Business RadioX ®

Cortney Newmans With Asteris Lending

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Atlanta Business Radio
Atlanta Business Radio
Cortney Newmans With Asteris Lending
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Cortney Newmans recently co-founded Asteris Lending, an institutionally-backed private lending firm headquartered in Atlanta with a mission to originate $1 billion in real estate loans nationwide.

Backed by Nomura Securities International Inc., Asteris brings a sponsor-focused, relationship-driven approach to financing projects ranging from new construction to fix-and-flip and rental investments.

At just 35, he is a lifelong Georgian and first-time founder with a bold vision: to fill a gap in the market by combining institutional capital strength with client-first service—a model designed specifically for today’s real estate investors and developers.

Connect with Cortney on LinkedIn and Facebook.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Cortney’s background
  • Connection to Atlanta and Macon
  • Inspiration for starting Asteris Lending
  • Being a minority-led organization
  • Purpose of the company

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studio in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by Kennesaw State University’s Executive MBA program, the accelerated degree program for working professionals looking to advance their career and enhance their leadership skills. And now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio. And this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, CSU’s executive MBA program. Without them, we wouldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Atlanta Business Radio, we have Cortney Newmans, who is with Asteris Lending. Welcome.

Cortney Newmans: Thank you. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Thank you for having me today.

Lee Kantor: Well, before we get too far into things, tell us about austerity lending. Who do you serve? And what are you guys doing over there?

Cortney Newmans: Yeah. Uh, stairs was founded in July of 2024. I was formerly working in the space. So we look to fund real estate investors, builders and developers throughout the country. And our goal and initiatives provide capital that has ease of use and has the best customer service to that product base, to a business purpose. Uh, originators, as far as looking for liquidity within the market to serve housing needs throughout the US. And for my company. We was founded here in Atlanta, Georgia. We launched in May of this year, and we’re serving those that client base. And we also have a satellite office in Greenville, South Carolina as well.

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

Cortney Newmans: That was a great story. So in 2012, I formerly worked for a company called Lehman Capital, which was also founded, uh, here in Atlanta and was later, uh, Headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. I was a third employee with that company, and we spent a good while serving the same community of real estate investors and builders throughout the United States. In that capacity, I led our sales channel over there at level one. Help grow it. For me, being a third employee to about 300 employees in 2021, we were acquired by a mortgage REIT called MFA, and I love working with them. They’re a great partner. And in 2024, I got the entrepreneurial bug. So I actually left the company in 2024 and went out to raise money to do multifamily. And then I got the bug for lending again. Again. And so with me getting the bug for lending again, I hired my investment bank of Nomura out of New York, and we went on the road show to raise capital. And in December of 2024, we settled on a partner who was a global asset management firm who backs us, who has over multi billions of dollars of money behind them to actually put into this space and actually make it successful for us to be a successful company.

Lee Kantor: So then, is your role just looking for opportunity? People who need money that want to do work in real estate?

Cortney Newmans: Yeah. So I wouldn’t say it as broad as that because we’re looking at real estate has so many facets. When we narrow it down, the community we serve is people who are building housing. And the 1 to 4 units. So they’re looking to build neighborhoods throughout metro Atlanta or across the southeast, across the United States. So that’s who we’re serving. And we’re also serving that mom and pop investor who is looking to grow their running portfolio, where they’re buying one rental house or ten rental houses and growing their portfolio over time. That’s our target audience and that’s what we’re looking to serve.

Lee Kantor: So the people who are kind of flipping houses.

Cortney Newmans: Yep. We serve those people as well. As far as people that are flipping houses, developing their land to build houses as well.

Lee Kantor: So how do you even go about finding people like that? Aren’t they kind of entrepreneurial? They seem difficult to locate.

Cortney Newmans: That is that is very true. So we have a lot of, uh, data sets and, uh, a lot of things that we use behind the scenes to be able to crawl the internet, crawl the public records looking for these clients, but also with my extensive background and being in this space for the last 14 years. Uh, relationships. Relationships are key. Once you serve one investor, they probably know 5 or 6. So relationships is what’s driven our business to be successful and going to different conferences where we’re learning about what’s going on in the industry. Learning where housing inventory starts or at learning. What about the rising costs, learning about population growth and what areas are people serving? So we we do a combination of direct marketing to these real estate investors, but also tapping into our internal network, which helps us be able to grant gain business that way.

Lee Kantor: So, um, you know, we hear all these kind of horror stories about the real estate market right now with interest rates being so high. Has this impacted your business as well?

Cortney Newmans: Yes, it definitely impacts our business. And I think from an underwriting perspective, we have to be very careful when we’re looking at a deal. We have to make sure first the operator can financially support that deal and they know what they’re doing, but also understanding that market and say, hey, if this house is going to sell for what you think it’s going to sell for and or, or is it going to rent for what you’re going to rent for? And also giving them the financial capability where we’re not overextending them, but we know we can lend them money to be able to get through their business plan, but also be successful in the end when it comes to it. So I think it’s a two pronged approach of communication from their operator, who’s looking at the opportunity, and us from a lender mitigating that risk and looking at the opportunity to serve them.

Lee Kantor: Now in the markets around the country. How is it lanta in the metro Atlanta area doing? Is this a good market to be in relative to other markets around the US?

Cortney Newmans: I would say it’s medium to roll right now. Our home prices are definitely have top sided there, but also we still have a lot of population growth when I’m looking at different markets around the country. Um, I can give you some of the top markets. Uh, you’re looking at Austin that still has a lot of growth there. You’re looking at Houston, you’re looking at Charleston, South Carolina. And then also Midwest with their job growth with Saint Louis and then, uh, Cincinnati, Ohio and Cleveland, Ohio, because that people can’t afford ability for that market. When I first came into the business, I remember we could buy a house in Atlanta for 70 to $100,000. And now the median home price is in the high 400 years. So that just tells you the affordability factor that’s that’s happening there, which causes that, uh, strain on inventory for people to actually be able to do this business.

Lee Kantor: Is it because there’s just not enough new inventory that everybody is just buying and selling the same old house?

Cortney Newmans: I don’t know where we actually see. I think we’re in a buyer’s market right now. So I think people are locked in on their rates, and they just don’t have the opportunity to afford that step or product in what they’re looking for. So if you’re locked in at a 2 to 2 and a half to 3.5% rate, and you’re telling me to go out and find another property where I have to increase my monthly payment on a PMI schedule, $2,000? A lot of people are not going to be able to afford it. So I think we’re gridlocked when it comes to the interest rates and how they are right now. So if we get some relief there, I think we’ll see some movement in the market. But it’s definitely a buyer’s market in which we’re seeing right now.

Lee Kantor: Now, are you seeing any kind of, um, appetite for those kind of smaller mini homes or I think they call them tiny homes where they’re building neighborhoods with, you know, super small, but almost, um, kind of pre-built homes.

Cortney Newmans: Yes. We’ve seen an appetite for that now. And they’re usually I think you have it segmented in two ways. You’re looking at it from a tiny home perspective, but also from a micro unit perspective. I think what people are looking at from that side, where is affordability, is what can I get out of this product? And I think it is going to vary from neighborhood to neighborhood. From county to county. Or what they will allow. When it comes to that type of neighborhood. But also, what is your demand for the client based based upon the area that end when it comes to see? I do see it as a trend that is growing lately, because it’s serving the need of affordable housing. Because you have less materials you have to do, it’s less labor time, and then you also shorten the time frame when you have to build it. But also with our municipalities, a lot of people have to get on board to be able to allow people to build those type communities to serve the affordability need.

Lee Kantor: So the municipalities might be not as open to it as maybe a builder might be or a developer.

Cortney Newmans: That is correct, because we have a lot of zoning and land use regulations when you go from municipality to municipality. So depending on what your county is going to allow, getting something like that approved can take anywhere up to a year to two years. And just selling that vision to your center council and also to the neighborhood, because they weigh in on what’s getting built into their into their community. So if this is something that they want, they don’t want, then you’re going to have a hard time getting that that zoning for that land pass for that.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, I it’s kind of it’s a tricky situation because I think the thing that I always confuses me about affordable housing, like affordable housing, is it affordable just because rent’s cheap. But if it’s affordable, because rent’s cheap, then they never build any wealth or equity in the property because they’re just renting it. But these tiny houses let them own it, and then they’re going to have a sellable asset that hopefully will appreciate.

Cortney Newmans: Yeah. And that is key there. And I think it’s a balancing it’s a balancing act because people don’t want uh, the, the things in their neighborhood to come down. But I also I think what we have to look at and what we have to have from government use is how can I make this easy to use for people to build houses? Because it takes a lot of time. It takes anywhere for someone to develop. It can take them anywhere from 12 to 24 months just to get the land use permitted. Then you have another 12 to 18 months to just build on that property. So if you’re looking at a particular project where you’re taking it from dirt all the way through construction, that could be a 3 to 5 year timeframe. And so I think if we can work together with these municipalities and different government associations that come down in that timeframe of getting stuff approved on the front end, I think it’ll help us solve the shortage of housing that we need and get more supply out there on the market so it can drive down the prices and get back to a stable, I would say, somewhat stable market that we saw in 2018, 2019.

Lee Kantor: Right. Because if you’re asking a developer to, you know, put money aside and pay interest, you know, at what, 6% ish? Um, that’s a big ask.

Cortney Newmans: And I wish it was at 6%. You’re seeing people when you’re doing developments. That’s that’s double digit interest that you’re paying on that type of money to do developments. And so you’re asking someone to take that risk for, for, for a four year timeline. And so that’s why you just don’t see as much out there as we have the same rising interest rates where you’re in the 7%, where people are buying these houses, you just don’t have the demand for housing. So if you don’t see the demand on the back end, you can’t take that risk on the front end as a developer.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. So you got your work cut out for you?

Cortney Newmans: Yeah, I.

Lee Kantor: Do.

Cortney Newmans: Have our work cut out for us, but because the fundamentals are there and we do see that you’re going to need homes in the future, we do feel like we can be successful. So we want to ride that that wave on the market up. So when we do get an opportunity or break in the market, whether man does go goes up, we want to be able to serve those developers and how our home builders as well.

Lee Kantor: So you’re based here in the Atlanta area, but you’re doing work all over the country.

Cortney Newmans: That is correct. That is correct. Well, we’ll we’ll business purpose lender. So we we we serve real estate investors that have entrepreneur mindset where they’re building houses. We have clients that that build not only here in Georgia but beyond in Alabama and South Carolina. So they’re a regional builder, or you have someone that is doing a build to rent community that could be in Dallas, Texas, or also can be in Houston, Texas. So they’re just honed in on the state of Texas. So we have clients that have different, different strategies, and we’re just trying to match our financing up to meet those needs for them.

Lee Kantor: Right. So you have to build kind of connections and then network and all the markets you serve.

Cortney Newmans: That is correct. That is correct. And we have we’re hiring on good sales staff to be able to do that. I wish I could do it myself, but I’m only I’m not a one man man. And then our operational and underwriting, uh, we have an office in Greenville, South Carolina that serves there. And then our sales here and processing comes in in the Atlanta office.

Lee Kantor: So now that this is kind of your own show, now, is this the is this how you imagine it? Is this the vision you have for the organization?

Cortney Newmans: I think the vision has to get played out. We’re not emphasized right now, but what we are putting in place and what the operational standpoint to serve our clients we’re putting in place is, is what we envision for sure, for us to start. But I think we really have to put in the work and prove ourselves as a lender, which we’re definitely going to do. I have a competitive background, played football in high school and college, so I want to make sure we’re serving that side of the business to please them, but also please our institutional partners as well on the financing side.

Lee Kantor: So what’s the hardest part is, is it getting kind of that the backing, the financial backing so that you can make the loans? Or is it going out there and finding people that want to borrow the money they need to, you know, kind of make their dream come true?

Cortney Newmans: I would say that it’s going to be the latter. Um, I’m not going to say we didn’t go through a process of finding the backing to do it, but I’ve been in the industry for a while, and I knew what we needed to do, and we needed to know how to mitigate the risks on our side. So telling the story and convincing some institutional firms to come on. Has it was a challenge because of the rising interest rate market that we’re in? But we did get there. But I think the business has to be done. We have to be able to prove out our model that we can serve this client base. And so building those relationships with clients and, and show them that we can serve them and give them the money that’s needed to be able to get these loans done and do it in a proficient manner. That is the business model that we really got to operate and prove out. And I think that’s what we’re going to do over the next 3 to 5 years for sure.

Lee Kantor: So what do you need more of right now? Do you need more talent? You need to build your team. Do you need more clients? What do you need?

Cortney Newmans: A talented team that is the that are the two teams that are going to make a success. It’s going to be talent and team. So we’re we’re we’re hiring experienced originators throughout the country. And I think we’re getting some game traction. The game we’re there from hiring those originators. And then once those originators come in with their book of business, it’s just selling the story and then nurturing that client base to be able to get them into our process and building it over time. For us, we don’t want to be a company that’s looking for the next person that we have to serve on a monthly basis. We want to work with our clients. One year, two year, three years from now and have 90% of our client base be repeat business. So once they get into our ecosystem, we serve them and they don’t want to go anywhere else.

Lee Kantor: So what is kind of that ideal originator look like for you, or is it somebody that’s already established, or can it be a hungry person that’s just starting out?

Cortney Newmans: I think it could be, uh, be, uh, be in both sides. I, I came into the industry and I had no clue what real estate was or how to underwrite it, but I knew that I had a love for real estate. And I and my mentors back then, John Warner, John Thompson, who were former Marines, taught me the business. And then I was able to go out there and originate that type of business. So we we really would love to hire experienced originators who are looking to grow their book of business. And they have been in the RTL space, which is the residential, uh, transit transit loan space, for a while. But also, we’re not afraid to hire someone that has been in real estate that has some type of experience, but not necessarily in our direct space.

Lee Kantor: Well, congratulations on all the momentum. If somebody wants to learn more or connect with you or somebody on the team, what is the best way to do that?

Cortney Newmans: The best way to do is go to our website. Uh it is. Com and a lot of times, especially on the iPhone, it’s going to give you a, uh, a spell that does not go to what you’re looking for. So how you spell the stairs is a t e r I s once again, a s t e I s landing. Com. So that’s the best way to reach out to us. We have a contact us form there, and once you be able to reach out, we’ll have someone reach out to you within 24 hours for sure.

Lee Kantor: Good stuff man. Well congratulations again and thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Cortney Newmans: Man. No, I appreciate you for having me on. And I listen to you guys all the time, especially being here in Georgia and as much traffic as I have on the interstate. So I really appreciate the time and and being able to come on today.

Lee Kantor: Alright, this is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.

John Inhouse With Merrill

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Atlanta Business Radio
Atlanta Business Radio
John Inhouse With Merrill
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John Inhouse is the Senior Market Executive for the Atlanta Buckhead & Associates Market of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management (MLWM).

The Atlanta Buckhead & Associates Market covers three offices geographically including Atlanta Buckhead, Avalon, and Atlanta Galleria. He leads over 300 partners and manages over $300 million in revenue and $45 billion in assets and liabilities.

Prior to his current position, he was the Regional Managing Director for the Midsouth Region of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management (MLWM). He joined Merrill in 1990 after attending Youngstown State University while working at Bally’s Health and Fitness.

He was a Circle of Excellence Financial Advisor and Resident Director before becoming a Market Executive. He had led Markets and Regions for MLWM and Private Wealth across the country.

Connect with John on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • What originally drew John to a career in finance, and what made him stay with Merrill for 35 years
  • The most pivotal moments or changes in the industry that shaped John’s approach to leadership and client service
  • Leadership lessons that have stayed consistent regardless of location or era
  • Legacy—both personally and professionally

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studio in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by Kennesaw State University’s Executive MBA program, the accelerated degree program for working professionals looking to advance their career and enhance their leadership skills. And now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio. And this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, CSU’s executive MBA program. Without them, we wouldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Atlanta Business Radio, we have John Inhouse, who is the managing director senior Market executive with Merrill. Welcome.

John Inhouse: Thanks so much for having me. It’s a privilege and an honor.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m excited to get caught up with what’s happening at Merrill. Why don’t you tell the listeners a little bit about your role there?

John Inhouse: Certainly. So I’m a managing director and the senior market executive for Merrill Lynch in Atlanta, which means that I partner with several hundred professionals that help people realize their financial goals and dreams on a daily basis. And we work really hard to do it. And I’m really proud of what I do and what the team does, and I’m passionate about it. I love what I do.

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

John Inhouse: So I’ve always been drawn to people, always been drawn to relationships and problem solving and really helping people make thoughtful decisions along the way. And my father had an incredible impact on me. My father always taught me that, you know, people were important and keeping promises and going above and beyond and giving together and doing the right thing and not just saying the words, but actually living. It was a great way to help people and to be a business person. And so I learned a lot from him growing up and of course, all my life. But that coupled with the fact that, you know, I really was interested in Merrill Lynch, I my high school, you know, sort of intern day was with an advisor and it checked all the boxes of helping people and, you know, helping people make thoughtful decisions and having relationships. And, you know, I realized that wealth management wasn’t just about markets. I had a great mentor at Merrill Lynch. It wasn’t about markets. It wasn’t about portfolios. That wasn’t the only thing. It was also just really about guiding people through life’s most meaningful transitions, whether it’s kids, you know, buying a home, kids going to private school or college, and then, of course, retiring and having an impact and helping them realize their their once in a lifetime dreams and goals. I got pretty addicted to that and still am.

Lee Kantor: So now how for people who are not in the wealth management business, but maybe they’ve accumulated some wealth. How do you kind of persuade them to go with somebody like you or somebody on your team, as opposed to just kind of go at it alone, or use one of these kind of robo advisors, or just be more proactive themselves because it seems, you know, you know, over the last 2 or 3 years, the market has been doing pretty well. You know, just by accident, you’d probably be ahead.

John Inhouse: Yeah. Well, the markets, you know, they go up, they go down, and then they always go up higher. At least that’s how history has been. What I’d share with you, Lee, is that having a financial plan. Right. Not an asset allocation plan. Not like okay, put this much in stocks and this much in bonds, but actually having a financial plan that says, you know, John, you can spend this much per month once you retire without running out of money or you know, John, you need to save this much more if you want to send your children to the college. There are so many people that don’t have that plan. The last thing that you should be worried about is what to purchase. The first thing you should be worried about is having a plan, because that plan is the foundation for what’s the most appropriate investment to have. It’s, you know, the best way to explain it. Lee. Um, and, you know, I have a a next door neighbor that’s a medical professional, and he and I have great talks about our business and his business. But the bottom line is, you wouldn’t just prescribe your favorite medication as a physician to every patient you had. That would be malpractice. So the basis is, you know, just like an MRI or a physical, you want to take the time to get a detailed financial plan that gives you a network statement, tells you you know, what your goals are when you want to achieve them, and how to achieve them, and use that as the foundation. That’s why people need someone that help them guide them along the way, because they work so hard all their lives to make their financial dreams and goals come true, and they need a professional to help them. And that’s what we do.

Lee Kantor: Now what about and let’s play along with your, uh, kind of analogy that, you know, medical, uh, using a medical doctor as kind of the parallel here. Uh, when the medical person is working with me, I’m not, um, paying them a percentage of my health as the fee every single year. If a plan is really the most valuable thing an advisor can give me. Can’t I just go somewhere that just, you know, every year checks in with me, and I just purchase a plan?

John Inhouse: Well, you certainly could. Um, and by the way, Merrill absorbs the cost of the financial plan for all of our clients and friends and family. We we do not charge for the financial plan. It’s the most important thing. And we think every family and every client deserves one. So in terms of having your money managed, there will be fees associated with that, whether you do it alone or you do it with a partner. Um, and I, you know, I’ve made a career out of believing and helping people realize their dreams and goals. And I think you’ll you’ll you’ll do much better with an unemotional, you know, professional. I don’t manage my own money. Right. So. And I’ve been in the business 35 years. So how would we expect someone to manage their own money or back to the medical situation? It’s why physicians aren’t allowed to do medical procedures on loved ones. Yeah, it’s hard not to be unemotional. You make you make wrong decisions when you do that.

Lee Kantor: So when you’re working with your clients, and I would imagine most of your clients already have a financial advisor from somewhere else and they’re moving to you. What is kind of the trigger that gets them to say, you know what? Either I’m not going to do this myself anymore, or the person I’m with currently is not kind of making the grade.

John Inhouse: You asked. You asked the best questions, and I mean that. Thank you. Um, the reason why people move from another advisor to us is. John. I haven’t heard from my advisor, John. I’ve never seen a financial plan that puts everything together for me and tells me what type of shape we’re in. We always ask people questions like, what’s the primary intent for your wealth? Most people, the answer is family. We always ask clients and prospects on the first meeting. Do you feel like you have just enough, not enough, or more than enough to reach your goals? 90% of the people say, I don’t know. Or I did a plan ten years ago and it’s not up to date. Um, and then we asked them if they’ve ever talked to anyone about it and they say, yeah, you know, their partner, they’ve talked to their partner or wife or husband or spouse. And then we ask them, have you ever talked to their financial professional about it? And they’re like, not really. You know, I talk to my CPA and that is our opening, because if the person that’s helping you manage your wealth has not delivered a detailed financial plan that covers every part of your, you know, your financial life and what your goals and dreams are. How could they possibly be giving you great advice? And that’s where we come in with financial planning.

Lee Kantor: So let’s talk about that plan. What are some of the elements in that plan?

John Inhouse: Well, first of all we use Monte Carlo. So Monte Carlo gives thousands and thousands of simulations of what could happen, you know, based on capital markets and returns. So you have X amount saved, you make Y, you save Z. On a monthly basis what you put in your 401 K. If you’re doing college savings or, you know, private school savings with something like a 5 to 9, it puts all of that together in one, one plan to show you what percentage chance you have of realizing your goal. So in other words, a client might say, John, I would like x thousand dollars per month to spend when I retire at age 65. Most people have no idea what that number is. We tell them what that number is. And then we update the plan every year or more than more than every year. So they know what type of shape there. And when the market’s up they get closer. They’re able to make educated sound decisions. And the other thing is, Lee, most people don’t know why they own what they own as an investment because they’ve never had a financial plan. The financial plan makes that very clear.

