Jacob Lapera, Author at Business RadioX ® Page

Andy Hasselwander With MarketBridge

June 29, 2022 by Jacob Lapera

Richmond Business Radio

Andy Hasselwander With MarketBridge

00:00 /

As Chief Analytics Officer, Andy Hasselwander leads the marketing data and analytics functions at MarketBridge, joining the firm (for the second time) in 2018. Andy brings 20+ years of marketing strategy, data science, and software development experience to the firm.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

The measurement paradox
How marketers can best prove marketing effectiveness to the C-Suite
The history of marketing measurement
The current standings of marketing measurement and what data is available to marketers

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:03] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Richmond, Virginia. It’s time for Richmond Business Radio. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:14] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Richmond Business Radio. And this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Andy Hasselwander and he is with Market Bridge. Welcome.

Andy Hasselwander: [00:00:25] Thank you very much. It’s good to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:27] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about Mark Bridge. How are you serving folks?

Andy Hasselwander: [00:00:32] So Market Bridge is a marketing analytics consultancy. We’re based in Bethesda, Maryland. So just an hour, hour and a half, North Richmond. We work with Fortune 500 companies in the US and internationally to help them understand how effective or ineffective marketing and promotions are to their acquisition efforts. They’re just in customer efforts. Taking a look at that buy channel, for example, how upper funnel advertising is contributing versus demand generation or digital marketing type type things. And we do we do that in a very scientific way. We’re open codes, so our clients get all the code that we that we write to analyze their data. And we’re we’re extremely scientific. So basically everything we’re doing is is provable and reproducible. That’s that’s sort of what we do in a nutshell.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:29] Well, how do you help the clients that are maybe overwhelmed by the amount of data that, first of all, that exists and how to prioritize that just because something can be measured? Is it worth measuring? How do you help them kind of navigate those waters to identify the priorities in terms of the metrics that matter?

Andy Hasselwander: [00:01:51] Yeah, well, I think for the last 20 years, marketers have been there’s there’s certainly been an imperative to measure effectiveness marketing. I think before maybe 2000 got a bit of a pass in terms of measurement. The, the accounting functions of financial functions might not have been as is worried about what marketing specifically was doing. And then I think in the last 20 years as direct marketing and digital data just got bigger and, and more, more easy to, to gather, you know, it became really important for CMO’s chief marketing officers to say, hey, this is what we’re driving. The unintended consequence of that has been for channels that don’t have as much data or for channels that take longer to work, like upper funnel television advertising or now over the top video advertising. Those channels might get short shrift because it’s just easier to say, Hey, we have these digital channels, these direct channels where I can actually measure a click and I can say, Hey, that click cost me $30 or $40, whereas advertising might might not be. So what we try to do is we try to help clients put some of those tougher to measure channels on an equal footing because they actually do work differently. And it’s really important to understand the value that that they drive. That’s I think that’s one of the most important things that we help with, if that makes any sense.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:21] Now, what about kind of the the saying that maybe there’s some art and science when it comes to these creative arts and, you know, like just because you want to measure or you can measure something like it’s difficult to measure creativity or or that. Why is that one ad outperforming this other ad? Can you scientifically tell me the 14 reasons why this ad is a successful ad and an ad that looks it looks similar to me or it sounds similar, but it is underperforming.

Andy Hasselwander: [00:03:57] So Daniel Kahneman is a very famous economist and psychologist. He wrote a book Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow. And in that book, he posited that the human brain kind of works in two ways. The first way is it thinks slowly and through rational decisions, which he called system to thinking. And then and then the system one the quick decision making is more primitive. What’s interesting about the system one thinking that we find that is the more emotional thinking. That’s really what advertising good creative advertising does. It’s memorable. It activates emotions. It’s not necessarily pushing the viewer or the the clicker to sort of do math in their head. You’re really trying to build an attitude and that good, creative, good upper funnel, creative or creative that’s designed to change minds over time does a really good job on that system, one mechanism and aspects of that. I mean, there’s all kinds of ways I. Advertising can be effective. I mean, it can be memorable. Memorability is really important. You know, this is why, you know, for years and years and years, jingles have been so important. Visual and visual cues are really important. Mnemonics are really important.

Andy Hasselwander: [00:05:26] The reason celebrities or spokes animals like you’re seeing a lot of in property and casualty insurance, whether those be geckos or emus or whatever, those sort of create those those memorable pieces. So, yeah, there’s ways to to sort of scientifically understand how that mechanisms working, but you’re never going to be able to take away just sort of scientifically create perfect advertising. You know, there’s always going to be the role for that for creatives. And what you can do is you can certainly say some of these upper funnel ads are more memorable. They do a better job activating the system one side. And we can see that that mechanism work against measured attitudes over the course of months or years. And you see brands that understand this do it very effectively. Consumer packaged good companies like Coca Cola have been doing this for four decades. I think property and casualty insurance companies that I mentioned earlier have figured this out now for a couple of decades. Retail banks, I think, are doing a good job. And you’re seeing those scientific pieces, I think, come through in some of the creative that you see up for funnel.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:40] But does that? I don’t know. I think luckily if you take a Coca-Cola, they don’t really create brands. They buy existing brands that are out there. There’s a million brands going out there, doing what they do, taking shots, being crazy. Coca-cola waits for some of them to be successful, then buys a stake in them and then eventually takes them over. And then in a lot of cases, they fail once they’ve got in the hands. I mean, that’s their R&D program.

Andy Hasselwander: [00:07:13] Coke is I mean, that’s their certainly their line extension strategy. I’m more talking about the core brand, right. Which is which is the brands that are successful and how you make sure that when you walk into a when a consumer walks into a grocery store or walks into a convenience store, that they they don’t think about it. They just they just choose. And that is that is a huge piece of what they’re doing. And so when they’re running their media mix modeling, they’re very intentional on making sure that their share of voice and their core attitudes are doing what they need to do to drive all the way down to retail. I think for the line extension piece, you’re right. I mean, they’re definitely buying brands and not all those brands are going to succeed and they’re only going to invest marketing against those brands where they think they have a decent shot of, you know, of getting shelf space and of activating the shopper marketing side.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:08] But are they are they succeeding because of their marketing or are they succeeding because of their distribution?

Andy Hasselwander: [00:08:13] Well, both. I mean, distribution is a part of marketing. I mean, upper funnel advertising is probably the beginning of the funnel and distribution is the end. You know, you have to have ultimately, if if a consumer has an attitude, that attitude is only going to be activated. If when they get to all the points of distribution they can activate, that’s going to be there. So, I mean, if you had if you had to say to a coach, you know, what’s more important, shopper marketing, distribution or advertising, they would just say both because they’re both absolutely critical, you know, but one one sort of top of funnel and the other’s bottom of funnel. But the key is understanding how those are valued ultimately now.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:55] But can any of those things that these mega enterprises can can use, can they trickle down to a small to midsize firm that doesn’t have the resources or the distribution?

Andy Hasselwander: [00:09:09] I think I think what you’re seeing with right now with with on the consumer side, if we’re talking about consumers and there’s all these other industries as well, because I think it’s become much easier for upstart to to enter. And that’s for two reasons. Going back to marketing and distribution, from a marketing perspective, it’s much easier to put together long tail marketing strategies. I think Instagram and a lot of digital media, a lot of digital video has made that far more easy to do and actually has made it actually more difficult for large, large firms to compete. Because you can no longer just buy huge pieces of viewership on broadcast. You have to actually play a little bit of small ball, which can be hard for for larger firms. So that’s made it easier. And then I think the other thing from a distribution perspective obviously is, you know, e-commerce has made things much, much easier, but that gets back to for small firms, you know, they need they need to think the same way big firms do about segmentation, targeting and positioning. And the four P’s, just like marketing 101. And segmentation is if I’m going to compete and I’m going to win as a small firm, I need to pick a very specific segment. I need to be able to target them very effectively, which I can now do with digital media. And then I need to position myself in a way that is really differentiated from the larger firms that are out there. And then maybe going back to your previous point, maybe Coca-Cola will pick me up, right? Maybe they’ll maybe their business development team will go out and sort of put an offer out there. But I mean, it’s much easier, I think, now for small firms to compete because those barriers to entry on the upper funnel side, on the advertising side and on the distribution side have come down so much, but they still have to do it right.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:01] So so the fundamentals are still the same.

Andy Hasselwander: [00:11:04] Oh, yeah. And the models are still the same.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:07] So nothing has changed from that standpoint. Now you can measure better and more effectively. So you can invest your dollars wiser.

Andy Hasselwander: [00:11:15] Yeah, absolutely. And I think. Marketing has become marketing and distribution generally has become a much more scientific discipline because it can be instrumented. I mean, all the money that’s gone to marketing technology. If you just look at all the multiples of software as a service, martech firms, Salesforce was kind of the pioneer there before that was was Siebel. But all the money that’s gone in there, the reason that’s going there is it’s for everything from a small 50 person firm or a 25 person firm to do content marketing all the way up to a gigantic firm trying to create digital CRM, sort of customer management pathways that are really measurable and delight customers. So and you know, and that’s hard to do, but, but the technology now makes it certainly much, much more measurable than it ever was.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:07] Now, what about kind of the ever there’s always friction between sales and marketing. Has that has this influx of data helped hurt made it grayer?

Andy Hasselwander: [00:12:22] Well, you know, my my marketing professor a long time ago used to say that marketing was was. You defined it simply as the entirety of all of the customer facing or outside facing functions of the firm. And I’ve always I’ve always believed that. And I think sales was simply the most the highest cost per transaction, most personalized piece of that. And I think that holds together logically. But but obviously, that being said, sales has a very the sales function generally is a very, very different culture than than marketing sit in person sales selling is in COVID accelerated this with digital transformation is becoming harder. And what you’re seeing we used to actually say telesales was different or inside sales was different than field sales. Now it’s it’s really not I mean, most if you look, for example, at Medicare Medicare selling Medicare Advantage, most of these agents now are a lot of these agents are selling digitally over the phone, whereas even three years ago they would have been across the kitchen table. So it’s in a way it’s made selling more digital, more measurable, more data driven. I think sales is always going to be the toughest thing to measure because it ultimately depends on an individual keying in an activity or an individual keying in a disposition.

Andy Hasselwander: [00:13:46] And that’s hard to do. I mean, this is if you talk to anyone who has Salesforce, a Salesforce.com, and they say what’s what’s the base challenge, the challenge is data cleanliness. And it’s just getting people, for example, to pick the right thing out of a pick list or enter the date a call happened. I don’t know if that’s going to get better. Honestly, I, I think I think it might, but, you know, that that’s been a that’s been a tough one for a long time. The tension used to be the tension between sales and marketing. You know, the ultimately what sales wants for marketing is they weren’t really high quality leads and what marketing wants for from sales is they want good data and that tension is always going to be there. And I think in organizations that have integrated sales and marketing organizations, those tend to those tensions tend to to work at work themselves out. But where you have executives running each department who are very different and sort of run them in silos that can be that can be tough.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:46] So now what is your ideal client look like?

Andy Hasselwander: [00:14:51] Well, for Market Bridge, you know, we we as I mentioned, we’re primarily focused on Fortune 500 space. We typically put together we work over multiple years with clients building out data science and data infrastructures with them and delivering and delivering long run solutions. Eventually, our goal is to is to leave, right? Our bench our goal is to teach clients how to build these systems and operate these systems so we don’t have to be there anymore. I would say our our ideal client inside of of that kind of company is a company who wants to take a scientific approach towards sales and marketing, who wants to have reproducible data stack and reproducible technology stack. In other words, one that we know exactly why things happen and one that wants to have their data science team and their data engineering team bring bring these things in-house. We’re not a software reseller, so we work with all the MarTech stack, but we’re not we sort of intentionally don’t choose one or the other or partner with one or the other. We’re very agnostic in that respect. So I think we can fit into, you know, whether somebody has an Adobe stack or a Salesforce stack or Oracle or whatever we can we can fit in. It’s more the ethos of the executives and making sure that they really want to be very scientific in how they do marketing and sales.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:19] Now, what are some symptoms that they’ve got a problem like? What are some of the things going on? What are some of the things that they’re dealing with where they’re like, Hey, maybe we should be calling these Market Ridge folks?

Andy Hasselwander: [00:16:28] Yeah, you know, I mean, basically anyone who says, you know, I’m pretty sure that my marketing is half my marketing is working, but I’m not sure which half that would be a classic one.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:39] People are still saying that because they were saying that 50 years ago.

Andy Hasselwander: [00:16:42] Yeah, they’re saying it probably more. And but I think going back to the most classic one we get is I know upper funnel or brand is is important, but I can’t prove it. And you know, or somebody that might say something like, geez, I really we’re spending all this money on promotion, on promotional paid search, and my CPAs look good. But I think I think I’m overspending because I think I might be just doing demand capture that would be happening anyway. Those would be the kinds of questions we would get most often from CMO’s. Another one might be, Hey, we’re sort of launching a new we’re in a we’re in new product launch mode and I don’t. I don’t know how much of my new product launch is is being driven by marketing and how much would have happened anyway. Those kind of hypotheticals tend to get asked. Another one on the data side would be would be, hey, I, I, I don’t really have a good sense of my marketing pal. So really, what the p now being what I’m getting and what I’m spending for it, I don’t, I don’t have a good data stack getting from my source, my source data systems up to that sort of almost accounting or financial reporting view of marketing’s effectiveness. Those would be some of the things.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:13] Can you share a story? Don’t name the name of the client, but maybe the problem that they were having, that you came in and were able to take their business to a new level, maybe get a result that maybe they didn’t even dream possible.

Andy Hasselwander: [00:18:24] Yeah, sure. So one of one that’s that’s fairly recent, I’d say is we had a client who, you know, had a good business. The business was, was from a market share perspective, stagnant or declining, direct response marketing looked effective. In other words, the cost per acquisition was was lower than the customer lifetime value. And yet they were declining and they had a strong slowly but but still they had a strong hypothesis that, that, that they weren’t spending enough upper funnel and that they were losing mindshare. And what we were able to do for them is we were able to build a two stage model where we proved that advertising was driving affinity and comprehension and awareness of the products where those system one. Attitudes. I mentioned earlier, we and we showed mathematically what that relationship looked like. And then secondly, we showed that those those attitudes, those core attitudes were over the course of months and even even a year plus were driving customer acquisition at rates that they were basically refilling the top of the funnel. And we were able to instrument all that, put that together, and then they were able to change their advertising strategy and sort of turn that decline around. And I’m not saying it’s not like we’re talking about you go from -10% to plus ten, it’s more like minus two to plus two. But that understanding that and understanding that relative market share is, you know, the mechanistic link of that to share voice or the basically the percent of messaging, upper funnel marketing. And that we’re doing and proving that mathematically, I think is really important in this case, help the client a ton. I mean, this was a major impact on their ability to sort of tell a compelling story to investors. So that would be a pretty good one.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:33] Well, if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team, what’s a website?

Andy Hasselwander: [00:20:39] Yeah, it’s w-w-what market dashboard edgecomb. We have a dash in the middle. Apologize for that. That’s just somebody sat on the URL when we bought it but WW web slash dash market bridge dot com and hit contact us and we’d be happy to to reach out and have a conversation.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:56] Well, Andy, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work. We appreciate you.

Andy Hasselwander: [00:21:01] Thanks, Lee. Appreciate it.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:02] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Richmond Business Radio.

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III With Probity Advisors, Inc.

June 29, 2022 by Jacob Lapera

Dallas Business Radio

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III With Probity Advisors, Inc.

00:00 /

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III AEP^®, ChFC, founder of Probity Advisors, Inc., a Dallas-based registered investment advisory firm(RIA), is celebrating his 50th work anniversary in the financial industry. Over the past five decades, Ozanne, III has helped innumerable Dallas families and individuals create and conserve wealth.

The native Texan entered the financial industry in1971 when he joined his father, Porter L. Ozanne, Jr.’s, insurance agency, Ozanne and Associates, and later acquired the business in 1976. As a forward-thinker, Ozanne, III, wanted to provide Dallas area residents with holistic wealth management solutions and foundedProbity Advisors, Inc. in 2002. By adding investment, retirement portfolio and asset management services, the firm has been able to better accommodate its clients’ financial and estate planning goals. Probity Advisors, Inc. is now focused on helping multi-generational families build and grow wealth.

Asa Southern MethodistUniversity (SMU) alumnus, Ozanne, III has dedicated his professional life serving SMU by holding various board positions and mentoring business students and student-athletes. He also donates his time and resources to serve local Dallas nonprofits and organizations.

Not one to sit at home, Ozanne, III and his wife, Linda attend SMU sports games, primarily football and basketball. He also enjoys golf, fly fishing, travel, and flying. An avid flyer, he had to land planes in two in-flight emergency situations. After his first emergency landing, his first thought was how relieved he had just bought additional life insurance for his family.

Ozanne, III believes that integrity is the most important aspect of running a business. That’s why he named the firm Probity Advisors, Inc.

Connect with Porter on LinkedIn and follow Probity Advisors on Facebook and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

The secret to your success
The transition from insurance to wealth management
The most important (obstacle) Americans will be facing financially in the future

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:05] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Dallas, Texas. It’s time for Dallas Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:17] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Dallas Business Radio. And this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Buddy Ozanne with Probity Advisors. Welcome, Buddy.

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III: [00:00:28] Oh, thank you, Liddy. It’s good to be here.

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

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III: [00:00:36] Okay. So property advisors, we help people create and conserve wealth. We’re an independent registered investment advisory firm registered with the SEC and independent. We offer our clients financial planning, estate planning, business succession planning, retirement planning services, and we follow that up with excellent asset management services to fill the clients needs on a fee only basis, by the way.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:15] Now, I think in today’s world, especially with the turbulent times that we’re dealing with right now, to have somebody like you on the team is a must have. It’s not a nice to have. I think that when things are going well, then everybody is kind of quote unquote system is working great. But when things are kind of going through a rough patch, this is where you need a steady hand of an advisor. How do you help your clients, you know, through this kind of what are some of the conversations you’re having with the clients now as opposed to if I was there on my own and I’m seeing headlines and woe is me stories left and right, and I’m just going to have to sort through this on my own without any help. Like, I think that what you’re doing is critically important.

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III: [00:02:03] You know, that’s a great question. First of all, you know, I’ve been in this business now for over 50 years, 50, 52nd year. And the entire my entire career, I have focused on helping people plan, plan for retirement, plan their estates. You know, we do a lot of estate settlement work. We help people, you know, take people to attorneys that do a great job of of setting up trusts and so on and so forth and so and, you know, my dad actually started our business back in in the 1950s. And and so we’re serving in a few cases, fourth generation clients of our family, of our business family. But it’s all been focused on on planning. And so when times get tough, we’re able to take our clients back to the plan and show them where. Yes, you know, we’ve planned for downtimes. You know, we we expect during your retirement, we expect, you know, after someone’s passed away and we’re and we’re managing money for, you know, widows and orphans, we expect we expect these times and we show them where we’ve we’ve gone through the process of planning and and, you know, so. We expected these times. This is what we’re doing about it. And and, you know, according to the plan, you’re still on track.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:48] Now, how do you help people with the mindset? Because as people age, it’s one thing like you’re going through your working years and you and you have a plan and you’re like, I’m going to invest. And so when there’s a downturn, you’re like, Good, I’m buying things on sale because I know I feel good about all this and everything’s, you know, going to be better down the road and you keep investing in a downturn. And then it goes, you know, the market goes up and then you’re investing and maybe you’re not getting as many shares, but you still feel good about the system because you’re betting on some better future. But what if you had to retire? You know, last year and you were going through the downturn at the time where you’re no longer accumulating wealth, you’re accumulating and spending down your nest egg. How do you help people through that time? Because that’s a mental shift. You know, it’s one thing when you know that I’m always refilling that bucket. But now when I’ve stopped filling the bucket and I’ve got to live with what’s in the bucket, that’s a different kind of mentality.

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III: [00:04:52] You’re absolutely right. And and I will say this, that my observation has been over almost 52 years in this business, that our happiest clients are clients that can afford to live on dividends, primarily those clients when they retire. Honestly, it just doesn’t matter. As long as we have them broadly diversified, we have, you know, some in fixed income. But but on the equity side, focused on dividends. That’s that’s not where the problem is. The problem is where people haven’t been. Doing their financial planning long enough to to have a portfolio that’s focused primarily on generating income from dividends and interest. And so they they kind of have to create we have to create dividends for them in in the form of, you know, capital gains, selling off some capital gains. And you’re right, you know, somebody if they begin this process just as they retire and and their assets are invested. You know as well as we can along, according to modern portfolio theory, which is is the system that we use in determining what kind of asset allocation that we provide for clients. If we’re having to depend on that, then then the client has to go through we have to take them through a planning process that shows them what’s going to happen if if indeed they wind up retiring and the market goes through a downturn like we’re experiencing. Once again, we want to make sure that that plan stands up and it becomes a spending policy issue. We help our clients figure out what their spending policy should be. Planning for a potential downturn. You know, once they once they hit retirement, it’s not it’s it’s it’s more comforting than just saying, well, this happens. But it’s, you know, it’s problematical for people. But what we find is if we’re doing the planning right, the the the the asset allocation will hold and, and our clients portfolio survives.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:47] Yeah. And I think it goes back to again, you have to have somebody on the team doing the work that you’re doing to play out scenarios and what ifs. And, and could you live with this kind of a budget or what would be the most you would need? What would be the least you would need? What are you willing to, you know, sacrifice? What are you not willing to sacrifice? You know, when it comes to lifestyle or choices or vacations or future, you know, giving grandkids stuff like all of these questions should be asked and answered well before you’re retired.

