Business RadioX ®

Wendy Ellin With The 25th Hour, Inc

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WendyEllin
Atlanta Business Radio
Wendy Ellin With The 25th Hour, Inc
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WendyEllinWendy Ellin, Workplace Productivity Expert at The 25th Hour, Inc.

Wendy Ellin is a workplace productivity consultant, international speaker, and the #1 bestselling author of “Working From Home…How’s That Working For You?” She shares her insights into living a more organized life with irreverence, humor, and a level of passion that motivates her audience to take immediate action to work smarter, not harder.

Wendy talks about the real-life work challenges we all experience, such as email overload, being on time (or not), reasonable expectations for getting things done, and more. Drawing from her 20-plus successful years in the corporate arena, she has developed winning tools and techniques for increasing workplace productivity, and ultimately, regaining peace of mind.

Wendy has shared her productivity tips with The Coca-Cola Company, Cox Broadcasting & Communications, American Cancer Society, iHeart Radio, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Southern Company, UCB Pharmaceuticals, and more. She has been featured in Real Simple Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, ABC TV, NPR Radio, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and on multiple national podcasts.

Connect with Wendy on LinkedIn and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Workplace productivity
  • Many business people operating from a culture of chaos and overwhelm these days
  • The new work-from-home paradigm
  • A full day’s work done in 90 minutes
  • The 3P Corporate Academy

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio brought to you by 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 Wendy Allen with the 25th hour. Welcome, Wendy.

Wendy Ellin: [00:00:42] Thanks. So glad to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:43] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about the 25th hour. How are you serving folks?

Wendy Ellin: [00:00:49] So the 25th hour started out 21 years ago as a personal concierge service. It was a business that I bought from previous owners who were getting ready to just sort of let it go defunct. And I picked it up and thought, okay, I can do this. This sounds like something up my alley. And as it turns out, it really wasn’t up my alley because all I was doing was enabling very busy people, busy rich professionals. Had I was enabling them to live a certain way because I was running their life. And when I realized that and that I had a gift in teaching people how to live differently, I flopped the model of my business. And instead of me running your life, I now teach you how to live your life so that you don’t need anybody to run your life. And I have been going at it for 21 years. Fast forward to March of 2020 when I watched my husband back his convertible up into our driveway like everybody else did when they were coming home. I realized, Wow, there are a lot of people out there that are suffering. They don’t know how to do this work from home thing or the hybrid thing or whatever it is because of the lack of basic organizational skills. So I left town, went to an Airbnb, wrote a book Working from Home. How’s that working for you? Got it to number one bestseller and things have been cranking ever since.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:06] So now early on, the business was kind of triaging people’s situations and then now you’re giving them systems and processes to make their life more productive.

Wendy Ellin: [00:02:17] Instead of me running your life for you and running your errands and doing all the things that you don’t have time to do, I’m now teaching you how to have time to have a life.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:27] So now does that change who the customer was? Did they change on how like you on boarded somebody? Did it change kind of the essence of the business?

Wendy Ellin: [00:02:36] It changed the customer because it wound up being I really do focus now. I mainly focus on the workplace. I care deeply about the way people are operating in their workplace environment, no matter what that is, whether it’s home, whether it’s office, whether it’s hybrid, because most people struggle when it comes to work. And if you’re working and you have a full time job, that’s where you spend most of the time in your life working when you look at your hours. So how can we get people to work in a way that brings them more joy and less stress? That’s all. That’s my that’s my jam.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:09] So how does that work? Like, what is some of the questions you’re asking your prospective client at the beginning of the relationship to kind of get a handle on things.

Wendy Ellin: [00:03:17] What’s not working, what stresses you out, what do you not have in your life right now or in your work that you want to have? And then the answers are anywhere from sleeping better, making more money, better relationships set, not setting a bad example for my kids, getting a promotion, having more time to do what I want to do, not spending 20 minutes every 20 minutes looking for things. I mean, the span is crazy.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:46] So once you kind of get a handle on things, then how do you implement a system or what kind of or do you just hand them your book and say, go here, read this, and it’ll take care of everything?