Lee Kantor: Now, as part of the financial plan, is it more holistic than just the money element? Is there kind of an insurance element? Is there other kind of components to it other than just here’s the big pile of money you’ve accumulated?

John Inhouse: Uh, so so another great question. We of course, we would, you know, look at life insurance especially, you know, for, for, you know, a couple or an investor that might have, you know, children that they need to take care of, that life insurance needs to replace their income should they become, you know, disabled or if they pass away early, that’s part of it. Um, of course, estate tax strategies are very important, uh, to a client. Um, college education is important to a client, whether they’re going to, you know, are they going to stay in their same home or are they going to move to another home, or are they going to downsize? Do they do they want to? Do they want a house on the lake? Um, their health is a big consideration. What? You know, what’s health like in their family? Um, you know, we talk about issues and, you know, the percentage of of people that end up in some sort of, you know, long term care, whether it’s, you know, having a hip replaced or, or memory care, all of those things are part of a detailed financial plan, which we call the personal wealth analysis.

Lee Kantor: And then you’re going over that annually. What’s the rhythm of kind of revisiting that?

John Inhouse: You know, I suggest at least annually, I think you should have your plan. I mean, things change year to year. As you know. Lee. Um, I would suggest updating your plan at least once a year. I mean, you know, ideally every six months.

Lee Kantor: Now, when you’re working with maybe young people that are just getting into the industry, um, are you noticing a different type of person, Or is this a profession that is on the upswing? Are people, like hungry to get involved in this line of work?

John Inhouse: So when you think about being a financial advisor, you’ve got to, you know, have the knowledge to to understand people and what’s important to them and then leverage the incredible solutions we have at Merrill Lynch and Bank of America to make those dreams come true. So it is a relationship based business. You know, people want to talk to their financial advisor. They want their financial advisor to know everything about them. So, you know, that’s not something I think you could text about, right? I think that’s something that you want to sit at somebody’s kitchen table or sit in a coffee shop, you know, in a private area and say, what’s most important to you? You know, we talk about seven life priorities with with our clients, right? Like, like family is typically number one unless there’s, you know, there are no errors. And then of course health and, you know, work and all those other, um, leisure what retirement looks like. So I think you’ve got to be able to have a very productive conversation to learn about someone, uh, to learn about a client or family and then help put a plan together that makes those dreams a reality.

Lee Kantor: Now, do you find that is it easy to get, uh, kind of a new batch of, um, advisors, or is this something that’s difficult?

John Inhouse: Um, I think we’re all looking for great people that want to help others and then want to deliver. I, you know, we’re not struggling to hire, uh, new financial advisors. I think people are interested in this business. There’s a little mystery to this business. Um, um, you know, what’s it like? What? You know what you know. Many people don’t really fully understand. Um, wealth management. And so when they do, um, it becomes, at least for me, right? It becomes incredibly addictive and inspiring to help others get a plan and help their dreams come true. Because not having a plan is just not the answer.

Lee Kantor: So who is kind of the ideal Meryl client? Is it an executive? Is it an entrepreneur that has built a company? Is it a professional athlete? Like, what does your ideal client look like?

John Inhouse: At Merrill. And Bank of America we have Merrill Edge to Merrill Lynch. So it’s anyone that wants to put money aside to help their dreams and goals. You know, come together. Whether you’re a brand new investor, you’re a you know, you’re a high school kid with a part time job, or you’re a senior citizen that has a bunch of CDs that’s never done a financial plan. Um, it doesn’t matter if you have, you know, a few dollars or millions of dollars. We can help you and we can make a difference. That’s the beauty of Merrill Lynch, bank of America.

Lee Kantor: Now, you mentioned something earlier that you said that a plan is included for all the the entire household. It’s not just for the your your specific client.

John Inhouse: That’s correct. Sir. The personal wealth analysis. We absorb the cost and time of that plan.

Lee Kantor: Because I’ve talked to a lot of financial planners and wealth advisors, and they tend to focus only on the kind of the breadwinner, and they don’t really try to win over maybe the child or the breadwinner as a client. But that’s different. At Merrill.

John Inhouse: It’s absolutely different. We want to have a relationship, you know, with with their children and grandchildren. The earlier you start investing, the earlier you get your financial plan and understand and start saving money, especially, you know, if it’s a Roth IRA or some sort of individual retirement account, the better the better chance you are of have of realizing your dreams and goals. So, um, you know, we call them the next generation of investors. Uh, and we absolutely want to help them as well.

Lee Kantor: And then do your clients typically stay with that individual as their advisor or do they get handed off?

John Inhouse: Um, they typically stay with the advisory team. Um, and, you know, unless it’s a brand new start up client and that would be that’s what Merrill Edge is for.

Lee Kantor: So they get kind of placed into a team. And then there’s a team of people that they can call on if they have a question or, or need some advice.

John Inhouse: Absolutely, absolutely. But but next generation is is very is very common. Uh, in the industry is certainly at Merrill Lynch where, you know, if you’ve got children, we want, you know, if I’m your advisor, if I’m your primary advisor, Lee, and you’ve got children, I want to be their advisor too. So I will absolutely work with them because they’re an extension of you.

Lee Kantor: Well, at least the ones that I’ve talked to, they tend to be the same age as their clients so that as the client is retiring, so is the advisor.

John Inhouse: And that’s why there’s a need and a desire and a focus on teaming. Um, you know, many of our financial advisors are on teams and they’re generational. Right. That’s, you know, senior advisor. He or she may have a junior advisor because, you know, clients want continuity, they want a succession plan. And that’s what we deliver around timing.

Lee Kantor: So any advice for that young advisor out there? How to pick the right firm to partner with and how to kind of attack the work and build your own book of business?

John Inhouse: Well, that’s that’s a question. It’s going to be hard for me to be objective on, given I spent three and a half years or three and a half decades of my life with Merrill. I think you should come to Merrill because we offer every solution possible, and we do it by putting the client first and by offering a a financial plan to begin with. And I think that’s what’s important. As a new advisor at Merrill Lynch back in 1990, I had an incredible mentor and my mentor said, John, um, you will not, you know, do business with anyone unless you do a financial plan. In 1990. That was unheard of. He gave me incredible career advice that that is that has served me well and more importantly, serve the families that I was a financial advisor for. Even better.

Lee Kantor: So that’s the advice you would give a young person at Merrill starting out?

John Inhouse: Absolutely. Go with a reputable firm that offers financial planning and solutions that can deliver for a client’s dreams and goals, and use the appropriate ones.

Lee Kantor: So what’s on the roadmap for Merrill moving through this year and into next? What. What kind of things are you seeing out there?

John Inhouse: You know, we’re seeing clients that obviously, you know, all that’s going on with interest rates, geopolitical events. Et cetera. We’re seeing clients that that want and desire an update on their financial plan. They want to know that it’s going to be okay. They want financial modeling. They want to stress test. You know, again, if the market did pull back 20%, would you still be able to realize their goals and dreams? That’s what our clients are, are concerned about or thinking about. And our challenge is to be proactive and deliver those plans to them so that that they can sleep well at night and not and not worry and have some peace of mind that if there is a correction, they’re still going to be fine. That’s what we focus on now.

Lee Kantor: How do you help them through the ones that say, yeah, I’d be okay with that. But then the market drops a thousand. Um, and they’re not so sure anymore.

John Inhouse: Uh, I think that’s why you you have a plan in place, right? And the plan can model that out. Right? So if you you could actually say, look, you know, it’s down a thousand points. If it goes down another thousand points, let’s model what that looks like. Look, you’re still, you know, 90% of goal. But clients that we can educate and that understand that, you know, market timing doesn’t work. It’s really time in the market and having a financial plan and a well-diversified portfolio that makes sense for your dreams and goals. Those people don’t panic as much as someone that put money into something they didn’t understand without a plan. And now all of a sudden, the market’s pulled back. Those are the ones that panic, uh, and they don’t make, you know, educated decisions.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. I think that it’s easy to say, oh, well, I’m going to pull all my money out or I’m going to make some drastic move, but they don’t ring a bell when it hits a high or it hits a low. So when are you going to get back in? If you pull all your money out then.

John Inhouse: Exactly. And that’s why market timing simply does not work. It’s time in the market.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. It just I mean, a lot of people say they’re they can handle the risk. But when it actually happens, you know it’s like Mike Tyson say everybody has a plan until you get punched in the face.

John Inhouse: That’s right Lee. And and that’s the importance of educating a family or a client on the financial plans that you could model that out and that we, you know, part of the financial plan is, is understanding asset allocation, understanding your risk tolerance, you know, will you be as happy if your investments up 20% as you would be sad if it was down? Those are questions during the preliminary meetings Things that are so important and so critical to long term financial success.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, get a hold of somebody on your team. What is the best way to connect?

John Inhouse: Uh, Merrill. Com uh, it’s a great way to connect. And, you know, you can say you’re from Atlanta or the metropolitan area and, um, you know, hopefully they’ll get in touch with one of us and we’ll be able to help them with a financial plan so that they could sleep better at night and have the best probability of success with their financial goals and dreams. I’ve spent three and a half decades of that, and I love it, and I plan to spend a lot more time.

Lee Kantor: All right, John, well, thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

John Inhouse: Lee, it’s my pleasure and thanks for all the work you do and for for helping people learn. And it’s a privilege and honor to be on your show.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.

Miguel Jimenez With Chase for Business

by

Tampa Business Radio
Tampa Business Radio
Miguel Jimenez With Chase for Business
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Miguel Jimenez is a Tampa-based Senior Business Consultant at Chase for Business, where he works with small business owners 1:1 day-in and day-out through the firm’s Coaching for Impact program.

He has nearly 15 years of business banking experience and has been with JPMorgan Chase since early 2014.

Connect with Miguel on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • How does Chase for Business support the Tampa small business community
  • What services/resources they provide
  • Chase for Business’ Coaching for Impact program

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Tampa, Florida. It’s time for Tampa Business Radio. Now, here are your Business RadioX hosts.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here another episode of Tampa Business Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Miguel Jimenez, and he is a Senior Business Consultant with Chase for Business. Welcome.

Miguel Jimenez: Hey, Lee, thank you so much for having me.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Do you mind sharing for the folks who are listening? Like, what’s a day in the life for a chase for business senior business consultant.

Miguel Jimenez: Well, thank you for the question today. So my job, my job is simple. My job is to work with business owners in the community. And the idea is to get to know them in a way that allows me to, in terms utilize our resources, right, both internal and external, to add value back to that business owner. So I think it’s simple because it’s something that I truly, truly enjoy, something that I’m passionate about and something that I look forward to doing every day.

Lee Kantor: So what are some of the kind of resources maybe a person wouldn’t expect a chase for business consultant to be able to provide?

Miguel Jimenez: Great question. So what we do is we provide one on one executive coaching, right. So we’ll work on a one on one basis with an entrepreneur. And the idea is to understand the business and dissect the business and then be able to add value to the business so that the business can in turn, scale. And we do that on a one on one basis. There’s a customized program. And the best part about it is that it’s 100% free to the public. Anyone, any business owners can take advantage of the work that we’re doing.

Lee Kantor: So you acting as their coach or do you have a team of coaches that you work with?

Miguel Jimenez: Well, so I would be acting as the coach and we have a team of consulting actually across the country, league that is ready to help entrepreneurs across the country.

Lee Kantor: So what’s your back story? How’d you get involved in this line of work?

Miguel Jimenez: Great question. So I actually been working with business owners for the last 15 years. So about five years ago this program started. And when they came to me with the idea, I first, I couldn’t believe it. Right. Um, and because it’s something that isn’t done traditionally in banks. So I was ecstatic, uh, excited to, to do this. I was the first consultant in the state of Florida, and four years later, I’ve been in C for four years now. I love, love the work that we do. We work on a one on one basis for entrepreneur. I’ve been working with entrepreneurs here in the Tampa Bay area myself for the last seven years. Uh, and it’s just a journey that I truly enjoy. You really get to be a part of someone’s journey, right? Because a business is a journey. And and you get to see that that business grow and flourish and, and have a part in that. And it’s something that I’m truly blessed to be able to do.

Lee Kantor: Well, hats off to Chase for taking on this kind of this resource because most banking, I mean sadly, is very transactional. Like the person doesn’t know who their banker is, they don’t really interact unless they need something. And for Chase to really kind of have this mindset shift when it comes to providing this service and resources. Just kudos to you for doing that. That’s a you know, that could be a game changer for these business owners. They’re so fragile.

Miguel Jimenez: 100%. And then the great thing is right. Our program is four months. Um, you’re in the program for at least four months. But after we’re done right, we’ll pair you with one of our local business relationship manager, one of our local bankers and the business owner will always have a contact individual that they can reach out in the event that they need anything. Right. So this is really a relationship building that we’re doing here with our business owners, with our clients. And again, I’m very, very excited about being able to be a part of the growth, Road for local business owners in the Tampa Bay area.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, I would imagine that this is kind of a culture shift for, um, for the community and the bankers because most bankers, like I said, aren’t really reaching out to their customers in this manner. So again, I mean, this is a really could be a game changer for a lot of folks. Can you talk a little bit about maybe the first time you did the coaching and you were working with a client in this kind of intimate manner, because you really have to get to know them in order to really be able to help them.

Miguel Jimenez: Yeah. So, um, yeah, great question again. I’ve been doing this for four years and you’re 100% right. Right. That’s why our program is four months or, uh, it’s a four month program. And we need, depending on the client’s schedule. Right. So I always tell my folks I work for you. It’s not the other way around. So we’re going to meet when you have the the time that we can sit down and have a conversation. Typically for me, Lee, I meet my clients for at least an hour and hey, let’s understand what’s going on, right? Let’s if we’re having this conversation June 24th, 2026, what would you like that to to look like? And once we understand that right now is okay, let me let me show you how a financial institution can play a role in helping you get there. But also let me show you some of the things that perhaps you’re not looking at in order to get there. Right. So it’s really unbiased advice. Um, I like to think of myself as, as an on pay employee of the business, if that makes sense. Um, and I truly, truly enjoy doing that. Getting to know these business owners, getting to know their business, which I call their babies, excuse me. And then in terms of being able to add value to so that that baby can grow.

Lee Kantor: Now, some of the other services Chase offers are not only this coaching, but you’re hosting events like the, um, what is it, the experience in Tampa?

Miguel Jimenez: Yes, we had a great, great event on the experience here about a month ago in the Tampa Bay area was the first time that we, uh, held this event in Tampa. And, uh, we had around close to 1000 business owners come in throughout the day. Right. And the idea is to, hey, how can we create an event where. Yes, to allow you the opportunity to network, but also we’re providing you a ton of resources. That’s really the key here, right? A ton of resources, a ton of tools throughout the bay with a 7.5 hour, uh, event that you can utilize these these tools, you can utilize these resources. You can utilize this information again in terms of help your business grow in scale.

Lee Kantor: And again, you’re trying to elevate kind of the relationship with your clients and be that kind of connector and information source, not just that banker 100%.

Miguel Jimenez: Right. So one of the things I always tell my folks is I don’t sell anything. I don’t sell anything. But the great thing about this league, you ready? You don’t have to be a Chase client to be a part of the coaching for impact program, right? So I say that to say we’re really intentional about adding value to business owner. That’s the key here. How can we help you scale? How can we help you grow? How can we utilize our resources to add value to you? Let’s have a conversation about this right. And even after the four months, a lot of my clients I still meet with on a regular basis. Right. Because a lot of these things, it’s going to take a little more than four months to kind of see, see through. Right. So for me is, hey, let’s let’s continue having these conversations. We’re here for the long run. We really mean what we say. Uh, you know, when we want to be a partner for you and your business.

Lee Kantor: And so from that event, uh, the the experience event, the day long networking and educational event, is that where people can apply for the coaching or, like, how does the coaching work like, or can anybody apply or do you have to be selected to be part of it?

Miguel Jimenez: Great question. So the first answer is yes. Anybody can apply. Anybody can be a member. What I would say is place for business. That will be the best place to go, because in there you’ll find a link for the coaching for impact. That’s the name of my program, coaching for impact. And then what? The beauty about that is that any listeners can, regardless of where they are in the country, they can go to chase for business.com and go under the coaching for impact link. And depending on where they are in the country, they will be paired with a consultant. Right. So for example, there’s two of us here in Tampa. We have some wonderful consultants in Orlando. We have some wonderful consultants in South Florida and then throughout the country. Right. So chase for business.com. And in there you’ll see a link for the coaching for impact. Um and that’s that will take you directly to my program and will allow you to be paired with a consultant anywhere in the country.

Lee Kantor: So is it one of those things that if you sign up, then you’ll get a coach, or do you or is this kind of limited to a, you know, a finite number of, um, business leaders that you partner with.

Miguel Jimenez: Right? So your your your you sign up and then you’ll get a, you’ll get a call a call. And um, someone will reach out to you to understand you and your business a little better and really understand what it is that you’re looking to do. Right. And then from there, you’ll be paired with a coach like myself.

Lee Kantor: And then are you in a cohort or is this kind of one on one coaching?

Miguel Jimenez: One on one? Um, because the thing with cohorts is they’re great, right? But the thing with cohorts is sometimes it might be challenging to disclose some personal information, if that makes sense. Right. Whereas on a one on one basis it’s more intimate program. Um, and is a more intentional program. So this is a one on one, uh, executive coaching program.

Lee Kantor: So, uh, business business leaders are kind of rolling in and out of the program every four months or so.

Miguel Jimenez: Correct? Correct. So we have a startup program, and then we have what we call a graduation, which we actually had our first graduation officially in Tampa at the experience, Um, about a month ago. So, yes, uh, folks are consistently coming in and out of the program and graduating the program. Once we’re, we’re we’re done with whatever we set out to do.

Lee Kantor: Is there kind of a story you can share about one of the recent graduates that maybe their experience, what they had a challenge, and maybe how going through the program helped them get to a new level.

Miguel Jimenez: Um, let’s see. So I can’t share any I cannot share.

Lee Kantor: Any I don’t don’t say any personal, but maybe just kind of the general what their challenge was and how they were able to get to a new level.

Miguel Jimenez: Yeah. So one of the things I love about the program is that it allows, uh, business owners to really kind of take a step back. Right. And, and, and look at their business, uh, from a different perspective. Right. So a lot of times, uh, business owners and rightfully so, are very passionate about what they do. Right? But I always say it’s one thing for you to be passionate about something is an entirely different thing for you to be able to efficiently run that the that business. Right. So one of the things I love. And one of the things I’ve seen in a lot of my clients, excuse me, is that they’re able to kind of take, take a pause, if that makes any sense, and look at and look at the business side of things. Right. You could be a great, uh, if you have a restaurant, for example, you could be a great, uh, chef. You could be a great cook. Right. But do you know how to run that business? Those are two entirely different things. So what I love about the program is that because we’re, we’re we’re working for a period of four months, it really allows us to just kind of pause, understand who we are. Right. It’s very important to understand what we are in order for us to know where we’re going. So one of the things I’ve seen is that, um, folks really just kind of pause and say, you know what? Let’s look at this from a different perspective. Right? Um, and like, for example, if you’re offering a product. Right. And I always tell my folks, okay, just because you like a certain product, that doesn’t mean you’re client. Right? And the idea here is for your clients to buy this. It’s not for you. So I think that’s one of the biggest change that we see and that folks are looking, you know, especially small business owners are looking at their business from a different perspective, which in terms allows them to grow.

Lee Kantor: Now, what type of businesses took place took part in the in the coaching in this last round of the recent graduates. Are they or you mentioned restaurants? Is that were there a bunch of restaurants or was it professional services or. I’m sure it could be any. It could be any business, right?

Miguel Jimenez: It is correct. It is a little bit of everything we have, from restaurant owners to attorneys to medical professionals. It’s a little bit of everything. Again, we focus on the business part of things. Right. So whether you’re a restaurant, an attorney, a medical professional, etc., we’re going to focus on the business part of things. We’re going to look at the numbers. Right. I’m not going to you know, we’re not going to sit here and say, hey, we’re going to make, you know, make you a better medical professional or a better attorney or a better restaurant owner, etc.. No, now the idea is to just focus strictly on the basis, strictly on the numbers, and be able to help you grow and scale from that perspective. So yes, anyone can participate in our program.

Lee Kantor: Now before they begin the coaching, is there some homework or some pre-work that you recommend them doing?

Miguel Jimenez: So I am notorious for homework. I am notorious for homework. So we do initially we do what’s called a Swot analysis. That’s that’s for us to, uh, gain an understanding of the basics and understanding of what you do and understanding of how you get paid and understanding of how you run your business. Right. And then from there, we start. And yes, there’s always homework, right? Because if we’re going to help you grow in scale, then that usually means we have to tweak a certain, you know, a few things here and there, right. So for me, it’s always homework that the business owner always does the work. Right. We can advise and give you a ton of resources, but it’s up to you, the individual, to be able to take that information and put it into place. So yes, there is, um, homework to do. I call it homework, but it’s more, uh, suggestions, if that makes sense.

Lee Kantor: And is there any kind of advice that you can share with entrepreneurs out there? Um, when they’re trying to grow their business over the years, I’m sure you’ve worked with so many. Are there some, uh, kind of do’s and don’ts that you, you like to see in a thriving business?

Miguel Jimenez: That’s the first thing I love to tell entrepreneurs is, you know, being an entrepreneur is difficult. Uh, but it’s supposed to be, uh, but you’re also not supposed to do it alone, right? That’s the one thing that I think entrepreneurs don’t often take into account. You’re not supposed to do this alone. There is not a single entrepreneur that you can show me that has achieved a high level of success, that has done this alone. I say that to say, build a team, a trusted advisor. Your bankers, they work for you. If you have an attorney, they work for you. Your CPA, they work for you. We work for you. It is not the other way around. Build a strong team. Regardless of what you do. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a restaurant owner or your medical profession. You’re an attorney does not matter. Build a strong team that, in terms, can help you grow and scale as you embark in this journey of being an entrepreneur. So that would be my first advice to business owner. Do not do this alone. You’re not. You’re not meant to do this at all.