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III: [00:08:21] Oh, absolutely. And you mentioned someone has to be able to help people figure that out. And one of the things that we’re really blessed with here at Probity Advisors is although I’m in my seventies, we have five experts who do a great job on the planning side, and we have three wonderful analysts, two of whom are CFOs who who do the portfolio construction to meet the goals that are that our planners set. And, you know, one of my policies has been ever since we you know, created probity advisors was to hire. People that are smarter, smarter than I am. And so that makes life pretty easy for me right now. I mean, you know, we’ve we have our own analysts that are, you know, that are paying attention on every day to what’s going on in the economy and and doing, you know, company specific research, portfolio construction. And once again, to meet the goals that the our CFP, our planners set with our clients, it’s a great marriage. And we, like I say, we’ve just been blessed with wonderfully. Smart people and wonderful clients that have a tendency to stick to us. Stick with us, and. But. Does that answer your question? Yeah.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:00] And where do you fit when you have a portfolio or you’re managing someone’s portfolio or any of your clients portfolios where is you know, obviously a portfolio is investing a lot of times in other businesses and other organizations. How much of a portfolio should you invest in yourself, in your own entrepreneurial venture? Is there a place for that in a in your clients portfolios?

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III: [00:10:28] Oh, absolutely. We have a lot of entrepreneurial clients. And honestly, the best thing in the world for people to do if if they have a good business idea, is to invest in themselves. But once that once that business begins to make money and it’s throwing off. You know profits that that are not. Immediately needed. That that business needs to be looked at. We do actually, we manage for entrepreneurs a number of portfolios for businesses we refer to as sinking funds. But but they’re just portfolios of investable cash that the business has. You know, we counsel people on setting up retirement plans for tax efficiency and ways to save for their employees and themselves. And so, yeah, we really encourage people to to invest in themselves if they have a good business idea. Once that business idea starts bearing fruit, then we encourage those entrepreneurs to begin to diversify and and move. So much so that so that they’re not wiped out if if their particular industry gets hit by a recession or or something worse.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:10] Now, it sounds like your firm is kind of holistic in the sense that you’re trying to watch your clients back from a variety of places, whether it’s from wealth management. It sounds like there’s some insurance in there as well, and a variety of ways to really be that trusted advisor that a person needs if they really want to have that kind of good retirement they dream about.

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III: [00:12:38] Yeah. That’s a that’s a great point. My father started our business or the incubation of our business back in the 1950s when he went into the life insurance business. And he opened a an agency for the Guardian Life Insurance Company in Dallas in 1960. I went to work for him January the second of 1971. Guardian created the very first insurance. To my knowledge, the insurance company owned mutual fund, which I think is still there. And when I went to work for my dad, the first thing he had me doing was killing people on paper, filling out the estate tax return for small business owners as if the owner died as the spouse died. And back then, the estate tax rate was 70% the top. A state tax bracket back then was 70%. There was no unlimited marital deduction back then. So in a community property state like Texas, if the business owner or spouse died or if the business owner died, half the value of the business was exposed to a state tax with a $30,000 exemption. And like I say, up to a 70% tax. Well, we we we would run these numbers or I would run these numbers and we would have the business owner, you know, show.

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III: [00:14:26] Show them what what the cost was going to be of of the business owner dying, the spouse dying. And then we would try to help figure out, okay, so how do you reduce the cost? How do you and one of the ways of doing that, of course, is to get life insurance out of the estate and available for the family to use either to pay estate tax or to live on. And, you know, that evolved into financial planning, which evolved into providing financial solutions for retirement planning and other other areas of financial planning. And then that evolved into a fee only basis of serving clients. We still hold we still actually own the insurance agency, but that’s not really a part of probity advisors. And so, you know, we we make available to our clients the ability to acquire life insurance to solve that part of the financial plan and estate plan. And we fully disclose what the costs of doing that are and what and what individuals that are in that agency get paid. But but probity advisors is a fee only institution and totally separate from that agency.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:59] Now do you think that the role of Financial Advisor, obviously some of the job requirements have changed over the years and what they may do in a day to day basis. But at the heart of what they’re doing is helping people navigate a successful retirement and have more, I guess, predictable income as they age. As has that part change? Is it still a relationship business where you really have to care about people? It can’t. It seems like a lot of folks are moving to this robo advisor world where they think they can just put in, you know, pay a fee every month that just comes out of your account. You don’t have to talk to a human. And it all just happens like magic.

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III: [00:16:41] Yeah, that’s a good point. You know, in some people, we’re going to do just fine with robo advisor. But but, but they’re going to have to if they want financial planning, they’re going to have to do that themselves, too. If they want a state planning, they’re going to have to either do that themselves or go find, you know, somebody that’ll do the estate plan for them, an attorney CPA, a CFP. We find that our clients are very comforted with the holistic approach that we take. We we provide the planning and then we find the solutions for them. And. And of course, you know, we provide some of those solutions. But, you know, not every client is going to. You know, you’re absolutely right in our business model. Care for the client? Integrity. Really, really good people. Providing service is really the key to success.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:54] Well, I think that, as you mentioned earlier, you have clients that span multiple generations, which I think is pretty unusual in your in your industry, that most financial advisors, their kids don’t don’t take up the same financial advisor they are. They’re kind of go their own way. So if you’ve been able to crack the code to have multiple generations still under your umbrella, you must be doing something right.

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III: [00:18:22] Yeah, that’s exactly right. As a matter of fact, honestly, then this big key to my success is honestly has been prayer. You know, I’ve prayed for guidance. I pray every day for the ability to help somebody. And and a long time ago, when I first went to work for my dad, that that estate planning focus that that that we began with and we still continue with his actually, that’s the key to the code. The the fact is if we do the estate planning, we get a really good estate planning attorney involved to draft the documents when mom or dad passes away. The family seeks out our help. In doing the estate settlement work. And during that process, we get to we get to kind of shine in front of the family. Okay. Well, so we do. This is the next step. This is the next step. We get a tax ID number for the trust. Whatever it is that we know that we’re doing, we we allocate assets between trusts. We help hold their hands through that, that making that decision process. We then do financial planning for the beneficiaries to figure out how much income they need. And what happens is when someone dies, instead of the kids taking assets to their relationships more frequently, we wind up with additional assets because they see the competency of the work that we’ve done for their parents.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:12] Well, I think it’s super wise to invest in the next generation. Like, why try to find brand new clients when you have a pile of them just sitting there with your existing clients?

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III: [00:20:23] Right. That’s exactly right. In the estate planning and estate settlement process is is key to to to hang on to those clients.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:34] But most, at least in my work, I’ve seen a lot of financial advisors don’t want to invest in the children because they don’t have the assets yet. And, you know, if you wait till the last second, you know, they’ve already they might already make a decision. So at least show them some value prior so that they think of you when the moment comes.

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III: [00:20:58] That’s exactly right. And as a matter of fact, you know, to to that end, we’re not snobs. You know, a lot of our competitors will say, you know, we don’t want to deal with you unless you have $1,000,000,000 portfolio or a half million dollar portfolio. There’s TV advertisements. I won’t mention the name. You know, if you have a half million dollars or more, come to us. We’re not snobs like that. We we have actually created, you know, a small account service for kids and grandkids, you know, where, you know, grandparents, parents, you know, they want to set up a five9 account for the. You know, for their kids or grandkids. We’re going to help them do that. And. And so, you know, we do invest in. You know, generations to come. But we also in the estate planning process, we get our clients to bring their families in before anyone dies to to help the family, the kids understand what their responsibilities are in the estate plan. You know what? The way their parents have set up their estate, you know what their ultimate goal is for their family and what the kids responsibilities are with regards to, you know, what if what do we do if dad passes away and mom, you know, needs mental care assistance, for example? You know, we have those frank discussions with the family. We get to know the family. We get to know the kids. And the kids have needs. We’re going to figure out a way to fill those needs, too.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:55] Yeah. And what better way to teach them the the proper way to save and to get, you know, the power of compounding working in their favor early, earlier, the better.

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III: [00:23:06] Absolutely. Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:09] So what do you need more of now? How can we help? Do you need more advisors? You need more clients. What do you. What do you need?

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III: [00:23:18] Well, of course, you know, we need good, experienced advisors, actually. We have, like I mentioned, three analysts. We have a a an SME football player is interning with us this summer. But our newest our most recent employee, HA, has been with us eight years. He’s a young CFP. We have five scopes and they’re all, of course, younger than I am. And, you know, we have great tenure. The youngest, like I say, employee, has been with us eight years. And it goes all the way to two of our CFOs have been with us 20 years. You know, we would love to find an advisor that likes the kind of of client centric. The only client loving, planning focused service. You know, if that appeals to people, the idea of being independent of of of the big company, you know, we’re looking for those advisors and of course, you know, we we would love to add clients. We we, you know, work solely by referral. You know, we don’t none of our people do code calls and such. So we’re sure we’re we’re still looking to grow.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:00] So if somebody wants to learn more about property advisors, what’s the website?

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III: [00:25:06] W w w probity advisors dot com.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:10] Well, buddy, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Porter L. “Buddy” Ozanne, III: [00:25:16] Lee. Thank you for having me. This is this has been a fun experience.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:20] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on Dallas Business Radio.

Kyle Knapp With Saxonburg Area Business Association

June 29, 2022 by Jacob Lapera

Association Leadership Radio

Kyle Knapp With Saxonburg Area Business Association

00:00 /

Kyle C. Knapp is the founder and CEO of Viterium LLC, an IT Managed Services Provider in Saxonburg, PA. He is responsible for all functions of the company and works with organizations and individuals in the Greater Pittsburgh area to keep their information systems running efficiently and securely.

Mr. Knapp also serves the community through his activities as President of the Board of Directors for the Saxonburg Area Business Association, Governance Committee Chair on the Board of Life’sWork of Western PA, and Board member of Downtown Kittanning Inc.

SABA was formed in June 1990 for the purpose of organizing, planning, and implementing functions to benefit our community by enhancing the economic prosperity of members, encouraging economic development of the area, and promoting free enterprise, growth, and quality of life in southeast Butler County, PA, especially in the greater Saxonburg region.

Connect with Kyle on LinkedIn and follow SABA on Facebook.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

The role of Business Associations
Networking opportunities for business owners
Resources for small businesses
Marketing your business on a budget
Getting started in business

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from the business radio studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Association Leadership Radio. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:17] Lee Kantor here another episode of Association Leadership Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Kyle Knapp and he is with the Saxon Berg Area Business Association. Welcome, Kyle.

Kyle Knapp: [00:00:30] Thank you, Lee. Great to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:31] Well, before we get too far into things, tell us about the Saxon Burg Area Business Association. How are you serving, folks?

Kyle Knapp: [00:00:39] Well, we started about 30 years ago, and we are focused on local governments, working with local governments to enhance the business environment for our members, as well as bringing consumers into the area through events and promotions for our members.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:00] Now, what was kind of what did something spur this 30 years ago that said, hey, you know what, maybe all the business folks should get together here and work together to for the greater good.

Kyle Knapp: [00:01:11] There was just a couple of folks that had stores and just really wanted to work together with the other people in the in the area to promote their businesses and to promote our town. We have a long, rich history, so we like to bring people in so they can see all the historical sites and visit our locations.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:34] That was that not being kind of those services, not being delivered by a Chamber of Commerce or other type of associations that typically form.

Kyle Knapp: [00:01:43] Yeah, we do have a Chamber of commerce and actually a tourism group also in our county. However, there’s a lot of history in our area. So yeah, we felt that we were a small piece of a larger pie. We really wanted to kind of take the bull by the horns and really promote our town on our own, in addition to the support provided by the Chamber and the Tourism Bureau.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:10] Now, how do you kind of see the the differences between a business association and a chamber?

Kyle Knapp: [00:02:16] The chamber is usually a larger geographic area, and they work with kind of county governments and maybe even the state governments in some sense. Whereas I think the business association is operate more on a local level. We can really get to know our members and work with our local government as far as the regulations and things that they can do to help our businesses prosper. And we also help to promote building owners to fill any open spots because it’s. Tourists, I think, like to see a bustling town and area and have a lot of things to do rather than see, you know, half of the the shops boarded up because no one’s operating out of it.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:07] So when you say that and it seems like you’re very collaborative, that everybody is kind of working together in this way. What drew you to this leadership role? I mean, what’s your day job?

Kyle Knapp: [00:03:20] My day job is running a company for offering I.T. support, computer support to small businesses. I started my company about four years ago, and the Saxon Burg Area Business Association was the first group that I joined. I thought that it made the most sense that they’re a local group. I already knew a lot of the people that were within that, and so I joined. I enjoyed the networking opportunities and within about a year and a half, I was elected as president of the organization. So I got to make a good impact on our town.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:56] So what’s kind of your dream like? What? What do you want more out of the like what kind of outcome do you desire from being the leader of this organization?

Kyle Knapp: [00:04:07] The outcome I desire is to see a robust economy in our local area with a lot of events that people can participate in that bring in outside consumers. Because our town is kind of in the middle of a triangle of major highways. So there’s really people don’t just come through. Saxon burg you don’t there’s just no three ways through. So we have to really have something, a destination, a reason for them to come visit. So I’d like to see all of our local businesses having events working together in just promoting our area.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:51] Now, for the business folks that join or should join, what are some of the reasons, the compelling reasons why, if you’re a business owner in the Saxon burg area, that this should be a must join group.

Kyle Knapp: [00:05:10] You know, one of the main benefits that we provide is promotion advertising. So we have a website. We list all of our members, all of our members information. We have a Facebook group where we promote our members. We’ll do spotlights periodically, where we talk about a business in our area, a little bit of their history, what they’re currently doing, what they’re offering. And then we actually do some paid ads or boosts on social media to yeah. To get the word out. The the networking opportunities are great with our our business is really work together a lot and try to patronize each other’s businesses rather than going outside, if possible. A lot of my clients have have come from joining the group and just being able to talk about what I do and in offering that service to the local businesses.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:07] Now, when you’re in the kind of the town environment that you’re in, a lot of folks are like, Well, why should I join the Business Association? Everybody knows who I am. It’s a small town. Everybody knows everybody. So is there is it worth the dues or the, you know, the time commitment to to actually be part of an association? I think that for most people, that that’s some consideration for people who are members of associations. And like you have leaned into this leadership role, it becomes a this is just kind of being a good corporate citizen. This is something you should be doing and you should be supporting everybody here because we’re all in this together. And and if we start failing individually, then as a collective, we’re all going to fail. So how do you kind of help make that case for your other business people that haven’t yet joined it?

Kyle Knapp: [00:07:01] Right. So, I mean, we really try to keep our our dues low just for that reason. I mean, it just make it an easy, easy entry for our new members and current members to remain. But one of the biggest things we do is we we leverage the group power to expand our influence further than we could as individuals. So we do some advertising through billboards, magazines, things that a an individual business on their own probably couldn’t afford. So this allows us to not just market to our local people who, like you say, a lot. A lot of the people in the local town know everybody knows everyone. But this expands our sphere of influence by. Standing together in using the power of of the group.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:58] Now, are you finding that you’re getting a lot of folks that are first time business people, like maybe they had a corporate job or a more worked for a larger enterprise and then they’re kind of going out on their own nowadays.

Kyle Knapp: [00:08:13] Yeah, we do have some of that. We have some some folks who have opened up stores. Maybe they retired from their their day job and this is just something to do in their golden years. But we also do have people who are currently even working in a another job, but they’re moonlighting and kind of testing the waters to see if their business idea can can take root and can become a full time venture for them.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:45] So is that something where the association can help them kind of learn the ropes of getting started in business?

Kyle Knapp: [00:08:52] Yeah, definitely. We have a lot of small business owners who have started on the business on their own. We can definitely provide feedback and advice, and particularly with resource other resources that businesses can use that they may not have known even existed before joining in getting the first hand knowledge. There’s just there’s so much information available on the on the Internet. It’s hard to filter through what’s really worth it or not. So I think having the advice of someone who’s been through that and who’s tried out different resources on what work best for them is really invaluable to a new business owner.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:36] Now, any advice for the people in a similar situation that you’re in kind of a smallish town? It’s super important the work that you’re doing, but it’s just you’ve got to kind of struggle to get the word out every day. You know, you’ve got to, you know, be present. You have to create events. There’s a lot of energy. You have to invest into this group that maybe isn’t appreciated by everybody, but it’s kind of like that unsung hero in the community that’s doing important work that maybe it isn’t at the forefront of other people’s minds.

Kyle Knapp: [00:10:09] Yeah, there can be some of that. But I mean, really keeping an eye on the on the bigger picture, what the reason or the purpose that you’re in that organization. And I also find that partnering with or at least making connections with other. Business associations and even even the chambers to to to work together in the when you find other people who are doing similar work and they have the enthusiasm enthusiasm it it compounds everyone’s enthusiasm kind of builds. And even if your organization does not have a lot of active members, just being involved with other people can share their, their, their passion for what they do. And there will come a time there will be people that ebbs and flows of people within the group that are organizing events, but keeping a steady hand on it will get you through the dips until you get some periods of high activity.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:14] So what’s been the most rewarding part of the job for you thus far? Has there been a moment where you’re like, Wow, this is really paying off? I can really see the impact I’m making, I think.

Kyle Knapp: [00:11:27] After COVID. I mean, during COVID, we all of our events, which were all in person where we did not have any that first year, the second year was very, very light. But this this past year, going into this year, we have basically revived and added new events. We so we’re we’re going stronger now than we were before COVID. So I think that that just shows the resiliency of everyone. And we also going into COVID had several storefronts that were empty, businesses had closed or moved, and we were able to get to 100% occupancy after COVID. And I think that’s just a great sign of the of how our our local community is thriving.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:16] Well, congratulations on that. That is a big achievement. And you can see that the impact is real. I mean, it takes that whole team in order to keep that going. That wouldn’t have happened by itself.

Kyle Knapp: [00:12:30] Absolutely. It’s nothing. Nothing happens very little. It happens by accident. I mean, you do have to put in some effort, but it is very rewarding to see the outcome when when it happens.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:46] Yeah. And you can see that people are really hungry for that sense of community and the working together and getting back to that some sense of normalcy of everybody’s in person, you know, looking each other in the eyes, shaking their hands.

Kyle Knapp: [00:12:59] Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:01] So what do you need more of? How can we help you at Saxon burg and also in your day job? Business vegetarian?

Kyle Knapp: [00:13:09] Well, I mean, any any opportunity to promote our town and say, hey, we’ve got a great little community here. We have a lot of shops, a lot of great restaurants to visit. So if you if you’re in the area where in the greater Pittsburgh area, just northeast of Pittsburgh. So if you happen to be in Pittsburgh and you have a data that you want to take a look at, some some great American history, we have that to offer. And for my my day job, I work in cybersecurity for for all businesses. And it really doesn’t matter where they are. A lot of my work is remote, so if anyone is having difficulty finding a provider or just wants some feedback, some maybe a second opinion on what they can do to secure their local networks, I’m happy to have a conversation.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:01] All right. Well, if somebody wants to learn more about Saxon Burg Business Association, what’s the website?

Kyle Knapp: [00:14:07] The website is WW dot Saxon business dot org.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:13] Good stuff. Well, Kyle, thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Kyle Knapp: [00:14:19] Thank you, Lee. I appreciate it. And. Thanks for having me on the show.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:23] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Association Leadership Radio.

Voice Over Artist and Audiobook Narrator Sharon Cline

June 29, 2022 by Jacob Lapera

Cherokee Business Radio

Voice Over Artist and Audiobook Narrator Sharon Cline

00:00 /

This Episode was brought to you by

Sharon Cline is a professional voice-over artist and audiobook narrator in Atlanta, and she has recorded voiceovers for podcasts, authors, internal company videos, doctor’s offices, automated voice recordings, and you can hear her on YouTube and educational videos. She has recorded 16 audiobooks so far, and love working with authors and businesses alike.

Connect with Sharon on LinkedIn.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

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

Stone Payton: [00:00:23] Welcome to Cherokee Business Radio Stone Payton here with you this morning. And today’s episode is brought to you in part by Alma Coffee, sustainably grown, veteran owned and direct trade, which of course means from seed to cup, there are no middlemen. Please go check them out at my Alma coffee and go visit their Roastery Cafe at 34 or 48 Holly Springs Parkway in Canton. As for Harry or the brains of the outfit Leticia and please tell them that Stone sent you. You guys are in for a real treat this morning and please join me in welcoming to the broadcast voiceover artist and audiobook narrator Miss Sharon Cline. Good morning.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:07] Good morning. Thank you for having me.

Stone Payton: [00:01:08] Oh, what a delight to have you in the studio. So, voiceover artists, audiobook. Narrator Why, when, how, what compelled you to get into this line of work?

Sharon Cline: [00:01:20] Well, I used to do a lot of driving down to Atlanta every day, and I would listen to a lot of audiobooks, which is the most fun for me, because I’d be excited to get back in my car to kind of hear what was happening with the rest of the story. And so I really just thought, well, I wonder if I could do any of these kind of characters or I think I just got so used to hearing what it sounded like. I wondered if I could sound the same. So I did some I did some research online and I found a website called Ask.com, and it teaches you kind of how to become an audiobook narrator and what you need and how to be successful. And so I started to audition for different books and got a few books, and that just started sort of my, my audio journey and then voiceover work a couple of years later, I thought, gosh, you know, it’d be nice to, to do something similar, but, but a shorter amount of time because books can be, you know, months of recording, you know, in my spare time outside of my my regular everyday job. So but the goal would be to be able to make this kind of work, my everyday job. So it’s part of why I’m here with you. So I really appreciate the time.

