business, you’re a big fan of improvement over exposure, aren’t you?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:15] Right. I think a lot of people spend too much time on exposure, and kind of working their social media, and kind of talking to other people about what they’re doing rather than doing the work, and improving their own skills, and improving the service they’re delivering, and coming up with ways to delight their clients. I think more time has to be spent on that rather than exposure or marketing.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:43] I think it was Jerry Seinfeld, a comedian asked Jerry Seinfeld how much time he spends on marketing and exposure. And Jerry looked at him like he was crazy. He’s like, “Just work on your act. That’s where you should be spending time doing. Don’t worry about social media. The better you are, people are going to be able to find you. And then, you’re going to kind of be the best you can be.”

Lee Kantor: [00:01:09] So, I think if everybody worked on being better every day, even a little bit better, and let that effort compound over time, they’d be better served. I think a lot of people are kind of happy with where they’re at from a skill standpoint, and they spend too much time just telling the world about them rather than just improving a little bit every day.

Our Mission

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

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

Sponsor a Show

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

Partner With Us

Discover More Here

Terms and Conditions
Privacy Policy

Connect with us

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

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