Wendy Ellin: [00:03:56] Well, if it’s a one on one that I do one on one coaching and you can’t work with me for less than three months because I’m going to get you to change how you live in very different aspects of your life, your physical aspect, your mindset aspect, your technology aspect. You know, I always say your success is under your mess and we have lots of different messes. Technology mess, a physical mess, emotional mess. So I work with people one on one, if that’s what they’re looking for. Entrepreneurs, lots of entrepreneurs and small business owners. And then I also just scaled my I’m in the process of scaling my business by taking my content of over 21 years and converting it into microlearning bits and pieces and putting it on a technology platform so that everybody in an organization can access this content.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:43] So now is your client the organization? So it’s the HR department, and this is a benefit for the employees rather than individual employees?

Wendy Ellin: [00:04:52] Well, it’s a benefits everybody, but it starts at the individual, because if all the individuals are organized, that as a whole, you’re going to work more organized. So, yes, I am targeting organizations, teams, leadership teams, HR and learning and development to say now’s the time more than ever to offer this to your employees as a benefit so that you can make sure they stay engaged, they stay working with you, and they give you their best work. Oh, and maybe they actually enjoy their job a little more. What a concept.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:20] So what are some symptoms in an organization that they might need your help. What are some of the things that are happening that they’re not seeing this as symptoms?

Wendy Ellin: [00:05:29] Well, here’s the thing. I always talk about this as being the people who suffer in silence. Not many people are going to raise their hand and say, excuse me, I’m disorganized. In fact, when you interview people for a job, most people don’t ever even ask, are you organized? And if they do, you’re not going to say, No, I’m not right. The likelihood of you getting that job by admitting that you’re disorganized is high. So I say, instead of trying to figure out, let’s just assume there are some people in your organization that don’t have these skills. Let’s offer this toolbox to everybody, and everybody gets to pull which tools they need the most. Some people don’t work with paper. They don’t need a system for their paper, but they sure as hell are living out of their inbox of 10,000 plus emails that are stressing them out. So there are so many different issues that relate to people being disorganized. Emails. Paper. Regular clutter. Distractions. Interruptions. Multitasking. Perfectionism. Procrastination. Setting boundaries around your time. Meetings like all these different elements speak to being organized, and everybody’s got issues in a variety of them.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:37] So has this kind of new paradigm where everybody’s working at home, has this just exacerbated things?

Wendy Ellin: [00:06:45] Well, here’s what I say about COVID. Covid didn’t make people organized. Covid shed a light a light on those that are people are suffering more now because think about it, you’re really disorganized and you’ve got a lot of clutter in your house. But in the morning, you get to get dressed and get in your car and go to an office that’s way more organized than the way you live. Now, COVID happens and you’re forced to to work among your clutter and your chaos, and you’re overwhelmed and you don’t know what you’re doing. You don’t even know what the best place in your house is to work. So that’s where I come in. I can literally look at a space and go, Oh, this is so obvious to me as the best place for you to work based on how many other people are under your roof, what are the circumstances that you’re living with? Everybody’s got such different circumstances. Is from this whole cove thing. And now fast forward to where we are now, where they’re talking hybrids. Some people are demanding that their employees come back three days a week. Others are really settled in the way they’re working from home. It’s so across the board, Leigh, that I’m saying it’s not where you work, it’s not who you work for or what you even do. It’s how you work. How do you work? How do you set yourself up every day for success? How do you get done what you must get done today and not think about anything else but what you must get done today so that at the end of the day, you feel success versus defeat.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:02] So throughout the years we’ve been bombarded with I don’t I kind of they seem similar to kind of get rich quick schemes. The four hour workweek or the getting things done and these kind of magic formulas and that if you just do these things, then all of a sudden your life is all aligned and everything works out perfectly. How did those systems or do you find people are kind of looking for that magic wand rather than trying to implement just kind of the blocking and tackling that’s needed to do this kind of work?

Wendy Ellin: [00:08:34] So here’s what I say. I’m not looking for 100%. I’m 80% organized, and I want my people to be 80% organized. And when I set the bar lower than 100%, people are more inclined to do it because 100% is not attainable for me or anybody else, and it’s also not sustainable. So I say, let’s try for 80%. In the five workdays that you have, I want you to err on the side of of staying organized more than not, which would be at least three out of the five days, maybe four, maybe five. Right. And so I’m also all about not taking on every single tool at the same time. Let’s just focus on email, if that’s your thing. Let’s get your email inbox to zero and keep it that way. Let’s keep it that way for five days. And then let’s move to keeping you that day for ten days. And when you start to feel like you’re seeing the benefits from having an empty inbox and you’ve got this system down, then let’s add the next system which is blocked times on your calendar. Right, or whatever, whatever. I do a productivity assessment in the beginning of working with people and that I do the same exact assessment three months later to see what where the numbers changed. Right. Some people just have different issues that they’re tackling that are stressing them out. A lot of it falls into email. And you know what? Here’s what I say about email. It’s never going away. It’s never going away. And we have no control over the emails coming into our inbox, but we do have control over it once it comes in.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:00] Now when you’re working with folks, how important is kind of developing these processes or rituals or kind of repeatable activities that, you know, okay, at 7:00 in the morning, I do this at 12:00, I do that and like I have it, it’s kind of like it’s in my calendar, it’s locked in. I find that people they break promises to themselves all the time, but they show up for appointments.