Stone Payton: [00:02:27] Yeah. So I hadn’t thought about the character aspect so, so much. So do you have an acting background or like did you do community theater? Did you were you always in the high school play kind of thing?

Sharon Cline: [00:02:38] It was, you know, my story is like you’re following me. Yeah, no, I really was. I did a lot of theater in high school and, you know, like musicals and just kind of loved getting into characters. And so I think one of one of the most fun parts about doing the audiobooks and recording is kind of, you know, becoming a different person. And I’m trying to identify with the energy of who that person is to make it easy for the person listening to automatically know this character speaking. You know, it’s different from when you’re just reading a book and you’re hearing voices in your head as opposed to hearing it. You know, you don’t want someone to question who’s speaking and get confused.

Intro: [00:03:13] So.

Stone Payton: [00:03:14] Well, I can’t imagine that challenge because it’s one thing to see an actor on stage and they’re in costume and they have different movements. And maybe, maybe now that I’m a little more informed, I’ll look and listen for different voice, too. But you’ve got to do it all with the voice, right?

Sharon Cline: [00:03:30] So the main, if it’s a woman speaking, usually I get a book where the main character is is a woman. So I have like a certain tone for her. And then her friends will come along and they’ll either have a higher pitch or a lower pitch or an accent. And and then, of course, men will be speaking. So I try to speak in a bit of like a lower tone, not not exactly like that. But I try to make it sound more distinctive so that when you’re listening, they don’t always say he said. She said it’s more just a natural flow of conversation.

Stone Payton: [00:03:58] So of course, I’m a huge admirer of Frank Caliendo. The me and my nephew candidly does a pretty darn good Christopher Walken and Donald Trump. No kidding. So he’s like entertainment at the family dinner, right? And I enjoy the heck out of it, but I wouldn’t even know where to begin. So you just you’ve had to train yourself. You’ve gone to help get people to help you. How does that.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:23] Work? Well, I really kind of I look up YouTube videos a lot on different accents. Like there was one book that I did where a character was from Jamaica. Yeah, I think. And I was like, I don’t.

Intro: [00:04:36] Know, I sound like an idiot.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:38] I sound like an idiot. And people are going to hate this book and write the author. And so I just did a lot of like listening over and over to just the tone. And I checked with the author and it’s like, Here’s how I sound. Are you happy with this? Because my goal as sure is to make the author just so happy and feel like, Oh, yes, this is exactly what I was looking for. That’s the way I want to be. With anyone I’m interacting with in this industry is to just hope that they’re extremely happy with everything that I’ve done and that that they feel like, okay, yes, this this is brought to life, my product. This has brought to life these characters. And it’s very special. When an author feels that way, it’s like very satisfying for me.

Stone Payton: [00:05:16] Well, no, that’s that’s the beginning, too, to the answer, I’m sure. But a question I wanted to ask you is, why do you. You feel that that that this kind of work is so important to business, to businesses and authors?

Sharon Cline: [00:05:28] And that’s a good question. It is a good question, I think, in terms of business or product. When I read a statistic and I wish I could give you the exact source, so I hope you believe me. But there’s about 8 seconds that we have when we’re listening to something for for an ad to catch our attention, because I do the same thing. If I’m not really into it, I switch over to something else. So having a voice set the tone of of what your product is or your business is or your services is really important. It gives an energy. It gives almost a call to action. Listen. Listen to what I have to say. This is important. You know, it brings to life your product. And it and it explains in a really super concise, non confusing way. Usually this is the problem that people have. This is an answer. You know, it could be us and this is why we’re different and this and so it’s it makes it’s this the product or service that you have or even book. It sounds very professional and serious and not just someone off the street speaking. And I think a voiceover artist kind of knows the audience as well, knows what audiences want, because that’s kind of what they’re thinking about all the time. What what would someone want to hear and how how how can you make it sound even more appealing than than just someone on the street speaking? So I think that’s why it feels really important is is to have that professional sound be taken seriously, set the tone, explain in a concise way why your product is wonderful or different or important. You know what your values are.

Stone Payton: [00:07:01] So, so, so let’s walk that through a little bit. What are some of the applications? One that comes immediately to mind, of course, is the we interview a lot of business authors here throughout the Business RadioX network. A long, long time ago, when I had black hair, I self-published a book. Right. Good for you. But there are a lot of people out there in the business world. So that’s one application is to is to have their book have an audio version of their book. But there must be a ton of other applications for this.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:33] I agree the voiceover industry is so huge and I’m just still what, two years into it? So I’m not as definitely not an expert yet. I hope to be some day. But just from the experience that I’ve had in kind of dabbling in this industry and I did go to school for it. So got some really good insight into different ways that I can market myself. And one of the big genres is, is like computer games and video games and it’s it’s huge. I would love to get involved in that way some way and be a character on one of these kinds of games. And it can go on and on and on. And that’s the goal kind of for me is steady work. But also if you you’ve got obviously radio and commercials and you’ve got oh my goodness, I’m trying to think there’s like so many different aspects. It’s kind of crazy because when you really pay attention, you can hear how voices are involved in so many different parts of our lives. And I watch TV, obviously, and have hear a commercial come on and I wonder, what would I sound like if I had tried to done that? But but also there’s voice over announcing people like if you’re having an event and you need someone to speak and kind of announce people’s names, right? What’s happening? There are different videos that you can do as you’re walking around town, like there are media companies that need a voice for an explanation of what their projects are. There are real estate offices that would like to hire people to kind of explain this model home is coming and put that on YouTube. And I’ve done medical explainer videos like software that’s that’s brand new for a medical office and they want to have like their whole team learn how to use it. I’ve done the the voice for the explaining how that works. Gosh, I can’t even think it’s so funny. I’m like, race, my mind is racing. So I sound great and articulate. I’m sure I sound great.

Intro: [00:09:27] No, you don’t.

Stone Payton: [00:09:28] And I know our listeners can feel it too, and I can certainly feel it in this room. Your your passion for this work. I mean, this really I mean, I think this is what you’re meant to do.

Sharon Cline: [00:09:36] That’s so sweet. It’s very fun. And I find a lot of joy in it, which is to me, that’s kind of the key if you’re really finding some joy in what you’re doing. You know, it’s not really just about me making tons of money. It’s it’s it’s providing a service that you’re happy with. And we both win. You know, that’s the best is when there’s a win win, you know, you’re happy. I’m happy. You know, let’s hope. Let’s hope everyone walks away with a good feeling.

Stone Payton: [00:09:58] Sure. Okay. So how does the and I’m sure the answer to this is evolving, but how does the whole sales and marketing thing work for a small business like this? How do you get on people’s radar? How do you get those first conversations to talk to somebody about, Hey, maybe I could voice over your training videos or something?

Sharon Cline: [00:10:15] It’s a great question. There are lots of different ways that I could be marketing more, and it’s kind of my goal this year is. Actually to build this business. And and this actually is is part of it. I started to go to some local business meetings once a week like.

Stone Payton: [00:10:31] Like Woodstock Business Club or why or. Those are my those are my two. You know.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:35] I go to FAO and that’s how I met you. And it’s really great in that I feel like I’m not just a name or just even a voice that you hear somewhere. It’s getting to know people because ultimately that’s what business is. It’s it’s meeting with people and interacting with people. And I wanted to build my own brand in that way, not just be a business card or a mailer. I wanted to be a person. And I think just having met all the so many different, really wonderful and innovative and smart people that work here in Woodstock, it’s really been fun to say, you know, do you have an an interest? Like there’s the Reeves house, which has it’s an art center, but it’s also coffee.

Stone Payton: [00:11:18] Right. Right.

Sharon Cline: [00:11:18] To go and get a drink.

Stone Payton: [00:11:19] Beer and wine and some great waffles and before. What a waste. They promoted Zack, and now he’s running more stuff. But, Zack, if you guys have ever met Zack, he makes these sirups out of beer and it poured over. No, I love. I love everything about the retail.

Sharon Cline: [00:11:35] I’ve never had. That sounds amazing, but that’s what I mean. So if, like, let’s imagine that they had a little video that they wanted to explain their new I don’t know, sirup, you know, like, and put it on YouTube or put it on their website. Perfect. Exactly. Something like that. So I try to speak to different people. You know, there are mortgage lenders that are there. You know, do you have any need for a communication that you’d like to explain to people? Or is it do you need some direction on something? I mean, I would love to be able to help people to get whatever their message is out into the world in a way that they’re really happy with.

Stone Payton: [00:12:08] So let’s talk about process and again, probably evolving, but let’s walk. Let’s say that you do get a chance to have a meaningful, substantive conversation with Darren Hunter over there, over there at Mortgage. Mortgage. What is the name of his outfit that isn’t that awful? Anyway, Darren is a great he’s the mortgage hunter, you know. All right. So you talked to Darren. You meet him at Woodstock Business Club or around town or something, and he says, okay, yeah, tell me more. What what’s the process particularly like early in the Engage, you sit down and kind of think through goals and stuff.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:39] Yes, that’s exactly right. So what are some of the needs that you have? So for example, if he’s saying, well, we’ve got a new kind of mortgage that we would like to promote to people, well, I would ask him to come up with some of the highlights and a script of of how he would like it to sound. What are some of your what would you like the audience to know the most about and what would you like them to do about it? And how are you different? Those are some of the the highlights that I think are important. So I have a studio in my basement. It’s a it’s a booth. It’s not a studio. This is a.

Stone Payton: [00:13:10] Studio. But you can well, I mean, it’s a different application. This is an application of some of this kind of work. But you can go in your booth and you can create really high quality stuff.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:19] That’s it.

Stone Payton: [00:13:20] You edit it, all that stuff.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:21] That’s right. And it’s really important to have the correct equipment. The sound is obviously it’s everything. So having the right software and microphone and being able to edit out certain sounds that just letters that are difficult to nail because they just pop too hard, you know. So anyway, there’s there are a lot of really great ways to make yourself sound so professional, so that it’s it’s very low, low noise floor so you can’t hear anything in the background. It’s just the message is as clear and concise as possible. So I can do that and turn that audio around and, you know, 12 hours. And it’s great because there are different ways to process the files. And if anything is like a real immediate of course, let me help you right now. So yeah, so I would be able to send them an audio file and have them, I don’t know, even if they wanted something on their their voice, like as an answering service. You know, I have one one of the companies I do is, you know, thank you for calling Stone Payton.

Intro: [00:14:20] Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:21] For this press one for, you know. So those are really important as well.

Stone Payton: [00:14:24] You know, you just just occurred to me, if anybody should have a really good, solid professional sounding voicemail, it’s Business RadioX people.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:32] Well, you know.

Stone Payton: [00:14:33] All of us do.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:33] Right? It’s true. But whoever did your intro, I was like, Who is this lady? She sounds great. She sounds great. You don’t need me at all.

Stone Payton: [00:14:40] I don’t know. Well, we’ll find out. But that’s another application, right? Exactly. And podcasting is so prolific. Not a lot of folks I don’t think are doing what we do with the in-studio and all the comforts. Right. But there’s a I don’t know, maybe they are. But there’s I mean, a lot of people are doing the podcasting. And so to reach out and have you do.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:57] Those, it’s true in the pandemic. That’s kind of when I started to do I had been going to school a couple of months doing voiceover, and that’s when the pandemic hit. And so I had no idea but was able to kind of watch as my business and kind of as I was learning it really did change. There’s so many people talked about, I’m home, I’m home, I can’t go to a studio, I can’t do anything. And so actually, I lost some. Opportunities to buy equipment because they were being sold so fast, because people were doing things from home, which is great and it’s actually a wonderful business to be part of, to not have to go to a big studio or live near a big city. I’m obviously able to just be in my B in my booth, used to be my closet. Now I have a booth and just, you know, record and feel like I’ve got opportunities to affect the whole world in a really small way. I’ve done podcast intros before. I’ve done questions for podcasts. It’s like it really does set a really nice tone of these people have invested time in making sure they sound polished and professional and it just gives, like, a nice feeling to to a consumer.

Stone Payton: [00:16:03] All right. So let’s go on the other side of the table. Someone who is pretty sure or at least they’re interested in exploring the idea of of capitalizing on talents like yours. I don’t even in fact, I know for sure I don’t know what to ask, what to look for when I begin. I mean, I do now. I just I just I’ll just reach out to Sharon. But but right. But but you and I haven’t gotten to know each other a little bit. And maybe even looking at doing some projects together, I wouldn’t know how to go about shopping for what kind of questions, what am I looking for? What should I be asking?

Sharon Cline: [00:16:35] You know, it’s interesting. There are a lot of people who if they’re looking for a voiceover artist or even an audiobook narrator, they have an idea of what they want the sound to be, but they don’t know it till they hear it, which sounds kind of odd, but it is very subjective. My voice is not for everyone, which is totally fine. I want to be whatever anyone really feels and identifies with. That’s what I want the most. But I would say that where I have a lot of my work I get from voices dot com. So if you’re interested in hiring a voiceover artist for a book or anything else, that’s one of the websites that I’m listed on and really appreciate. And if you Google like voice artists, you’ll find so many different ones and it’s nice they have samples of how people sound. So it’s not just what someone looks like or, you know, what other work that they’ve done, their list, their resume, it’s how do you sound and do you do you have an emotional connection at all to any of the products that I that I want? So I do a lot of auditioning stuff.

Stone Payton: [00:17:36] So there’s these demo kind of reel and some voiceover artists might even be willing to do like a little brief auditioning.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:44] Kind of thing. I do. I audition all the time. It’s just. Yeah, and the more the better. Yes. And I obviously don’t always get jobs, but I feel like every time I audition and I’m trying to identify with the energy and the and the emotion of whatever spot this is, I get better and better.

Stone Payton: [00:18:01] Okay. So let’s let’s say that I do this or I don’t call you because I really need a male voice for this or whatever, or young or kid or something. And I like this, but but what else should I be? I should be asking how they work, I guess. And there’s other stuff I should get. That’s right. Lined up, right?

Sharon Cline: [00:18:17] Yes. A lot of people want to know what’s the equipment that you have? What is your turnaround time?

Stone Payton: [00:18:22] Well, turnaround time, yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:23] Okay. Do you do edits or, you know, revisions if I’m not happy and some people are not as detectable as others. So if you were like, you know, I really like the way this sounded, but can you say it just a little bit faster or a little bit slower? Put an emphasis on this word. You know, I tried.

Stone Payton: [00:18:39] To.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:40] I really like the I’m very direct. I don’t know what’s the.

Intro: [00:18:44] Word you can direct for me. You can direct me, right?

Sharon Cline: [00:18:48] Yeah. And I think it’s just important because, again, I’m such a pleaser regarding this job. I really the industry itself, I’m just like, why do I want you to be so happy? What do you want? You know, I’ll do it. And so definitely being able to have someone kind of listen and take direction and adjust themselves to to kind of match what your vision is. And even if you’re just starting, if you have no idea what you want something to sound like, here’s the script, here’s what I’ve got. Do you like how this is? It’s a starting point. And I think that’s kind of fun to with books because a lot of times the authors that I’ve worked with have not done an audio book before. And when they hear their characters come to life, it’s like so special. And I don’t know, it’s like a really I feel like, so honored, you know? It’s like a little sacred thing that I get to do is to be part of what their little vision is, you know? So I really appreciate the opportunities for sure, and I’m grateful for them.

Stone Payton: [00:19:36] Well, I can tell that you are. What are you enjoying the most? What are you finding the most rewarding about this pursuit? Whoa.

Sharon Cline: [00:19:42] Okay, I love these questions. I’m taking them for myself. So when I have an interview show someday.

Stone Payton: [00:19:47] Oh, you’re going to have a show. We’re going to talk about that after this.

Intro: [00:19:50] Oh.

Stone Payton: [00:19:50] You’re going to have a show.

Intro: [00:19:52] Well.

Sharon Cline: [00:19:53] I can’t wait. This is so fun. So I think the most rewarding is when I feel like I’ve really been able to identify with what an author or a business or producer is looking for, like the energy of what they want, the tone of what they want. And I feel like I’ve been able to match it, understand it and match it. I don’t know. There’s just like I just get a little thrill about it myself. I’m like, Yeah, I did what I did it. You know, I some the way that I was put together in the way I. Sound naturally somehow really makes someone else really happy.

Stone Payton: [00:20:25] With, yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:26] Whatever I can do for them. So there’s just like a really personal, deep satisfaction. I get out of that and it’s just like a little party I have. Any time I get hired to do anything, I already have one for sure, but I’m still just so honored, so honored and just want to, you know, prove them right for choosing me. I guess so. Yeah, it’s really it’s really fun. I mean, and an author being super happy is. Yeah, it’s oh, it’s the best. Yeah. I feel like they’re my, they’re my people. I don’t know. They’re my family now.

Stone Payton: [00:20:55] All right. So let’s shift gears here for a moment. Talk about being an entrepreneur, the decision, because that can be a daunting prospect for some people. Was there like this catalytic moment? Was it just a slow roll and you eased into it, accidentally tripped over it? Because I’ve heard all of those things over the years. Yeah, let’s let’s let’s talk about that a little bit. What was what was that?

Sharon Cline: [00:21:18] So when I started to do audiobooks, being paid was, was part of the process. Like, how do I what what is going to happen now? So I had to create, you know, a little business for myself so that I had a tax ID number. And really I stumble through everything. I kind of the first thing I did when I decided to do audiobooks is I put like a little sample of what I sound like. And I auditioned for a couple of different ones. And when I got hired, I actually had like a total meltdown. Like, what.

Intro: [00:21:40] Do you mean? Oh, no, I got.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:41] To do this for real. I’m like, What does this mean? I don’t even have this or that. Like, I kind of like through the through the phishing hook out there. And it someone caught it and I was like, Oh, no. So then I had to kind of go backwards. Well, what do I need to actually make this work? And in in figuring all of that out, it’s a lot of resources on the Internet, obviously, of how to create your own business. You have to make a name and apply and pay certain fees or actually I don’t even remember. I just kind of did. Everything was like, please, please make this work. I hope I did this right. But yeah. So in the beginning it was really just doing audiobooks and kind of everything I did was just online and very slow and I wanted it to be so good. And just as time’s gone on and I think I’ve done maybe like 16 or 17 audiobooks. Wow. Yeah. So I realized, well, I really kind of need to understand how to market myself as Yeah. And with voiceover work enormously competitive and very subjective, I can only sound how I sound.

Stone Payton: [00:22:37] And you are doing a great job and it’s just this is like an audition for a movie, you know, I need somebody five, eight and you’re five five, right?

Sharon Cline: [00:22:44] Exactly right. It’s just very it’s very interesting because it can I just I just booked one for Harley-Davidson, which I actually do ride a motorcycle. And I think that’s why I got this job, is because I can understand, I guess, the energy behind the spot. But I never would have thought they would have chosen me over anybody else that auditioned. I’m like, why me? Why question it? Just be happy, you know, but at the same time just be great, which I am. But it is just so almost random and serendipity and who knows the right person at the right time. So I just keep trying to put myself out there, I guess, and hope someone likes it. But as far as building the business, this next part, being a voiceover artist and and and trying to understand the different markets and what they want and how the how to best help them. I through school actually, I had gone to a studio called Such a Voice and they helped me to understand that there’s just the first part of of trying to become a really effective voiceover artist.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:41] But the other part is letting people know who you are. And I have not embraced that as much as as I would like. So again, that’s why I kind of this year has been my don’t hide, you know, be brave. Go out there and try to help yourself to to learn, not just, I guess, kind of to avoid hiding. Because for me, I’m like, oh, I’m in my closet or I’m in my studio and you know, no one kind of knows where I am or what I’m doing. But that’s not going to to grow kind of my business, which is ultimately, yeah, I would love for this to be every day, my full time, every day. And getting to know people is, is a huge part of it. Not, not just I’m sharing voiceover artist. I’m sharing this kind of what I’m all about and what I what drives me. And, you know, I like getting to know you and your story, too. It was really fun. We met for coffee at the Reeves house, and it was really it was really.

Intro: [00:24:29] Fun to.

Sharon Cline: [00:24:29] Just sit and chat and kind of, you know, what are the ways that you kind of move through the world and is there a way that I can help you and do that as well? So yeah, I don’t that was very random. All the different things I know. I think it’s I answer your question.

Stone Payton: [00:24:41] I think it’s a marvelous piece of counsel for all of the entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs out there. Don’t hide.

Intro: [00:24:48] No, no, that’s perfect.

Sharon Cline: [00:24:50] It’s it’s it’s a challenge. I naturally don’t want to, you know, be brave. I tend to want to just, like, comfort. And so, yeah, it’s forcing myself to to to say, what’s the worst that can happen? They just say no and can I take a no? Heck yeah, I can take a no. So. Right, yeah. That’s the best thing I can think. I can think at this moment, maybe I’ll have better words in like five years.

Stone Payton: [00:25:11] So you get four or five no’s in a row or things don’t go well or you’re buried or you run out of gas and all that kind of stuff. Where do you go? And I don’t necessarily mean if. Physical place, although the answer might be motorcycle. Where do you go to get recharged to get kind of inspiration rejuvenated? What’s your path for that?

Sharon Cline: [00:25:31] Oh, my goodness. So I go through phases of being enormously, enormously busy. And then I think you’re right. Like, I will run out of gas a little bit where I’m just. Oh, I got to I got to not worry about this. I can’t be in that in my booth all, all day. So, yeah, I definitely try to balance out my life a little bit, but. I read a lot of blogs. I’m on different Facebook pages that are associated with voiceovers. And so when I read what other people are working on it, it’s very inspiring for me. Yeah, yeah. In different questions. They have also problems that they come up with that I haven’t experienced yet. Well, I think it’s wonderful that people are willing to share kind of their experiences and what are things to look out for. So I try to keep my my mind focused on those. It’s kind of nice with social media, but I also look at my audition pages and what different jobs are out there. And some are super inspiring for me and some I’m like, Oh no, I wouldn’t do that one. I know a lot of people I’ve been asked to like. Are there things that you won’t do? And there are some people don’t want to do a political ads. I tend to stay away from those as well. But anything that can kind of like make a little spark, oh, I know what this is like. I know. You know, if it’s about a Prius because I drive a Prius, well, I’d be happy to.