Lee Kantor: And that’s great advice. And and it kind of does change the mindset of an entrepreneur, because a lot of times they think that they that the bank is doing them a favor. But you’re right, the bank has to earn the business of their clients every day. And and doing things like this help kind of cement that relationship to be that trusted advisor that the business owner needs to be successful 100%.

Miguel Jimenez: In my years in banking, I’ve always told my client whether it was in this role, my previous role as a business relationship manager, I always told my clients, I work for you. It is not the other way around. Your same and same thing applies to to your journey, your CPA. Think about it, right? As a business owner, you’re paying these folks. Right. It’s not the other way around. So I say that to say building a team. Trusted advisor is key in any success of any.

Lee Kantor: Now, any advice right now with the kind of the economy is the way it is. There are some challenges. Obviously, in Tampa, the weather is an issue that pops up, you know, around this time of year. Um, anything that Chase is doing to help in that area.

Miguel Jimenez: Um, so look, what I tell my folks is the separation is in the preparation. What do I mean by that? You’re 100% right. Let’s just take Tampa, for example. And obviously, uh, the weather, right? Last year was was tough. Um, for, excuse me, for Tampa Bay. So what I tell my folks is, look, the separation, the preparation. What does that mean? Let’s start preparing for, you know, some of these, these, these potential storms, whether they happen or not, that’s different. But let’s prepare for them, because if we prepare for them and they do happen, then we have a plan, right? So for example, understand the resources that are out there, right. Last year when the storms happened, one of the things I personally believe, I compose a list of resources, right, that were out in the community, depending on the county you were, etc., depending on the damage you sustained, etc. and I send it out to all my clients because they needed to understand, look, these resources are out there for you in order to help you get back on your feet. Once again, you’re not meant to do this alone, right? So what I love to tell a business owners listening is, look, now that we’re coming into this, this, this new hurricane season, let’s prepare ourselves, let’s understand what some of the resources that are out there and where they are. Right? Because in the event of a story, they were prepared. We understand. Okay, you know what? This happened. Now we know where to go to get support, we know where to go get help, Health, etc.. Right? So just just have a good comprehensive understanding of where these resources are because they are out there. They’re not, uh, perhaps, uh, you know, publicly, uh, um, announced as much as we would like to, but they are definitely out there, um, to help entrepreneurs get back on their feet.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, that’s great advice. Just I mean, the weather is one thing, and and you can count on some weather drama. It may be not every year, but it’s going to happen. So it’s a good idea to prepare when it’s not that chaotic situation rather than in the middle of the chaos. Now you’re trying to find somebody number like that’s that’s not the time to do it.

Miguel Jimenez: Correct? It’s it’s not the time. You’re not in the right mindset. Right? You, you perhaps have to deal with not just damage to your business, but perhaps also to, to your home. Right. So but if you already have that stuff prepared and then you know how to execute, um, um, if indeed if, if something were to happen and hey, if it doesn’t happen, great.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, but it’s one of those things. And if you can even be proactive and start building the relationships before you need the service, then all the better, because they’re going to return your call and they’re going to, you know, give you priority.

Miguel Jimenez: Right? Correct.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more and maybe get on your calendar or somebody on your team’s calendar to learn more about Chase for business, maybe the coaching again, you mentioned the website. Is there other ways to connect with you and your team?

Miguel Jimenez: So the website will be the best way. And I say the website because depending on where our our listeners are listening, the website will map you to the nearest consultant. Right. And then there’s a team of folks like myself spread out across the country from Florida, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, um, and you name it. Right? We are in a lot of cities across the country, so that’ll be the best way. But also, if you go into a branch and you ask for the coaching for impact team, right? Then that branch can also provide you like my contact or or any of my colleagues contact and depending on the city that you’re in.

Lee Kantor: So coaching for impact is the name of the program and that’s around the country.

Miguel Jimenez: Yes, sir.

Lee Kantor: Well, Miguel, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate, you.

Miguel Jimenez: Know, thank you so much for having me. This was great, Amy. Thank you so much for this conversation. And, um, yeah, if you guys need any resources, Chase for business, um, will be the best place. I would I would recommend for folks to go check out. There’s a bunch of information there. There’s a bunch of tools there. There’s a bunch of resources there. Um, and we’re excited about, uh, helping our community.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Tampa Business Radio.

Rachel Rozen With Connection Catalyst

by

High Velocity Radio
High Velocity Radio
Rachel Rozen With Connection Catalyst
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From Chief Customer Officer to Networking Coach at Connection Catalyst, Rachel Rozen transforms professional networking from “icky” to “sticky.” She’s on a mission to help professionals build authentic connections, drawing from her journey of connecting with 300 people in a year.

Her coaching strategies empower professionals to turn networking challenges into lasting relationships.

When not coaching, she’s cheering for the NY Mets and Syracuse Orange, reading, and experimenting in the kitchen.

Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • How can coaches and consultants use networking as a consistent lead generation strategy—without it feeling transactional or awkward
  • What does it mean to “future-proof” your network—and why is that critical for business longevity
  • What are the biggest networking mistakes entrepreneurs make—and how can they shift their mindset
  • How can someone turn a single coffee chat or LinkedIn message into long-term business collaboration or referrals
  • What are the ‘3 I’s’ of networking—and how can listeners apply them right now in their day-to-day

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

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

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Rachel Rozen, who is a networking coach with Connection Catalyst. Welcome.

Rachel Rozen: Haley. Thanks for having me.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. I think you are the first networking coach I’ve ever met. So can you tell us a little bit about that?

Rachel Rozen: Yeah, absolutely. I don’t think there’s many of us out there. And I’m happy to be creating that category for people and know that I exist to help them with networking, because there’s definitely something that I need for myself and then realize I could help others do it. So I work with individuals from college students through C-suite execs, Those that are in business for themselves. Really, anyone that is struggling to network or doesn’t like to do it? Because most people are told to just go network, but nobody really tells you how to approach it and how to do it in a way that feels comfortable for you. So I like to say, take the icky out of networking and help you turn it into sticky relationships.

Lee Kantor: Now, I remember there was a saying a while ago that I heard that there’s a fine line between networking and networking that a lot of people are online doing what they think is networking. But maybe it’s not that bearing fruit like they imagine it will.

Rachel Rozen: Yeah, I think there’s a big difference to people convoluted networking and business development, and they’re two separate things. I always say that networking is a prelude to business development, because you really need to start having conversations and building relationships with people, and if they know what you do, they’re more likely to then become a client or to be a referral partner to help you find clients. And when we think about networking. It’s really about just starting those conversations. How are we planning those seeds for our garden? I use this analogy often, but if we think about it, our garden is our network of people. And if we just plant those seeds and never go back to them, we don’t water them. There’s no sunlight. The chances of it growing are slim to none. But also keeping in mind what’s in our garden isn’t always going to stay for the entire year. It’s. We may have seasonal things, annual perennials, we may have weeds that we need to pull out, and that’s okay too. It’s the same thing with our our network. People are going to come in and out of our lives, but we need to keep pruning that. And that’s what’s going to really help you to have a flourishing network consistently.

Lee Kantor: So what kind of led you down this path? Were you always kind of a connector and throughout your whole career, and then you decided to get into this, uh, specific niche or, like, what was kind of the backstory?

Rachel Rozen: Yeah. So I actually wasn’t I was a workaholic, in all honesty, and I didn’t spend a lot of time networking. But I come from a background in hospitality and customer success, customer experience work. And my last full time role, I was a chief customer officer at a food tech company, and when I left that role, I got all the way to top of the C-suite and got to where I wanted to be and realized I didn’t actually want to be there anymore. But my network wasn’t very wide or very deep, and the people that I knew were only my clients and my colleagues through the years. It wasn’t diverse, and I didn’t want to be doing what I was, what I had been doing. So I had to start from scratch to network. And I ended up meeting 300 people and one on one conversations virtually because it was still pandemic ish times. And from that I realized that there was a skill set around networking, and I was involved in a few different career transition groups as I was looking for my next opportunity, and everyone in that group kept saying, Rachel, how are you doing this? How are you networking? And someone said, can you do a webinar on this? And I did. And that was really the catalyst for me to get started, because I realized that it was resonating with people and no one really knew how to approach it in a tactical way that worked for them. So I’ve been evolving it over the last couple of years, but I’ve really helped so many people to get more comfortable with networking because I also didn’t like it. And now I’m much more comfortable, and I’m an ultimate connector and just getting people to find each other.

Lee Kantor: Do you run into maybe prospective clients or just people in your network in general, that maybe they worked for a big firm and they had a prestigious position, and then they get laid off, and then all of a sudden they realize that no one’s calling them back when they used to get calls back right away because they were at, you know, some prestigious company, but now they’re untethered that it’s hard for them. And that’s a difficult transition.

Rachel Rozen: Yeah. Sometimes. I mean, your title can give you gravitas or the company can give you gravitas, but it doesn’t mean that you’re not who you are, right? Like, there’s so much more to you. And as long as that’s still on your LinkedIn, it’s never going away. It’s still part of your resume. But it really is just to continue to have conversations and letting people know what you’re looking for. And often people in those situations don’t want to tell anybody that they’re looking for a job. And so they’re less likely to find that next opportunity because they’re not putting themselves out there in a way that people can help them because they’re afraid to hear or let people know what’s going on in their their worlds. Maybe they are timid. Maybe they are ashamed of being laid off. There’s many reasons why why that happens, but it is also okay to keep if you are laid off to keep the job on your LinkedIn profile. Nobody needs to know if you don’t want to. In the moment that you are that you are laid off, that’s completely up to you.

Lee Kantor: So now you mentioned earlier kind of differentiating between business development and networking. Can you explain kind of where you draw the lines in each each kind of activity?

Rachel Rozen: Yeah. So in business development you’re often looking for a lead to get a sale and networking. You’re looking to have a conversation with someone and see where that potentially leads. That conversation could lead into a business development conversation where you’re talking about sales, but more often than not, it’s a conversation to get to know somebody and to understand what they might be looking for. What’s something that’s important in their life right now? Or maybe what’s something that they need in their life? And I often I use a framework that I call the three eyes. So when you’re in a networking conversation, it’s more about the give and get. What can I give somebody? What can I get some something back? You know always have to exchange that. But this is often helpful to separate it from a business development conversation. So in a networking conversation, who can you introduce them to or who can they introduce you to? That’s the first AI introduction. The second AI is information. What information can I share with them? What information can I glean from them? Maybe that’s a resource. It could be a book, an article, a podcast. Sometimes it could be something tangible. So the second I information and then the third eye is an invitation. Where can they invite you to or where can you invite them to? Maybe it’s a community. Maybe it’s a webinar. Where are there places that they could show up, or you could show up that you don’t even know exist, that you can meet more people. That’s all networking, whereas business development is how can I get them to potentially buy my product or service?

Lee Kantor: So can you do business development without networking or is that kind of the precursor?

Rachel Rozen: I mean, you definitely can. But I, I do believe that networking is a precursor to business development. Sometimes it’s happening in the moment because someone says, oh, I’m looking for this product or service, and that’s what you have, right? So you’re going to lean right into the business development piece. And sometimes it’s just starting a conversation and seeing who you can introduce them to. And maybe it’ll be a potential lead down the road, but you’re not putting a pitch on them right away. That’s more business development. It’s just talking about who you are, what you do, etc. from a networking standpoint, you’re just building that relationship with them versus trying to sell them anything.

Lee Kantor: So if you were coaching me about how to network, let’s take a two different scenarios. One, like. Kind of in real life, I’m going to a Chamber of Commerce meeting. What are some do’s and don’ts I should be doing there so I don’t feel icky like you described earlier?

Rachel Rozen: Yeah. So I think the first starts with your elevator pitch and I hate using that that word. But there’s really nothing better that I’ve come up with yet. But how are you talking about yourself? So tell me, what do you what would you tell somebody that you do if they said, hey, Lee, tell me. Tell me what you do?

Lee Kantor: Um, I start a Business RadioX and we tell the stories of business in the communities we serve.

Rachel Rozen: Awesome. And what are those type of clients that you look for?

Lee Kantor: Are. Uh, our ideal client is professional service. Uh, people who have a difficult time building relationships with the people most important to them.

Rachel Rozen: Awesome. So that tends to be more on the networking side. You’re just telling someone what they do. The next question ideally is tell me more. So I asked you more of a specific question of who are the clients that you serve. Because it was based off of your first statement. And that could then lead into business development. Or I might ask you another question that could lead into getting to know you a little bit more. So it really just depends upon how the conversation goes. I like to say conversations are like driving down the highway. You can switch lanes, you can take exits and come back on. You just don’t want to go into a traffic jam. So the key, if you’re going to the Chamber of Commerce, is to just keep the conversation going and go in whatever direction it ends up going in. So if it stays in a networking conversation, I’m just trying to get to know you. We keep on that lane if it starts severe towards their potential client, then you can veer in that direction. That’s okay.

Lee Kantor: So any tips on how to get me out of the conversation if I’m like, I’m done.

Rachel Rozen: You want to move on from that person?

Lee Kantor: Yes. How do I get that? I need a pro tip in that area.

Rachel Rozen: Yeah, absolutely. You can say, hey, Lee, it’s been such a pleasure speaking with you. I see Bob over there, and I’ve been really meaning to connect. I’ll def I’m gonna run, you know, jump to go to to go speak to them and we’ll definitely be in touch. One example you can always use getting a drink, the bathroom, anything like that to get out of the out of the conversation. Another great tip is if you see somebody else nearby, you can say, hey, Rachel, this is Carrie. I want to introduce you, and then you slip away. Um, is another great way to get out of the conversation.

Lee Kantor: All right, so you covered in real life, how about online? Is there some kind of regular activity I should be doing? Like, say, for example, on LinkedIn?

Rachel Rozen: So LinkedIn. The best way to meet people is is twofold. One is commenting on people’s posts. So what is the topic that really interests you? Maybe it’s companies that interest you. Searching for those and commenting. Because that’s a great way to build rapport with someone, specifically the person that’s the author and or people that are also commenting within that post. You can start building relationships that way through the comments because they’re seeing your thought leadership. The second way on LinkedIn is LinkedIn has the ability to see events that are happening online within LinkedIn. Sometimes they’re outside of LinkedIn, but all virtual events related to the topic, any topic honestly. And you can see once you, uh, RSVP, who are the attendees on that list and you can start conversations with them. You can ask them, what are they looking forward to in this webinar or after the event. You can connect back with them and continue a conversation after that event as well. So those are two great ways to connect with people on LinkedIn versus just cold connecting.

Lee Kantor: And when you’re working with your clients, um, how do you kind of hold them accountable for some of these activities that sound easy when you kind of rattle them off? But if I’m doing this every day, it can get a little challenging.

Rachel Rozen: Yeah. So with my clients, the goal is, uh, really to get more comfortable with it first of all. So I’m not forcing them to have X amount of conversations or reach out to X amount of people in any specific day. It’s more about how do we get comfortable with the activity that we’re doing. How do we get comfortable with what are we talking about? How are we talking about ourselves? And then finding the right places and spaces to actually show up too. Because I often work with people that over network and they show up to too many places and they’re not actually following up. So we work on creating a schedule that works best for them, because what works for you isn’t necessarily what’s going to work for me. So your ground zero is wherever your starting point is right now, and then we alter that from that point forward so that you can start getting more comfortable with those activities, and then it becomes more of a habit versus something that has to be scheduled, or that you need to be held accountable for because you are automatically doing it. Because these conversations can happen with everyone all the time. Like, I had one client, uh, recently, who just started talking to people in the grocery store, which she would have never done before and led to potential opportunities. You just never know. The more comfortable you are with the way that you talk about yourself and what you do can lead to things that you probably wouldn’t even realize now.

Lee Kantor: Are there some mistakes you see people make when it comes to networking? Like, uh, over and over? That’s like, why are people still doing this?

Rachel Rozen: Yeah, I think one thing is not being strategic about your networking. So, for example, you know, AI is a hot topic right now and you’re just showing up to every AI event that exists. Is that necessary? Are there places that you should be showing up to? What is the follow up with these conversations? Are you wasting your time by going? Are you actually learning something or are you just going to go? So if you’re just going somewhere repetitively, just because that can be problematic and not actually help your growth. Also, people tend to stay in the same circles all the time for the same communities, and they may not be growing in that community anymore. So reevaluating that generally, once a quarter at least to say, are the places that I’m showing up right for me. What did I get from this space in this last quarter? And maybe I need to put that aside and move on and find something else that would much more benefit me today. And the third thing is often what people wear to events. This is one thing that I love talking about, because I’m a New York City and a New York City, people often like to wear black, but people generally wear black at a lot of networking events.

Rachel Rozen: But when you wear black, you blend in with everybody else. If you wear something that has a color or something with a path, you stand out so people are more likely to talk to you. I call this peacocking. So what’s something that you can wear that can start a conversation or maybe a compliment? For women, it tends to be a little bit easier than men at times, but for men it can work as well. So if you’re wearing a suit jacket or a pocket square, do you have cool glasses or socks or a tie? For women, it’s often statement jewelry, or your shoes or your purse. There’s lots of ways that you can make yourself stand out just a little bit, a little bit more. And those are all great conversation starters. And people are attracted to come to you to start the conversation. It starts to get easier to have those conversations over and over again.

Lee Kantor: Now what about kind of pre-work before a marketing event? Should you be kind of checking who’s attending, doing some research, targeting a few people? Is that a good strategy, or should you kind of just leave it up to serendipity?

Rachel Rozen: It really depends upon what you want to get out of that event. So if you have a clear objective of what you want to get out of it, absolutely. Do some research, research ahead of time and choose some people that you are interested in talking to. And I like to call this game Where’s Waldo. If you remember the Where’s Waldo comic. Yeah, uh, back in the day, uh, and you find those people, you can research them ahead of time and then try to find them at the event. And you can also connect with them ahead of time and saying, I’m really interested in talking to you here. Looking forward to seeing you there so that you can maybe find a time to connect when you’re there. Another way that you can play Where’s Waldo too. If you’re not sure who you want to meet and you want to kind of be spontaneous about it, you can say, oh, I only want to meet people that are wearing green shirts, and you just go and talk to people. Wearing green shirts for the day could be just another idea of spontaneous networking or connection.

Lee Kantor: Now, do you have any stories you can share about, uh, people that have worked with you that have either gotten, you know, maybe more business or gotten that dream job.

Rachel Rozen: Yeah. So I don’t guarantee anybody working with me that they’re going to get, um, more business or dream job by any means. It’s really just, uh, to get more connections and feel more comfortable with the connections and generally with people that are working with me. The main thing that shifts for them is their mindset that they hated networking before, and now they’re able to be more comfortable and show up as their genuine, authentic self wherever they are. But I’ll tell you one story about a client who was working with me, and she was really struggling with small talk or even just having conversations with people. And she got on a zoom call with an executive, and she was interviewing for an executive role. And the person that she was interviewing with was in a hotel room. And he started the conversation saying, I apologize, I’m in a hotel room. And normally she would just end it there and start the interview. Well, she decided to have a little bit of small talk, and she really connected with that executive who is very busy. And this is a very large company. He extended the interview 15 minutes, which was huge. And not only that, he scheduled a second, third and fourth interview for that person as well. Just from that one opportunity where she leaned in to have a conversation prior to the start of the interview and really built that connection with that person, and that was huge.

Lee Kantor: Now, is that kind of at the cord or to networking is to kind of humanize it as quickly as possible or as authentically as possible?

Rachel Rozen: Yes, absolutely. And and I’m a big believer in how we have conversations and how we show up as ourselves, because that energy really resonates with people. If you’re in another space, if you’re not, if you’re not present, if you’re thinking about, you know, your sick child at home or work that you need to get back to or really anything else than what’s happening in the present moment. People feel that if you’re energetically in that right space, and being present and connecting with the person in front of you, people feel that too. And the more you can humanize the conversation and a human talking to another human, regardless of their title or their job or the company that they work for, you’re going to start building connections in a much more authentic and genuine way.

Lee Kantor: So how has this coaching journey been for you? Are you more fulfilled? Is this you feel like you’re kind of aligned with your skills and your passions?

Rachel Rozen: Yeah, absolutely. This is definitely something that that fits me a lot more. And I was coaching a lot when I was an executive and when I was in leadership roles, I just never realized that this was my superpower and really helping people to get the best out of themselves. And that’s what I love about coaching, is that I can really work with people for them to find their best self.

Lee Kantor: And when people do work with you, do they do that through one on one coaching group coaching? Like what are the ways that they can work with you?

Rachel Rozen: Yeah, they can work with me either through group or one on one. When it comes to networking specifically to start, I always like people to work in my group coaching program because it gives them the opportunity to actually practice in real time with real people, and having that coach next to them, to coach them through what they’re talking about, whether it be their elevator pitch or their conversations, how what their strategy is. And it’s nice to see how other people are going through it. And they don’t have to be in the same industry. They don’t have to be in the same role. It allows people to diversify one their network and to seeing that they’re not alone, that there are other people that are feeling the same way as that.

Lee Kantor: And when you kind of explain to them that when that when networking, you’re not like necessarily trying to sell anybody anything, does that kind of create an aha moment of taking some of the pressure off that, you know, I got to get to a sale as quickly as possible. Maybe they they have those misconceptions.

Rachel Rozen: Yeah. Sometimes it depends upon the client because there’s some people that are job searching. There are some people that are looking to get promoted. Some people are thinking about it from a business development perspective, but it’s really uh, for most people, the aha moment comes with it’s one human talking to another human, and there’s no specific outcome that I need from this conversation. And knowing that it’s one conversation. Can I get a second conversation or a third conversation? Makes it easier versus thinking that I need to get something or give somebody something in that very moment in time, knowing that it’s an evolution versus a transaction.