Wendy Ellin: [00:10:27] Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally. Right. Nobody is willing to take care of themselves when it comes to this. And I always say, if you’re going to stop every time somebody emails you or asks or calls you or pings you to give them a response, you’ve basically checked off everybody else’s to do list but your own. And as I say, how’s that working for you? It doesn’t work for me. I want to check my own off, but I really believe in routines. I have a morning ritual that that that really, really sets me up for success every day. Do I do it every single day? No. I’m 80% organized, so I do it 80% of the time. And that works for me. And and all bids are off on the weekends like I do what I want to do on the weekends I sleep in, on the weekends. I’m not I’m not rushing to get up and to sort of look at the time when I get up, I get up unless I have something to do or go. But but I really believe that a morning routine or rituals are important and we all have one up. Brushing our teeth is a morning routine and an evening routine, and it’s a ritual. And we don’t think about it. We don’t think about it except if we miss it. I remember a couple of weeks ago I said to Marty, Oh, my God, I forgot to brush my teeth last night. Like I distinctly remember that that stuck out in my mind, but I don’t think about it otherwise. But if we could, if we could employ some of these routines and habits that set us up for success in other areas of our life, like the way we operate, life would look very different and feel different and that’s the key. Leigh It’s a feeling great what it looks like, but how does it feel so that stress is a feeling.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:03] Now let’s share some actionable advice for the listener. What is some maybe a template ties version, a generic morning ritual? What are, what are? What’s a morning ritual? What are some of the elements? What should it look like? How long should it take? Things like that.

Wendy Ellin: [00:12:20] Okay, you can do a 30 minute ritual. Here’s what I do. I get up in the morning and the first thing I do is meditate for 10 minutes. I literally get my mind quiet, right? I kind of a little envisioning what my day is going to look like and I set myself up for success. That’s 10 minutes. Then I drink a cup of hot water, a glass of hot water with lemon, which just gets my metabolism going before I put coffee in my body. Right. It’s sort of like coats it before I load the coffee in, then I move my body. Now that could mean a 30 minute walk outside some yoga stretches on the bedroom floor, but I do some kind of stretching when I get up every morning. Then I write in my gratitude journal, which is one of the most important things. I focus on what’s working. I focus on what I’m grateful for, because when I focus on what I’m grateful for, more of that comes into my existence. That’s number four. Number five is I meet with my home team.

Wendy Ellin: [00:13:08] So I literally get in. I meet my husband Marty in the kitchen. He’s eating a bowl of cereal and I’m drinking coffee and we talk about our day. What does your day look like? So today I had a 10:00 call, 11:00 meeting, 1230 to 130 meeting, 2:00 with you. I have a 3:00 and a 4:00. Those times that I’m on a call, Marty is overseeing the dog. Ruby and Marty are upstairs doing their thing. But when I’m done with this call, I have a half hour window that if Marty needs me to oversee Ruby or go for a walk, I can do that. So we’re literally talking about what is our day look like? What are we having for dinner? Do we need to take something out of the freezer? That’s what I say. Meeting with your home team. So that’s number five. And number six is then I get busy with my mitts, my most important things. So I have six things meditate, hydrate, move my body, gratitude, home team meeting and get to work. Boom right there. Now.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:08] Now how? I think the pandemic has been very eye opening for a lot of people because a lot of people always in their head, they said I was going to achieve all these great things. I was going to write more. I was going to do all this stuff more. If only I had time and and I had access to these to do this kind of work. And then the pandemic came in. You had lots of time and people still didn’t get stuff done. How, you know, sometimes having a blank sheet of paper is worse than having, you know, clear direction.