Intro: [00:26:44] Do it.

Sharon Cline: [00:26:45] Because I know what that feels like. So if there’s something I can identify with personally, it really helps to make the audition or the spot sound, I guess, identifiable, you know? And that’s the goal is to really have a moment when you’re auditioning or or is, is to get someone to feel the emotion behind the spot. It’s not just this is a great glass of water, you know, but it’s like, why is this a great glass of water? So you kind of go back to how can you get someone to understand the passion behind why this water is so great, you know? So it really is. It’s just acting. A lot of acting, not just acting, but it’s a lot of acting. But yeah, so I think I just try to keep my mind focused in that way. I can definitely balance myself out easy by doing other things. But yeah, I think it’s trying to find that balance is really important because I can get burnt out pretty quick.

Stone Payton: [00:27:32] This is turning out to be the Sharon Klein Masterclass on Entrepreneurship.

Intro: [00:27:36] No, it’s not.

Stone Payton: [00:27:37] No, you don’t hide. You decide where you draw your lines. You look for the balance. You look for the inspiration. You look for the connection. This is perfect.

Intro: [00:27:44] I love you.

Sharon Cline: [00:27:46] I’m so glad you’re not disappointed.

Stone Payton: [00:27:47] No, no, I’m learning. Okay, so where’s this thing headed? You touched on it early in the conversation, but it sounds to me like you’ve got a pretty, pretty clear vision of where you want to take this thing.

Sharon Cline: [00:27:58] Yeah, I do. So when I was going to college, I was. I worked at a radio station at Kennesaw State University. Go Owls. Anyway, I loved it. I loved it. And it was just so much fun. I had a couple of different radio shows and I would interview different people on campus and I just thought, This is like joy for me. I have the highest joy. And because I really do, I like people so much and just kind of understanding people, I like to identify with them in some way. So I think that would be my ultimate goal, is to be able to still somehow do radio and and get to know people and not just have I mean, I’d love to I’d love to do it all. Like, I love to have books and I love voiceovers, but also, yeah, just chat with people and kind of. I don’t know. See what they’re all about. And is there is there a way that anything that I can do can help? Because I do think that we’re all here to kind of help each other, I think.

Stone Payton: [00:28:46] Amen. I agree.

Intro: [00:28:48] Yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:28:49] All right. So if our listeners want to get in touch with you and have a conversation with you on any of these topics, let’s leave them with some coordinates, whatever you think is appropriate, whether it’s LinkedIn, email, website, but I want to make sure they can connect with you.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:01] That’s so sweet. So my my website is Sharon Klein C, Klein E and I have my phone number there and I have like a little form that you can fill out and those samples of how I sound. So if it sounds like something that could work for you. All right, but feel free. Feel free to let me know. I’d love to help.

Stone Payton: [00:29:20] Well, it has been an absolute delight having you in the studio this morning. Thanks for coming and hanging out with us.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:26] Thank you for having me. You’re so sweet.

Stone Payton: [00:29:27] Yeah. We’re going to do some more of this if things go my way.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:30] Oh, okay. I’m on board.

Stone Payton: [00:29:32] All right. This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Sharon Klein, voiceover artist and audiobook narrator and everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying, we’ll see you next time on Cherokee Business Radio.

Katherine Saez With Truist

June 28, 2022 by Jacob Lapera

Atlanta Business Radio

Katherine Saez With Truist

00:00 /

Katie Saez is Executive Vice President and Georgia Regional President for Truist Financial Corporation. In this role, Ms. Saez serves as the senior leader in the Georgia Market, responsible for direction and integrating client management business development efforts with privately-held companies operating in business banking, commercial, middle market and commercial real estate, as well as nonprofit and governmental entities.

Ms. Saez leads our Truist Atlanta Advisory Council and has direct oversight of the Truist Foundation and Trusteed Foundation Local Advisory Councils.

A 22-year veteran of the financial services industry, Ms. Saez joined Truist (formerly SunTrust) in 2000. Prior to her current role, Ms. Saez was Head of Sales for the Corporate & Institutional Group, Wealth, and Specialty Treasury groups within wholesale payments.

During her career at Truist, she has managed sales and marketing functions in multiple Lines of Business, developing successful programs to drive revenue, increase teammate effectiveness, and improve the client experience. She is a graduate of the SunTrust Commercial Banking Training Program.

Through her service on Truist’s Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion council and company-wide business resource groups, Ms. Saez seeks to promote a more purpose-, mission-, and values- centered working environment at Truist. She is committed to investing in the next generation at Truist by mentoring and sponsoring junior talent to help propel them forward in their careers.

Ms. Saez earned an MBA in Finance from Georgia State University and a BSBA in Finance from the University of Florida. She serves as Executive Partner of Georgia Allies, is a member of the Association of Financial Professionals and holds the Certified Treasury Professional accreditation. Ms. Saez is a native of Jacksonville, Florida.

Connect with Katie on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

About Truist
The biggest opportunity for Truist in Georgia
How Truist able to bring a high-level of personalization to its clientele
How has Truist continued to enhance its offerings to provide a better financial experience for its clients

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio brought to you by on pay Atlanta’s new standard in payroll. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:24] 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 on pay. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Atlanta Business Radio, we have Katie Sayers with Truist. Welcome, Katie.

Katie Saez: [00:00:41] Good morning. I’m glad to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:43] Well, as the Georgia regional president, you’ve got quite a task ahead of you. Can you tell us a little bit about kind of your vision for Truist?

Katie Saez: [00:00:55] Yeah. I’ll, I’ll be glad to. And I’m glad to be on this morning. In May of this year, I stepped into the Georgia regional president role for Truist. And and a little bit of a way with a little bit of a homecoming for me. I spent the first half of my career in commercial banking here at Truist, started out in SunTrust Bank and the old commercial banking training program straight out of college and spent about 14 years here in a different commercial banking roles and then spent the last nine years of my career on the wholesale payment side. So the Treasury and payment side and a few months ago was asked to step into this role. And while there is a lot of new faces and some new ways of doing things, I’m glad to see that the foundations that I learned back in that training program over 20 years ago were still are our guide star here. So while banking is is not quite a commodity, it’s still very much a people business where relationships matter and truth is invested heavily in technology and creating those innovative products that our clients are demanding. But it’s still a people business and Truist is still very much committed to the communities that we serve. So let me go back to this role as regional president here for Truist. My role here is to help bring the Truist purpose to life. Our purpose is to inspire and build better lives and communities. And it’s my job as regional president to make sure that we’re delivering on this across Georgia. So I’ll be making sure that we’re bringing our best thinking and expertise to clients and gathering and sharing insights from across the region. So specifically, I lead our commercial banking team and we deliver comprehensive financial solutions to business clients here in Georgia. So I work with my teammates on direct client management and on business development activities. All of that will integrate to our truist lines of business for the benefits of our clients and the communities that we serve.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:55] Now, when you’re saying commercial on business, how are you defining that? Is a business that one solopreneur or or is it only kind of these mega enterprises?

Katie Saez: [00:03:08] Well, you know, we want to help and advise businesses at all stages of their life cycle, whether it’s in capital formation or cash management, risk management, employee benefits or personal financial management. And we do that across the entire spectrum. So we we bank and meet with businesses from inception all the way up to those big mega businesses that you just mentioned. Our core commercial banking team, of which I have responsibility, really focuses in on this privately held businesses and enterprises that, you know, are have revenues, you know, all the way from the low end of the spectrum to the top. And we work with them on working capital optimization, on capital expenditures, and we work in concert with our partners in the retail bank who typically work with some of the smaller organizations that you’ll find here in Atlanta, as well as our corporate and investment bank who are working primarily with with public companies.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:18] So when you’re dealing with a kind of micro business versus a mega business, they have different needs and different levels of service in order to help them each be successful. Are you saying that kind of in the branch level is where that kind of the micro business can get kind of the most relationship advice and relationship building happening in that in that scenario as opposed to these enterprise level or are dealing mainly with kind of a truist at the corporate level.

Katie Saez: [00:04:54] Well, we talk here at Truist about being an advisor to businesses throughout their entire life cycle. So whether we’re talking about a small, perhaps newly started or perhaps even a more tenured but smaller organization that might be handled out of the branch or someone that’s more established and more mature within their life cycle, we might handle them, might be a better fit here within our commercial community bank, regardless of where their needs are met, whether it’s in the branch or here in my part of the organization or within Truist securities, where they perhaps have gone public. We still take that same advisory approach here with our clients. So our relationship teams, we want to support the business owner through commercial financial services, capital formation and leverage the expertise of our organization, whether it’s on our premier or a private banking side, our mortgage partners, our treasury and payment partners, where I came from, or our insurance partners and as they grow, as they expand, become more mature within their life cycle. The way that we deliver to the bank might change a little bit and the breadth of the offering that we bring. But what you’re going to see is more specialized solutions that we bring to them. So at Truist, we utilize a pretty unique, I think, community banking model, and that combines a decentralized regional structure, which I lead here with industry expertise and banking expertise. So what this does is allows us to use our regional teams, local market knowledge of the businesses that we work with and then customize the solutions based upon their individual client needs. So we work together as a team. We I work directly my team here were directly with a group of industry consultants and they have what I call extraordinary expertise and experience of some of the fastest growing and most complex industries here in Georgia.

Katie Saez: [00:07:12] So some of them are food and agribusiness, logistics and supply chains, beverage education, health care, etc.. So let me let me maybe perhaps bring this to life with an example. Let’s take higher education. We have local relationship managers on my team that sit here with me and Truist Plaza, downtown Atlanta that work with some higher education clients, but they partner with industry experts that also sit here in this building with me. And these experts help us speak and understand the financial language of that industry. We understand the lagging and the leading indicators that help drive that business or this organization. Our industry focus helps help us take conversations deeper and faster by having that specialist in the room. So again, back on higher education, we can advise on campus planning to keep pace with academic and technological advances. Strategic Endowment and Investment guide us to make sure that their portfolio design meets their objectives and risk tolerance and operational needs, and then helping them manage stakeholder payments and cash flow to preserve liquidity. So we will work alongside schools to help develop a very highly customized capital solution that supports the school strategic initiatives. So, you know, I think that’s an example that regardless of the size of the organization or if you’re a public or private, you’re not for profit. We have a team of people here at Truist that can meet the needs of the unique needs of that organization, regardless of where they are in their life cycle. We’ll work very closely internally to make sure that we’re really delivering the entire breadth of capabilities and solutions that we have to offer.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:00] So how do you recommend your clients interact with Truist? What should this be? A regularly scheduled meeting where you’re updating each other of where there’s opportunities or where you’re having challenges? What how does that relationship kind of look in real life when you’re working with? Because I would imagine that you would recommend that your banker be one of your trusted advisors that is involved in your business. So how does that look in real life?

Katie Saez: [00:09:31] Sure. Well, look, I’ll focus in on my team and commercial banking here. Each of our relationships manager, relationship managers here have a portfolio of clients, and they are the primary point of contact for that client with Truist. And that relationship is going to look a little bit different based upon the unique needs that client. But what’s what’s similar is the way that we engage and our commitment to that client. So typically what that means, we have a team of people that’s working with the client. The relationship manager takes the lead and ensuring that we are regularly engaged and connected with that client. We typically sit down at least on an annual basis and do a full relationship review, and then oftentimes based upon the specific strategies and complexities of that business, we’re meeting on a much more frequent basis. And oftentimes we’re coming out and we’re delivering a Treasury management review where we’re talking through strategies on how to optimize that. Companies working capital. You know, we try to bring clear insights and guidance and advice from what we’re learning from our other clients, what we’re learning in the industry and here on the banking side, and bring those insights to that particular relationship. So we’ll sit down and do a working capital review. And other times we are bringing out other partners within the organization, perhaps from the insurance side or from the wealth management side.

Katie Saez: [00:11:05] We know that in commercial banking, with privately held businesses, there is not always a clear line of delineation between the wealth management needs versus the business management needs. So our commercial relationship managers are highly connected with our wealth advisors and are meeting with business owners and key leadership within the organization to make sure that we’re connecting the needs and opportunities and strategies on the business side to the needs and opportunities and strategies on the personal wealth management side as well. So that engagement model might look a little different. You know, over the last two years, getting through the pandemic, we found that oftentimes we can be very effective and advisory and and relationship building virtually. But we we recognize that sometimes being in person, there is no replacement for being in person. So we’re out in the market a lot meeting with our clients. I’ll tell you, just yesterday I was, you know, on southeast Atlanta visiting one of our good clients, a steel fabricator. And I had my heels on, but I was there and and in the building watching watching them fabricate steel. And that’s the best part of the job. And what we do is seeing how our our clients are really bringing business to life here in the state of Georgia. Now we’re out. Go ahead, Lee. Sorry.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:45] Well, are you seeing any trends like for younger folks who kind of prefer the digital experience rather than in-person? Are you seeing that as a trend that maybe younger folks are more interested in a digital solution rather than a face to face solution?

Katie Saez: [00:13:02] Well, Lee, it’s not just the younger folk either. So like like a lot of industries we’re seeing our clients preferences and behaviors change as more and more of them choose to bank with us and engage with us digitally. So, of course, this was accelerated by the pandemic, by COVID 19. And so here at Truist, we’re focused on building technology solutions that will help shape the future of finance. So we’re creating solutions, one that people can trust. People need to know that their money and their their their activities and transactions are safe. But we are also trying to build digital solutions that simplify money management to help clients achieve those financial outcomes they’re looking to achieve, but also customize their experience. So we have a we have a term here at Truist called T3 and it talks about, you know, touch and technology, build trust. So technology is critical and we have to continue to deliver more advanced solutions on the technology front to meet the needs of our clients. But banking is still a people business, and especially here in the commercial bank. Our clients want a personal relationship with their bank and they want a phone number they can call. They want a banker who will be available to. Them when there are issues or challenges. And more importantly, they’re expecting their bank to be a strategic partner with them as they’re navigating this this complex world that we’re in right now.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:45] Now, Georgia has a very diverse economy. As you mentioned, a lot of the areas that probably Truist is involved in. Where do you think the biggest opportunity is for Truist in leveraging kind of the vast variety of businesses that are kind of bubbling up in the state?

Katie Saez: [00:15:08] Well, I’ll answer that in a couple of different ways. So as you know, Truist is a relatively new creative entity, about three years old with the merger of SunTrust Bank and B.A. And I’m seeing a lot of excitement right now from our teammates to go to market as one truist as you just mentioned, Georgia is a leading and competitive state for business. In fact, Georgia’s been named to many different lists that highlight it as being one of the top states for doing business. So we do have a quite a diverse economy and a very business friendly environment, but we have a large and skilled and growing talent pool. So we here at Truist, we just completed our largest conversion event in February. This was an enormous undertaking that involved transitioning nearly 7 million clients at the Truist ecosystem. So overall, that integration was successful, especially when you consider the scale and the complexity involved. I think this was the largest bank technology integration in more than 15 years, but now that we’ve successfully integrated our two heritage bank, it’s it’s really time for us to deliver against the promise of this merger. We’re now the seventh largest U.S. commercial bank, and we have a comprehensive and a very diverse business mix with very distinct capabilities and insurance and investment banking and digital solutions that we just talked about and industry expertise that we’ve talked about, too. So it’s really up to us to lead with purpose and providing leading and distinctive client experiences. But to do that and to do that well, we have to continue investing in our teammates. The people who choose to work at Truist and here at the bank as leaders were constantly looking to attract and retain top talent.

Katie Saez: [00:16:58] Georgia is rich with great talent and both those early in their career and more experienced individuals as well. But as you know, there’s been a pretty big shift over the past few years in employee engagement and what employees are expecting from their employer. They’re demanding better technology. They’re demanding hybrid work opportunity, better advancement opportunities, more progress toward diversity, equity and inclusion and belonging. And we hear a lot about the need for real mental health and wellbeing support. I saw a survey a couple of weeks ago from Illinois that said nearly half, I think was 43% of all employees say they’re likely to leave their employer in the next year. And that’s a pretty scary number. So I’m committed here as the Georgia region, region president to help us both what I call boldly differentiate ourselves to be an employer of choice here in Georgia. So I’m focused on ensuring that the individuals who are on my team have the resources that they need to be successful. And look, they’re the face of truist and they’re really good at their jobs. And it’s my responsibility to make sure that they’re equipped with the tools and information and the support that they need to take care of our clients, because there’s a lot of growth opportunity here in Georgia. And as I meet with clients and I ask how they’re feeling, I’m hearing a lot of similar things. First of all, there are challenges out there, whether that’s in workforce and having a good skilled labor or strong talent that I just mentioned. But we continue to have supply chain disruption, rising price of goods, this inflationary pressure that we’re seeing.

Katie Saez: [00:18:53] And and they’re sometimes struggling on determining how to forecast in this environment. There are, you know, the recession risk are a primary concern for many right now. And while we at Truist don’t necessarily believe that a recession is inevitable, we’re monitoring this as a risk and have very proactive conversations with our clients. And that’s where I think the value of working for our team at Truist comes into play. We sit down across the table from our clients. We listen to their risk and challenges and help them create a path forward. So I’ll end by just saying, you know, just this week, another meeting I had with one of our clients, I heard these common things. Demand continues to be robust. Businesses are growing, and many companies are coming off of record profit years, and they’re using that capital to invest in new technologies to optimize and drive efficiencies in their business. Now, some are keeping capital expenditures on hold, not necessarily because of a pending recession, but an expectation that prices might begin to stabilize over the coming months. And then others are moving forward with their spending needs because their customers are demanding it. I told you I was at a steel rebar fabricator yesterday and their business is so robust they simply could not wait to install a new share to add to their line. So seeing some good positive momentum with some concerns hanging out there as well. But a lot of continued investment here in Georgia. And I think this is a great place to live and work and bank as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:37] You mentioned, you know, all of the turbulence that were were kind of dealing with in the financial sector. And that’s why it’s so important to have that trusted advisor with your banker. I think that you need to have somebody who is kind of has the expertise and can look ahead a little bit and give you a glimpse of what could be and, you know, kind of so you can determine how much risk there is or isn’t. I think that’s where a partner like Truist really comes into play for companies that you have somebody watching your back in this area.

Katie Saez: [00:21:13] Yeah. Look, our teammates, they really do care for our clients and they take a lot of pride in the companies that they work for and and help. And so, you know, they they treat every client interaction like it’s a big deal because that’s what it is for our clients. It’s a big deal when they when they borrow money or, you know, obtain a new loan or they make an investment. And so you’re right. I think this approach it brings together our entire team. It helps clients meet their financial needs and goals, and it feels good. You know, truth has more than 125 year history here in Georgia. And just this week, I was able to participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for McCallie Park in the Sweet Auburn District of Atlanta. Now, this project, I don’t know if you’ve heard about it, this project will include, I think it’s 170 affordable housing units beginning and about 22 months. But we expect McCallie Park to become a blueprint here for what success can look like when we talk about addressing housing inequality. So this is a community that connects affordable housing with critical wraparound services for its residents, like health care and workforce development. But Truist was a major contributor toward this project, both in low income housing tax credits, as well as a construction loan from tourist community capital and a charitable grant from Truist Foundation. So our role in McCallie Park is part of Truist continued commitment to investing in the city of Atlanta, and it helps fulfill the truest purpose to inspire and build better lives and communities. It was really awesome to be there and to participate in that groundbreaking. I learned my lesson Don’t wear heels in Georgia red clay. But besides that, I was so proud to serve in this role as Georgia region president and represents our 8000 teammates in this company at this groundbreaking. It’s a great reminder of the importance of our contribution in this community, but also the the partnership that public and private partnership as well. We can make a real difference.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:31] Right. And I think that’s part of Georgia’s secret sauce, is that there is such a good public and private working relationship that everybody is kind of working together to lift all the boats here. And I think, you know, as a truist, you know, was birthed from SunTrust, you know, people in Georgia want to make sure that Truist is still there and doing, you know, playing the role that they have played for all those years.

Katie Saez: [00:24:01] I. That’s a good point, Lee. You know, we are bigger than the name on the Braves ballpark, right? I mean, we’re exceptionally proud of our partnership with the Atlanta Braves. But, you know, as I said, we go back 125 years in this great state, and we have 8000 teammates that live and work here in the state of Georgia. And so, you know, it’s important that the community knows that we’re here to stay. Three years ago, Truist made a commitment to double our investment in the city of Atlanta to $300 million over a three year period. And we’ve just wrapped up that three, three year period. And not only did we meet that number, we exceeded that number by a good measure, too. So it’s not just about dollar investment, but it’s also about the people, how we serve this community, how we engage in the community, how we’re connecting with our clients. That’s an important element to Truist commitment to the state as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:00] Well, Katie, if somebody wants to learn more about Truist, what’s a website?

Katie Saez: [00:25:06] It’s true, Ask.com. Pretty easy to read.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:08] Pretty easy to remember. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Katie Saez: [00:25:15] I appreciate the opportunity to be on.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:18] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on Atlanta Business Radio.