Lee Kantor: And that that’s the key, that this is a human relationship and it should be treated as such.

Rachel Rozen: Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: So, Rachel, if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation, uh, where can they go? Is there a website?

Rachel Rozen: Yeah, my website is connection catalyst dot me. And they can also find me on LinkedIn.

Lee Kantor: And that’s Rachel. Rachel. Rosen. Rosen. Yes. Well, Rachel, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Rachel Rozen: Thanks, Lee. I really appreciate the conversation today.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.

Elizabeth Solaru With Luxury Business Emporium

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High Velocity Radio
High Velocity Radio
Elizabeth Solaru With Luxury Business Emporium
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Elizabeth Solaru, CEO and Founder of Luxury Business Emporium.

She is a multi award-winning luxury business consultant, author, and world renowned cake artist. As the CEO and Founder of the Diversity in Luxury Awards, she is a pioneering voice advocating for inclusivity and representation in the luxury sector.

An ex microbiologist and headhunter who interviewed, coached and ran job hunting workshops for C-suite executives, she began her luxury business journey as a celebrated cake artist, earning international acclaim for her innovative designs and impeccable craftsmanship. Her clients include UHNWIs and royalty.

Her creative talent and business acumen led to a successful transition into luxury consulting, where she now advises brands on how to navigate the complexities of the luxury market. Recently ranked as one of the world’s top speakers on luxury business by the World Luxury Chamber of Commerce, Elizabeth regularly shares her expertise as a guest lecturer at prestigious institutions including Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Goldsmith College, and Anglia Ruskin University.

Her latest book, “The Luxpreneur: How to Start and Build a Successful Luxury Brand” has been described as “the blueprint for a luxury business” and a “must-read for those interested in working in the luxury industry.”

Elizabeth has been named as one of the world’s Masterful 100 and has been featured on the BBC, Channel 4 and Sky TV. She has spoken on some of the most exclusive luxury business stages, including JP Morgan, The Global HR Summit, Ernst and Young and The Inner Circle Experience.

In addition to her consulting work, she is passionate about mentorship and is dedicated to empowering the next generation of luxury professionals.

Connect with Elizabeth on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • How does she define modern luxury today
  • What do people often get wrong about selling to high-net-worth individuals
  • What are the key traits luxury brands must embody to stay relevant
  • How can a business stay premium without discounting or diluting its identity in tough times
  • What’s the next frontier in luxury that most businesses aren’t seeing yet

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

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

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Elizabeth Solaru, and she’s the CEO and founder of Luxury Business Emporium. Welcome.

Elizabeth Solaru: Thank you so much. I’m very excited to be here. And thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. For folks who aren’t familiar, can you share a little bit about Luxury Business Emporium? How you serving folks?

Elizabeth Solaru: Yes. So essentially small businesses that want to get into the luxury industry or businesses that want to serve the high end client, I help them get those clients. So that’s what I do in a nutshell.

Lee Kantor: So you’re a coach for brands to help them kind of, uh, earn their way up to the luxury market.

Elizabeth Solaru: Absolutely. So I coach I also consult for a number of brands.

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

Elizabeth Solaru: Ah, that’s a very good question. So I started my career many, many moons ago as a scientist. I was a microbiologist, I worked in a hospital. And then I remember thinking, there’s got to be more to life than being a lab rat. So I decided to, uh, do something different. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew it had to be something in business. So I went off and did an MBA. I probably should have just used that money to set up a business, but, hey, so did an MBA. And then I became a headhunter, started recruiting very high end chief executives and chairs and finance directors, etc. and then 2008, as you know what happened the city tank. So I was laid off from work, and I decided to set up a company that I’d always wanted to do when I was a child, and that was having a cake shop. So I started my cake company, but I knew I had problems because I needed clients, and I knew I wanted a certain type of client. So I took the yellow Pages, I called the Yellow Pages, and as it would have happen, I happened to call someone who happened to be the cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth, and she happened to be one of the best wedding planners in the world, and I started working with her. She wanted, you know, I said, I’ll bring some samples, you can try my cakes. And that’s how it started. And that was my entry into the luxury world. And then that went on for quite a while. And then 2020, the pandemic hit. We were all at home, and I think a bunch of us went on to clubhouse. And then I realized that apart from experts and professors of luxury or luxury experts, not many people were talking about luxury businesses from the perspective of a founder. And that was what I dedicated my rooms in clubhouse to doing. And then people were like, oh my goodness, you should definitely write a book. So I wrote a book, The Lux Printer, and here we are today.

Lee Kantor: So how do you help? To me, I’m a big fan of if no matter what your business is, you should have kind of a premium high end service around it or a product that targets that market just as a rule. But in you, in your work, are you really helping brands kind of rethink, okay, how can I take what I’m doing and kind of measure it up to be a luxury brand? Like what what what is your typical client conversation about?

Elizabeth Solaru: Um. Okay. So I’ll give you I’ll give you an example. Uh, for example, worked with a client who is into cyber security. So then you wouldn’t necessarily think, oh, that’s a luxury brand, but, uh, work with them, help them with the rebrand, help them with their positioning. Uh, realize that their target, they were trying to target high end jewelers. And as you know, with jewelry, very small stones, uh, very immense value. And how? And we’re talking about people who are naturally, um, for lack of a better word, very geeky, very introverted. So how do they meet these very high end luxury jewelry brands? So I work with them. We came up with the strategy that really played to their strengths. And yeah, that’s how they ended up getting, um, quite a number of jewelry brands. So again, there was something there about Niching down. You can’t serve everybody. You’ve got to have your own niche. Um, and their niche was luxury high end jewelry brands and that was our target. So, um, not everyone understands sometimes that what they’re doing right now could easily be become a luxury brand. But there are at least five things that need to happen. I call them the five pillars of luxury branding. Five things need to happen before you can call yourself a luxury brand. And I think this is where people get it wrong.

Lee Kantor: Because a lot of it has. It has to be congruent, right? Like you can’t if you say your luxury, you can’t not look luxury or you can’t behave luxury like you have to be kind of all in on this, right?

Elizabeth Solaru: Oh, absolutely. So I first of all it starts with a person. It starts with your mindset. And then it starts with certain things that need to be in place. So to give you an example. Um, the first thing that people look for in a luxury brand is perception. So how have they perceived, um, that particular company or that person? If you’re a solopreneur and if those things don’t line up, you will not be believed. Uh, the second pillar that I talk about is making sure that your product is good. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it has to be good. And for lack of a better, better word. Sometimes a lot of people present very mediocre, um, products or services, and they honestly believe it’s the best in class. So sometimes half of what I do is trying to say to them, you think you’re, you know, your product is the best in the market. I can show you it’s not. Um, and these are the reasons why. So what can we do to fix either the product or the perception of your product? So there’s that as well. Um, there’s also something around the business model that you choose. So I talk in my book about the five different types of luxury brands, and people think that, you know, luxury brands is just about, um, maybe having a lot of money or whatever.

Elizabeth Solaru: But there are five different types of brands, and you need to determine which one you want to position yourself in. So are you going to be a mass stage or are you going to be ultra ultra, you know, um, ultra high. Um, in in your branding, if you decide to be a mass stage, you probably might get a thousand clients a year. But if you decide to be ultra, ultra high, you might get 1 or 2 clients a year and the lead times might be 9 to 12 months. So people need to understand that. I also talk about the different types of luxury brand founders. There are nine types and you need to know what your type is. So for example, I come out as a visionary and an artisan and that’s actually both good and bad. It’s good to be an artisan. But the problem is I’m so busy creating the perfect product. Time and money. Um, I don’t care about them. I just want to create an amazing product. Um, also, as a visionary, I’m so focused on the future, I am not grounded enough in the present. So you need to know yourself in order to create that type of luxury brand that you desire.

Lee Kantor: So now in this part of a luxury brands or as a part of luxury brands, isn’t there a level of scarcity or difficulty to get at there? It can’t be for everybody, just by definition, right? There has to be limited supply or I only see so many clients. There has to be a way to kind of shut off the spigot. You can’t serve everybody.

Elizabeth Solaru: Oh, absolutely. That. I think a lot of that is true. Um, a lot of brands sometimes rely on scarcity marketing to get their clients. So, um, a brand that sells leather goods that sells handbags, particularly handbags. Um, Hermes, for example, they do that particularly well. So they are especially around, um, their handbags, the Birkin. And that product is protected. Um, they come down hard against anyone who wants to counterfeit, etc., etc.. So you’ve got all that around that particular brand. So if you want to buy a handbag that is five figures, six figures, you go on a waiting list, you might have to wait two years. And um, again, this is all the stories out there. So, you know, allegedly, you may even have to buy certain products of a certain value in order to qualify for the handbag. So it operates like an exclusive club. But a number of luxury brands that are also successful operate at three tiers. So you have level one, which is the lipsticks, the perfumes, the keychains, maybe the wallets, um, little things that if I save up for a maybe a month, I might be able to buy. Then you’ve got the next level where if I save up for a year, um, and we’re talking about off the peg, we’re talking about shoes.

Elizabeth Solaru: We’re talking about baby handbags. If I save up for a year, I might be able to afford that. And then you’ve got the third level up, which is couture. So that’s handmade, you know, um, that’s more sell a kidney or something like that, or, you know, whatever to be able to afford that. So you have that tiered levels. And I often say to um, clients that I coach or that I consult with, you need to structure your business like that. And it goes to what you said earlier on that if you had those three levels, um, where you have the bottom level driving a lot of the income. Um, and that’s how many, um, luxury brands operate. It’s the, the lower levels that drive the income. However, the marketing, the adverts, everything is always immaculate. So it doesn’t matter whether they’re selling a $50 nail polish or a 100,000 pound handbag. Everything. There is a lot of congruency in the advertising, in the marketing, in the promotion, and I think that is something that many smaller brands can learn.

Lee Kantor: So if you were working with, like you mentioned, the cybersecurity brand earlier, if you’re working with kind of a a business to business brand that so far in their life cycle they’ve just been, you know, just another regular company. What’s the first thing you do to help them, you know, reposition themselves as a luxury brand?

Elizabeth Solaru: So the first thing I would need to do is look at their past and look at where they want to go in the future and see their readiness levels. Because to be honest with you, a lot of people say stuff, we want to do this and we want to do that, but they don’t understand the realities of serving in that market. Because if you’re serving at that market, you can’t give this standard, um, you know, fill out our form or um, or, uh, contact us at blah, blah. You know, you can’t do any of that. Um, you know, yes, you can use tools, but these people will expect, uh, they might expect 24 over seven service. They expect a level of service and a level of detail and dedication that you might not be prepared for. So for me, that readiness level is very, very important. So that’s number one. So that’s the first thing I test. The second thing I will do is to look at what they have to offer. So if what you have to offer is not on par with what the best out there is doing, then you need to raise your game.

Elizabeth Solaru: So there is something around that as well. And then the third thing I will do is say to them, okay, you know, dream clients, let’s go. Who do you want to target? And then we have a list of who we want to target. And we go about targeting these people. Because the way you you don’t you can’t sell. Um, how do I put this? You can’t sell like a retail shop. Um, you’ve got to sell slightly differently, and you’ve got to get your clients slightly differently. And you’ve got to understand that the lead times might be different because you have to build that level of trust. So there are certain activities you need to do. They need to know who you are. And you need to leave what I call breadcrumbs so they can follow those breadcrumbs. Um, this is not a matter of you doing the hard sell or you doing these pitches that are people that are putting people off. You need to have very well crafted, very well thought out ways of attracting these sorts of clients. So that’s what I would do.

Lee Kantor: Now, what do you do when times are tough? Like if there’s an economic downturn, is there a way to do. Is there a way to kind of stay luxury without kind of having a 50% off sale?

Elizabeth Solaru: Oh, absolutely. Um, when times are tough, no matter how tough times get, uh, the luxury sector, although that’s been hit right now, the luxury sector is still thriving. Certain parts of the sector still thriving, and the luxury sector has weathered so much over the last hundred years or so, and it will weather a lot more. So the first thing I would say is obviously don’t give discounts, but you can give more. So rather than um, let me give you an example. So right now, um, certain hotels have realized that, okay, people might not be booking rooms, but they will book to eat, or they might book an afternoon tea, or they might book a spa. So what what they’re trying to do is to at least get people in to eat, to have a treat. Um, they give them more. Um, there’s a lot of, um, hotels turning dead space into, uh, little pop ups. You know, they do, um, collaborations with other brands. Uh, just a pop up one day or two. So they have that element of scarcity. They still have the quality, and then they also have people coming in because it’s different, because it’s new, because that’s one of the things around luxury. People want new things, but they still want the feel of luxury and heritage. So those are some of the things that I would suggest that people do when times are hard. Do not discount, but what you can do is find things that you can add that will attract people. And people think, yep, we’re getting real good value here.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, that’s a great point. I was just recently in Los Angeles at a luxury hotel, and they had a pop up with a Food Network pastry chef, and so then that’s helping both of their brands.

Elizabeth Solaru: Correct? Yeah. So and, you know, you will notice a lot of hotels. We’ll be doing that a lot of brands. Um, so for example, there was a brand, um, very luxury brand in the UK, Selfridges. Um, I think I believe it was um, um, it was actually a company of hundreds of years old set up by an American, I believe, Mr. Selfridge. And they did, um, a car park, boot sale, obviously very high end brands. And they literally had cars with, um, excess stock spilling out of it, and they invited a bunch of people. And people went and they had an amazing time just buying Deadstock again, raising money. Um, it speaks to sustainability. It speaks to diversity. And more importantly, they’re getting people in the door. So those are some of the things that people need to be doing, not necessarily just doing 60% off or 50% off, which dilutes your brand.

Lee Kantor: Now, this is one of the the reasons people hire you and people like yourself, right, where you can combine this high level of creativity with kind of the these, these kind of business disciplines that are needed if you want to do this the right way.

Elizabeth Solaru: Oh, absolutely. Um, because, you know, I don’t want to sound like a cliche, but this is where you have the thinking outside the box. Um, because sometimes when you’re running your company on a day to day basis, there’s more than enough on your plate. Um, you’re trying to juggle so many things. The last thing you want to do is start thinking. So sometimes you just get somebody out from outside who has the objectivity, who has the experience of working with a bunch of other brands across different sectors who might be able to give you at least 1 or 2 good suggestions. Not all suggestions are going to pan out, but at least out of maybe five suggestions, there’ll be one that will hit the jackpot and will feel right for your company. And then you’ll be able to do that. So again, um, when times are hard, creativity and innovation is actually born because people need to survive and people need to eat. So it’s a matter of, okay, I need my clients. How do I go about this? And, um, you know, this is part of the reason I wrote the book The Luxury, because I tell my clients, if you can’t afford me, at least go buy my book and begin to understand the very basics of luxury and luxury clients. And how the modern luxury client actually thinks. As opposed to what we were told in the past where it was a luxury brand dictating luxury. But now with a certain generation, the Gen Zs and the alphas, they are the ones dictating how they want to enjoy their luxury. And they should be listened to.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, who was your ideal client?

Elizabeth Solaru: Oh, that’s a great one. Um, my ideal client would be somebody with a great product. Um, somebody who doesn’t know where to start from. Um, maybe they’ve had a level of success, but they want to go to the next level. Um, that person would be my ideal client because they know what successful is like. They are ready, and they are willing to understand what it would take to level up. So that would be my ideal client.

Lee Kantor: Now, are they kind of retail? Are they, like you mentioned, food? Are they B2B like or is it industry agnostic? It doesn’t matter if they have a good business, you’ll find kind of the luxury angle for them.

Elizabeth Solaru: Yeah, I think there’s an element of that. But I tend to work with a number of coaches. So coaches I tend to work with people in the, um, event space, in the hospitality space, and also, um, to my surprise, cyber security. Who knew that even technology, you know, who knew that even technology, you can find the luxury angle for that. So I would suggest anyone who is ready and willing to take that step into luxury, um, there would be an ideal client.

Lee Kantor: Are there any trends you’re seeing when it comes to luxury that other businesses just aren’t seeing yet?

Elizabeth Solaru: Um, I would say with trends, I mean, I would say, oh, that’s a, that’s a, that’s a tricky one because I honestly don’t believe in trends. Because I believe good, good business survives all trends. But what we’re seeing in luxury right now is we’re seeing a lot of upheaval. So a lot of brands, since the beginning of the year, they’ve had a change in CEO, a changing creative director, a change in, um, um, uh, people running the business, etc.. So and with that change, what I’m seeing is that, um, recruiting the same people with the, you know, with the same background into those jobs is not, um, is no longer, uh, what’s the word I’m looking for is no longer needed because what even luxury brands, the big luxury brands. To give you an example, um, a brand recruited, um, the the former CEO of Renault. The car, the car, the car people. Um, so this guy had been running. Renault was responsible for turning it around, and the caring group recruited him to be CEO of Gucci. Now, that almost never happens in luxury.

Elizabeth Solaru: So that because they want, I suspect it’s because, well, Gucci has been going down for a bit now. So they need somebody with fresh eyes to have a look. So we’re seeing trends where it’s okay to have this cross, um, cross sector um, experience. Uh, we also see trends in the luxury market looking at other markets. So a lot of luxury brands we’re looking to China. And they were doing great with China. But other countries are emerging. So Japan’s doing very very well with luxury Korea doing really really well. Parts of Africa are doing well. India is also growing when it comes to luxury. So what we’re seeing is lots of brands going out of their comfort zone, countries to go into different countries and they’re now, um, um, looking for cultural intelligence. And by that, I mean, for example, the way luxury behaves in the north part of the United States is different to what happens in the southern states of the United States. So that kind of cross-cultural intelligence is becoming more important when it comes to luxury.

Lee Kantor: And in luxury. Is there one part of the world that is usually first? Is it the Asian market or European? Where where does luxury kind of. Who are the first movers in luxury usually.

Elizabeth Solaru: Oh that’s a very that’s a very good question. I think if it’s technology, um, if it’s technology backed or based, definitely the East for sure. Um, because they are, you know, way ahead when it comes to technology. They’re doing things with, um, AI and tech, and the innovation out there is incredible. Um, I think when it comes to certain fashion brands, definitely the West. Um, and that’s because not necessarily because those fashion brands are doing it better, but that’s because those fashion brands have had a hundred year head start over certain brands in other parts of the world. So certain elements of creativity, I would say in the West or, um, parts of Europe, parts of America, for example. So it really depends on the industry. And if you’re looking at things like maybe watches, for example. Definitely. Um, you know, the Swiss, um, you know, Europe, um, because they’ve got some amazing, amazing, um, hydrologists out there. So again, it really depends on the sector.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more about your practice and maybe get on your calendar or get Ahold of your book. Is there a website? What’s the best way to connect?

Elizabeth Solaru: Yes. The best way to connect with me is on LinkedIn as Elizabeth Solari. I’m on LinkedIn. I write about luxury every day. My book you can get from Amazon.com. It’s called The Lock Spinner. How to Start and Build a Successful Luxury Brand. And my website is called The Luxury Business emporium.com.

Lee Kantor: Well, Elizabeth, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Elizabeth Solaru: Thank you very much for your time. I truly appreciate our conversation.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.

Cat Stone With Third Age Mojo

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High Velocity Radio
High Velocity Radio
Cat Stone With Third Age Mojo
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Cat Stone created Third Age Mojo because she have never been comfortable with the way we approach aging in our culture. We have a preconceived notion of what aging looks like, and this notion is based on inaccurate information.

In her 50s, she began to think about this a lot, and she decided not to follow the expectations placed on aging. She soon discovered that other folks her age shared her outlook on healthy aging and were searching for answers and ideas just like she was.

In March 2020, she created Third Age Mojo as a vehicle for exploring options for aging:

  • What is the Third Age and what is Third Age Mojo
  • The Third Age is the final third of our lives
  • We don’t know when we’ll pass on, but just for easy math, let’s say 90.
  • In that case your Third Age begins at 60.

The Mojo part of Third Age Mojo is energy, our energy. Some of us have misplaced our Mojo, and this happens for a lot of reasons.

There are two conflicting energies for which we Baby Boomers are responsible. One is the women’s movement, and the other is the importance our society places on looking young. Women became increasingly economically influential, and anti-aging became our mantra.

What Third Age Mojo is all about is pro-aging. About power aging. About loving our beautiful, healthy Third Age selves.

Connect with Cat on LinkedIn and follow Third Age Mojo on Facebook and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • About the Six Pillars of Third Age Mojo
  • Why Cat wrote, The Joyful Aging Formula: Stress-Free Lifestyle Changes for Increased Longevity and Enhanced Physical and Mental Well-being
  • What Third Age Face Yoga is and other options for healthy aging after 50
  • What a Redox Cell Signaling supplement has done for aging process
  • Why Cat had to launch North of Now

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

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

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio in this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Cat Stone, who is with Third Age Mojo. Welcome.

Cat Stone: Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. First off, tell us about Third Age Mojo. How are you serving folks?

Cat Stone: Well, the Third Age is mostly known in Europe, but I thought it was a great way to describe people sort of 60 to 90, just to make the math easy. I make the Day We Die 90 so that 60 can start the third age. But anyway, I think that I hate when people say seniors or, you know, all those different things. I just wanted to shake it up a little bit. And Mojo is, as we all know, kind of magic. So Third Age Mojo is recognizing the beauty, the magic and the power, the untapped power we have when we get into our third age.

Lee Kantor: And so your work is primarily helping people in that age group kind of lead a more meaningful, more purposeful life.