Wendy Ellin: [00:14:42] Sometimes. Yeah. Listen, everybody has must dos on their calendar every day, right? Even if it’s you must go to the grocery store because you have an empty refrigerator or you must go get dog food because the dog has to eat. There’s always some must do’s. So I always focus on the must do’s first, and then after the must do’s, I throw in the could do’s. So the first question I ask myself is what must get done today? Then the could do’s or where we’re talking now, where you could actually start a new book or you could actually start a new knitting project, or you could actually declutter a room or a space. Right? Then the last one is, What will I get done this week? So those are the three things I ask myself every morning What must be done today? What could be done today? What will be done this week? Because we all come into the day with this laundry list of all these to do’s, and we think we can get them all done today, but we can’t because we only have 24 hours, not 36, but we act as if we have 36 and we schedule ourself as if we have 36. And then we’re always disappointed at the end of the day that we didn’t get done what we set out to. But you know what? I only get set out sometimes to do three things in a day. It just depends on the day. And so it’s really about being realistic about what you can and can get done in an actual day.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:56] Now, how important is it in any type of system to have some sort of an insurance policy or something that catches you when you inevitably fail? So you don’t turn one bad afternoon into a bad week. That’s a bad month. That’s now something you used to do back in the day.

Wendy Ellin: [00:16:13] It’s important. But let me just say this about a system. No system works unless you work it. So if you don’t work the system, it’s not going to work for you. Right. So if you set up a system and you don’t work it, you don’t whatever the system is, I have a system for my email. I have a system for my paper, I have a system for my calendar. But I work them every day. I’m literally doing what I say I’m going to do in order to get what I want. And so there’s that. You’ve got to work the system. There’s no system out there that doesn’t work. That works with no effort on your part. Right. You go to Weight Watchers. It’s a system for losing weight. You don’t work the system. The weight doesn’t come off.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:49] Right. But it has group dynamics that help keep you compliant and accountable, like.

Wendy Ellin: [00:16:54] Right. Well, that’s the cool thing about Wendy Allen’s Academy, which is this program that I’m that I’ve just launched for organizations. It’s got a whole accountability element built into the program. You actually have an accountability partner that you’re going through this learning journey with. It’s called a learning journey and it’s built on a platform of learn, do inspire, learn the system, set it up and do it and then inspire others. Talk about what’s working to other people. It’s really very cool.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:23] So now do you think that having some sort of accountability in any process or system like this is a must have? Not a nice to have?

Wendy Ellin: [00:17:31] No, it’s a must have. In fact, that’s why one on one people work with me because of the accountability they get, like, I will hold you to do what you say you want to do. You get to decide what that is. You get to change it whatever you want. If you decide that you want to do this and a week or two later you decide something else, I’ll go with the flow, but I will hold you to whatever you commit to doing. And I do it in a way that doesn’t make you wrong for the way you live. Because I want it for you if you want it. You know, I always tell people I can’t want this for you more than you want it for yourself, because otherwise I’m swimming upstream and that’s just not an easy path to take for me or anybody.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:05] So if somebody wants to learn more about the three PE corporate academy, get a hold of your book, you know, have a conversation with you or somebody on your team. What’s the website.

Wendy Ellin: [00:18:15] Wendy? Cnn.com. Wendy, Eli, CNN.com. You can find anything relating to me or how to contact me from there. Easiest way.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:24] Well, Wendy, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Wendy Ellin: [00:18:28] My pleasure.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:30] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on the Atlanta Business Radio.

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Quest Moffat With Kadogo

by

Quest-Moffat
Startup Showdown Podcast
Quest Moffat With Kadogo
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Kadogo

QuestMoffatQuest Moffat, Digital Mercenary & Founder at Kadogo

Quest, the Digital Mercenary is known for using BANDWIDTH for Good, Growth Hacking, and is a social impact entrepreneur who has a serious passion for helping UNDERESTIMATED individuals achieve economic independence through entrepreneurship, innovation, and skills development.

Quest has assisted 36 founders in raising $5M in the last four years, including two exits, 1 M&A, and another 103 in starting their entrepreneurial journey out of a passion to see others succeed!

Follow Kadogo on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • About Kadogo
  • Donor Advised Fund
  • Nonprofits struggle to receive Web3, Stock, Assets, or Cash

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] 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: [00:00:38] Lee Kantor here another episode of Startup Showdown, and this is going to be a fun one. But before we get started, 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 Quest Moffat with Kadogo. Welcome, Quest.

Quest Moffat: [00:00:56] Hey. How’s it going?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:57] It is going great. But before we get too far into things, tell us about Codigo. How are you serving, folks?