About Our Sponsor

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

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

Follow OnPay on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter

Beth Ziesenis With Your Nerdy Best Friend

June 28, 2022 by Jacob Lapera

Association Leadership Radio

Beth Ziesenis With Your Nerdy Best Friend

00:00 /

Beth Ziesenis, Author, Speaker at Your Nerdy Best Friend

Since her first Motorola RAZR flip phone, Beth has made a verb out of the word “nerd.” She’s here to help you filter through thousands of apps, gadgets, widgets and doodads to find the perfect free and bargain technology tools for work and home. Although the only real trophy she ever won was for making perfect French fries at McDonald’s in high school, Beth Z has been featured on Best Speaker lists by several organizations who write best speaker lists. She has written a whole shelf of books on apps and has spoken to more than 100 thousand audience members just like you. And if you’re puzzling over why she goes by “Beth Z”… it’s because she only finds about three people a year who can pronounce her last name.

Connect with Beth on LinkedIn and follow Your Nerdy Best Friend on Facebook.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

Tech tools, tips, and techniques to make life easier
Nerd365: A Year of APP-ortunities to Upgrade Your Life

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Association Leadership Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:16] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Association Leadership Radio. And this is going to be a good one. Be sure to have a pencil and paper ready. You’re going to learn a lot. I am so happy to be talking to Beth Z and she is your nerdy best friend. Welcome, Beth.

Beth Ziesenis: [00:00:34] Thanks and hi to all my association friends.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:38] Well, before we get too far into things, tell us about your business, your nerdy best friend. How are you serving folks?

Beth Ziesenis: [00:00:45] I talk about tech tools. People have never heard of that do things they couldn’t imagine at prices they can’t believe are possible. And I speak at association events all the time, all over the country to share these tools, and I write books and I do consulting, that kind of stuff.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:06] So when you’re talking to an association, what are some of the specific tools that impact them that, you know, the kind of the most bang for their buck?

Beth Ziesenis: [00:01:14] Well, when I talk to association executives, gosh, I was an association executive a few years ago and I was an education director and oh, my gosh, y’all work so hard, association execs. It’s crazy. So a lot of the things I talk about have to do with personal productivity. You’re going to choose your association management software. You’re going to choose all those things with a bigger program, with a bigger situation. But what are you doing for yourself to keep yourself in line? So I talk about things like to do list, which is to do list with superpowers and it’s got a free version. It lets you create tasks straight from email, it lets you prioritize them, share them with other people, delegate and keep track of things. And then I talk about if that’s not enough, you go back to you go to project management tools like Trello and Asana.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:14] Now you recently released a book Nerd 365 A Year of App Opportunities to Upgrade Your Life. How did you kind of narrow down all the it seems like every minute there’s a new app coming. How did you possibly narrow it down to fit into a book?

Beth Ziesenis: [00:02:36] Well, it’s my job to do the homework for everybody. I So there are 400 and some odd apps and tech tools in this book. And for every one that I put in there, I probably vetted five. It takes me so long to go through them and I’m constantly looking for new ones and the ones I choose are the ones I trust, the ones that seem to be most helpful, the ones that are the most interesting, and sometimes the ones that are just the quirkiest and the funnest.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:06] So what’s an example of a quirky, fun one?

Beth Ziesenis: [00:03:10] So a quirky, fun one. I’m going to pick up the book here for those of you playing at home. Let’s see. There is a tool I’m just flipping through here for a fun one on November 15th. It’s national. Clean out your refrigerator day. And believe it or not, the USDA has a tool called Food Keeper that helps you determine food safety. And then I’m going to flip through here again. There’s the National Day of Listening on the day after Thanksgiving for you and your family to have those conversations. But I like the tool for listening called Perfect Recall, and it attends in a kind of a creepy way. Every single Zoom event, I have automatically to do a live transcript, note taking, and then it’ll do video highlights.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:01] So now how did you get into this line of work? What’s your back story?

Beth Ziesenis: [00:04:06] Oh my gosh. Well, AC is my back story. So back in 2007, I was sad and single. I had just been dumped and it was a Friday night and I was a member of the ACI listserv and I wrote to it was a listserv back then and I wrote to them and I said, Hey, you know, I’ve got all these little tech sites that I have. You know, the iPhone had just come out. And so it wasn’t apps as much as it was Web 2.0 little sites. I said, I’ve got tons of these. Does anybody else have any? And all these people started sharing theirs. At the time, they said it was one of the most interacted with threads that they had ever had. And I got like 60 of them and I put them all in the list and people started requesting the list and I started a blog around them. And then it was the California Society of Association Executives, Shelly Alcorn, who is, you know, a an amazing consultant in our field. But she worked there and she said, Beth, would you mind? Would you just come and talk about some of the tools at our conference? And it was in San Diego and I’m like, Sure, why not? Because I live there. So I went and just talked about a few of the tools that I like and I’ll never forget it. One of the association execs came up to me and he said, I’m here scouting speakers and you’re the only one I want and I want to get you before you become famous. So he said, We will fly you to Vegas and put you up in a hotel and let you come share these tools. And I’m like, What? This is a thing like people want me to talk about this, things that I would love to talk about no matter what. So I started speaking and sharing these tools because of associations.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:56] So once you started to kind of share and speak on this topic, then it just kind of organically grew from there.

Beth Ziesenis: [00:06:05] Yep, absolutely. I spoke in 2012. I spoke at the ACI annual convention and it was kind of my debut in the association world on the on the bigger stage and not the big, big stage. But I had a breakout session and the topic was so hot and the interest was so high that I ended up with five association engagements before I left the conference, and that was it. I was like, I think I can do this. And so it was all association people who started me here.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:39] And then from there. Then it’s just been a regular kind of combination between speaking and writing.

Beth Ziesenis: [00:06:47] Absolutely. Most of my business is in the speaking world, although consulting is coming up. So for example, I work with boards and I work with staff who need better tech solutions who are making a big tech change. And I will do consulting and guiding and helping and humor and consoling to get people through those changes. So nowadays I’m very much switching from just being on the stage and just sharing tips in a keynote to getting more in depth and helping association people more one on one and and group on one.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:29] So like if the organization maybe is contemplating using a certain app or software, you can come in to tell them kind of the good, the bad, the ugly, and maybe things that aren’t in the brochure.

Beth Ziesenis: [00:07:44] Well, what I again, I concentrate in the personal productivity and the internal productivity. I’m not the person you need to contact. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Review My AMS, but you know the proprietary software review my AMS is run by one of the most amazing entrepreneurs I know, Terry Carden, and she has put together a site where you can go and learn about AMS and there are other sites that have the proprietary, the bigger end, the more enterprise end, things that power in association. But I’m here to help you with just learning how to get your committees to talk to one another using technology or, you know, refire up your community. So it’s not as much the higher end enterprise consulting I do as just make this easier, for gosh sakes, for us to do our jobs.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:45] So there are some apps out there that an association can deploy to their team that they all would maybe communicate more efficiently.

Beth Ziesenis: [00:08:54] Oh, my gosh. So many different things happening in this category. So if you look at a tool called notion, another one called Mondaq.com, another one called click up. These are changing the ways groups are working together in like right now. When we go to write a document, we open up Microsoft Word or Google and we create a piece of paper, a virtual piece of paper, a digital piece of paper which we put into a digital folder and put into basically a digital file cabinet. This is the way it’s been done since the 1800s. 1700s write the piece of paper in the file cabinet and that kind of thing. Now we share them more easily, but we are going way past that now because those three companies that I mentioned are doing more things like a workspace. So instead of having pieces of paper in individual silos, a spreadsheet here or a PowerPoint there, you have a workspace where it’s all kind of out on the table, so to speak. Instead of having email by email, which are also little, they’re basically letters that go back and forth. You have a conversation and it becomes so popular that both Microsoft and Google are adding those features into their infrastructure.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:16] So now what is kind of the pain this association is having where you’re consulting or you’re speaking would be the solution? Like what are some symptoms of a problem they might be having? Maybe it’s regarding communication. Are there symptoms that communication is suffering?

Beth Ziesenis: [00:10:34] There are symptoms that communication is suffering. There have always been. You will not meet an association who says, Hey, it’s so easy working with the volunteers on my committee. Everybody knows everything and everybody is up to date. There’s there’s a program I teach and talk about called Discover Your Technology Psychology. And that’s all about the sub. I have several categories of technology psychologies that personas, that guide how we’re really making changes and how we’re really thinking about technology. And once you determine which category you fall into and the people on your team fall into, then you can see and address the challenges you’re having in making changes, getting adoption, making too many changes and making mistakes. You can better evaluate those pieces and parts if you know what you’re driving. Factor is what your subconscious approach to these things are.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:42] So now what’s it like when they hire you and you speak at an event? Is it something that everybody is like, oh, they’re just kind of taking notes like because it seems like there’s just so many apps and there’s so many things that could be useful, and then you get overwhelmed.

Beth Ziesenis: [00:12:00] You know, that little emoji, the exploding head emoji that you see everywhere, that’s pretty much what my sessions are like. They there are so many things that are mind blowing, you know, not just the fact that I give so many tips in a session, but there’s so many things that that are new and people have never heard of and they can’t believe they can use. And it’s not just a pie in the sky or something that a big company could use. So, yes, they’re taking notes like crazy. Yes, I give resources like crazy. That’s why also why I write books, because I can only give, you know, 20 different apps, 30 different apps in a keynote session. But the book, the books that I write are the sum total that I know and the sum total that I want to share. So that’s why I put it all into one package. It’s not just a book, it’s what I know. It’s Beth Z in your pocket so that you have references to different things you can try.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:06] All right, so let’s give our listeners some kind of suggestions. I know you spend some time finding good free education that’s out there.

Beth Ziesenis: [00:13:18] So free education, such as some of the tools that I like to use, are Google Primer. Google has all kinds of free education, if that’s what you’re talking about, like technology education.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:32] Yeah, there’s there are so many. I mean, everybody knows the importance of learning, but there are so many resources where you can learn without kind of paying if you know where to look.

Beth Ziesenis: [00:13:44] Google actually just opened up. It’s basically its small business education certification area to everyone for free. You as an association need to go and register your company and be approved. But I think they’re going to approve everybody and all the certifications, you know, everything from marketing, personal business skills, computer skills of different types, all the certifications that used to cost between 29 and $49 each or whatever are all free. Now, this just happened in the past month, two months. And so Google is a huge resource. And then you’ve got things like edX, X and Coursera, and they all have free versions that you can take and not for credit necessarily. With Google, you can get those certifications now for free, but with these other things, you can take these classes and get the education you need. Now we’re all struggling with time, so you’ve also got, gosh, I’m going to give you my plug. I do everything in bite size pieces, one tool at a time. I have a newsletter that goes out every week and I hope I finish it for tomorrow. It goes out every week with some of the latest stuff, but it’s only one tool or concept at a time. And so if you need just bite sized pieces, there are resources out there like that.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:13] Now, a lot of folks, you know, need LinkedIn and and should be sharing things on LinkedIn. Is there any resources for folks to maybe improve their LinkedIn profiles or just have a better presence on LinkedIn?

Beth Ziesenis: [00:15:31] I’m going to give you a person resource because this person, I’m kind of stalking him. It’s kind of creepy because I don’t actually know him. He’s a National Speakers Association member just like I am. But and he’s spoken to us several times lately. It is. His name is Richard Bliss. Go look him up on LinkedIn. He has done an analysis of the algorithms for LinkedIn that tell you exactly when to post, how to post, what to post, what not to post, how often to post all these questions that people have for both their association and themselves. And it seriously, I’ve never seen a resource that is that straightforward and that scientific as Richard Bliss, you can find him on LinkedIn, you can follow him. He doesn’t know me and I’m following him. And it is kind of creepy, but he’s got real reports of the analyzes he’s done and he gives tips all the time.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:33] Now, if somebody wants to learn more about what you’re up to, get a hold of your book or books. What is the website?

Beth Ziesenis: [00:16:41] Well, gosh, thanks for asking. It is your nerdy not dirty nerdy best friend dot com. And I have another resource that I’m very excited about. I don’t know. I know this podcast will come out this summer, which is great, and August 23rd, which is overlaps with the RSA conference I created, Find Your Inner Nerd Day and you can find that at Find Your Inner Nerd Dot Day because Google just opened up dot day as a URL. Very exciting, but find your Inner Nerd Day is something that I created to help people recognize something unusual about them, weird about them, fun about them, and share it with others.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:29] Well, Beth, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Beth Ziesenis: [00:17:35] Well, thank you. And it was great meeting you. And again, I know a lot of association folks. I hope you’re all out there and I’m waving at you virtually.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:44] Good stuff. Well, this is Lee Kantor. We will see you all next time on Association Leadership Radio.

Woodstock Arts Series: June 2022

June 24, 2022 by Jacob Lapera

Cherokee Business Radio

Woodstock Arts Series: June 2022

00:00 /

This Episode was brought to you by

Brian Gamel, Managing Director of Woodstock Arts

Brian grew up in the Woodstock area and has loved this town ever since. After going off to get his undergraduate degree in Theatre from Florida State University he came back home and became a part of the Elm Street Cultural Arts Village’s team, now known as Woodstock Arts.

Connect with Brian on LinkedIn.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

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

Stone Payton: [00:00:23] Welcome to Cherokee Business Radio Stone Payton here with you this morning. And this is our special monthly Woodstock art segment for which we were all very well prepared and ready to go this morning. Poor Brian, of course. We have with us Brian Gamel with Woodstock Arts. And he was sitting here waiting at the studio for me. And I got here a little bit late. But we’re here now.

Brian Gamel: [00:00:45] We’re all here now.

Stone Payton: [00:00:46] And I was actually right there at the green a little while ago. I stopped by the little alma container there in the backyard of Reformation, had me a little green tea I was sipping. I noticed we’ve got the tin up so we’ve got stuff happening soon I suspect.

Brian Gamel: [00:01:02] Yeah, yeah, we have, we have a lot of stuff going on. It’s the summer months, so the green’s in full swing. We got stuff going on at the Reeves house and summer camps aren’t. So if you had kids that were interested in it. I am so sorry. I believe we still have some some availability for a visual art camp, but theater camp has been full, I think, since April.

Stone Payton: [00:01:19] So no, that is fantastic.

Brian Gamel: [00:01:22] It’s a great problem to have. Yeah. So for those of you who are like, dang, I missed it, go ahead and mark your calendars for March 1st of next year to sign your kids up. Because in early, yeah, that is the only way to get a spot. But we have three camps running out of time for camps running out of time right now, every week in there, week long. So that’s a lot of fun. But yeah, we have a concert coming up as part of the Lantern series this Saturday. It’s Paul O’Brien. He is a Haitian blues artist, so ended up being one of those with COVID having to find someone to replace last minute. But honestly, he should have been on our radar from the beginning. Fantastic musician and once again bringing that mission of talking about different cultures and creating conversation, but also making it accessible with something like blues, you know. So we’re super excited to have that on the green this Saturday. And then if you do have the kids that you just need something to do with them on a Wednesday morning or a Saturday Sunday afternoon. We have orphaned the Book of Heroes this month, which is a brand new play that’s about it’s kind of Greek mythology based. So I think the fun that you had watching Hercules with Disney, but a completely different and new story. And then next month we have James and the Giant Peach, the classic.

Stone Payton: [00:02:31] Oh, yeah. Everybody loves that, right?

Brian Gamel: [00:02:33] Yeah. It’s it’s a fantastic show. We have a great group working on it and we’re bringing back our sensory friendly programing. So if you or someone you know has some difficulty with flashing lights or loud sounds or anything like that sensory overload, we have that as well. You can find that on our website, but we’re bringing that back in full swing this year. So we’re super excited to be able to offer that accessible programing to our community because we know our community really gets behind that and we want to do that as well.

Stone Payton: [00:03:01] You guys are doing so much. I was just there yesterday evening. My wife, Holly, teaches a watercolor class and she is just so fulfilled doing that and meeting so many just wonderful people. And I mean, you guys are thriving. Just stuff going on there every day. Oh, I got there a little bit before class was over and there was a there was the the bar cart parked out there and there was a cornhole something, a tournament league, something going on.

Brian Gamel: [00:03:27] Yeah, cornhole was always happening up there we are. We are about to have the giant LED screen permanently installed out there. So if you saw Family Night last month with Star Wars out on the green, we had the movie that was that one was just a quick, quick fix because as everyone knows, shortages and delays on shipments and those very lovely things. We are we were dealing with the same thing, but we are installing that new screen for next Thursday and then it’ll just be out there. So we’ll be able to pump out a lot more movies talking about doing an indie film festival next year, nice sporting events. So if you’re hankering for a place to watch championship Saturday this December, you know, we might we might have a SEC championship watch party or something along those lines. So we’ll have to we’ll have to see where the year takes us. But we’re super excited to have that, to be able to open up that programing.

Stone Payton: [00:04:17] I love it. And at these events often there’s a beer or a wine card or something like that. And so the at the the Lannan Series, you can, you can bring your own food, but please get your beer and wine there. But there’s a marvelous selection and you can have a nice little picnic and all that stuff.

Brian Gamel: [00:04:37] Yeah, we actually really encourage people to bring their own food, make it into a whole thing. We have a table decorating contest, so when you purchase a table, right, you can win a table for the next one. It’s a, you know, north of $120 value most of the time that all you have to do is really decorate and go all out and you can win $120 worth of an experience. So.

Stone Payton: [00:04:56] And good luck competing with the black airplane folks, right?

Brian Gamel: [00:05:00] Yeah. Yeah. They they like to think that they’re the best decorated, but just. They’re just the loudest.

Stone Payton: [00:05:05] Yeah, they’re definitely the loudest. You’re not going to beat them on that front.

Brian Gamel: [00:05:07] I’m sporting their socks today just. Just for that reason. But yeah, I know they are, they are presenting partner and it is also sponsorship renewal season. So we’re talking to all of our sponsors and making sure they want to stick around for the next year. But also if you’re interested in. Sponsoring our season goes August through July so that that kicks off right about now. So go ahead and reach out through our website or any of our social media. Those are all at Woodstock gay I believe but the websites Woodstock arts dot org.

Stone Payton: [00:05:35] So and you’ve got sponsorship kind of built into a menu but you guys can get very creative too if if you’ve got an idea or some different ways you want to bundle some stuff. I mean, you’re talking about some open ears and some very creative people for sure.

Brian Gamel: [00:05:48] And, you know, the basic is almost every place has or almost every segment of the organization has kind of a bronze level and then kind of a gold level or I’m sorry, silver level, gold level. And then presenting. Obviously, they work their way up in price from that point. Sure. But you know, the different benefits you get, we we recently, I believe, you know, Chris Van Zandt, he recently signed on as our presenting partner for the theater for next season. And he started doing the math and went, wait, this is this is a great deal. I’m getting a lot of perks for this and just getting to throw my business name up for every theater show where, you know, you guys have thousands of people coming in throughout the year. So it’s it is a fantastic, fantastic deal. And we want to make sure that you get the best experience out of it as a business owner.

Stone Payton: [00:06:32] So so right now, I suspect you’re heads down managing all of this and not out on the road finding new acts and entertainment for us. So what is your cycle? You’re you’ll do that in the fall or something like that.

Brian Gamel: [00:06:44] Yeah, that’s closer to the fall and winter. We try to solidify everything by early of whatever the calendar year is so that we can announce it. I will go ahead and say we’re we’ve I think almost have the calendar for next season completely finalized with all programing, which is crazy that it took us this long to do it. But the organization’s grown so much. Right. So we I can tell you right now, go ahead and mark your calendars for about April 15th of 2023 through the end of May. We will always have at least three things going on. There’s going to be a gala on my first wedding anniversary. There’s right. There’s concerts, there’s theater shows. We have more theater shows than we’ve ever had coming up next year. And a lot of great gallery exhibits, including we have one it’s technically going to enter next season, but we have one opening up. I believe it’s the it’s the Thursday, so it’s the 23rd of this month. So June 23rd, it’s a it’s a competition show where people from all across the state have submitted work and they’re going to be ranked and judged and there’s prizes and that whole thing. So we’ll be bringing that back next season. Okay. But we’re going to expand it to the entire southeast. So wow. And we’ll be bringing back favorites like small town small works where artists that live a certain distance from Woodstock doing pieces that are a certain size that make it affordable for you to find things over the holiday. So we’re super excited to bring that back as well.

Stone Payton: [00:08:09] So this installation coming up, is it a certain type of medium or is it different media?

Brian Gamel: [00:08:14] It’s different media entirely. I, I believe we mostly have to DH work. There could be a couple of sculptures and things in there, right. But yeah, so it is mostly 2D work from my understanding. Granted, Nicole has been curating all that artwork, so I might get back to the office and say, Hey, what were you talking about there? It’s all 3D, Brian. But she has some cool exhibits coming up next year, including she’s been working with the city on a public art project that should happen in the next couple of months or so. It might be even sooner just trying to get all the pieces out onto our property as well as a couple of other places. And I think we’re trying to get a mural up there. If you’re familiar with the green, the shipping container that’s sitting on top of the restroom. Shipping containers. Yeah, yeah. There’s going to be a mural there. That’s always been the plan. Just trying to find the right artist to to share the vision.

Stone Payton: [00:09:01] But yeah, one of the things I remember about those shipping containers is Holly and I were just moving to town. There was like that reveal night and everybody was very excited about the programing, but they were particularly excited about the restroom containers that got the biggest.

Brian Gamel: [00:09:14] Applause, you know, over over covet having to transition so much outside. And then people got really used to porta potties and no one likes getting used to porta potties. So especially, you know, with the farmer’s market and all of those things going on, they would have just rows of them and it’s really hard to sell your veggies next to porta potties. So right. Having those permanent restrooms that don’t smell.