Cat Stone: Yes. And, you know, there are six pillars to Third Age mojo. And the first one is health. So I really I have had Third Age mojo for five years. And it addresses all these different things like staying healthy, keeping your mind set right. A growth mindset is super important. And then there’s also money of course, which everyone thinks is number one. But it’s really not. But it is important. All of them are. Relationships are very important. And home becomes a kind of a different thing when you enter your third age. And these days, there’s all kinds of opportunities for a choice in what kind of home you want to have for the final third of your life. So that’s what Third Age Mojo is all about. And I just started it because I hated the way our culture depicts this time. It’s like work, work, work, discover, discover, discover. And then you go over a hill and it’s all downhill from there. I didn’t like that.

Lee Kantor: So what’s your backstory? What kind of led you to this point in your life where now you can focus in on this?

Cat Stone: Well, I have always been very health conscious, and that may come from, you know, my father was a type one diabetic when I was growing up. So we always had a garden and we ate, you know, very fresh food because diet was so important to him. So that was the way I was brought up. And then when I sort of launched and I moved to Houston from Pennsylvania, and I was on my own and I had no, I had no health insurance. So I thought I better stay healthy. So I continued and jacked it up, and it was just sort of life, well, was giving me signals to stay healthy. And that’s how I got to it. And then I saw so many people who would say, oh, well, I can’t do this because I’m so old. It’s like, no, we’re not going to hear that.

Lee Kantor: Now, throughout your life thus far, had you been primarily in the coaching realm? Well, being in, you know, maybe fitness and wellness. And then as you got into this third age, you said, I’m going to focus in on this group.

Cat Stone: Well, you know, it’s a strange thing is that I always did other things, mostly sales. I sold radio. I sold print. I was a sales person and a marketing person. And, um, I always did this on the side. And then I left my last job as an affiliate marketer. I was working for a company that created, you know, natural health, uh, products. And I would, uh, manage all of our affiliates who would send these products to their, uh, email lists. Excuse me. But on the side, I would do this. And finally, I thought, why I love this so much? Why am I making this my hobby that I have to sneak away to? So I left that job last year. And I, I that’s when I really started to do a lot of digital marketing and a digital creation for Third Age Mojo. I got my YouTube channel up and running and it’s now becoming robust. And my Instagram, I just love that so much. And of course Facebook and a Facebook group and all those things. So it really started slow, and then the wheels started turning and then I shed my job to do what I love. And here I am now.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, I’ve interviewed lots of coaches over the years, but I haven’t interviewed a lot of folks that are, um, working in the space you are. Is this kind of, uh, are you one of a few or is there kind of a community of folks that are working with these, uh, Third Age, uh, folks?

Cat Stone: Well, what I’ve discovered is that, you know, of course, there are a lot of life coaches and all of them. Most of them have a niche. Um, and then there are transition coaches as well that help people through transitions. But what I really discovered in my Third Age mojo, uh, journey was that a lot of people had trouble Disconnecting from their identity, from their profession or their career. And I must tell you that boomer dudes have the most problem, I think, because men seem to attach their identity to their job and and do that, maintain that for 20 or 30 years. And then this kind of leads you to a funny leads me to a story I think is kind of funny is that, um, you know, like 90% of the people who escaped from prison get caught. It’s because all they do is think about the escape, and they don’t plan for what they’re going to do after, you know, so they find themselves just wallowing in in what am I supposed to do? I can’t play golf every day, and we can’t travel all the time. And they they lose some of their purpose. So what I do, what I found, I when I discovered this, more and more and more. It was like knocking on my brain and I wasn’t noticing. But then I did notice. And I went back to school and got, um, certified as a as a retirement coach specifically. So I know other people are doing it, but I don’t know anyone else who’s doing it.

Lee Kantor: Now, our folks are, um, kind of responding to that. Do they do? Does it even occur to them that they might need a coach in this stage of their life?

Cat Stone: Well, you know, women take take to coaching. We’re more open to coaching than men. Men are supposed to do it on their own. So usually, you know, there there’s kind of three things that I, I’ve put this into three categories. The people who are planning and they’re mostly planning financially, but some of them are widening out or are spreading out into the other things that they’re going to have to address. And then other people have it right Directly in front of them and they’re like, this feels a little weird. I feel unsure of myself. And then there are the people who have jumped into it, and, you know, they’ve gone through what some people call the honeymoon honeymoon period. And, you know, they did the golf, they did the travel. They they were like, hey, I could just read the paper until 10:00 in the morning. And and then they go, wait a second, something’s missing. I, I don’t know who I am. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I don’t feel the meaning in my life. And those are the ones that are. They’re kind of in trouble. So they’re more willing. They’re feeling the pain. So they’re more willing.

Lee Kantor: They’re willing to, you know, have those kind of initial conversations to explore what else is out there. And then maybe they do need kind of a Sherpa through this, this stage of their life.

Cat Stone: Absolutely. They just want someone I believe this is how I see it. They’re there. They have some ideas that are kind of sleeping in there, but they don’t know how to pull them out. They don’t know how to put them in place, and they don’t feel that they can, uh, set goals, set realizable goals that they are going to achieve. They sort of have to have a coach, like in sports. You know, I know you can do this. I have to be back there as a cheerleader, and then I have to set those goals and then we’ll have meetings and say, so how is everything going with this step? You know, and when they get people just working them through it, one step at a time and they start to see it become real. It’s a very beautiful thing. And, you know, people just want to do all sorts of different things. And I’m just there to help them discover what that is and help them to do it.

Lee Kantor: Now, you mentioned in your program there are six pillars. Do you typically, um, focus in on the health aspect first and then build off of that. Because without that, it seems like it’s difficult to. If you’re struggling there, you probably are going to struggle elsewhere.

Cat Stone: Absolutely, absolutely. You can’t enjoy any of those other things. And you know, the more I talk to people, though, uh, mindset will hold people back, like if you don’t have a growth mindset. And I wrote a little story on my Substack about letting go to grow. You need to be able to let go of all these things you were clutching for all these years as your beliefs, which may not have even been your beliefs. It was stories that were fed to you. But you’ve got to let go and open your mind, free your brain and and the rest will follow or something like that. But a lot of people have to be coached into opening their brain, and a lot of people hold on to those old beliefs, probably out of fear.

Lee Kantor: And then when they first start talking to you, what is the typical entry point? Is it something around health or is it something they read a piece of your content and they just are curious?

Cat Stone: Well, nobody will really come across right away with health, but you’ll find out later that, you know, high blood pressure, type two diabetes, you know, and all those different things that happen. Mostly people are just kind of a little sad. And they’ll, they’ll I’ll reach out to them and say, I don’t know if I can help you, but I’ve got sort of a process that has, you know, helped me personally and helped other people to, like, discover what’s really inside there and what you would like to do about it. And the one thing about who I am as a coach is I’m 70 years old. I’m living this with these people. I’m not, you know. And no, I’m not. I’m not putting anything on anybody who’s younger. But, I mean, if you’re going to listen to someone who’s 35, tell you what to do when you retire. Sometimes that’s a little bit harder to, um, embrace.

Lee Kantor: So when you’re talking to them initially, what does that kind of first conversation look like? Like what? What is the first thing they’re saying to you? Uh, to kind of initiate the conversation?

Cat Stone: Well.

Lee Kantor: Like you mentioned, being sad, like, is it around, like, I don’t get it. You know, I was supposed to. I retired. You know, I did everything I was supposed to do. And then now I’m feeling like, you know, I’m bored of fishing every day or golf every day or whatever I thought I’d be doing every day.

Cat Stone: Yes, there are a lot of things like that. But what I’ll do is before I even talk to them, I’ll send them some questions. Like what? How are you feeling about your current retirement situation. And then like, what did you expect of it and what are the things that have been important to you your whole life? And are you in touch with those things now? Um, you know, how how are your relationships? You know, a lot of relationships like, you know, 40 year marriages feel the strain of retirement because these two people didn’t talk to each other about their vision, or even if they did, once you get into it, everybody’s feeling uneasy and a little lost. So I ask people about, you know, what they’re experiencing, what they expected to experience, what they had expected to experience. And like longing they’ve had in, in their life. Like, because now is the time. Now is the time. I mean, we’re not we’re in the final third of our life. Let’s not put this off any longer. And so I talk to people. I wrote this article for my Substack about, you know, visualizing. You know, I personally meditate every day and I, you know, I’ve, I can’t do anything that I can’t see myself doing in my mind’s eye. So I encourage people to think about it. I just sit and maybe don’t think at all. And I really more and more, since I am finding it so helpful for myself, I talk to people about visualization and meditation. This is the time of our life where we can kind of just take everything that we’ve brought with us and sit with it and see where it goes.

Lee Kantor: And is there something that you’ve learned from working in this space for as long as you have that kind of triggers, that aha moment, is there something that you say or you ask your client to do that? All of a sudden the light bulb goes off and say, okay, I get it. Now, I, I understand that I am in more control of my situation and I can move forward with purpose.

Cat Stone: Yes. You know what? And people say this to me in all kinds of different ways. Like women say to me, oh, ah, I see it on my Facebook groups that I am part of. You know, it’s like, oh, I can’t sit down with my grandson and I can’t stand up again. What should I do? And I say to them, you need to do squats. And when people say, oh, you know, I, I don’t know what to do now. And I have to say to them, this is a time to take your own personal responsibility. This is your biggest challenge and it’s your biggest blessing and it’s your biggest opportunity to live the life that you see and feel inside you. So a lot of this is not like hardcore, maybe occasional hardcore. After a few calls, when people aren’t even reaching out to the goals they’ve said, it’s like, well, what’s keeping you? What do you think is keeping you from doing this? You know, you have to make it your responsibility. It’s your responsibility to stay healthy. It’s your responsibility to do all the rest of the pillars, and then nobody’s going to do it. Nobody. You’re you’re your own parent.

Lee Kantor: Right? But you’re kind of giving them kind of permission to try. I guess fear is holding a lot of them back that they’re there even at this stage when there’s, um, the the road is getting shorter, that they still are afraid that it may not work out or they’ll be embarrassed or whatever their issue is they’re afraid to. To try to live into that kind of purpose that’s in the back of their head.

Cat Stone: Well, you know, fear is such a powerful motivator. An anti motivator. It’s a powerful force. And so people will shrink into all kinds of things. You know, there’s fight or flight and all different things. And that’s why I think meditation is good because it takes you into that uh reflect relaxed and digest mode instead of, uh, fight or flee or all of those other things. You need to just sit there, take responsibility for yourself, let the fear go, or recognize the fear and sit with it and. Lose it somehow. Move beyond it. And that’s a great thing for yourself. Uh, development is moving beyond fear. And that has been a big thing for me to move beyond my fear. And then you feel really good about yourself. And in our culture, you know, seniors are always talking about or guys don’t put women do talk about becoming invisible. Well, that’s because you’re allowing it to happen. If you shine your own light and let your own energy come into a room where you’re helping people, which is one of the things you can do now when you’re retired. There are all kinds of different opportunities to join together with people, to do good things and to grow out of that. We’re really growing. We’re still growing, and this might be our biggest growth challenge ever because we are focused on ourselves and our mate, of course, and our families. But right now, it’s right now. And how are you going to develop yourself to interact with your spouse or, or reconnect with a family that you may have been, you know, neglecting a little bit because you were so busy. Now’s the time to get your act together.

Lee Kantor: And that’s where I think having a coach or somebody like you by their side to kind of encourage them to maybe ask the harder questions, to be there to, you know, help them get the, uh, inner fortitude to move forward and take a risk, maybe that they’ve hesitated doing for many years. And I think that this could really, uh, positively impact a large group of people that are silently struggling.

Cat Stone: Well, you know, the boomers are a gigantic bloc. We are huge. And more people are, you know, retiring every year. I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but they’re they’re staggering. And, you know, we all have a longer time. You know, before, when you were retire at 65, some of the guys were dying by 68 or 60 9 or 70. So you really didn’t have you could do all those things, play golf, take trips, go fishing, and then you die. But now we’re living longer, and it’s given us another opportunity to think about becoming an elder. Think about, you know, what we can do for these younger people behind us. Because I really I really am a strong believer in intergenerational relationships. We can all bring so much to each other, and we give each other so much. If we approach it with the mind of a student, an open mind mindset.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. I think that, um, reframing is so important. And when you just the word you use just now, elder instead of senior, evokes something of a wise person that’s That sharing their what they know to you know others. I think that that adds a layer of, um, purpose and meaning to a life that maybe they thought that, hey, I did what I did, and now I’m just kind of running out the clock here, and and you have too many years to be doing that. It’s not. It’s like you said, you know, back in the day when people retired and died, you know, within a couple of years maybe that was effective then. But in today’s world, where you could live 20 or 30 more years, you can’t afford to just start feeling sorry for yourself when you’re bored.

Cat Stone: I mean, that would lead to depression.

Lee Kantor: And that’s what’s happening.

Cat Stone: I know, and that’s what’s killing people way quicker than they need. So we want to avoid that. And also, we could bring so much because we have so many years of experience and, you know, the mistakes we’ve made and the things that we they do these things like intergenerational things with college students who are notoriously so lonely, especially in their first semester of going away. And they’ve been putting them together with, uh, third agers. I’m not going to say seniors with third agers, and everybody comes out so much happier. And really it it leads to lasting relationships and so much learning and so much wisdom shared. And, you know, it keeps older people younger. So it’s a win win situation.

Lee Kantor: Yeah I agree 100%. Now you mentioned earlier that creating content and have and building community is important in your practice. Can you talk a little bit about the Joyful Aging formula, stress free lifestyle changes for increased longevity and enhance physical and mental well-being? How did that come about?

Cat Stone: That was because I wanted like a simple some people like to read, some people like to listen to these things. And it’s using the six pillars of Third Age mojo and addressing each one, you know, like with sort of suggestions for maintaining. And then we have some people who talk about their experience, you know, in these different, um, uh, pillars. And it’s just sort of a short, easy to read manual. And that’s the reviews I’ve been getting. It’s just like, no nonsense. It’s just kind of joyful. It is uplifting. And, you know, we’ve got I put quotes in it and stuff, things that inspire me and lift me up. And for everyone to know that there are so many of us going through this, not going through this, but living this and experiencing this and being blessed by this, that I wanted to put that together. It’s just kind of like a a little manual for stress free lifestyle changes, because there are lifestyle changes that we don’t expect, you know, and kind of it kind of slaps you upside the head sometimes. And it’s a little disconcerting. But if you have this manual to help you, it will help guide you through all of these things.

Lee Kantor: And then you mentioned several, uh, communities you’re part of. Um, or you’re kind of championing. Is that is that what the north of now is? Can you talk about that?

Cat Stone: North of now is the, um, coaching is my is my coaching business, uh, for coaching people into retirement, which I realized is a very serious step for people and will set the stage for the rest of it. You know, because the north of now is giving is intended to share courage with people. Share to share my enthusiasm. And that’s really all I do share because they have to figure out the rest. But I’m very enthusiastic about this. So north of now is is coaching.

Lee Kantor: Is that one on one is a group, is their community built into it?

Cat Stone: Well right now it’s one on one. But I have a lot of plans for different ways to go. You know, maybe, you know, one on one I could approach my one on one clients to see if they would like to get together in a group setting, just for a couple of, you know, get togethers to just see other people and share experiences. You know, it’s really incentivizing to get together with people who are doing the same thing that you are doing and facing the same challenges bravely and courageously. So it’s a real energizer to get together with people who are doing the same thing as you. So that’s something I think is good. And another thing I’ve been thinking of is, you know, corporations. They have, um, they have set ways of easing people into their jobs with training and different things. And it takes weeks and sometimes months. But I don’t know of any companies right now who are, who are doing that to kind of age people out. Although Merrill Lynch is doing that with my brother as a Merrill Lynch, uh, counselor. And he they’re aging him out like, right now he’s at retirement age. And he went from 40 hours to 20 hours. So he’s still, um, meeting with his clients, but he has someone who’s coming up behind him. So that is a good thing. So some companies are doing it, but for others, I would love to maybe do some work shops About what you might be facing and the things that you can do to make the transition smoother and happier.

Lee Kantor: And is there a story you can share? Don’t name the name of the individual, but maybe somebody you work with that you help them through a challenge that maybe they were kind of floundering a little, and they started working with you and they found a new purpose.

Cat Stone: Right? There’s one guy who in particular probably really kind of gave me the final push to like, hey, there’s something I can do here. He was talking about retiring, but he was doing so much with his position, and they were giving him so much latitude that he could travel to his place in Mexico. He could he could be here in Denver and he was within. He had an international team, mostly from India. So they were doing conference calling and things like that. And he kept saying, I don’t think I bring anything to this. But other people thought he was. So he was trying to slip out. And his boss, actually, who’s just slightly younger than him, was saying, are you sure you want to do this? Because he was really still providing a lot of value. But, I mean, he was into his 70s and, you know, all this traveling he did was sort of fun, but he was not feeling, uh, feeling the purpose. His he was kept going back to the purpose of his job. So, you know, you have to make a break. And a lot of guys will do this, like go back and you know what? Going back to something else. And that’s something I will coach people on like okay, you know, let’s think about what you’ve always wanted to do.

Cat Stone: Maybe we can make this situation a situation that will bring you more value and more, uh. I don’t know deep feelings than what you even have been doing for all these years. These the thing that you’ve been, you know, struggling to separate from. Maybe there’s something in your brain that’s going to make you feel even better. And so some people will go on to start a business. And I have a I have a coach also who works with me about starting a business after 50. He’s got like called startup after 50, and he’s got a whole team with him to help people. You know, he helps people make the plan. Then he’s got people to do the marketing. He’s got legal, he’s got banking. So if anybody wants to go in that startup way, I’ve got people for that. And I’ve got a lot of support counselors to help me with things that I’m not specialized in, especially Financial, because that’s even changing the way people have been planning their retirements financially. They’re they’re finding out now. It’s like, uh oh, I can’t afford to live past 85.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, that’s nobody wants to hear that news. Mhm.

Cat Stone: I know, but we’ve got ways to help.

Lee Kantor: Well that’s the thing. There’s more resources available to you if, but you have to kind of get out of your own head and reach out to a community and get some support from, from other people. And I think a lot of folks, you know, as they age and enter this third age, that they kind of seclude themselves. And then they think that they got to solve all these problems when there’s a lot of support and community available to them.

Cat Stone: That is so right. That is spot on. Yeah. And you’re not alone. And I mean, I, I, I, I have a coach, I have a coach and I have a therapist, and they keep me straight. And you know what? Therapy is not a bad thing for some people. I mean, I’m a coach. I’m not a therapist. But I can hook you up if you would like to try therapy. It really changed my life.

Lee Kantor: Well, Kat, if somebody wants to learn more about your practice or your coaching or your communities or some of the content that you’re putting out there, is there a website? Is there a way to connect?

Cat Stone: Well, there right now I don’t have my North of Now website together. I’m still doing things through Third Age Mojo so they can reach me at Kat at third Age mojo.com.

Lee Kantor: So third Age mojo.com is the website if they wanted to know.

Cat Stone: Well yeah third Age Mojo is the website and they should go there. It’s really nice. And my YouTube channel. I, I do a lot of different things, but now it’s sort of focused on self-care after 50. So it’s go to YouTube and just put in Third Age Mojo. And I do face yoga, and I do all kinds of self-care things so that we can take a little bit of time, even just ten minutes a day, to restore ourselves and keep ourselves strong and ready for anything we’re facing.

Lee Kantor: Well, Kat, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Cat Stone: Well, I appreciate you letting me share my story. Lee, thank you so much.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.

Antoy Grant With ICF NYC & Mangoseed Entertainment LLC

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High Velocity Radio
High Velocity Radio
Antoy Grant With ICF NYC & Mangoseed Entertainment LLC
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Antoy Grant is originally from the island of Jamaica and a graduate of Texas Southern University. She’s known for her exceptional versatility, dynamic presence, and her passion and commitment for both the entertainment industry and coaching field.

She is the President of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) New York City Chapter, where she seamlessly integrates her extensive leadership experience and coaching expertise to empower coaches, visionaries, leaders, professionals, and organizations across various mediums.

Her roles as an ICF Credentialed Coach, Creative Consultant, Motivational Speaker, and Author showcases a multifaceted skill set dedicated to inspiration, empowerment, and transformation.

As Founder and CEO of Mangoseed Entertainment LLC-NY and Mangoseed Productions-LA, she has overseen the creation of over 40+ diverse projects, including film and television productions, corporate videos, commercials, and music videos. Some projects include the films Gurl Talk and Pheromones, her new streaming platform Mangoseed.TV, and The Antoy Show.

Connect with Antoy on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • How Antoy become the President of ICF NYC
  • How coaching differs from consulting and therapy
  • What type of coaching and consulting Antoy does
  • How coaching can help people gain clarity, uncover blockages, and get to their goals
  • How the coaching industry is evolving

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

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

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio. And this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Anthony Grant, who is the president and founder of Mango Seed Entertainment. And also she’s with ICF in New York City. Welcome.

Antoy Grant: Hi, Lee. It’s so great to be here today. I’m excited.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am excited too. Well, let’s first talk about mango seed. Tell us about that. How are you serving folks in that area?

Antoy Grant: Oh well. So Mango Seed Entertainment was kind of birthed out of my work in the entertainment industry. I started out when I was really young, modeling, acting, you know, writing. And as I worked in Hollywood and in the entertainment industry in New York. I felt really unfulfilled. I felt like a lot of the roles that, you know. Especially women of color at that time were doing, you know, we were going up for roles like the prostitute or the hooker or the prostitute, you know? That was literally what I was going out for all the time during, during the, you know, the 90s. And so it was just very unfulfilling. I felt like there were so many more roles that people could do, and I felt like the best way to empower myself was to create a company where I would have the power in my hands to write, produce, and create content that I felt was more representative of just everyone.

Lee Kantor: So did you actually do that? You started actually producing your own content?