Quest Moffat: [00:01:04] Well, Codigo is a online platform that allows you to give others money away while saving on your taxes. And how it works is we are a dual sided marketplace that connects everyday employees of companies that offer matching funds with an easier way to obtain money to activate those matching funds. Because over 27 million employees lack the funds because either they don’t know about this program or just because they’re broke. To be able to activate their corporate funding. So we work with multiple restaurants and or service based businesses across the nation that offer cash back rewards for charitable contributions. So our platform allows you to shop at a series of merchants, earn cash back rewards, and then your employer has the option to double or triple whatever their rules are for their company. And we pass all of that money and information along to nonprofits.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:05] And that’s something that a lot of folks maybe don’t realize, that their company has matching funds, but they’re not taking advantage of it. And a lot of that is kind of just it’s a wasted opportunity, right? Like there’s so much funds available for these types of donations, but the employees aren’t kind of taking advantage of it.

Quest Moffat: [00:02:27] And it’s a multitude of things. It’s on one side. It’s because the employees aren’t taking advantage of it. On the other side, over 70% of businesses, they just don’t have the actual vehicle to make it easy for them to release the money that they have stored away for charitable contributions. It’s very administratively burdensome. Imagine if you had 200 employees that all of a sudden wanted to donate money to a host of different nonprofits. According to your plan, someone has to verify each nonprofit, send a letter to each one of them to make sure they’re still in business, get some information from them, send all that information over to whoever runs accounts payable, or probably that’s the same person, and then send all of these donations downstream. It’s not like all 100 employees had this same exact nonprofit that they were about to donate to. Everyone cares about something different from animals, the forest to women’s rights to STEM education. And so we made it easy to do it through one platform for the business to allow their employees or their customers to give the money away on behalf of them.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:38] Now, what was the genesis of the idea? How did you kind of stumble upon this problem to solve?

Quest Moffat: [00:03:46] I used to be in the nonprofit world on on both sides. I’ve worked for large organizations, big nonprofits, and I’ve worked for my own personal nonprofit. And when I was running my own personal nonprofit for the first time, coming out of the for profit world to support early stage entrepreneurs and raising money rapidly validating a business thought it was a great idea and to the point where we got early stage funding, but it was programing dollars and I did not understand the difference between programing dollars and the operations dollars. I thought we could use programing dollars to also keep the operations of the business going of this nonprofit, as well as paying for the people. My salary, plus other things found out. You can’t do that. We redid the whole entire program again, but we were doing it the proper way where you’re using the program dollars to run the program and not the operations of the company. And that leaves a big void as you can quickly run through your head. Everyone else in the company is getting paid. But. Quest And I saw that, hey, there’s patriots out there. You can do that. But that’s not really geared towards a nonprofit leader. I knew I had an email list of a lot of donors, and a lot of them were my friends. So I was in a restaurant one day and I was just flipping through and on the back of the brochure it Panda Express and also on the wall that just has a nice big old poster that says, Hey, we’ll donate 20% of every transaction to a nonprofit.

Quest Moffat: [00:05:17] And it got me thinking how many other restaurants do this? Now there’s some other people out here that have tried. The downside is, is you still have to, like, schedule this stuff. You have to like manually schedule each restaurant or each business and then coordinate with your friends and family and all of your donors to send them there. So it’s kind of hard to like organize more than one of these restaurants at a time. And so that’s when I got my programing mind on. I was at a large conference and I saw the exact same thing. I saw a very large nonprofit with over 10,000 people at a conference try and do this. It was an administrative nightmare. So that’s how I came up with it. I saw two, I experienced it, I experienced it. A very large nonprofit that I worked for. And so we came up with this idea, my co-founder and I, to where what if you could integrate with open banking technology, you could integrate with the payment rails of your debit card or your credit card. So Visa, MasterCard and Amex would have to be on board. And if you could somehow see the transactions or integrate like a point of sale system and operate like all of the loyalty rewards applications that were used to the day, but except put a spin on it and make it charitable now.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:40] Yeah, go ahead. Now, there’s obviously the this is complex. It involves individuals and it involves these restaurants. It involves the nonprofits. So walk me through what the experience is like for an individual like say, hey, I’m I’m in. This sounds great. I want to do this. So so how does it work for me? How easy is it for me to kind of plug into this marketplace and aim my dollars in the direction I want them to go in.