Stone Payton: [00:09:36] The same way those.

Brian Gamel: [00:09:37] Other ones did, I think I think we were all really excited for that. It’s kind of funny. All of the capital projects, you know, getting the kitchen or done our pottery studio that still has classes going on, getting the Reaves house, the playground, the the restrooms, all of that happen as soon as we couldn’t be doing any programing. But now everything’s happening all at once again. So it’s it’s a nice it was almost like we had a little bit of a programing break to build everything. And then once everyone’s come back, hey, let’s just do all of it at once.

Stone Payton: [00:10:08] So the universe was conspiring to help you? Yeah.

Brian Gamel: [00:10:12] Something like.

Stone Payton: [00:10:13] That. One of the most heartwarming things for me as a local resident and just walking around is to walk by the playground and. Hear the kids laughing and see the couples now. All the couples to me, your kids now, they all look so young. But to see the young families and playing and they’ll, you know, they’ll be sitting there with a with a beer or a wine or a tea or something watching the kids play. I love that. And one of the things that Holly really enjoyed during this past season at the Reeves house was art created by younger people. She really enjoyed that.

Brian Gamel: [00:10:49] Yeah, we had a youth exhibit this past, I believe it was around January. Yeah. And the kids did great work. There was this huge there were some pieces where I was like, I couldn’t I could never imagine. And I looked down and it was a first grader who did it.

Stone Payton: [00:11:02] So I don’t you know.

Brian Gamel: [00:11:05] It was a little bit of, oh, man, I need to reevaluate my visual art skills, I guess, but also like the talent that we’re in these kids, it was it was just phenomenal. Yeah, we we yeah. It was a great fun year. The house is officially over a year old, so congrats to.

Stone Payton: [00:11:19] Okay.

Brian Gamel: [00:11:19] Yeah, that happened I believe last month. We we hit our one year mark. So a lot a lot has happened in just a year.

Stone Payton: [00:11:27] So we should definitely have a standing anniversary type event for that and we should have a standing Gammel anniversary event, right?

Brian Gamel: [00:11:36] Oh yeah, for sure. It’s funny, I kept joking with my wife as we were looking and slowly things are filling up the calendar. I was like, Hey, are you going to be okay if the gal is on her first year or wedding anniversary and she’s like, Yeah, we can just pretend it’s a big party for us, right? You know, the Big Ten music, you know, the normal things you have for your first anniversary, 600 of your closest friends, something like that.

Stone Payton: [00:11:59] But and so in my mind, from my vantage point, you guys, you and your wife, you have like this utopian lifestyle because she’s at the pie bar, right?

Brian Gamel: [00:12:08] Yeah, she’s the GM of Pie Bar. So she’s working at both the Marietta and Woodstock locations.

Stone Payton: [00:12:13] And then you are neck deep into Woodstock art scene. I mean, it just I’m sure there’s work involved, but it just looks like such a fun, fulfilling lifestyle.

Brian Gamel: [00:12:22] Yeah, we both really enjoy what we do and this community and it’s a lot of fun to see people come from all over the place and to Woodstock. And it’s like you said, there’s a lot of young families and it’s we’re we’re in a really weird place for an arts organization, too, because, you know, we’ll we’ll go to these meetings with the presenters I think I’ve talked to you about in the past. But for those who don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s a group of the venues that present music acts throughout the state. So we all go and meet and a lot of times they’ll talk about, Man, we just want a younger audience, we want a younger audience, we want a younger we can have a young audience and that’s really cool. You know, our that means that our audience is going to grow with us in a sense, right? So but we are we are in a weird place for an arts center where most the average age of a of a patron for most places is probably in the sixties. The seventies, yeah. Are just probably squarely in the forties, you know. So we have a nice young group, but we also have classic Woodstock supporting us as well. So it’s, it’s a nice place to be at.

Stone Payton: [00:13:18] So the theater schedule, like what’s the name of it again?

Brian Gamel: [00:13:21] Orfeo Orfeo in the Book of Heroes. So Orpheus.

Stone Payton: [00:13:25] And there’s several. There’s several of them happening. You can catch them. There’s several appearances.

Brian Gamel: [00:13:31] Yeah. So for our summer shows, because they’re more geared towards kids right now, which look at next season because there’s some adult programing over the summer next season. But for this season, we we will be having both Aubrey and James on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. and then Wednesday mornings at 10:00. Our summer camps are there, so they get to see the show. But also we know parents still work over the summer. Sometimes grandparents are taking care of the kids. And what better way to give them something to do than to come to a show at 10 a.m. on a Wednesday and get them all geared up and get to see some fun and exciting theater live.

Stone Payton: [00:14:07] And in the theaters right there behind the chambers building or part of the Chambers Building where we go and listen to the local leaders tell us what’s going on.

Brian Gamel: [00:14:16] Yeah, if you if you’re familiar with where route stock is that right there, the corner of town Lake Parkway in Maine.

Stone Payton: [00:14:22] It’s my second lily pad, right walking to town. My first one is IPS. Right? Believe me, I know where it’s going.

Brian Gamel: [00:14:28] Yeah. So you just, you know, if you if you drive into town, you park in that giant parking lot and go, man, that building looks like a church. It used to be, but now it’s a theater and still is on Sundays. But we we have our theater programing in there as well, as well as most of our offices.

Stone Payton: [00:14:42] Right. Right. All right. So what do you think people should be thinking about and doing to get ready for the balance of the season? They should they should go to the website. Yeah, that’s the easiest place to kind of get your ducks in a row, right?

Brian Gamel: [00:14:58] For sure. And right now, we have a lot of fun coming up next year, including a lot a lot of our patrons have been really excited for. Croce plays Croce as part of the Lanford series. So if you’re familiar with Time and a Bottle and Jim Croce and his son A.J., actually it’s this beautiful. I actually was in tears when I saw it live, this beautiful love letter to his father and the relationship that they were able to have for the few years that he was alive while. Right. A.j. was growing up. But it’s it’s talking about the stories. And you get to see now that we have that big LED screen, you can see some film footage of him like old family photos and videos of it’s it’s it’s heartwarming. And we have a lot of people really excited for it. Well, that is part of next season, which doesn’t go on sale to the general public until July 30 or July 1st, unless you get a subscription, which you can get a subscription right now, if you head over to our website, just look for that information. But we will also be getting a new ticketing system July 1st. Yes. So it’ll be more integrated to our website than ever before. If you’re familiar with the theater, we’re actually going to do some reserve seating in there as well so that you don’t have to show up for your spotlight. Kids show at 4 p.m. for 730, go to to make sure you have the perfect seat. You can just go ahead and purchase those seats in advance. And if you get a theater subscription, you get the premiere seating for cheaper than the back of the house seating.

Stone Payton: [00:16:20] So there’s a pro tip.

Brian Gamel: [00:16:22] Yeah. Honestly, subscriptions for no other reason than just you get your spot and it’s the cheapest option available. It’s fantastic. And you already have something planned and can invite friends and it’s, it’s a whole fun time. But yeah, that new ticketing system we’re very much looking forward to, we’ll be able to scan in tickets, you know, do all those fantastic things that you will come to expect from theaters these days. But we just haven’t been able to up to this point. But now we’re super excited to work with them and. Yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:16:50] All right. So before we wrap, let’s talk a little bit about community involvement. Surely there’s plenty of opportunity to volunteer. We touched on business sponsorship a little while ago, but there’s there’s ample opportunity. If you want to get involved and support this effort, there’s always plenty to be done.

Brian Gamel: [00:17:05] Yes. Yeah, for sure. We we are a volunteer run organization. We always have been. We always will be. It’s important for us to be involved with the community as a nonprofit. There’s no there’s no reason to not be right. This is a fantastic community that wants to be involved in the arts. So why why not embrace that?

Stone Payton: [00:17:21] Sure.

Brian Gamel: [00:17:22] So whether you’re looking to be involved as someone who hands out programs, if you want to show up to one of these city functions at a table and just talk about what we do, because you’re just so energized about it. Right? If you want to help hang a gallery exhibit, if you want to see a concert for free, but toss out some beers as well, like you know those. And if you want to design some lights, some costumes, some scenic work, any of that, you can once again, you can do that through our website. You can get that information. But Camille are volunteer and event manager is is now on full time so. Oh really. Yeah we are super excited to be able to bring her on full time because that means more attention given to our volunteers and more opportunities. So we are trying to grow that program and as well as just grow some appreciation to have some of those events. We did a visionary only paint and sip, which visionaries are what we call our volunteers side now. But we had a visionary only paint and sip, so they had the opportunity to have a discounted paint and sip class together and just hang out and get to know each other. So we’re really building a little micro community here in the. Greater Woodstock community.

Stone Payton: [00:18:28] That was another thing I thoroughly have enjoyed is the art on the spot where you can visit with the artists while they’re doing their thing, and often they’ll have a couple of little examples. I mean, you guys, you have such a marvelous variety. You know, it’s not all it’s not all one thing. You guys you guys rock.

Brian Gamel: [00:18:45] Yeah, we we stay busy over there. I’ll I’ll tell you I’ll tell you what we like. I said, we’ve been playing with the calendar. We have these giant blown up month by month calendars and everyone wrote in a different color to make sure you know what was what. And I don’t know if we have less than 700 events coming up next year. So wow, it if you’re looking for something to do, we’ll always have it.

Stone Payton: [00:19:05] All right. So let’s leave everybody with the right coordinates. The main thing is the website right now, that’s the best thing.

Brian Gamel: [00:19:10] 1,000%, 1,000%. The website is the best place to get your information. Libby, our marketing manager, has also done a great job across Facebook and Instagram as well.

Stone Payton: [00:19:18] So email.

Brian Gamel: [00:19:19] And email. Oh, yeah. She’s she’s she’s a rock star on email. But if you’re looking for that thing when you’re just scrolling around, yeah, Facebook and Instagram are a great place to visit too.

Stone Payton: [00:19:28] Okay, so the website is.

Brian Gamel: [00:19:30] Woodstock Arts dot.

Stone Payton: [00:19:31] Org. Well, that’s easy enough.

Brian Gamel: [00:19:32] Yep. Keep it simple and clean.

Stone Payton: [00:19:33] Yeah. Tap into the Facebook and Instagram and and enjoy that and use it to inform inform your plans, but also to share with your with the people that you know.

Brian Gamel: [00:19:43] Yeah, of course. We obviously always want to grow this community and we we we love to bring new people in and share some new ideas and, you know, do all those lovely things.

Stone Payton: [00:19:54] Yeah, well, keep up the good work, man. And thanks for coming by and visiting, even if your producer shows up a little later.

Brian Gamel: [00:19:59] Hey, man, thanks for getting out of bed for me.

Stone Payton: [00:20:02] Happy to do it. All right. This is Stone Payton for Brian Gamble in Woodstock Arts and everyone here at the Business RadioX family. We’ll see you next time on Cherokee Business Radio.

Todd Hogan With Community Burger

June 24, 2022 by Jacob Lapera

Cherokee Business Radio

Todd Hogan With Community Burger

00:00 /

This Episode was brought to you by

Award-winning chef Todd Hogan has decades of experience creating and serving exceptional cuisine. A well-known culinary force in Atlanta, Hogan has been in the restaurant industry for nearly 40 years, most recently at the helm of Branchwater with locations in Cumming and Canton, at Branch & Barrel in Alpharetta’s Avalon community and his newest eatery Community Burger in Canton.

“The whole concept for Community Burger is helping us to be an active part of our community,” says Hogan. “We want to be an important part of the community not only because of our great food but also because we can discover the causes that our guests care about and give back to those in need.”

Community Burger features a give-back program where guests can nominate and then vote on different charities or community projects. Community Burger donates a percentage of its proceeds to the three winning programs each quarter. Hogan intends to expand Community Burger to multiple locations, but each restaurant will be unique as the team finds ways to connect locally through philanthropic means.

Hogan got started in the restaurant business as a teenager when he worked in his best friend’s family restaurant. The job was supposed to help launch his rock star career, but instead, it fostered a love of cooking. Hogan considers his culinary creations as art forms. “Art is different things. Putting together something that has all the right elements through flavor contrast and color and design is really what drove me. I wanted to put my touch on someone else’s life at that moment when they were dining.”

A Johnson & Wales graduate, three-time James Beard House invitee, DiRōNA award winner and Food Network guest star, Hogan brings his extensive experience and passion for food and community-building to his restaurants, where he strives to give his guests an amazing dining experience.

“The most rewarding thing is that we have given guests a food experience that they can’t wait to come back for,” says Hogan. “We offer a commitment to food quality, craft batch cocktails on tap and above all, we are making an impact with our restaurant group’s philanthropic commitment.”

Previously, Hogan made his mark in many quality restaurants including Indigo in Roswell as owner and executive chef; owner of Chef Todd Hogan Events; corporate executive chef of Café Tu Tu Tango in Miami and executive sous chef in the Atlanta location; partner and executive chef at Wildberries Bistro in Duluth, Georgia; and executive chef at Café Marquesa in Key West, Florida.

Reflecting on Atlanta’s culinary scene, Hogan notes, “I am an Atlanta native, have traveled all over the country and have been in the most widely acclaimed culinary destinations. Atlanta is now on that same map. I truly believe that Atlanta is among the top-10 dining destinations in the U.S.”

Community Burger is located at The Mill on Etowah (225 Reformation Pkwy, Suite 300, Canton, Georgia 30114).

Connect with Todd on Linkedin and follow Community Burger on Instagram.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

About the Community Burger
The restaurant has a unique philanthropic twist
The craft-cocktails-on-tap program

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

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

Stone Payton: [00:00:23] Welcome to Cherokee Business Radio Stone Payton here with you this morning. And today’s episode is brought to you in part by Alma Coffee. Sustainably grown, veteran, owned and direct trade, which means, of course, from seed to cup, there are no middlemen. Please go check them out at my Alma coffee and go visit their Roastery Cafe at 3448 Holly Springs Parkway in Canton. As for Harry or the brains of the outfit Leticia and please tell them that Stone sent you. You guys are in for a real treat this morning and please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with Community Burger and Canton chef Todd Hogan. Good morning, sir.

Todd Hogan: [00:01:06] Good morning. How are you doing today?

Stone Payton: [00:01:07] I am doing well. I mentioned it before we came on the air. I’ll say it again on the air so that it’s on the record. Great looking hat, man.

Todd Hogan: [00:01:14] Well, thanks. I’ll tell you what it was. It was a project that we truly enjoyed developing. You know, the whole community burger design was to be truly what it says, community based. We’re a full philanthropic style restaurant where we want to actually give back to the communities in which we put our restaurants. So it’s a brand new brand and we’re excited to hopefully grow this thing throughout the Southeast. And we’ll see how it how we get there. You know, it’s baby steps. You know, they say you eat an elephant, one bite at a time and we’re taking our first bite.

Stone Payton: [00:01:52] All right. Well, I love the brand. I love the intent. What did compel you and yours? Ta ta. I was going to say jump off a cliff. That’s probably a little radical, but it’s a pretty big move to do something like this, right?

Todd Hogan: [00:02:04] Well, you know, I’ve been in the restaurant business now, right, at 39 years.

Stone Payton: [00:02:09] Oh, my. You don’t look that old man.

Todd Hogan: [00:02:11] Well, I started when I was really, really young, so we’ll say that. And my my best friend and I started in the upscale, casual, fine dining segment of the restaurants when we were early teens. And it’s something we’ve we’ve done together. We went down different paths. I stayed in the actual restaurant segment, culinary. I’ve been an executive chef since my my first job. I was 21 when I was the first executive chef role. But over the years, he’s watched me, you know, have struggles, big hurdles. He’s seen me have successes and failures. And through the process, in my mind, I’m like, you know, I love fine dining. I love that upscale feel. But I feel like where we are currently in our in our world is that the demand for dining is doing nothing but increasing. The challenges we currently have with staffing was where we kind of landed on this particular concept. And he and I decided that, you know, number one, the top well, the top three food segments are burgers, tacos and pizzas.

Stone Payton: [00:03:17] They are.

Todd Hogan: [00:03:17] For me. I mean, it really is. I mean, when I think about my days off, you know, what’s dad going to make at home? I’m like, let’s make a pizza or let’s make tacos or let’s do burgers. So I love the burger application because it’s anything you can imagine between buns, right? So, you know, so kind of coming back to how we landed on this is we thought we got staffing challenges. So this is what they consider a fast casual concept, which is counter service. You walk up, you place your order, you sit down and then it’s delivered to you. So it’s a hybrid between full service and actual self service. And with that being said, I didn’t want to lose some other unique pieces. And the cocktail program to me was also very important. So we’re not just a burger and beer joint. We’ve got cocktails, beer and wine all on tap.

Stone Payton: [00:04:06] Oh, my little difference. Y’all can’t see in the studio. But he saw it. Yeah, eyes lit up. Well, that’s a cocktail.

Todd Hogan: [00:04:11] Well, the cocktails are going to be very unique and very custom. We’ll have some old school throwback favorites, but we’re also going to have some creative, you know, mixologists style cocktails on tap. And we’re also going to have adult milkshakes and regular milkshakes for the kids. And we also have a small daiquiri program that will just pair up. And I think it’s a perfect pairing for the burgers, you know, and it’s not just traditional burgers. We’ll have the traditional burgers with beef and all the unique, fun, chef driven ingredients. We’re also doing a nontraditional category that’s includes grouper, salmon, ahi, tuna and chicken. And then we have an international burger category that’s like, you know, a bratwurst burger with sauerkraut and butter case cheese, which is a German creamy cheese, you know. And we also have salads. So whenever we were thinking about our target market, we were looking for that either stay at home mom or that figure of the household that brought their kids out several times during the week to eat. And we wanted to give them the options because not everybody wants a burger every day, a traditional burger. So having. The nontraditional category in the salad category really opened up our target market. And I feel like it’s going to be a home run for us by doing that.

Stone Payton: [00:05:30] Sounds like a home run to me. So how far out are we? We’re in mid-June. For those of you who kind of trip over this later in the season, but how far out are we now?

Todd Hogan: [00:05:39] So we’re I would have to say, I mean, truthfully, we’re about 30 days behind, you know.

Stone Payton: [00:05:44] I mean I mean, par for the course.

Todd Hogan: [00:05:46] It really is right now. I mean, it’s, you know, challenges in the world about supply chain and, you know, and just sourcing certain things that we needed for the project. So we’re we’re probably looking the 1st of July. I’m hesitant to give an actual date. Date, yeah. We’re we’re we’re crossing the finish line though. We’re getting there. And it’s it’s been a project because this is in the Edward Mill facility, which is an old 1800s cotton mill.

Stone Payton: [00:06:13] So like with reformation and.

Todd Hogan: [00:06:14] That’s exactly.

Stone Payton: [00:06:15] Right. Oh, baby.

Todd Hogan: [00:06:16] So it’s a great location. But when you’re dealing with older buildings, some historic, some not historic, but probably should have been considered historic. You know, you have you have challenges. You know, just how the buildings were originally put in place and how do you get that infrastructure to support. But the feel of the project is amazing because when you pull in, we’re one of the first two independent buildings in the middle of the project, so you can’t help but see us like we’re one of the first things you see when you pull in and we we kind of bud up to the amphitheater. So are you familiar with what they do down there?

Stone Payton: [00:06:56] Not completely. I’ve been there. I was at a business meeting that was held within reformation before. And then I went in and I visited with my buddy John Cloonan is participates in that thrive coworking. Oh yeah. I’ve been out.

Todd Hogan: [00:07:08] There. Yeah. Well you know it’s you know it thrives a big piece of this and there’s multiple boutique shops now we’re we’re opening up more restaurants. So currently there’s one, two, three in full operations and there’s three more restaurant spots to be opened. Community Burger is one of them. They have another one that’s called Blackbird Tavern that’s going to be opening, but they’ve got some really cool restaurant concepts down there. Yeah. And it’s it’s going to become a destination location for eating as opposed to just a walk by or drive by. People will be coming to the mill to decide on where they’re going to go and have dinner with their kids or if it’s a date night and coming back to community burgers, we really drove this towards the family baseline. We wanted it to feel like an everyday eating facility, not special occasion. You know, I’ve had those restaurants in my past and I’ve enjoyed them, but I’d rather see that customer twice a week than once a quarter. So that’s another one of our reasons for wanting to go on the more casual side for this concept.

Stone Payton: [00:08:14] So let’s talk about the past a little bit. I’d love to hear a little bit about the back story, the path that led you here because you’ve done quite a bit. This is not your first rodeo.

Todd Hogan: [00:08:23] No, I’ve I’ve I’ve been in the Atlanta market since 97. Okay. Prior to that, I traveled all over the country. I graduated from Johnson Wells University. I was a TA and a fellow. So I was teaching freshman and sophomore classes during that time frame. As I left the university, I wound up going, you know, to places like Dallas, Texas, out, out west, Los Angeles, East Vail. I was in New York for a while. You know, I’ve had great experiences throughout the country, and I was in Key West for about five years. I was at a Cafe Marquesa down there, and that was like the chef’s dream job. It was dinner only and it was seven nights a week. And you were in this, you know, really cool destination that people came and wanted to just kind of let their hair down and have a great time. So when I came back to Atlanta in 97 to open my first restaurant, personal restaurant, it was it was interesting because I opened up this cutting edge style restaurant in the Duluth, Gwinnett County market, and I was kind of ahead of the curve, if you will. So although a great learning process for me, I had a friend of mine when I opened it. He goes, You know, Todd, it’s going to take three failures before you make you make your first success. I’m like, is that a backhanded compliment on what I’m doing? I mean, you know, but I’ll be damned if he wasn’t right. Sorry if I dropped the D-word, you know, and it did. It took three failures for me to start realizing what it was with each failure. And I’ll say this, they weren’t necessarily failures in the big picture because I took care of team members and they had a lifestyle and they had a way of earning a living. But from a business sustainability perspective, I had a lot to learn. I was young and John Maxwell, who is an author and he wrote.