Antoy Grant: Yes. The first thing I produced, I co-produced a show off Off-Broadway called Goddess City, and that ran for maybe two and a half years. Wow. It was very successful. It was a live show. And then that kind of led me to say, hey, you know, I think I want to move out to LA. So I ended up moving out to LA and pursuing, um, acting out there. And that’s where I started my company in Beverly Hills. And I was creating projects for companies within the Beverly Hills market. So a lot of internal videos like pitch videos, corporate videos, videos where, you know, they’re trying to sell their products, things like that. So yeah, so I got to do it some a lot of multimedia projects for the web. It was a lot of fun. Um, actually being in a space where I could create things from scratch, like from an idea to a finished product. So I really love that.

Lee Kantor: So did you purposely kind of not doing the live theatrical and moving on to video, but not just video to be like kind of through a streamer or a mass entertainment, but to be more industrial or commercial. Was that on purpose or did just circumstances kind of led you down that path?

Antoy Grant: I’ve always really had a fascination for television and film, and even when I was living in New York doing theater and, you know, TV and film there. New York is a very popular, you know, it’s Broadway. It’s all of those things. So it felt like a natural progression to do a theater production there. Um, but being in Hollywood, um, it kind of lends itself more to film and television. So I think it was just a natural, organic, you know, flow that happened. But I, I totally love film and I love television. I love the opportunity to do a retake. If you mess it up when you’re doing live theater, it’s just whatever you just did or didn’t do. That’s that’s it. So I really like, um, film and I like theater, and I like the opportunity to do different, um, takes on things and, you know, even do a better take than you did last time.

Lee Kantor: So then how did that path lead you to coaching?

Antoy Grant: It’s an interesting story. So I’ve since I was really young, people would always feel really comfortable telling me whatever was going on with them. I was I was a kid, people. I’d be like, hi, how are you? And they’d say, oh, I’ve had a terrible day. And, you know, they would go into telling me. So I, I always say that I’ve been naturally and organically coaching since I was a kid, but I just didn’t know I was doing it. So, you know, people had told me aren’t or you should really, you know, be a coach. And I was like, oh, no, you know, I couldn’t do that. And they’re like, yeah, but you’re kind of already doing it because I was always the go to person. If someone wanted to get started in an entertainment, if they wanted to, you know, do a production or if they were having relationship problems. I was just a really good listener and would always be able to kind of guide people if they wanted it so and about. It was around 2010 or so. My spirit was really feeling like, Anthony, you, you know, you should go to school and learn a little bit more about what this is that you’re doing.

Antoy Grant: And, you know, maybe it’s something you could expand on because I felt like I was doing it organically and naturally, but if I was going to do it professionally, I needed to go to school and know what I’m doing. I don’t want to mess anyone up, you know? Right. So, yeah. So I, um, went back to school and got certified in coaching and then, um, I, you know, I always have to do everything. I’m an overachiever to do it beyond. So I ended up deciding to go ahead and get credentialed, which, um, International Coaching Federation’s the governing body for coaches worldwide. Um, the largest. And so I went through their credentialing program to get my credentials. So yeah, so that’s kind of how it transpired. Um, I’m kind of still trying to figure out sometimes how does coaching fit into the entertainment business, but I think a lot of my work has has a through line with this, which is transformation, inspiration, empowerment and, you know, motivation. So I think, um, you can also do those things with entertainment or you can do it with coaching. So it all kind of ties in together that way.

Lee Kantor: Now are you doing your coaching primarily in the, you know, with the niche of entertainment folks, or is it kind of anybody can come to you and say, you know, I work at a nail salon and, um, you know, having trouble trouble, um, you know, of what my next move should be like? Is it industry agnostic, your work, or is it primarily in the entertainment industry?

Antoy Grant: Well, you Lee, that’s an interesting question, because this is probably the most confusing questions for myself. And I do a lot of marketing, like when it comes from my, you know, to my clients, I know exactly like you’re going to do, this is your brand, this is your demographics, this is this. But sometimes when it comes to ourselves, we’re kind of like totally confused. So as far as niche, um, I’ve been trying to niche down because that’s what people say that you have to do if you really want to target a specific audience. Um, but I find that in reaching down because coaching is, is coaching the person, not the problem. You know, um, a coach could theoretically coach anyone, but in from the business sense, when you’re marketing yourself, you want to make sure that you know you’re targeting a specific target, right?

Lee Kantor: Because it’s just not affordable to advertise to everyone. Like, it’s easier to advertise to dentists than it is to advertise to the world.

Antoy Grant: Exactly. So what, what I think I was having the difficulty was, was the niching to a who versus a what or a need. So recently I took this course because I’ve been really trying to figure out who my target market is, because when you’re when you first become a coach, you are kind of coaching everyone because you’re trying to get all your hours in in order to qualify for your credentials. So you end up coaching the nail salon person, or, you know, the guy starting a business or the person getting a divorce because you’re just trying to get your hours. But now that I’m beyond that, I need to figure out who my audience is. So now, after taking this course, I found out that you can also target kind of what you do. So I’m kind of I’ve looked at the through line that lands between all the clients that I currently have, and what I do is I can get people from point A to point B, I can help them get focused. I can help them put a plan together and support them in executing with accountability. So I’m still working on what that phrasing looks like. Um, primarily I work with leaders, creatives, um, and entrepreneurs, and I have a small niche of IVF clients because I went through IVF. So when I share my story online, people are very interested and want to work with me. Um, and the great thing that I learned also in this recent course that I took was just because you have a neat, it doesn’t mean like you’re stuck in that niche and you can’t go outside of that. So even though you’re marketing to, let’s say, women, you know, professional women, it doesn’t mean that you can’t if a, you know, if a man comes to you who’s not professional, that you can’t take them also, it’s just that you’re not marketing to that right target audience.

Lee Kantor: And that’s an important point for people. Who are. They feel like they might be missing out if they focus on one area. I think that that’s a misconception because a lot of times when you are focused, it’s like you said, you’re just investing maybe your marketing dollars and talking to the niche, but you can still coach whoever you want. I mean, that’s your practice. It’s like you don’t have to say, sorry, I don’t do that because my marketing says I only do this. That’s just the way to keep your marketing kind of focused. I don’t think it has anything to do with where your practice goes. I mean, your practice will go where it goes.

Antoy Grant: Exactly. So then, you know, it’s up to the coach if they want to work with that client in that specific niche or not. So that really that’s the piece that really made a difference for me is because when I thought about there’s all these clients I’m working with now that if I reach down, I’m not going to be able to work with. And I didn’t, you know, I didn’t like the feeling of that. Right. So but in knowing that I can target a specific niche, but if someone comes that’s not in that niche, I can still choose to take them. You know, if I if I.

Lee Kantor: Want if you want to. And that’s as I’m sure as your coaching career just continues to evolve, you’re going to work with exactly the people who you want to work with and that’s it. You’re going to be very selective at some point where you’re like, no, I only these are the kind of people they have to, you know, they have to make me smile when I meet them, or else I’m going to pass because I can.

Antoy Grant: Yes, yes. And I do that now, though I really I try to keep positive energy around me. Um, so in, in any circumstance I try to have those types of interactions. So, um, luckily I’ve been blessed to have primarily great clients, you know, um, and we really set up in the beginning of working together how we can best work together. And we create those agreements that we can reflect back on Gone. If things come up throughout our engagement. So it’s it’s very helpful to have that at the top.

Lee Kantor: And that’s a great lesson for all coaches because it’s a the vetting process is a two way street. They’re not just vetting you. You’re vetting them too. It has to be a good fit from both sides in order to be effective for any length of time, I would think.

Antoy Grant: Exactly. And I think one of the challenges I ran into a little bit was before I started coaching, working in entertainment and kind of being the go to person that people knew. If you want to get somewhere, do something, you know, contact and voice, you know. And so, um, then when I started coaching, which coaching is not consulting, which is more what I was doing before, I really had to clarify that at the top of the agreement, because people would pick me and say, oh, well, you’ve done all these productions so you can help me do my production. And I would have to say, yeah, but, you know, do you want a coaching agreement or do you want a consulting agreement? Because if you’re hiring me as an expert, it’s consulting. If you know, in the coaching engagement, you’re the expert on you. I’m just here as your guide. So those distinctions are really important to when, especially if you have an image that’s out there where you know, you’re an expert in certain areas and then people are hiring you as a coach.

Lee Kantor: Right. And that and in your specific situation, you were kind of wearing both hats at different times. So it’s important to be clear and get agreement upfront, like you’re saying in order to understand. So everybody’s on the same page when it comes to, hey, you’re not hiring me to get your production going, you’re hiring me to just be that sounding board and this, you know, kind of Sherpa. Uh, if you want me to do the production, that’s a different hat I wear. And I’m sure the pricing is a lot different for that.

Antoy Grant: Mhm. Yeah. So and I do both I do coaching and consulting. And that’s why clarity is vitally important at the in that initial consultation. Because I’ll go over what coaching is, what it’s not. And I’ll go over what consulting is and I’ll go over what. Therapy and counseling.

Lee Kantor: Right. That’s a whole other ball of wax there.

Antoy Grant: Yeah. That’s a whole other thing. But, um, you know, I’ll ask the client, are you? Which engagement with you best? Do you are you looking for someone who is going to, you know, give you all the answers? Or are you looking to find them on your own? So they have that option with me at least, because I do both. Um, but sometimes, you know, like I said, you have to have that agreement because you could be in a coaching engagement contract, and at some point they’ll be like, so, Anthony, what do you think? You know, what should I do? You know, and I have to reflect back to them. I’d be like, okay, so you know your situation best. What would what do you think?

Lee Kantor: Thing, right?

Antoy Grant: And kind of remind them, like, we’re kind of might be. Blurring the lines a little bit between coaching and consulting.

Lee Kantor: So when you got into coaching, how did the path lead to becoming the president of ICF in New York City? I mean, how did. I mean, is that just because you’re kind of a born leader that that just you’re you’re kind of wired that way.

Antoy Grant: You know, it’s it’s really interesting. And some days I’m still like, what? What am I doing? So I’ve always given back, like, no matter what I’ve, what I’m doing, I’ll always like be volunteering somewhere, doing something, you know, in addition to that. Um, and so when right before it was like literally right before Covid, I was I kind of moved, um, got a place in New York and I was looking for somewhere to volunteer. And, and so I said, okay. And then I found out that there was a, you know, International Coaching Federation NYC that were, you know, was looking for volunteers. So I’m like, oh my God, this is perfect. You know, I’m getting into this coaching thing, you know, and they have Volun they’re looking for volunteers. So I could combine two of my, you know, things that I like to do. So I started volunteering, I joined two committees and I was volunteering with them. And, you know, during that time I was still kind of like people were telling me, don’t you know, if you’re in entertainment, don’t tell them you’re a coach. And if you’re, you know, doing coaching, don’t tell them you’re from entertainment. And I just didn’t understand why I couldn’t be my full, authentic self in any given space, you know? And it’s not natural for me to be inauthentic. And I feel like if you’re hiding parts of yourself, you’re not being fully authentic. So I just said, you know what? I’m just going to put it out there.

Antoy Grant: I’m going to tell them, you know, I work in entertainment, but I just became a coach. And so I put it out there, and I was literally the only one that had, you know, all the technical skills that I had, like I could do graphics, edit camera, you know, all of that stuff on, on these committees. So I naturally ended up doing all of that stuff as part of my volunteer work. Um, and as a result of that, um, they asked me to be their director. You know, if I would run for director of marketing. And I said, okay. So I ran for director marketing. I did that for two years. I built out there. They didn’t have a director of marketing previously, so I built out their whole marketing department. Um, I, you know, got a marketing team together and, you know, establish how all the policies, procedures, processes that would work with the chapter and then. So, you know, when I, when I was done with that, I was like, okay, I’m going to go build my coaching practice. And they’re like, hey, do you want to be president? So so then I ran for president and I got it. It was it’s just it’s been that journey that’s been completely unexpected. I came in thinking, oh, I’m just going to give back over here. You know, some of my time, and then I end up being the president. So it’s it’s really a fun trip.

Lee Kantor: Now is, um, is marketing not something that when someone becomes a coach, that there’s a lot of, um, kind of teaching in that area or, uh, training in that area? Do they just assume the person is it knows how to do that part?

Antoy Grant: I don’t think that that at least right now, that is the focus. The focus is to train someone in the core competencies, the, you know, the the ethics, the core values, and pretty much the things that they will be able to pass the tests for ICF. Um, and so that’s the primary focus right now. I feel like, um, in a lot of the meetings I’m in with ICF and um, they’re moving more towards. Okay. So once people are credentialed how do they get, you know, get clients, which is an important aspect. A lot of the coaches within, you know, even my chapter, once they get their credentials, they just, you know, don’t know what to do next. They don’t know how to build a website. They don’t know how to do all of these things. So, um, it’s it’s a very important part. Um, I think, uh, the training now is primarily focused on getting people credentialed to pass that exam. Um, but beyond that, there’s not a whole lot, um, of support in that area. And that’s why I’m, uh, partnered with this. Um, he’s called the Billion Dollar man in the UK. He’s someone who’s created a lots of marketing successfully for many coaches and individuals and people like that. And we’ve created a new program that encompasses all of the pieces that we feel are missing for coaches when they, you know, decide to enter this building, you know, of coaching. So it’s like the training, it’s the business development, it’s the social media, it’s the I. So I literally we literally just formed this company and we’re in the process of building it out and filling those gaps in those areas that, um, that are missing for coaches.

Lee Kantor: And it’s not a slight on the coaching industry to not cover this. Most professional services, you know, like whether you’re a CPA or a lawyer. They don’t typically teach them how to do the marketing side. They teach them how to be a CPA or a lawyer. They don’t teach them how to market themselves as a CPA or a lawyer. So it’s not unusual that a professional services wouldn’t kind of put this at the top of their list of things to do, but it does seem that it’s a common challenge for a lot of folks that are in professional services.

Antoy Grant: Yes I agree. Yeah.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, what is there some advice or some tips you can give that new coach when it comes to, um, business development? Is there anything you can share right now that might help them? At least some of the low hanging fruit of the some of the do’s and don’ts when it comes to this?

Antoy Grant: Sure. Yeah. So like the first thing, which is the thing I was having struggles with, was finding your niche. Um, and knowing that it doesn’t have to be a who it could be a what, and it could be a need that, um, that they feel, um, as their authentic self. Um, it doesn’t have to be like, you know, a specific type of person. It could be a, you know, a what? So that’s the first thing. Um, they they have to if they don’t have the business acumen and the business skills to do a website or do social media, There are lots of people out there that’s going to have to be an investment. Um, and finding, you know, the right person. You know, primarily people who focus on websites for coaches. And it’s best if you’re in a particular industry to find someone who specializes in creating websites for whatever industry you’re in. You know, do the research, look at, look at their work. Pick someone who’s style you like and, you know, get get it out there. Even if it’s a one page, even if you don’t have all the answers yet. Just something, you know, something about you, your contact page, if that’s all you’ve got. Um, and then definitely build your social media. It’s like such an easy way to get in touch with clients. Um, LinkedIn is very popular for businesses. Um, you know, even if you have one following, start posting consistently. Um, I know people have a problem with that, but now with AI, you can totally use any of the AI apps to put your authentic story in and ask it to create, you know, posts for you for 30 days or however many days or tomorrow. Um, so people that had excuses in the past like, I don’t know what to post.

Antoy Grant: Now have the support of AI to, um, to create those posts for them, but just putting themselves out consistently. Um, I always tell coaches because a lot of their work is virtual, that imagine that your business is a storefront business. And if it was a storefront, you would have to open every day at certain hours, and you would have to have offers for your customers and you would have to have merchandise. And that’s what, um, when you’re doing sometimes a virtual business, you don’t think about, you don’t want to you’re not posting every day as if you would open your storefront every day. You’re not giving people offers as if you, you know, would have merchandise in your store every day and you’re not having offering sales as Most storefronts do, so it’s important to act as if you are. You had to pay an overhead and you had a storefront. And just be present. Be in front. And not everyone’s going to buy. Just like people pass by your storefront. They may not come in, but they see you and they know you’re there and they, you know, get to know what you’re doing. So that’s probably, I would say, the most important things, um, and really do what you love because then it won’t be such a, such a grind to get up like, oh, I gotta get up and do this, you know? Um, if you stepped into coaching anyway, there’s a desire to, um, help people. Um, so really, you know, put that passion, find that true passion and how you want to help some. You know, everyone has a different lane that they’re in. So find your lane so that when you’re doing what you have to do, it doesn’t feel hard or it doesn’t feel like work.

Lee Kantor: Right? You’re excited to do it every day because you it’s your passion that you love it.

Antoy Grant: Yes. And also, I think one part that sometimes missing is self-care. And this is across all service platforms. Um, with ICF they do kind of build in built in. Um, if, you know, even when you’re doing your coaching hours that you do a certain number of, you know, paid hours and a certain number of unpaid, and then you also they suggest that you have a coach as well, because sometimes you’re taking in, um, a lot with your clients. So just really building in that time for either having your own coach that you can offload things with and run things by, um, or, you know, definitely making that time for your massages, your bike rides, your walks in the park, your time with family, your time with your pets, whatever that looks like for you. Naturally, building that into your schedule. Because if you don’t, it probably won’t happen. And then the last thing I would say is just celebrate all the wins, whether they’re small or big, um, along the way. Because if you wait for that big, big win, you know, it, it might it may take a while. But if you’re celebrating each each step of the way, it builds more momentum towards that final goal that you might have.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. And I think that when you celebrate small wins, it it kind of heightens your appreciation and your gratitude of the little things that are happening every day that a lot of times we take for granted.

Antoy Grant: Definitely, definitely. And it’s just fun. It’s just fun to celebrate. Yeah.

Lee Kantor: Now, if it wasn’t enough that you were kind of running mango Seed and you’re the president of the ICF in New York City, you also have time to write books. Can you talk a little bit about. I mean, you must be a master organizer. Planner, uh, in order to be able to do all of these things. Uh, it’s at a high level. So can you share a little bit about your books and, um, what they are and where people can get them?

Antoy Grant: Sure. Yeah. Um, my books are on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Um, and they’re the. It’s called the best Year ever planner plus journal and best year ever goal workbook. And these were kind of born out of my work with clients and even just my people coming to me over years like Anthony, how do you get all this stuff done? Like, you’re always juggling like a million things and you’re getting that. You’re actually getting them done. So instead of telling each individual person one at a time, I figured I’d just put it in some books and then that way they could just go buy it and I wouldn’t have to, you know, tell them, um, all individually. So, um, what the book series is, it’s, um, it’s a a year, one’s a yearly planner and journal. It has a lot of prompts. You can start it at any time. It’s undated, so you can start in, you know, February or December whenever you choose to start and you take it through the year. It has daily prompts, weekly prompts, yearly prompts. It has it has quotes, it has affirmations. It’s everything I use to get the stuff I need to get done and get. Keep me in the right frame of mind and keep me focused. So I just figured I’d put it all in there and people can choose to use the parts or all of it if they choose to use throughout the course of the year. And then the Best Year Ever goal workbook kind of came second.

Antoy Grant: And that was because when people got the first book, they were like, can you just create one that’s just focused only on, you know, just accomplishing your goals, you know, without the planner, without the journal. So I created the second book, um, in order to just focus on goals only. So it was really fun to put it together. I, I was under kind of a lot. I put myself under a lot of pressure to, to write the first book and the second one, um, because I don’t know why. Writing for me, I have to be in the zone to write. But when there’s so many things going on, your brain’s not free enough to really be as creative as you need to be. So I kind of had to put a timeline on myself, and that kind of accelerated my brain having to kick into, you know, full gear to be able to juggle everything I needed to do. But it was it’s a it was a lot of late nights, a lot of sleepless nights. And this was before I came out. So I literally had to write everything myself. Um, so yeah, um, it was a lot of fun, though. Um, it’s another part of my brain that I love to, to use, which is writing and to write, um, something that I know is transformative, or when someone reads it, it’s going to help them. It was really a pleasure to be able to create that.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more about, um, well, let’s start with mango seed. If they want to know more about that and need help in that area. What is the best website and coordinates for that? And then after, if you could share maybe the IFC. New York City, um, kind of coordinates for them if they want to learn more about coaching.

Antoy Grant: Okay. So, um, my website is my name. It’s an toi a n t o y grant grantee.com. Um, mango seed is mango seed. If you want to learn more about the International Coaching Federation it’s coaching federation.org. If you’d like to learn more about ICF NYC, it is ICF NYC chapter.org. So those are all the cool places to learn more.

Lee Kantor: Well, Anthony, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work in so many areas and we really appreciate you.

Antoy Grant: Can I can I share one more site because it’s the new site I forgot. Um, the, um, the temporary site that you can go to right now to learn and get more information. Laters. Um Marco robinson.com Marco robinson.com. And that’s and that’s for the new international coaching school that we’re creating that covers business and coaching and AI and social media and all of that cool stuff.

Lee Kantor: Good stuff. Well, Anthony, thanks again for sharing your story.

Antoy Grant: Oh, thank you so much for having me.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.

Michelle Warner With MW Coaching & Consulting LLC

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High Velocity Radio
High Velocity Radio
Michelle Warner With MW Coaching & Consulting LLC
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In this episode of High Velocity Radio, Lee Kantor interviews Michelle Warner, founder of MW Coaching and Consulting. Michelle shares her journey from attorney to coach, explaining how she helps mid to senior professionals and organizations overcome career stagnation and toxic cultures. The conversation explores the differences between coaching and consulting, the importance of self-awareness, and strategies for personal and organizational growth. Michelle also discusses trends among younger workers, signs companies need coaching, and the role of accountability in achieving goals, highlighting her individualized, empowering approach to client success.

As the founder of MW Coaching & Consulting LLC, based just outside Philadelphia, Michelle Warner partners with high-performing leaders and organizations operating in fast-paced, high-pressure environments.

Her coaching is anything but theoretical; it’s grounded, strategic, and shaped by real-world leadership challenges. Clients turn to her when they need to pause with purpose, shift perspective, and lead with greater clarity and impact.