Stone Payton: [00:10:21] Yeah, wrote some great.

Todd Hogan: [00:10:22] Books. He was one of my regulars at Wild Berries. A bistro was the name of my restaurant back in those days, and he gave me this book called Failing Forward, and he gave me a series of books. But that particular book, after I read it, I was like, This makes complete sense. So you learn by your mistakes. Just don’t make the mistake a second time and you just continue to grow down that path. And, you know, now we’re fast forward to where we are. I had a restaurant in Roswell that we opened up in what year 2009, I think was when it was and market crashed the week we opened. And I’m sitting there and I’m thinking, okay, now what? Because I put all my eggs in the basket. So we white knuckled it through this whole process and I wound up losing the restaurant to a fire. And I’m like, okay, so we made it through all the ups and downs. Then we had a fire, so now we had to reset. So in late 2012, I took all the rest of my eggs I had in the basket, and I put it all into branch water, which is located in Cumming. It’s in the Forsyth County market, it’s in Vicary Village. And I put this restaurant up there and I basically was like, this all or nothing, you know? And it’s ten years old this month.

Stone Payton: [00:11:39] Oh.

Todd Hogan: [00:11:40] So I’m very proud of that restaurant. I’m proud of the team members that were that have been a part of my life from the the day we started to date now. And as we grew, you know, we’ve we’ve come across a lot of challenges. Then the pandemic hit, I’m like, okay, now the pandemic hits and because.

Stone Payton: [00:12:00] The universe just wanting to make sure you really want to do this right.

Todd Hogan: [00:12:03] I mean, and I’m looking at this going, okay, I had branch water at the time. I have branch and barrel. That’s at Avalon. It’s one of our our restaurants. And at the time we had a restaurant and Crab Apple called Duke’s that was kind of the runt of the group. And when pandemic hit, we had to make some some tough decisions. And I woke up one early morning and I thought, I’m not going to curl up in a ball and I’m not going to suck my thumb. I’m going to get back on my feet and we’re going to keep swinging this bat. So we opened up our second branch water location during the middle of the pandemic. Wow. And we opened that up in the historic district of downtown Canton. And I guess that was that was 2020. So here we are in 2022. It’s doing awesome. I love it. And it’s it really has to do with the relationships you create, you.

Stone Payton: [00:12:54] Know, isn’t it? It’s remarkable to me. I come from the training and consulting world. The client side of the work we do here is so relationship oriented. But it continues to amaze me and I don’t know why it surprises me at all. But so many businesses, I don’t care what they it really does come down to relationships a 100%.

Todd Hogan: [00:13:14] You know, Darren, you know, the pandemic and we were making these decisions. We had to shift gears quickly, like fast on your feet and, you know, restaurant tours, you know, Countrywide were having to reinvent themselves. And that meant were you a grocery store or are you a delivery service where you a branch water, for example, we converted to a family meal style restaurant. We were steak and seafood. Now all of a sudden we’re doing meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans for four and delivering it to your door. So we had to get real creative real fast. But that all being said, the customer, the regular, the friend that we developed over the years, they are why we succeeded and made it through that nightmare. And all I can do is say it’s because of my team, how they built the relationships. That is not about me. You know, I may have created the concept and written the recipes and done the development, but when you really boil it down, it’s about the folks you hire and become part of your family. And shortly thereafter, we did this Atlanta eat segment. And, you know, the hosts asked me because, well, why did you get in the business? And without even pausing, I said, I got in the business to take care of my family. That was yeah, hands down. The whole reason I didn’t realize that my family was going to grow to 100 people because that’s what it came down to. It wasn’t just about me and my four kids and my and my wife. It was about the folks that are involved in my restaurant day to day, because I see them more than I see my own blood family.

Todd Hogan: [00:14:48] Right. So they are a part of my family. They are. They are. Why I continue to to reach out, to do more, to do better, to be a better company, to work for. And that’s what it comes down to. And then so then we had the, the, the new branch water that opened and then again it came circle back around with, with my best friend on, on this community burger project. And we thought, what are we going to do to create something that is a legacy based creation? All right. Now, that’s a big statement to make. But it’s made and it’s felt. And he and I wanted to create something that wasn’t just a one off. We wanted to create something that would be multiple locations. And in each community we built one. It made an impact at that level, not just we say we’re you know, we have philanthropies. We wanted to have philanthropies that were specific to the locations. So because you survive because the community that you’re that you’re within. Yeah. So we wanted to and it’s secular. So community supports us. We want to support the community. And that’s that’s the whole plan. I mean, it sounds simple and it, it’s nice to make it sound like it’s simple, but it is a little bit more detailed than that. I mean, we want to we really want to make an impact. And there’s there’s restaurants out there that currently do that. We wanted to do it better. And that’s a big statement to say that we want to do it better than, let’s say, Chick fil A, for example.

Stone Payton: [00:16:23] Sure.

Todd Hogan: [00:16:24] Chick fil A is is an amazing company, aren’t they? And they what they have what they have developed and what they have become. I mean, you know, that’s it’s it’s humbling to have met, you know, Truett Cathy back in the day. I worked for Chick fil A gazillion years ago, and now I’m looking at what we’re doing and I’m like, I want to make an impact like that. And we’re going to do absolutely everything in our power to do that.

Stone Payton: [00:16:50] What a noble pursuit. And I know it must be incredibly fulfilling. Just beginning to lay out the plans for that. If you have any of this organized, talk to us a little bit about what that looks like on the ground, like so it might manifest.

Todd Hogan: [00:17:04] All right. So the way the philanthropy program is designed, as initially my partner and I, we’re choosing the three philanthropies. We’re going to do three philanthropies per quarter. Now, as a customer, they would come in and there’s going to be a QR code that they can click on and then they can make their suggestion for upcoming philanthropies. And as we get these philanthropies in our in our database, we’re going to do a lottery pull every quarter, pick three new philanthropies, and we’ll make that announcement, which philanthropy they are, who made the suggestion and how to support them. And inside the restaurant, we’re going to have something called a giving wall. So it’s kind of interactive. Do you remember that game Pachinko or Plinko, you’ve seen on game shows where you drop a coin and it bounces.

Stone Payton: [00:17:52] All over the place? Yes.

Todd Hogan: [00:17:53] So we’re having this designed and when you come in and dine, you’ll get a token and then you’ll take your token and go to the giving wall and make your choice which philanthropy you put it in. So whether your child puts it in there or you put it in there, you watch it and it drops into your chosen philanthropy. And then every quarter we will pull all the votes and distribute the donation pro-rata based on the votes given by the customer.

Stone Payton: [00:18:22] Oh, fun.

Todd Hogan: [00:18:23] So it is, you know, everybody has an opportunity to have a voice and that’s what also makes it that much more unique.

Stone Payton: [00:18:30] I love it. Yeah, this is so cool.

Todd Hogan: [00:18:34] Yeah. And you know, I’m a I’m a foodie. I’m a chef. So when we were designing this, I wanted to not lose that that edge. I wanted to make sure that when you came in to Community Burger, you were getting a burger experience that was wildly different than all the others that are out there. I’ve had the pleasure of working with several of the burger concepts and consulting with some of them and getting a bird’s eye view. And I decided to raise the bar on it. And the menu is we’re actually live or our website’s live. It’s called your community burger.

Stone Payton: [00:19:09] Your community burger. So you can.

Todd Hogan: [00:19:11] Check it out. And we’ve already done all of our food photography. So if you see it, that’s what it’s going to look like when it hit your table. And we do everything that we possibly can from scratch. For example, we’re making our own handmade tater tots, hand-cut french fries, and there’s a lot of restaurants that do hand-cut french fries. There’s a difference in doing it great. And doing it. And we’re going to do it great.

Stone Payton: [00:19:35] All right. You heard it here.

Todd Hogan: [00:19:36] You know, it’s got to do with how you blanch them and how you manage the potatoes and how what the age of the potato is. I mean, all these things, there’s a lot.

Stone Payton: [00:19:44] More to it.

Todd Hogan: [00:19:44] There’s a little bit more to it than just cutting the French fry and frying it. Because I love French fries. I mean, as you can tell, I have to go to the gym every day just so I can eat what I like. But, you know, I like them crispy and I like them to be, you know, a wow factor. So whenever you leave Community Burger, the whole idea is that when you get home, you’re thinking about the next time you’re coming because it was that good.

Stone Payton: [00:20:09] Oh, I’m so excited for this. So how are you finding the what’s the right word? The business community, the business climate in the Cherokee County and specifically the Canton area? Is it an embracing?

Todd Hogan: [00:20:22] Yes.

Stone Payton: [00:20:23] Support and help.

Todd Hogan: [00:20:24] Well, you know, out there in Canton, there in a what I would consider a growth spurt. Mm hmm. I’ve been out in the Canton area for 17 years now, and I’ve wanted to put a restaurant in downtown Canton for 17 years now. But we’ve waited.

Stone Payton: [00:20:41] You’ve been living out there?

Todd Hogan: [00:20:42] Yeah, we live out there. Oh, wow. Okay. So my wife and I and our our children, we’ve all we’ve we’ve watched Canton as it’s been developing. Yeah. And my wife has held me back several times about because I wanted to put a restaurant out and she’s like, it’s not ready. It’s not ready yet. And while we thought during the middle of a pandemic was perfect timing, I have no idea.

Stone Payton: [00:21:02] But I know that’s your style, man. That’s your that’s your signature.

Todd Hogan: [00:21:06] Yeah. So we we dove in, you know, hip deep and it it worked, you know, and but Canton as a whole, Cherokee County as a whole, is very much in a development stage. And they’re going great, great gangbusters. And that mill project is a prime example of taking an old property, repurposing it. Yeah. And that gives that you’re stepping back in time, kind of feel, you know, and that’s very unique and so exciting to be a part of that project.

Stone Payton: [00:21:39] Oh, bet. So you touched on it briefly, but you know, it’s my show. So let’s talk about some of my favorite things. Let’s talk about the cocktail tap thing, a little bit more cocktails.

Todd Hogan: [00:21:48] All right. So our initial start with the cocktails on tap is we’re going to have some old favorites like a Paloma or a mint julep. But we’re also going to have some unique things. We have a a smoked apple whiskey sour that’s going to be on there. And, you know, and then we’re going to work with some local breweries.

Stone Payton: [00:22:06] Oh, that’s a great idea.

Todd Hogan: [00:22:07] And I’m actually the brewery that I chose is Green Lane Brewery, and they’re right in downtown Kansas.

Stone Payton: [00:22:13] They’re right there. In fact, my buddy Cody Bolden’s on cans.

Todd Hogan: [00:22:16] Yeah, well, you know, we did the launch for that for the Allen Brook and he came and did he came and did the music at the restaurant. And the three brothers that own green line are like just amazing. They’re just very down to earth. They grew up in Roswell, you know, they’re committed to the community. And I felt like that was a great way to to show the partnership and friendship that we’ve developed over the years because Branch Water is Green Line’s neighbor. And so we’re going to have their Allen Brook on tap. We’re going to have a new one that’s called shirtless, that’s going to be on tap. And then we got a a community light, if you will, that’s that we’re working on with another brewery that’s going to be a light beer profile and we’re going to do a rotating tab that could be anything from reformation to, you know, what’s that red hair and yeah, Monday Night Brewery, we’re going to run it through all the local brewers. So that way it’s not just one brewery. We’ll have some other presence on the TAP system as well.

Stone Payton: [00:23:15] So we have quite a few. Some are aspiring entrepreneurs, but we have quite a few practicing entrepreneurs I guess is the way to characterize it and they like to tap into to the show. So any counsel that you might offer with regard to recruiting, selecting, developing, inspiring, cultivating the right culture because that’s going to be so important. It’s got to be, oh.

Todd Hogan: [00:23:39] My culture is everything. Because if if you don’t have a true identity in your culture, you don’t know what you get. All of a sudden now it’s a box of Cracker Jacks. You don’t know what your prize is.

Stone Payton: [00:23:50] So.

Todd Hogan: [00:23:51] You know, when we’re when we’re talking about our culture and we’re hiring our team members, we’re very upfront about we, you know, we want to be the biggest little company that can possibly be. We don’t want to lose the intimacy of the ownership being directly in touch. I do something that’s called a checkup from the neck up and my restaurants and I go to the restaurants almost every day. I’m at every restaurant. They’re there sometimes it doesn’t always happen, but generally speaking, I get in the restaurants every day and I just monitor, you know, what’s the feel in the building, you know? And if I see servers with smiles and happy and I know things are good, but if I see somebody that’s down, I take that as an opportunity to do as I call it, a one on one. And I know a lot of businesses do that, but I take the time just to, you know, tap in. How are you doing? What can I do to make your day better? And if you if you really practice that and not just preach it, but practice it, the impact that you make at that level, there’s no no amount of money you can put on that, because what you’re doing is you’re making an impact on that individual’s life at that very moment. And for it, it may not be a situation that you can fix at that very moment, but the fact that you took the time to listen and let and let somebody know that you actually care, well, that’s a game changer, 100%. And that’s part of our culture. It’s like, you know, and sometimes there’s things that you can fix and sometimes there’s things that you just can’t fix and. It’s just so you have to be there, have to be available. You know.

Stone Payton: [00:25:25] I would think that candidates for this upcoming concept would be so attracted to what you’ve been describing here with the the pursuit to support different philanthropies, the kind of culture that you’re trying to build. I got to believe that gives you, to some degree, a bit of a competitive advantage in this market where, you know, getting talent is challenging.

Todd Hogan: [00:25:49] It’s very challenging. And I better knock on wood or something here. I have I have a proven track record with my management team. I don’t I have very little turnover. You know, typically the turnover comes every four years with servers because we get them when they’re a freshman in college. And then when by the time they graduate, if they’ve decided to go down a different career path, that’s where the transition happens. Now, I will say I’ve been very lucky to, you know, maintain even some that after they graduate, they decide they want to get in the hospitality industry. And I believe it’s because of the impact we made at that level. You know, we we take it very seriously, you know, in terms of people. And when I say family, that’s very important to me because if you’re not happy at home, you’re not going be happy at work. And I don’t care what business you’re in. You know, so there is a very there’s a balance to the expectations for management in general. If you’re one of those companies, that’s the old school, you know, drive it, drive it, drive it, drive it and not listen to your team member. Well, you’re looking to have some some challenges in the future.

Stone Payton: [00:26:59] You’ll be doing plenty of training because you’ll be.

Todd Hogan: [00:27:02] Constantly in a training mode. Exactly.

Stone Payton: [00:27:05] So is it early yet? Or like are you in the process of bringing on. Well, team members at this point?

Todd Hogan: [00:27:12] We are today we’re fully staffed. We start wow. I actually started training today. I got one of my training classes started. That’s starting right now.

Stone Payton: [00:27:19] Okay.

Todd Hogan: [00:27:20] And we’ve we have set up it’s almost a two week training process. It goes through class time, orientation, understanding the culture, understanding where what restaurants we currently have and and introducing what community burger is to us. And then we’re going through menu tastings and menu tests. And because it’s important that the team members know, like, for example, if you come in and you say I’m allergic to garlic, they know exactly how to how to, you know, drive you to which items you should have and which ones you shouldn’t have. If you have dietary needs and we have any way possible to to work around it, we absolutely will. So those are the things that are important during the training is that we we know how to take care of the customer when they come in.

Stone Payton: [00:28:05] So another pro tip, get your ducks in a row early if you’re going to open up any kind of operation, no doubt. Don’t wait till two weeks out.

Todd Hogan: [00:28:14] Yeah, and it’s been challenging with not knowing when the actual car will hit because we’re we’re about a week early for training. But but given that we’re 30 days behind in construction, you know, it’s it’s a balancing act. And, you know, we made the conscientious decision just to extend the training, commit the time, commit the financial commitment, you know, to that training. I think the end result is going to be a win win. Everybody’s going to come out of that training program 100% knowledgeable and ready and fired up to take care of customers.

Stone Payton: [00:28:48] So related topic, and I’m sure the answer is yes and yes, but maybe a little more depth on the on on this particular subject. Mentors, surely you’ve had some people you would categorize characterize as mentors coming up. And it sounds like you really do try to take every opportunity to mentor others, but again, largely for the benefit of our entrepreneurial listeners, can you. Anything you could share on that front? I know we’d all appreciate it.

Todd Hogan: [00:29:14] So, yes, when I when I first got into the industry and, you know, I was working through, you know, the Chick-Fil-A process and the model, and then I got into this restaurant with my best friend. It was actually my best friend’s family restaurant. And the chef that was there was his name was Richard Ford. And, you know, he was very passionate about food. And I found that to be intriguing. And I was watching him and I wound up going to Johnson Wales University in Charleston, South Carolina. And, you know, I found I found some chefs that were there that were, you know, very in touch with the young student who was eager, wanting to learn more than just what was on paper. And, you know, I just dove in and I’ve got two chefs in my my history that are very near and dear to me that gave me more than just education, that gave me part of their their heart and drive. And one is Kurt Isley. And ironically, he he’s still in the business and has a restaurant over in Gwinnett County called Curtis. And, you know, he was he’s an old school chef. From Stuttgart, Germany. And the other chef was Karl Moss, and he was a master German chef at Augsburg, Germany. And I just spent a lot of time with these guys, you know, and they gave me they gave me their heart and soul and the food and, you know, industry and that what it took commitment wise to get to that next level.

Stone Payton: [00:30:40] Yeah. So you obviously I know people can hear it on the airwaves. I can see it and feel it here in the room. Your your your passion, your your drive, your commitment to this work and to this particular concept in this phase of your life and your human. Yeah, surely you your batteries run a little bit low from time to time. Where do you go? And I don’t necessarily mean a physical place, but where do you go to to recharge, to get inspired to kind of, you know, get it all back together again and get out there and fight the good fight.

Todd Hogan: [00:31:11] So I have I’m very system based, meaning I even personally, I have these routines and I do them like religion. I go to the gym five or six days a week. That’s my mental check out. I try to stay as fit as possible.

Stone Payton: [00:31:29] Considering the fries.

Todd Hogan: [00:31:31] Considering the fries as you can be, the french fries and milkshakes. You got it. You’ve got to do something to burn those calories. And I commit my you know, I go to church every week. I commit myself to my family. And I’ll tell you what, what my drive is, is when I see my kids. You know, I was fortunate enough to meet someone from the Gerber family, Dan Gerber. His father was Gerber. Gerber baby food. He’s who created it. And he told me the story about his father was on basically on his deathbed. And he was there with him. And he says he says his dad looks at him and says, you know, I never meant to do that. And Dan said, and this is Dan Sharon, the story with me, because what do you mean? Daddy goes, I never meant to be this big company. I only wanted to cook for my kids. And that stuck to me. I was like, That’s pretty inspiring. So when I look at my kids and I cook for my kids and I cook for my family, I think about, you know, what would they like, you know, and how do they love it and how does that translate? And it does it it completely translates. So that’s my ray charge, you know, family commitment to being better for other people. And that’s that’s what it comes down to.

Stone Payton: [00:32:48] All right. Before we wrap, let’s make sure that we leave our listeners with. Let’s remind them of the location. Of course, let’s leave them with a way to kind of tap into what you’re doing now as far as website and that kind of thing. Maybe someone’s interested in employment because, you know, they may have an opportunity down the road. Maybe someone would like to have a conversation with you about teaming up to help you with some of these philanthropies, whatever you feel like is appropriate, whether it’s LinkedIn website. Sure. But let’s leave them with with a with a way to continue that relationship.

Todd Hogan: [00:33:19] Absolutely. So I am on LinkedIn. Todd Hogan. You know, Chef Todd Hogan, we have our website, your community, Voter.com. We are opening our first location in downtown Canton and it’s in the Edwardsville project. Our second location is underway. It’s in the Crab Apple market.

Stone Payton: [00:33:38] The grass is growing under your feet. You’re like, you’re getting ready to go.

Todd Hogan: [00:33:41] We have a plan. And we we’re currently looking at locations three and four. It’s just a matter of time. I mean, I’m myself and my partner are very committed to the growth of this company and the impact we make at the community level.

Stone Payton: [00:33:55] All right. Be sure to build in, like a Business RadioX studio spot there.

Todd Hogan: [00:33:59] There you go. We’ll do that as a test kitchen and a studio at the same time.

Stone Payton: [00:34:04] No, it could be fun sometimes, though, to do like an onsite, you know, like some sort of business. I don’t know. It could be fun.

Todd Hogan: [00:34:10] We’d love to do that. And if any of your listeners have any questions or have ties with philanthropies, please reach out to me. I’m really easy to find. It’s whether you go on our Facebook page or community burger or Facebook page at branch and barrel or branch water. My my teams will let me know whenever someone’s reaching out to me directly and I’ll get right back to you.

Stone Payton: [00:34:30] Well, man, the work you’re doing and the way you’re doing it is so important. Keep up the good work and we sure appreciate it.

Todd Hogan: [00:34:38] Well, thank you for having me this morning. I greatly appreciate.

Stone Payton: [00:34:41] That. It’s been an absolute delight. And don’t be a stranger. Maybe we’ll have you come in periodically. Or like I said, maybe I’ll take a suitcase with a remote kid out there and we’ll and we’ll visit sometime. But it’s a this is fantastic for our community here in Cherokee, man.

Todd Hogan: [00:34:56] Well, I appreciate you having me.

Stone Payton: [00:34:57] All right. This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Chef Todd Hogan with Community Burger and everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying we’ll see you next time on Cherokee Business Radio.

Richard Harris With The Harris Consulting Group

June 23, 2022 by Jacob Lapera

Startup Showdown Podcast

Richard Harris With The Harris Consulting Group

00:00 /

Richard Harris, Founder of The Harris Consulting Group, brings 20+ years of sales and Saas experience to the table when working with clients.

His passion is helping companies close the gap between the old school features and benefits approach to selling and focusing on the customers’ pains while maintaining individual authenticity for the seller.

In short, Richard teaches people how to earn the right to ask questions, which questions to ask, and when to do it.

Connect with Richard on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

Going from founder-led sales to a sales team
When to bring in Sales Ops

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:01] We’ll come back to the Startup Showdown podcast, where we discuss pitching, funding and scaling startups. Join us as we interview winners, mentors and judges of the monthly $120,000 pitch competition powered by Panoramic Ventures. We also discuss the latest updates in software web3, health care, tech, fintech and more. Now sit tight as we interview this week’s guest and their journey through entrepreneurship.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:50] Lee Kantor here another episode of Startup Showdown, and this is going to be a good one. But before we get into things, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, Panoramic Ventures. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Startup Showdown, we have Richard Harris with the Harris Consulting Group. Welcome, Richard.

Richard Harris: [00:01:08] Hey, how are you?

Lee Kantor: [00:01:10] I am doing well. Before we get too far into things, tell us about Harris Consulting. How are you serving, folks?

Richard Harris: [00:01:16] Yeah, I appreciate that. There’s sort of three main pillars in my business. One is straight up sales, training, straight customer success, growing the revenue side. There’s a sales ops side where some customers want me to come in and just build out their sales operations processes and stuff like that. And then there’s the general advisory services, which is how I’m really connected with you and that startups just need some help. They need somebody to bounce ideas off of. They need to get out of their own, out of their own mindset and get out of their own way or get out of the the bubble that’s created with their VCs. Not that those are bad things, but just like, Hey, who’s someone that has no skin in the game will be super direct. So that’s, that’s what I do. And I think that’s probably 90% of the reason you and I are talking.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:03] So is your background always been in sales?

Richard Harris: [00:02:06] Yeah, ever since I was little. My first I mean, my first sales job was selling candy at school. So I bought it from the high school kid who was doing a fundraiser, took it to the grammar school and sold it. I sold Jolly Ranchers. So yeah, I think I’ve always been in sales.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:21] Now what do you tell that founder or maybe just somebody that’s not even a founder, but anybody on the team that says, you know what, I’m just not a natural sales person? Is that a necessity in today’s world, or does everybody have to have at least the mindset of a sales person?

Richard Harris: [00:02:39] No, I don’t think so. I think that we all have our strengths in what we think. I think when people say that, they just they unintentionally don’t realize that they are in sales and they’re pulling in the car salesman mentality and they don’t want to be viewed as that. But that being said, an engineer doesn’t know as much about sales. They know some because they have to convince the computer to do something. They have to convince their teacher it was the right thing. They have to convince their boss that it was the right thing. That’s all. Salesmanship or salesperson? I would say for the same reason. I don’t know, Jack, about engineering. Don’t ask me to program anything. But I’m smart enough to know I should go find somebody who’s smarter than me in that realm. But I think people don’t give themselves enough credit about being, quote unquote, in sales.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:31] Why do you think that some people put kind of a negative spin on sales, even though without sales, you know, nobody eats?

Richard Harris: [00:03:39] Yeah, it’s a great question because we are lazy human beings. We create false belief systems because somebody told us that we always hear the horror stories of of bad sales people. And frankly, it’s not educated. Right. There’s 3200 universities in the United States. Maybe 300 actually have a degree in sales. So it’s not one of those things that people think about. A lot of people in sales never wanted to be in sales, never thought about being in sales. It sort of found them. And that’s a pretty standard conversation when you talk to salespeople. So I don’t think it’s been ingrained at an education level kind of like marketing has or some of those things. Now the beauty at least, and I think it’s the same probably in the engineering world and I assume in marketing, but particularly in sales, you don’t need more than a high school education like you got to know how to do math and you got to learn how to have a conversation. But you don’t need an education to have this kind of a job. You know, like a teacher, you have to be credentialed and even even someone who works in a traditional laboring job of construction or or plumbing or something, which are great professions, not always, but oftentimes those are very skilled professionals in their career, and they’ve done some level of apprenticeship or training and had to do those things before they could go on their own. Sales has that same approach, but there’s no certification. You have to have to be a salesperson.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:18] Now, is that part of the challenge when it comes to training up a sales team that, you know, a lot of people want to have everything scripted and controlled and and some of sales is just being a good listener and being able to communicate effectively.

Richard Harris: [00:05:35] Yes. So, yes, on the second part of being a good listener is the most important thing and being a good communicator, which means a lot of things to the first part of your question. Most salespeople. Have a false belief systems that they don’t want to have a script. They think they can wing it all the time. They think that they’re that good. And I remind them all the time that one nobody’s that good, including me. And two, they are using scripts. I guarantee you if an engineer goes and does his 10th pitch of the product to someone, they’re going to say the same things 90% of the time, the exact same way. That’s a script. Now what I don’t want people to do, there’s a difference between having a script and memorizing it and sounding scripted. I don’t want anybody to sound scripted. That’s terrible. So that so but again, script like sales is a four letter word.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:34] But having a script is, is having some sort of a guideline and a guide that where you want to move the conversation and when you get to a certain point to say a certain thing a certain way. But isn’t it the heart of selling, listening and understanding what the true problem is and how you might be able to help them solve that problem?

Richard Harris: [00:06:54] Yes. And and you can do that by prompting the same set of questions to every single person you talk to. Right now, if I’m pitching to a marketing person about hours and I have a certain set of questions I’ll ask, I have very similar, if not the exact same question, maybe worded differently if I’m talking to a head of sales because I just know the personas are different. It’s no different. So it’s scripted, right? I just don’t sound scripted. It’s a script. I know what I’m going to ask. I know how to ask it, and then I know how to sort of pivot when something else comes up. Like, I shouldn’t be surprised ever when someone says they don’t have the budget. We’re looking at the competition, we’re not sure what we’re going to do. I’m going to take it back to my team. I know exactly what every answer to that is. So those answers to those pieces and those objections are written out for me, and I encourage that for every organization I work with now.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:51] Do you encourage it to be written out kind of by the higher ups, or is it something that you say, okay, this is the spirit of what we want to say and then you we work together to kind of craft it in your own language.

Richard Harris: [00:08:04] It’s a great question. I think the the it depends depends on the objection. So and it also depends on the size of the organization. So if I’m in an early stage start up and we’ve got 20 people and there’s a competition question coming up, I might go interview the CEO because they’re going to have some insight that I don’t know yet. Right. And then I might go talk to the head of engineering and then I will work to craft that with marketing or sales so that it sounds like the right way to say it. As you get into a bigger organization and you start to have things like sales ops and revenue ops and sales enablement and those things, then it’s up to those people. I do always encourage there to be a little bit of a committee, so if I’m ever writing a script out for a sales team, I want to I want to get two or three different people in there and have them. How would you write this? What would you say? How would you say it? And one thing I want everybody to listen to is for me when I’m talking about scripts. Depending on the situation. Like if I’m doing cold call scripts, those scripts are don’t change a word kind of a thing. But if it’s the objection handling script of competition or budget. There definitely needs to be authenticity. Like how Richard says something is, not how someone else should say it. So I want them to memorize the script so well that they know it. And then I do want them to find their own authentic voice because I don’t want people to be robots.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:31] Right. You don’t want it to sound like a play. It has to be an authentic conversation.

Richard Harris: [00:09:36] Right. Right. Now, that being said, you know. You know, if the competition comes up. I know there’s three bullet points I need to say about these people now. And these are the three bullet points I want to say it and how I want to say it. Well, I still expect everybody on the team to cover those three bullet points right now. How Richard says it is different than how Sarah might say it and maybe Sarah’s better at it than Richard, then I need to adapt or whatever. So but yes, there’s a lot of nuance in here.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:06] Now, in your work in working with startups, is it typically the founder you’re dealing with or are you helping them kind of evolve into a sales team?

Richard Harris: [00:10:17] Yeah, it’s a really, really good question. It depends on the client, right. So some of them are early stage, super early stage. And I’m literally writing the go to market strategy in the conversation and crossing a little bit into marketing and messaging. Not entirely. And I’m trying to get the founder to go through those founder led sales. Other organizations I work with are how do we go from founder led sales to a sales team? How do I get my founder who just hired a director of sales, to finally let go of the deals? And then how do we do that in a healthy way so that everybody can feel like it’s being trusted and that the process is going to work well and that the sales will continue.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:57] So what are some do’s and don’ts when it comes to making that transition from a founder led sales person to a sales team?

Richard Harris: [00:11:04] Yeah, the first thing is the founder has to sit down and throw up all over paper, literally everything, and they have to do it five times. Och competition, competitor one, two, three and four, five times write it down and they got to get it out of their head because that’s where founders, I think, get so frustrated that, well, why can’t they do it? I can do it. It’s like, Yeah, but you got all the knowledge. So that’s one is that you’ve got to get it out of their head so it can then be morphed and crafted into a sales pitch script however you want to go for it. That’s the first thing. I think the second thing founders need to know is that there will be a decrease in mileage, meaning you won’t get 25 miles a gallon, you might get 22 when the sales team starts doing all the sales versus the founder, because people, founders don’t realize their title is founder gets them in the door. Their title is founder and CEO gets them a greater belief system because it’s their baby. The founder, oftentimes on a technical side, knows all the ins and outs way better than a sales person can. They know their product roadmap so intimately. They know that if someone says, Could you do this? The founder in a split second could think about all the other things on the roadmap and where that would be right, as opposed to a sales person. So being able to remember that your sales people are going to not carry the the that’s not credibility. That’s not the right word.

Richard Harris: [00:12:41] But they’re not going to they’re not going to be able to carry the the gusto that you have as a founder just because of who you are and your title. Right. That that’s a big piece I think people overlook. And I also think founders overthink how easy it should be and how long it’s going to take. I was just on a podcast this morning and we were talking to a new well, you know, he’s 16 months into his into his tenure as head of sales, and he’s the first head of sales, which is dangerous because sometimes they don’t make it past 18 months. And he said that he didn’t do forecasting in the beginning. What he did was capacity planning. Like if this is our capacity and if we achieve these metrics and if we hire these people, this should be our revenue. If we can’t hire these people, then that’s on him to some degree. But if the expectation from the founders are, well, we should have 25 sales people and it’s almost May 1st and we’re going to have them all by October 1st. That’s tough. You know, you’re going to have to hire 50 or 60. What’s your capacity for that? So I thought that was so I think oftentimes it’s the boards are asking the founders and the founders don’t know different and that’s okay. That hey, we should have a forecast. Okay, well, great. Well, if you’re early and you don’t really have any data, your forecast is just a finger in the air trying to measure the wind. Those are the big pieces, those.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:06] And then when you make that first leap and you touched on it briefly and you have that first salesperson, is there some do’s and don’ts to get them kind of ready to go? Is it that kind of brain dump where you want to have some sort of facilitated conversation where you are getting into the weeds about how the founder sold stuff and documenting it? And then is that where like somebody like you can save a startup a lot of time because you know the question to ask and you know how to go about kind of capturing that and transferring that knowledge.

Richard Harris: [00:14:42] Yeah. And it depends on how someone like me would utilize that. So the first thing is, before you hire that sales person, the CEO needs to, as I said, throw up on paper and see what that kind of person is going to look like and how technical those conversations are, because that’s going to help determine the type of salesperson they hire. They can also hire someone like me who’s going to spend an hour and just start grilling them because maybe they don’t know where to start the conversation. Right. And I know how to do that. Sometimes they’ll have me sit in and listen on sales calls with the founder so I can take those notes for them and figure that piece out. And so I think that’s a big piece of when and how you do it. When you bring in that first sales person, the first piece of advice is don’t ever hire one hire to it. It costs you the same amount of time to do one as it does two. And if one of them if one, if you hire one and that one person fails, you’re starting over from zero. The piece that I always say people like, well, that’s going to cost you. No, it’s not. You’re not committing to two one year salaries. If the worst thing that happens is in 60 days, one of them didn’t work out well. So you overpaid for 60 days. But boy, you’re not starting over. And if in 60 days they’re both doing great, well, now you’re ahead of the curve. So I’m always a fan of hiring cohorts of two or three at early all the time, but certainly at that early stage level where, you know, the wrong hire can set you back unintentionally.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:15] So what kind of gets you fired up about working with these startup and early stage companies?

Richard Harris: [00:16:22] I mean, I think it’s just what you said. It’s it’s early stage. It’s like, you know, it’s a paint, a canvas. It’s exciting, right? You get to work with people who are so passionate and they want to learn, right? It’s one thing to come in and teach somebody Shakespeare, but if they really love Shakespeare, it’s a whole lot easier. And for some people, sales is a little bit like Shakespeare. Like they get it, they understand it, they can comprehend it, and some people really want to get good at it. And I think that’s a that’s the part of it. I think it’s the excitement. I certainly love to see the cutting edge of what’s going on in the world. Like, that’s cool to me seeing that. Oh, wow. I didn’t know that could do that yet or so. That’s always exciting. I can get fired up about it and get excited and I just love the conversations and the dialog. A lot of the conversations are like this where it’s just like, okay, what do you want to do? How are you going to do it? And any consultant who doesn’t say this is just full of it, who doesn’t want to be paid and be thought that they’re right all the time, like I’m not always right and I’ll be the first to tell anybody I worked with that. But you know, everybody’s egos like yeah, like working with them because they think I know everything and not not in a negative way, but it’s like I have knowledge and I want to give it to them and I want to share. But yeah, like we’re all excited about that. And if someone says they are, it’s kind of like, I don’t believe you.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:45] Now, is there ever a time when the founder believes that they have kind of cracked the code on the language and the messaging? And then you come in there and say, you know what, maybe you should emphasize this more and deemphasize this. Is that part of the coaching that comes in.

Richard Harris: [00:18:03] It is, and that often comes in early where I start, where they start to tell me what about the company? And they’ll start telling me about what they do. And I will, I’ll, I’ll engage them and say, Don’t tell me what you do. Tell me the pain you solve. And they’ll start again and then they’ll they’ll still miss a little bit. They’ll get better. No, no, no, no. That’s still what you do. Tell me what pain you solve. And eventually I sort of explained to them, I said, remember, people buy pictures of pain. They don’t buy the words you use. And I said, Think about it. I’ll do this exercise with you for those listening. No, we have not planned this ahead of time. If I tell you to think about an ad on television for Tylenol, what comes to your mind?

Lee Kantor: [00:18:47] A headache.

Richard Harris: [00:18:48] Okay. And how do they express that headache to you in the in the commercial.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:52] Some visual around the brain throbbing or your head grabbing your head?

Richard Harris: [00:18:57] Yes. And what color is that threat? Is that pain.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:01] Red and black.

Richard Harris: [00:19:03] Right. I mean, like the same colors of the Tylenol right box. Right. So they aren’t telling you about a headache. They’re showing you the pain. So that’s what I want founders to do. So I want founders. And I don’t mean to go in and say, look, we’re going to save you 15 hours a week. Like that’s that may be true, but nobody’s going to believe you. It’s more like, hey, if you’re spending 2 hours on a Sunday night preparing a report for Monday every Sunday night. Our solution can cut that to 30 minutes. Would that be helpful? And then someone’s going to go, Yeah, if you can save me 2 hours on a Sunday night, I’ll listen. Doesn’t mean they’re going to buy, but they can picture themselves sitting at a computer on Sunday night for 2 hours, putting together some report that has to go out. And so that’s where you drive the interest is that picture of pain. What’s the use case that you’re trying to express, not what you do?

Lee Kantor: [00:20:00] And then for a lot of founders, that’s not intuitive, right? Like they’re very good about the technology part of what they do, but they don’t kind of feel the feeling that maybe their customer is frustrated with.

Richard Harris: [00:20:15] Yeah, and, and I don’t think that’s a founder tech thing either. I know lots of salespeople who aren’t good at it. I wasn’t good at it. Like I’m not some oracle of all things sales. And I know there are times where I missed like that’s, that’s part of me being a human and it’s through no fault of their own. It’s because they followed their passion, which happens to be the tech side or the founder side or whatever it is, but it can be learned. And that’s the really important piece. So and they don’t sometimes we don’t know what we don’t know. Right. If I told you I don’t know anything about you, right? If I told you to go out and buy a timeshare today, if you ever bought a timeshare.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:56] No.

Richard Harris: [00:20:58] I’ve never been on the timeshare pitch.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:59] Yes.

Richard Harris: [00:21:01] Okay. So you get a concept of it. I’ve actually bought our families, bought two of them. So my knowledge of timeshares may be beneficial to you if you were going to get serious about it. Now, it doesn’t mean I know more about timeshares than you do. It might mean I know a little bit more, but it’s the same thing with with everybody, right? I don’t know anything about tech. Like I. I tell all my clients that I will run a better discovery call than just about anybody on their sales team, including the founder. And I’ll let them test me on it. I’ll put my money where my mouth is. But I also say, but I won’t be able to talk about how your product solves the pay. I don’t know that yet. And it’s going to take me a while. So it’s the same thing of like, I know what I know, but I also know what I don’t know. And I’m willing to learn.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:52] And those are traits of a good salesperson.

Richard Harris: [00:21:56] I think their traits are good human beings. But yes, I think they are yes, they are great traits of salespeople, but I think they’re great traits of founders and they’re great traits of engineers or sales engineers. And so often, particularly in startups and particularly in sales egos, get involved early on because we’re excited, we’re passionate, we’re super smart, we’re close and deals. I think one of the this is a really good example. You asked earlier about what’s one of the mistakes founders do? One, I want all founders and salespeople to read books like Addicted to the Process or Never Split the Difference. However, don’t think just because you read the book over a weekend that you’re now an expert in sales. And that’s probably one of the biggest challenges I see from founders is that they hire someone, they bring them in, they do that. Sales leader does really well. They’ve taken it to the next level, 0 to 5 million or half 1000000 to 10 million. Then all of a sudden they start to read a book and they do a little study and they think, Oh, I can do this. My sales leaders just they’re expendable, their call center. And that kind of goes back to, well, you should be better at sales because you know the product better. You will accelerate faster because you’re a technical person and you like to read things and implement things quickly. That’s how your mind works. Sales people aren’t necessarily wired that way.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:16] So and then managing a sales person is might be a different animal from a lot of the early stage people’s experience. Is there anything that any advice on that end for managing a sales person and compensating them?

Richard Harris: [00:23:31] Yeah, so two different questions. So it’s kind of three, it’s motivation and compensation and managing. I had a mentor tell me once that the soft skills are the hard skills. So a lot of sales leaders get promoted because we know the product. We know the objections. We know how to talk about the competition. We know how to negotiate. We know how to close deals. Nowhere in there was. I know how to manage someone whose cat just died last week. Right, that personal stuff. And so I think the key is making sure you spend time getting to know people when you do your one on ones do walk and talks. Even if you’re on Zoom, say, hey, I know we’re doing this on Zoom. I’m not going to do it on camera, so I’m going to go for a walk. Why don’t you go for a walk, too? Like, let’s let’s exercise and move our body a little bit in a healthy way. But getting to know those people personally, like what are their goals in life? What kind of car are they? They can have a car they wanted in life. What would it be if you could go on vacation next year? What would you where would you want to go? Great. All right. Well, let’s see how I can get you there. Right. That to me is the kind of stuff recognizing the ability of your sales people, of there are doers, there are planners, there are strategists and their executioners. And by that I mean closing deals, not something negative. And so knowing that you’re going to have different types of salespeople means you need to understand how to navigate and manage those people.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:02] Now, how did this startup shutdown even get on your radar?

Richard Harris: [00:25:07] So I know Tammy McQueen, who I believe is over there, right? Yeah. Yeah. And so I’ve known her for many years when she was over at Sales Loft, Sales Loft had me come and speak at all our Rainmaker events. She attended our event, our surf and sales event in Costa Rica, the very first one. And we just stayed in touch over the years and supported each other. There have been times I needed her help on something or she’s asked me for advice. And then this the startup shutdown thing came and she’s like, Oh, Richard, I want you to do this. I’m sure. Why not? And so that’s what happened.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:42] Now, if somebody wants to learn more about your practice and get on your radar, what is the website?

Richard Harris: [00:25:50] Well, I’m going to go one step further. So write this down, people. It’s legit. 41559691494155969149. It’s my real cell phone. Number one of my business cards is the one my parents got. My parents call me on and my kids and text me and call me. That being said, you can find me on LinkedIn. Richard Harris. I’m the one with the silly little team by my name. We can’t trademark a name, but I just sort of like, hacked it. And you can find me at the Harris Consulting Group dot com the Harris Consulting Group dot com. So feel free to reach out in any of those ways.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:32] Well, Richard, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Richard Harris: [00:26:37] Oh, man. I appreciate you guys for just helping support the community at large and the startup community and the sales community. And I think that’s you know, it’s all about putting some good karma in the world, and I appreciate the opportunity to do it alongside you.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:49] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on Startup Showdown.

Outro: [00:26:55] As always, thanks for joining us. And don’t forget to follow and subscribe to the Startup Showdown podcast. So you get the latest episode as it drops wherever you listen to podcasts to learn more and apply to our next startup Showdown Pitch Competition Visit Showdown VC. That’s Showdown Dot VC. All right. That’s all for this week. Goodbye for now.