She holds both a BA and JD from Villanova University and is certified in specialty areas including Strategic Planning & Execution, Power & Influence, and Communication Impact. Known for her directness, intuitive insight, and ability to balance boldness with empathy, she helps clients unlock their potential without losing their edge.

When she’s not coaching, Michelle is likely chasing the horizon—literally. A lifelong beach lover and restless adventurer, she believes every season holds the promise of a fresh start.

Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • Michelle’s background as a former attorney and transition to coaching.
  • The role of coaching in addressing career fulfillment and organizational culture.
  • The importance of self-awareness in personal and professional growth.
  • Strategies for creating a coaching culture within organizations.
  • The distinction between coaching and consulting.
  • Addressing toxic workplace behaviors and promoting positive change.
  • The impact of societal conditioning on high-performing individuals, particularly women.
  • The significance of individualized coaching approaches and boundary setting.
  • Trends among younger workers regarding workplace expectations and coaching.
  • The role of accountability in the coaching process and its effect on client commitment.

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.

 

TRANSCRIPT

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

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Michelle Warner, who is with MW Coaching and Consulting. Welcome, Michelle.

Michelle Warner: Good morning Lee. Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about your practice. How you serving folks?

Michelle Warner: Certainly. So I work with mid to senior career professionals and with businesses that find themselves stuck in situations that are no longer serving their purpose. So for individuals, people who are feeling maybe a little trapped in their current position, not getting the recognition that they want. Not feeling fulfilled. Not knowing what’s next. And for businesses, I really dig in deep on those culture changes that are needed. I found over the course of my career that every company knows who their top toxic employees are, and unfortunately, it’s tolerated for too long in the business sense, and it opens businesses up to risk. So as an attorney, I’ve seen the bad side when it goes on too long. And as a coach, I get to help and be more proactive and help avoid those problems.

Lee Kantor: So you mentioned formerly an attorney. I don’t know if you’re still practicing, but can you talk a little bit about your backstory and how you got into coaching?

Michelle Warner: Certainly. I fell into it a little bit accidentally. I was in-house for an organization. We had some HR challenges coming at them from the very directive. I’m the lawyer. This is how we have to fix this. Problem was not working. So I looked for additional tools and resources. Went to the center for Executive Coaching, really with the intent to broaden my skills as an attorney. And going through that training has absolutely helped me be a better lawyer. And how I ask questions, how I frame things, how I create more space. So as I was doing my training, I realized this was the pivot for me and that being able to stand next to my clients and support them and watch them tap into their own magic inside it said my soul in a way that I wasn’t looking for, but it came to me at absolutely the right time and it’s been the best change I ever made.

Lee Kantor: Now, have you ever been coached yourself prior to this?

Michelle Warner: I had been coached prior to that, so I had a friend of a friend who several years ago, at a time in my life when everything was up in the air, I was in the middle of a divorce and my mother was ill and really stuck Stuff myself and not knowing where to go, and a friend of a friend was doing her own coach training program and needed hours to get through her program. And I offered to be her guinea pig. And it was a very different way of looking at it, right? I was seeing a therapist at the same time, and he provided insights with the insight that this coach provided for me and the way she asked questions and framed things differently. It all blended together so nicely with what I was hearing, that it really made me able to look at things the other way. And then more recently, while I was in-house, we brought in coaches for a number of our leadership team members. So I had the benefit of having two really wonderful coaches that I worked with through that project as well.

Lee Kantor: Now, when you’re working with coaches, and at that point you were, um, part of the team and you were saying, hey, let’s get some coaches in for the team. How like how are you going to judge? Like if this is working, how are you going to vetting the coaches? Like what was kind of the thinking of implementing something like this, that it sounds like it was new to the organization.

Michelle Warner: It was new to the organization. Coaching is very personal. So having the right fit between the coach and the client. So with the organization, we went to a company, uh, where it’s a solopreneur, woman owned business, but she has affiliations and a team that she has built of other solopreneur coaches who she can tap into for engagements. So she brought a list, a roster of coaches, if you will, narrowed it down based on the information we provided about who was getting coached and what we needed. And then the employees were given the option from a curated list of coaches to pick who they wanted to work with, and that worked really well. So everybody got to choose, hey, I think this person is the best fit for me.

Lee Kantor: And the framing to the, uh, the team wasn’t. Hey. We’re fixing. Bob and Mary were. It was. Hey, we have a coach that’s going to really help. Kind of bring out the best in you.

Michelle Warner: Absolutely. We were working on a strategic plan and updating that. So it was brought in as part of, hey, we’re working on this strategic plan. There were a number of group facilitated sessions. And then the individuals we started with, the C-suite, uh, moved on to several directors, and then the planet is to roll it out beyond that. Um, and that’s still in process. So and when you ask, how do you know it’s working? It shows up in how people show up at the office. If people are experiencing negative feedback for behaviors that seem to get them what they wanted in the past, they recognize the value of changing to be more aligned with the company culture. And it’s not a good or a bad proposition. So when I go in and I coach clients, and even if I brought in by a sponsor company, it’s not like, oh, your company thinks you’re horrible, it’s your company thinks there’s a lot here. However, they’re noticing some conflicts with some of your coworkers, and they want to support you and make you the best fit you can be.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, you mentioned kind of the toxic, uh, employee or the person that could be a high performer and be toxic, or they could be a high performer and be a bully. There’s lots of ways that that kind of shows itself in an organization. When you’re approaching that individual. Do they have the self-awareness that that’s something that, hey, maybe I should work on this or hey, it’s got me this far. Why? You know, don’t fix something that’s not broken. Like. Like how do you kind of manage that individual?

Michelle Warner: So it depends on where they are. If they’re a little bit self-aware, we have something to work with. If they’re not at all self-aware. Uh, depending on where they are in their career and whether they’ve had any assessments like link, personality Profile or Disk or Bachman or any of the sort of big five personality type tests. If they have had those in the past, I won’t recommend an additional assessment if they haven’t had them. I’m certified to administer the personality Profiler, Which I love. It is a big five personality test, but it also looks at your motivations and your competencies. And those assessments aren’t the be all and end all. It is a data point. So I would start with those clients and talk about this particular personality trait showed up in your assessment. Let’s talk about that. And sometimes that sparks a deeper conversation. And there’s another assessment that I also love, the saboteur assessment that from Shazad Amin on his positive intelligence. And that looks at the ways we get in our own way and everybody has them, but we all show up differently when we’re not being the best version of ourselves. So if they previously had assessments, I’m going to look at those and we’re going to discuss those. If they hadn’t. I’m going to use link in a saboteur assessment to get a baseline to have a discussion with the client. Hey, what do you think about this? Uh. Does this resonate? Does it not? Let’s talk about it. Tell me about times when you haven’t gotten what you wanted. Because the reality is, what got you here can’t get you there. And we’re all a little hardwired to default to the negative. So being able to recognize when we don’t show up as the best version of ourselves and to self-regulate and to stop that and see the immediate effect of how people react differently when you’re not in a heightened emotional state. It really is life changing. And it’s not big, huge changes that need to be made. Sometimes it’s a very small thing that makes an enormous difference and then gives you something more to build on.

Lee Kantor: Now is your most of your work nowadays with the corporations and kind of steering them into kind of a coaching culture, or are you working mostly with kind of that, uh, executive that’s kind of at a plateau or is, uh, navigating a difficult situation?

Michelle Warner: I have a mix of clients with companies who know that they have, uh, things that they would like to see done differently in their culture. And then I have individuals who reach out and say, hey, I want to find some something better for myself. And I’m a little stuck. I don’t know how to get there. And then I also do some facilitation. Uh, I have, you know, so, for example, team building with an in-house legal department where they have identified what, based on their internal company surveys, where they think they would like to have more impact with the legal department. So I have an upcoming full day facilitation with them to really help them dive deeper in a way that doesn’t feel confrontational for their team, which is an amazingly strong team. But to improve and help them navigate where they go next?

Lee Kantor: Um, are your clients mostly lawyers or in the legal field, or you kind of work in professional services, or is it kind of industry agnostic at this point?

Michelle Warner: It really is industry agnostic, definitely more toward professional services. But the types of issues that clients come to are really universal struggles. What do I want out of life? What can be, you know, why am I not getting? Why do I feel unfulfilled? Why am I not getting the opportunities I want? And it you recognizing it’s the way I show up sometimes? And how do I do differently? How do I make small changes without giving up the core of myself. And I think particularly for women in business, to get to be successful, you’ve had to have a very strong personality, and then sometimes that gets turned on you as, oh, you’re abrasive or you’re seen as not a team player. And that’s not necessarily a fair characterization, but it feels incredibly scary to try and soften your persona when being the tough, confident in charge woman 100% of the time has gotten you to where you are now.

Lee Kantor: So how do you kind of coach a person through that specific challenge, like when they feel they had to be this way in order to get to where they are, and then maybe they have to be more of their whole self, maybe how they are not in the office in order to get to where they want to go.

Michelle Warner: It depends on how they’re feeling about it. Um, how I would coach them. I would work through. Yes. It has gotten you all of these things that you say, but this got me there. And what have you had to give up? What have you had to tolerate? What have you not had access to because you were stuck on this pass and really dive into those limiting beliefs, and to why you couldn’t be a little bit more vulnerable. Ask for help when it was appropriate. Say no when people were pushing your boundaries beyond the point that was healthy for you. You. And when you start to have those conversations and dig into that, people very quickly realize how you get, Yeah. Oh, I’m feeling really resentful because my boundary was pushed. Why did I feel that way? Okay, well, I wanted to do this. I had my plans. I intended to leave the office at 5:00 for my out of office life, whatever that is. And somebody came to me because they didn’t do their job. And it’s 445 and, oh, it’ll just take a minute and, you know, it’ll take more than just a minute and you’re going to be late leaving for your own life. But you give in anyway because you feel the pressure. So we will work around one. Why? They felt that they had to do that, and two, how to set boundaries respectfully and consistently so that you make clear what you are going to tolerate. And it’s really a personal and individual conversation because we all have different triggers about things that push our boundaries.

Lee Kantor: Now, do you see this as kind of. Blind spots, or do you see this as just, um, not having that self-awareness that this was happening? Like, how how do you see this in the individual, or is is it something that I’m sure once you tell them, it’s like, oh, I like you reframing it in a way that seems very clear now that, oh, I do have choices and I don’t have to give the guy a minute if I don’t want to. Um, once you once, you’re kind of giving them permission. Do they just not have the language?

Michelle Warner: So sometimes it’s not having the language. Sometimes it’s societal conditioning that we get trapped in the things you should be doing or the subliminal messages even. I mean, sometimes they’re not even subliminal. Right. Oh, well, good girls act this way. Oh, good girls don’t do that. Or really high performers. Or you see the people above you. Modeling behavior that is at odds with where you want to be. So for example, companies that say, oh, we’re family friendly and we have great parental leave options, but nobody ever takes it or there’s a lot of pressure or people are talked about when they’re taking that. The message that someone gets when it is time for them to exercise, that parental leave or family leave to care for other family members, they still don’t do it because the message that comes out is very different. And sometimes it’s it is a blind spot and you just haven’t thought of it that way. I was very fortunate early in my career. I had an amazing boss and mentor and I was, you know, 26. I was a brand new manager running a statewide program with multiple offices, and we were making some changes to the way things had been done.

Michelle Warner: And I somebody from the office, one of the distant offices, called and said, well, that’s not how we do this. And my response, because I was 26 and thought I knew everything was, I don’t care how you’ve done it in the past, I’m in charge of this program and this is how we’re going to do it. Yikes. Thinking about it now, it still makes me cringe. And she, of course told her boss, who was my peer. That peer called our boss. He called me into his office and said, listen. But what he did, in addition to saying to me, hey, you can’t do that. There’s a better way to frame that, I get this. He made very clear to my peer. I brought Michelle in. I did bring her in to run this program, and we will talk about how she conveyed information to you. But make no mistake, when she’s telling you things are changing. It’s coming from me. So he supported me and guided me. So externally, he had my back. But he also called me to the carpet and said, hey, that’s not okay. You can’t do that.

Lee Kantor: Right? But it was more about your communication, not your what you were planning on doing.

Michelle Warner: Correct. But I think there are too many people that when we talk about the toxic high performers, right, they tend to bulldoze over people because they feel like their responsibility to get something done. And what I found is a lot of them, nobody tells them. Nobody says directly to them, this is unacceptable in this workplace right now.

Lee Kantor: I agree 100%. I think that your I think what your boss did was very generous and, and that’s probably kind of how most bosses should be is to watch. You know, I got your back. And next time, let’s say it this way.

Michelle Warner: And unfortunately, a lot of people who are great individual contributors get promoted to manager without any additional training or any information on how to make that transition. How to be a good boss, how to manage people that used to be your peers, and now you’re directing them in some way.

Lee Kantor: Right. And not everybody is equipped to make that transition smoothly without help.

Michelle Warner: Yeah. Again, I think everybody can use help, even if you think you’re equipped or not. Because every new role, every new position, yes, you have transferable skills that you’ve brought from your lived experience, other places, but still, hey, this is how things are done here. Here are things that seem to be working well. I mean, not to lock people into. Well, this is how we’ve always done it. Because I think that is the worst thing any place can do, right? Uh, just that blind allegiance to this is how we’ve done it in the past, right? So look at what’s a critical look. And the beauty of coaching is that it creates the grace and space for people to just take that critical look. Take that pause. Think about those things and have somebody who’s not tied to a particular outcome other than what is best for the client. What is the what is going to be best for you? That’s what I’m going to help support and guide you toward. But I’m not going to advise and tell you, oh, this is the way it has to be done. And to to watch a client go from, I’m having this problem to I now have a plan on how to move forward with. This is just one of the most amazing gifts that I have gotten out of this.

Lee Kantor: Now is that. Um. I’m always curious when talking to coaches when it comes to the boundaries between coaching and consulting. And I know your firm is both coaching and consulting, but where does the. I’m here to ask you questions and and hey, do these three things begin. You know, if you just do these three things, you’re probably going to get a good result.

Michelle Warner: Well, I think there’s a false equivalency there. It based on my experience, others experience doing these three things will get you a good result. But that’s not always the case. It may not be the right result. So with my clients, if I am going to offer, first of all, I don’t jump in to save them, right? My clients are magic and fabulous and they have everything they need to excel within themselves. I just help pull that out. Shine a light. Reflect back as a mirror. So we are. My client and I are equals. I am not the person in charge. Unlike a therapy relationship or even like a consulting relationship. You have a problem. I know how to fix it. That’s not how I go in as a coach. It’s. What are you looking to get? How are we going to create this as equals? And then once we get in, and if they are working and they are really at a point where I do have some insight that might be helpful to them, I will ask for permission. Would you like some advice? Do you just want to vent about this problem or would you like to some advice? Or maybe to workshop some solutions on how to get that? So asking for that permission before giving me advice makes it more easily receivable.

Michelle Warner: I think we’ve all been in those situations, particularly with well-meaning friends or family members, when all you want to do is vent about something and they try and tell you and then, you know, your hackles get a little bit up and you get very defensive right away, as if this person who you know, loves and cares about you thinks you’re not capable of managing your own life. And but what I found is, even in those situations where my clients have accepted the offer of advice, if I say, well, have you thought about or in my experience, I tried and whatever it is and it’s it’s happened, you know, it’s almost universal. And they go, oh no, I could never do that. Okay. Well what could you do? Or. No, I don’t like that. But that just sparked an idea. So it’s not even about them taking my advice. It’s about putting something on the table that sparks a different direction.

Lee Kantor: And when you’re working with these individuals through these challenges, how do they know if they’re on the right track, that they have a good fit with you as the coach? Is there any kind of advice when a person is with a new coach or starting a relationship like this? How do you. Are there kind of signs or signals that, hey, this is going to work out?

Michelle Warner: Absolutely. So with my clients, I always do a complimentary discovery call before considering an engagement. I am very intuitive, so what I am looking for in a client is somebody who is actually ready and willing to dig deep, and sometimes people are willing, but they’re not ready. And for the client side, as you’re having this discovery, call with this coach. Do you feel comfortable? Can you see yourself sharing information with this person? Are you being treated as an equal in that conversation? Because if any of those things are no or if you’re a afraid and that’s not really the right word. But if you’re hesitant, if you don’t think, hey, this is somebody I can have an open conversation with and trust that they are going to create a safe space for me to tell them these really personal things about my life, um, or about, you know, my business, whatever it is, that’s not the right fit. So it’s a little bit of art and a little bit of science. I mean, as a client, what does your gut tell you? Do you feel comfortable with this person? And if you don’t, it’s okay to say no. I would much rather if there’s somebody that I don’t think I’m working with him. And there were a great group of coaches that I went through my training program with that we have a whole separate cohort that we all still stay in touch. I have coached with all of them. So if somebody comes to me and they aren’t, I don’t feel like I’m the right fit. I would much rather say to the client, hey, I’m not the right fit for you. I’m going to give you a couple of names of other people that I know and that I trust. I think one of them might be better than start an engagement with a client, get several months in. I’m unhappy. They’re unhappy. And that’s just a bad way to do things. And and it’s harmful to the client.

Lee Kantor: So again, your intuition is kind of your, your guide when it comes to this from the client standpoint. If you feel this isn’t working then you should probably get a different coach.

Michelle Warner: Absolutely. I mean, your coach should be listening to you. If your coach is doing all of the talking and directing, where are you in the center of that equation? Right. So even though my clients and I are equal in the relationship in terms of power, I expect my clients and I want it space for my clients to work through their issues. It’s not about a coach showing how smart they are and how how good they are. It’s someone who can sit quietly and listen intently and hear sometimes the things that aren’t being said and and dig deep on that. So if the client doesn’t feel like they are at the center of the conversation, so it’s not all about them. That may not be the right fit.

Lee Kantor: Now, are you seeing anything? Um. Any trend? Maybe when it comes to the younger workers, are they their attitudes towards work and, um, and their job seems a lot different than maybe previous generations like that. It seems to me that they’re less tolerant of this kind of bullying or misbehavior, and they’re very quick to pull the plug if things aren’t working out the way they would like. Is, are you seeing that in your coaching? Are they how are they, as you know, coaching clients? Or is there an expectation for them to have coaching as part of their job now?

Michelle Warner: I think some of them may have that expectation. I think there’s a balance. I think younger people who are unwilling to bend their boundaries and say, hey, you know, you’ve paid me for these hours and this is what I’m going to give you to the best of my ability. And getting out of that management expectation that they that the company owns you, so to speak, and that they have access to you at all times. Now again, the higher you get up in the organization, depending on what your responsibilities are. I’m not talking about if there’s an emergency situation or something that it really needs all hands on deck and it’s going to be an extension, but that shouldn’t be the norm. So I think younger workers are bringing a breath of fresh air with that and making people question why, right? It’s not healthy. It burns people out. The other reality is that the loyalty tax is real. If you leave and go to a new job, even if it is the same title, you will get paid more than if you stay where you are and work your way up. So I think companies need to take a look at how they’re caring about retaining their employees, rather than just recruiting them.

Michelle Warner: On the flip side of that, I think the younger A generation needs to learn to be a little bit more patient. They are not going to be the star right away. They are not going to come in at entry level and be a vice president in two years. Um, and I think sometimes they need to sit back a little bit and observe a little bit more and then offer those suggestions for moving things forward. Um, I think I love a hybrid work environment, but I would not be the lawyer that I became if I had started my career fully remote or even hybrid, because so much of what I learned happened informally because we were all physically in the same place. So I think the more we can find a balance and allow that flexibility, that remote or hybrid working gives companies and gives individuals to have a life outside of the office, but a little bit more structured. And again, I think it’s incumbent upon those of us who are a little bit older to stop talking about, well, this is how we did it, and find ways to convey that information and create that connection. So I think there has to be a lot more listening on both sides.

Lee Kantor: Now, what is kind of the pain that your corporate clients are feeling where, hey, maybe I should bring Michelle in. What what what are they? What are some of the symptoms that they have? Um, a situation that having a coach like yourself would benefit them.

Michelle Warner: High turnover in a particular department.

Lee Kantor: That’s usually. That’s kind of the. Hey, that’s a warning light. Um, if if we’re if we’re having a hard time hiring or we’re having a lot of turnover, that’s a sign that something’s amiss.

Michelle Warner: Yes. If they’re doing exit interviews and their exit interviews are all saying the same thing. If they have a compliance hotline. And when they look at the data behind the compliance hotline. And let’s say you have two out of ten departments that have far higher complaints into the hotline, regardless of whether they are substantiated as violating anything. Right. There are all of these early warning triggers that something might not be right. So what? And anytime they are getting the same message. You know, over a consistent time period or repeated from different people across different sectors, that’s when they should be taking a look at their culture and what they are tolerating and, and allowing and thinking about bringing in a code to take a look, to see what is beneath that.

Lee Kantor: And let’s look at the individual. What’s what are some of the symptoms that a coach might be beneficial for an individual.

Michelle Warner: So if they are consistently getting good performance reviews but not getting opportunities, they’re not getting promotions. They are getting a high reviews, but they feel like they’re checking it in. You know, they can phone it in and there they there are no more opportunities for growth. And if they’re feeling stagnant and stuck and hey, I’ve kind of done everything I could do here, but I don’t know what. I’ve been doing it for so long and I’ve gotten really good at it. It’s scary to think about what’s next. So any of those things where it’s, you feel like you’ve reached a plateau and you’re not happy with that plateau because there sometimes you get to a plateau and it’s okay to stay there for a little while. If you’re if you’re still getting fulfillment and joy and engagement, even though you recognize you’ve taken a little break and you’re not continuing an upper progression that you want, that’s okay. But if you’re unhappy being there, that’s when you should look for a coach.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there a story you can share, um, that, um, describes maybe how you help someone get to a new level? Is there? You don’t obviously name the individual, but maybe share the problem that they came to you with and how you were able to help them navigate through that and get to a new place.

Michelle Warner: Absolutely. So this was actually I was a volunteer coach at the Pennsylvania Conference for women. And so again, very different than a normal engagement, right. You show up and folks sit down for, you know, 20, 25 minutes and have a chat with you and one woman came and she sat down and her stated problem was, I need to have a conversation with my boss because she’s showing favoritism to one of my direct reports. And so we talked about that. What was her relationship with the boss? What’s going on in the department? You know who else is on the team? And in just 20 minutes, because I created space for her to really think about the problem without the emotions of, oh my God, I have to have this conversation with my boss that I really don’t want to have. He had come up with a framework on a recommendation to her boss on how to realign the work that the team was doing, one to take better use of what she was perceiving as favoritism for this, one employee was really that employee had certain skills that the other person at that level didn’t really have the skills for and didn’t show any and like had very clearly expressed that they didn’t have an interest in doing anyway, but to create a more equitable distribution of work, to take some things off her boss’s plate, to solve a problem in a large in the larger company where there had been these gaps, which was causing some of these problems. And so she went from dreading a conversation with her boss to really excited to go back and put this plan that she came up with on paper, and then present it with her boss and have additional dialog.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, it’s so funny. Just the power of reframing is so, so important. And having an expert like you to help kind of give them the space to find that is just it’s very it’s a gift really.

Michelle Warner: It is. And I mean, it’s a gift for me when my clients take that reframe and you see the energy in their body change, that you see their face start to light up and the literal light bulb going on, um, and they go, oh, wait, okay. And then they can take it and they can run with it. This thing that was right.

Lee Kantor: It was weighing on them, right? It was weighing on them. And now you’ve just lightened their load that now they they feel more in control that they, they are they’re not kind of the victim of the circumstance. They are the change agent of the circumstance.

Michelle Warner: Absolutely. And again, the the beauty of coaching is it creates that space. Um, and we all say, oh, well, I could sit down, you know, people say, oh, well, I could just sit down and think these things out myself. You absolutely could. But are you going to.

Lee Kantor: Right.

Michelle Warner: And when there’s somebody who’s there that, you know, is an accountability partner and that you know, that you have paid for to block off this chunk of time, it changes how you perceive it.

Lee Kantor: Right. And and to your point about the accountability. Um, I always tell people like you break promises to yourself every day, but you keep appointments. So when you pay, you show up usually, you know, so.

Michelle Warner: Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: If you if you want the change to happen, you might need some help here.

Michelle Warner: Well and again we we all need that right. We all. If I know I’m meeting my girlfriend at the gym to go to yoga class, I’m more likely to show up than if I’m going myself. Right.

Lee Kantor: Exactly.

Michelle Warner: I don’t feel like going today.

Lee Kantor: Right? It’s raining. It’s cold. Right. But. Oh, I gotta meet Susan there. So then I’m showing up because I don’t want to let her down.

Michelle Warner: Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: Well, Michel, if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team, what is the best way to connect? Is there a website?

Michelle Warner: Absolutely. The website is my coaching net. Um, my direct email is Michelle with two L’s at my coaching net. And then I’m also on LinkedIn under Michelle Warner.

Lee Kantor: Good stuff. Well, Michelle, thank you so much for sharing your story today, doing such important work. And we appreciate you.

Michelle Warner: Thank you. Lee, I appreciate you and I appreciate your time.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.

Business and Leadership Coach Marla Bace

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High Velocity Radio
Business and Leadership Coach Marla Bace
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Marla-BaceMarla Bace is a business and leadership coach who helps successful professionals and business owners get out of their own way and move forward with clarity.

With decades of experience leading teams and driving results in large corporations and growing companies, she now coaches people who are great at what they do—but need stronger strategy, confidence, or communication to take their business or career to the next level.

Marla brings a practical, real-world approach—rooted in emotional intelligence and executive insight—that helps clients make smarter decisions, lead more effectively, and create meaningful growth without the overwhelm.

Connect with Marla on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • What brings high performers to coaching
  • Leadership presence and emotional intelligence
  • What most leaders get wrong when they’re trying to grow
  • What role emotional intelligence plays in making high-stakes decisions or navigating uncertainty in leadership

Transcript-iconThis transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

 

TRANSCRIPT

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

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Marla Bace, who is the founder of Marla Bace Coaching. Welcome.

Marla Bace: Thank you Lee.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about Marla Bass coaching. How you serving folks?

Marla Bace: Sure. Well, I spent the better part of 30 years working in small, midsize, and fortune 500 companies. Everything from starting my career as a CPA to TQM, um, head of marketing, head of customer experience, and a bit of time as general manager for American Express Concierge. So I am taking all of that knowledge and I am working with my successful and accomplished individuals and or business owners in helping them bridge the gap from successful to fulfilled, one goal at a time.

Lee Kantor: So then how did you make the transition into kind of working in that type of industry, or in the variety of industries you work into now saying, okay, you know what, my new customer are these top performers, and I want to help them kind of become successful.

Marla Bace: It actually isn’t a new career. So when you start in public accounting, literally from the first day of your second year, you are mentoring and coaching people underneath you. And then throughout my career, I was fortunate enough to help from the inside and leadership teams, so many different companies. Between divesting, merging, acquiring that, I wound up with a lot of non-competes between gigs. And so I have always had my own LLC and I’ve worked with small business owners, whether it was, um, strategic marketing planning, growing their teams, creating employee engagement programs. So with 2020, um, I had been working in a small marketing strategic consultancy business, and our clients there were working too much on excuse me in their business and not on their business. So I wound up just pulling all my tools from all those years of expertise in helping them, identifying the right people to place under them to get something done, to create more time for themselves, to become more efficient in the areas they brought us in for marketing, sales, customer experience. And it just became sort of a natural evolution, where I then decided to go back and get credentialed by the ICF so that it wasn’t just through internal experience, but actually external experience that I stepped into the world of coaching. So I really leverage my hands on experience. And I’d say it’s a melding, if you will, of consulting and coaching. So a little different than the ICF, where they really teach that all of your clients have the answers within themselves. I work with those people who should have the intuition to have the answers, but they just need some validation or a sounding board from someone who may have done something similar to what they’re doing now.

Lee Kantor: So you’re working both with like an executive enterprise level organization that wants to be promoted, say, and then also an entrepreneur who wants to grow a business. So those are.

Marla Bace: Exactly, exactly. And I have a client who’s been an entrepreneur for 33 years and has decided to exit the business, but realized they need to grow their business first so they can get the right valuation. So when we say entrepreneur, I don’t just want people to think a startup.

Lee Kantor: And then, uh, so let’s talk about each one kind of separately, because I would imagine there’s different strategies if I want to be promoted, uh, as opposed to I want to grow my business to an exit.

Marla Bace: Yes, yes.

Lee Kantor: Um, so let’s tackle the, uh, enterprise level, um, person. That person is typically in mid management, upper management and one to be permanent. Or can it be a young person that says, I don’t even know how to navigate a career? Can you give me some guidelines and some some objectives so I can kind of accelerate quickly?

Marla Bace: It could be the younger person, but oftentimes, um, they’re not who comes to me, it is more the individual who’s manager doesn’t get to director or director and doesn’t get to VP. Or more often than not, because of my networking and my affiliation, it’s the SVP or the C-suite person that I’ll hear them say, I have a great right hand person. I just wish they would do X better so I could be more efficient. Um, so it can be an individual raising their hand, um, to get to the next level or sort of their boss or the HR department saying, um, this is a high performer. They just need work on 1 or 2 skill sets. And it’s usually around competence communication and leadership presence.

Lee Kantor: Are you finding that, um, as you’ve been in industry for a while, or is coaching just now commonplace, that more and more folks have a coach, whether they do individually or the companies are investing in them on behalf of the individual?

Marla Bace: Um, you know, that’s a really interesting question. Um, because I was fortunate enough that throughout my career I had two amazing Coaches. Um, one who really helped. Uh, I wound up in a C-suite position really young, and, um, it was in a mostly male dominated company, and, uh, that individual sort of fell into my lap. The company paid for it, and it was just really a great experience for me. And oftentimes I will ask myself, what would that person have done when I’m coaching? And that’s going back almost 20 years ago. Um, I think what we’re seeing now so much more is, um, with the advent of zoom and post Covid, everybody is working remotely and so many people went back just to, um, get certified. Or a lot of times I hear people saying, you know, their life coach. Um, so it’s become, I’d say, more prolific from a tapping people on the shoulder and saying, hey, I’m a coach. Are you interested in being coach? Versus probably 5 to 15 years ago it was HR or your senior manager saying, I want to invest in you. So I don’t know that it’s necessarily become more commonplace as much as it’s just, um, more talked about.

Lee Kantor: I remember something someone told me a while ago, uh, they were in HR and they were talking about training and coaching, and they said, um, do we want to like, what’s worse, investing in the person? Um, and they leave or not investing in the person and they stay.

Marla Bace: Okay. Yeah. That’s an age old quote.

Lee Kantor: But so.

Marla Bace: Yeah. Um.

Marla Bace: Yeah, it’s it’s interesting though, because I was more apt to stay, you know, so like I said, I had two opportunities and for me, it always meant that I gave the organization 150% because if they saw that in me, I wanted to give them a reason to keep investing in me, and I hope that’s still the case. I see it more for associate level people in the financial services world. Um, so some of the larger private equity firms actually have coaching benches where they give those associates. I think it’s 2 to 3 times within the early parts of their career, the opportunity to work with a coach. So I think it depends on the industry, the size of the company. Um, and probably how, um, proactive the leader is. Um, and I know for myself personally, I don’t know about you, Lee, but how many times in our careers do we get sent for training? And you sat in a classroom for eight hours and it might have been inexpensive, but how much of that did you take away? And then you went back and worked. No differently tomorrow than you did the day before. Um, whereas with coaching, there’s a bit of accountability and, you know, it’s personalized. So it’s to the benefit. It’s really to your benefit to, um, absorb it and work with it, at least in my opinion anyway.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. And it speaks to the culture of the organization.

Marla Bace: Yeah, absolutely.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, when you’re working with your person in corporate, what? So is the objective always. Okay, I want to be promoted. Or is it sometimes, should I even be doing this?

Marla Bace: I have two clients recently. One would fall into each of those camps. So. And in one case, it wasn’t promoted so much as the individual had been literally tapped by the CEO of the company to come over from her prior organization. And she’d been working with them for two years. And she came to me because she’s like, I like, I haven’t gotten a raise. And I was like, okay, are you communicating the value you add? Are you making this person aware? And we went through and we realized in her case it was a lot about communication and engagement, working with the team and doing things to make that CEO realize what it was she was doing. And in the three short months of working together, we realized it wasn’t only so much that the CEO needed to know what she was doing. She needed to get the confidence in herself, to believe that she was adding value so that she could ask for the raise. And by the time she walked into his office and asked, she had this, you know, whole laundry list of talking points and everything else. She asked and he said, yeah, how much? And she said, 20%.

Marla Bace: And he goes, I’ve been waiting for you to ask. So a lot of times it can just be helping that individual, um, get a raise, get to the next promotion, get seen by their organization as far as, um, the individual within the enterprise. And then the other example I’ll give you is another client that I have that was working a bit in the nonprofit world and with all the changes in our geopolitical climate, really hated going into the office every day, she said. It went from being something I really liked to, not an environment I’m comfortable with, but needed to get out of her headspace, change of mindset for her to realize that she could go from the nonprofit world back into working for a law firm. She happened to be an attorney, and we just really worked on her mindset and shifted her perspective. Um, cleared, cleaned up her resume and cleared up her thinking process. And within a couple of weeks, actually wound up, um, back in private practice with a law firm, so it can really be across any of those things you talked about and even just mindset to get again from being successful to fulfilled.

Lee Kantor: Now you mentioned asking for a raise. Is there any tips or tactics you can share? Maybe low hanging fruit that a person should be doing or could be doing in order to be ready to ask for the raise? You know, the next time that they have the opportunity.

Marla Bace: Yeah, sure.

Marla Bace: Oftentimes, and I’ve seen this throughout my career, my best performers who worked for me were usually the ones who weren’t telling me all of what it was that they were doing. Um, they just assumed that I, as their manager or boss, had a bird’s eye view of everything that was going on. And if you are someone who is keeping the lights on and going above and beyond, and you are not making sure that the people around you, let alone above you, are aware of that. You may not get the credit for doing it, and it’s not because your manager doesn’t want to give you the credit. It might be that we’re in an age of do more with less. They themselves can be swimming, and they could be feeling that as long as they’re keeping, you know, the environment enjoyable for you to operate and acknowledging what it is they know you’re doing, um, that they’re doing their part. But if you haven’t, um, been your own best promoter in a very diplomatic, articulate and, um, non self-promotional way. And I know that sounds like an oxymoron. Um, you are probably not going to have as easy a conversation as someone who is doing that. So to me that’s the lowest hanging fruit. Um, and then the other is to really make sure that you’re aligned. Are you doing what you believe your job description is? Or are you doing what your boss and the organization believes your job description is? Plus, are you going above and beyond? Are you raising your hand for special projects, or are you doing the things to be seen so that if you were to ask again, it’s a no brainer.

Lee Kantor: Right? So you want to make it as easy as possible for them to say yes. And this is a logical next step.

Marla Bace: Yes, exactly.

Lee Kantor: Now let’s talk a little bit about the entrepreneur or the person. I think the example you mentioned was someone getting ready to exit when you’re working with them. Um, how do you help them get ready to exit? Like you, I would imagine you have to know pretty a good amount of their business so you can give them some direction or next steps.

Marla Bace: You know what’s interestingly, it doesn’t.

Marla Bace: Matter if it’s someone who’s been in business 5 to 7 years and they’re truly looking Game to start to put the right processes in place to grow efficiently and effectively. Or this person who I mentioned, who’s been in business for decades and is looking to exit. It’s and it’s funny because I probably would have self-selected myself out of my current clients case because of their industry. And it’s not always the industry. A lot of times it is being the people person and how you go about working with them. So for me, I tend to, um, read a room pretty quickly. So the people involved, the boss, where things are working, where they’re not, lift up the hood, identify what processes are missing, what can be enhanced? Are the right seats on the bus defined in the organization? And do you have the right people in those right seats so that you can effectively. Um, grow where if it’s someone in that 5 to 7 years, oftentimes I get the entrepreneur who the idea of growth is actually scary because they see it as more work and having even less time and all the reasons they wanted to be an entrepreneur to begin with don’t feel like they’re coming to fruition, and it’s usually because they haven’t structured the team around them efficiently. They don’t have, um, the right contractors and or, um, staff in place.

Marla Bace: They haven’t trained people. There isn’t the right, um, HR person in place so that there are leadership challenges, performance reviews, all the things that you think of automatically or organically in a larger organization can be done at a much smaller scale for a small organization, so that they have great environments and they have the right people in the right place, and they’re working efficiently and effectively. And then the organization is positioned for growth. And whether that’s for ten years or 3 to 5 years because someone’s looking to to sell. And then oftentimes it’s about bringing in the right advisors. So I have a very vast network because I’ve been inside for so many years. And for me, networking was about really building relationships, not making sales. So if I have, um, a CEO, for example, asked me for the right marketing organization, having still my tentacles into the CMO club as well as, um, some of the other networks, I’ll reach out and I’ll say, I have a client that’s in this industry that has this need. Who’s your top, you know, referral for a marketing agency. And I will bring to them 2 or 3 and then let them interview and get the right chemistry fit for them.

Lee Kantor: Is this is this an example where kind of the blurring of the lines between coaching and consulting, where it’s not just asking them, asking, asking them, you’re giving them actual actionable kind of next steps. And here is a list of names. Yeah.

Marla Bace: Yeah. So it’s like okay let let’s get a full service. You know, you’ve grown far enough that you shouldn’t have, you know, three different virtual marketing Vas, but you need a full service marketing agency. You’re in this industry you can afford about you know, they’ve shared with me their budget. I will open my network and, you know, identify, um, 2 or 3 people. And then like I said, I’ll. And usually we’ll go through the coaching process and it happens organically. They’ll look at me and be like, do you have a recommendation or do you have a referral? Because I don’t know anyone. I’m, you know, I’m this I’m the head of a law firm or I’m the head of accounting firm, or I’m the head of a manufacturing firm. They, you know, they’d be opening the Yellow Pages, so to speak, or, you know, typing into Google. So yes, that is where the lines get blurred.

Lee Kantor: Now you mentioned several industries. Is there a sweet spot of kind of industry? It sounds like it’s industry agnostic, but but you also have expertise obviously in marketing. So is that an area you lean into?

Marla Bace: For me, I am industry agnostic, but I can add the most value in the professional services space. So I’ve run marketing and customer experience for accounting and financial services companies, and in both of those roles have partnered directly with heads of marketing and the legal in the legal space. So working in those areas, I’ve had clients who are coaches. I have had clients who were other corporate employees who wanted to start a side hustle and helping them identify what that would look like without losing traction at their current job because that’s important too. I mean, you don’t want to jump before you’re ready to jump. So it’s helping people prioritize, figure out what their purpose is, and make every important decision, you know, based on what their ultimate purpose is.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there any advice that you can give when it comes to choosing the right coach for you? I would imagine sometimes maybe in a corporate setting, just a mentor would be beneficial. And it’s not necessary to have a coach per se. But is there a certain kind of, um, ways an individual can decide? You know what, maybe I should be pursuing a mentor rather than a coach. Or maybe I do need a coach. Uh, the. Can you explain the trade offs?

Marla Bace: Yeah, absolutely. And, um, I think it’s very one needs driven, two chemistry focused and and three budget. Um, so I often say I don’t do sales calls because I don’t. I believe there’s so many coaches out there right now that have different areas of expertise that they focus on, and I don’t have content. I don’t do masterminds. I really work one on one. So what I will do with people is offer them a free coaching session. You can book on my site, and I spend 45 minutes with you. And I will say to people, you don’t walk away with 1 to 2 actionable items from our conversation, or a different way of looking at something that I’m not the right coach for you, because I’m not the person who’s just gonna sit with you every week and have a philosophical conversation and hope that, you know, it’s helping you make progress again. I started my career as a CPA, so I’ve always been asked as that head of marketing, to tie something back to results. And I work with the clients who want to cut through the noise and see quick results. So that’s the type of coach I am. I can also mentor people. Um, but it is. It really is about how much time and effort you want to put into your development. So there’s some coaches out there that will ask you to sign up for a year long program, and it’s once a week mastermind twice a month meeting with them one on one. That’s also a time and resource commitment. So these are all things you have to consider. For me, when I work with people, I say give me 90 days. Most, most big hairy audacious goals can be achieved with a 90 day plan, or at least the path towards it getting started with a 90 day plan. So I look to work with people, you know, for 90 days to to six months, and then oftentimes they’ll come back and work with me again. But I always look at it as success. As they’ve achieved their goal, they’re moving forward and almost like they’ve worked themselves out from under me.

Lee Kantor: And is there a story you can share that maybe illustrates how it can work. Don’t name the name of the person, but explain maybe the challenge they came to you with and how you helped them get to a new level.

Marla Bace: Sure. Um, so I had one client who had actually been through many, many coaches and kept believing that she had a marketing issue. She didn’t, um, have enough leads coming in. And, um, when we sat down, um, and really had a conversation, I just asked a few eye opening questions and the first aha for me was, I said, do you have a financial dashboard that you can go to between when you sit down with your CPA? And the answer was no. And so I realized that this individual was making decisions in a vacuum and without facts and without data. So quite literally, it seems overly simplistic, but they happen to have been a solopreneur. But they had been in business 5 to 7 years they were well over $1 million. So, you know, you do the math and to say, oh my gosh, you didn’t have a financial financial dashboard. But it was in the spring of, I think, last year. And I had said to them, go back and take your American Express statements. And I had given them a very simplistic Excel spreadsheet for the last 3 or 4 months and fill this out over the weekend. We’ve come back together and take a look at it. And from that, I was able to see at a high level, they were operating at about a 20% margin and just by making some expense shifts. So instead of investing in every shiny new object, really looking at what your tech stack, what are the things that you need to have at your disposal versus what are nice to haves? How do we cancel some of those? How do we consolidate? We managed the majority of, um, overhead expenses. We took a look at the revenue. What’s ongoing, where are your spikes? Where are your troughs? And then realize what was really keeping them awake at night was with this idea of not having enough leaves.

Marla Bace: They were pouring a ton of money into advertising without a strategy. So we dialed back the pure ad spend to the point where we were able to see that on any given month, she could have anywhere from a 20 to a 40% net profit margin, depending on her, her revenue line. And then those months she could dial up the advertising if she felt necessary. But before we were even going to do that, then to take a step back and say, okay, who’s your ideal client profile? Where’s your clients coming from? What switched over the last six months so that your business is in a stable as it was? And it turned out it was their messaging. They were working in the technology industry right about the time all the layoffs were starting. Um, they had switched their messaging from Are you a successful tech individual that is looking, you know, that’s dealing with burnout or whatever that coach was dealing with to, you know, are are the is the environment and the industry keeping you awake at night? So what you wound up doing was instead of attracting the individuals who could afford to spend money and work with her, she was attracting the individuals who had just gotten laid off. So she was going through the same amount of sales calls, advertising and everything else that she had done six months earlier. But the reality of it was she was targeting the wrong audience. So we were able to get her, her income and her expenses under control, put a financial dashboard in place, work on our messaging and really turn things around.

Lee Kantor: And that’s a great example of of revisiting kind of fundamentals periodically is a good practice.

Marla Bace: Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you. What is the website? What is the best way to connect?

Marla Bace: It’s super easy. It’s right at the top of the page. You can book a call. Like I said, I do free coaching sessions if you want to find out if you’re coachable or if you’re highly self-aware so that you can impact your career or your business. There’s also an assessment no obligation, no contact, the bottom of the page. So Marla Nbastore.com.

Lee Kantor: And that’s m a r a b a c e.

Marla Bace: Correct. Thank you Lee.

Lee Kantor: Well, Marla, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Marla Bace: Thank you.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.

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