Quest Moffat: [00:07:07] Three steps, download the app, register your debit card. So we only need the 16 digits of your debit card in the expiration date. That’s it. No other personal information from there you select up to five non profits that you would like your rewards to go to. And then if you are a power user, you. And look at the restaurants and the businesses that are in there. If you don’t care, we just send you a text message and let you know that you have gone to one of our many affiliate restaurants or businesses and you just earn $3. We keep it moving.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:43] And then the money just gets divided up evenly among the.

Quest Moffat: [00:07:48] Money just gets divided up evenly and automatically donated downstream. You receive a tax receipt at the end of the year for your donations.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:55] And then from the nonprofit standpoint, is this something that the nonprofit has to sign up with or are you partnering with places that already vet nonprofits?

Quest Moffat: [00:08:05] Yeah, so we’re doing it two fold. So we utilize, of course, the IRS database, and we’re looking for that good standing letter that the IRS looks at for all nonprofits. On the other side, we partner up with community organizations like foundations or community groups that have a bucket of nonprofits under them, that are doing the good work of the community, that are very close. And so nonprofits have the option of either if they know about Codigo, they sign up. We either reach out to them, but here in the next couple of weeks, we would have all 1.65, 1.7 million registered nonprofits. That includes universities, churches, schools that are all in there organized. Geolocated closest to you so you can find the non profits that are in your community, that are on the ground doing the work so you can give the money to them.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:59] And then from the enterprise level you’re partnering with the enterprise level companies that are doing matching so that we can take advantage of that as well.

Quest Moffat: [00:09:10] Yeah. So we go after companies that have already a matching program or they do some type of charitable contributions or donations locally in the community. You can spot it super easy off of Google or on their website. We primarily go after companies that organize massive give days. Give days is a single day or a week where they get all of their employees together to donate simultaneously on one day over a specified period of hours. Those, like I said, those are very complex to run. When you have multiple parties in place, we charge them starting off at $450 and a dollar a month. And then it just goes up from there tops out at around 1500 dollars a month. It does give them a little bit more power. These these giving accounts, the ones that are for the employers that are on these premium plans, allows them to donate in an alternate way. So not only can they fill up their wallet in an easier way by shopping in a community, that’s fun. The next level of it is these wallets allow them to donate securities. So a lot of these employees have stock. They are having capital gains or they are if their companies are doing well like they’re supposed to, the stock is increasing in value. But Uncle Sam comes knocking on your door once a year, wanting that money on that capital gains.

Quest Moffat: [00:10:40] They could take the capital gains and actually donate it to any non profit that they want. So a lot of nonprofits are not equipped to receive stock or anything within the Web3 space. There are a couple of us on this frontier that are enabling non profits to receive crypto and or anything within that web3 and we want it to allow those nonprofits that they don’t have an administrative staff. Most likely they don’t even know about this. And if someone said, Hey, I want to give you some Ethereum or a Bitcoin or a Doge, or here’s a nifty that I want to give you. A lot of nonprofits don’t know what to do with it, let alone if you said, Hey, I have five shares of Tesla that I would like to donate to you, that’s something that foundations have traditionally handled for the nonprofit. So nonprofits usually go to a foundation and set up an account, and then the foundation receives that. I think you need to have a little bit more choice and control. Because, Lee, if I came to you, do you want me to automatically liquidate all five Tesla shares and then give you the cash? Or would you like to hold on to a couple of those Tesla shares and make the choice to liquidate it or keep it?

Lee Kantor: [00:11:53] So now. Yeah, right. So you’re talking about a donor advise fund at this point.

Quest Moffat: [00:12:02] Yeah. So every codelco giving account, you know a little bit about my industry. So every giving account that we issue is a donor advice fund. Instead of setting them up in 2 to 6 months, it takes 5 to 15 minutes to deploy one of these for a company and per employee. Everyone on our platform gets their own donor advice fund and it allows you to do a multitude of things. But we’re keeping it very simple for everyone right now.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:23] And that’s not typical, right? Like a donor advised fund was typically for wealthy folks.

Quest Moffat: [00:12:31] Yeah, there’s yeah, it’s typically for ultra rich and wealthy folks to be able to change their adjusted gross income by making a direct donation to their donor advice fund and but still having control of the money rather than giving it to a foundation and losing control. So these donor advised funds allow you to invest into private equity if you still have control of it or you go and put real estate under it. The whole intent is to grow the money that is in the account. Get the tax optimization benefit of the immediate year. Maybe I sold some real estate and I spiked my income, so I want to donate it so I can get that immediate taxable benefit we’re going to allow. I want everyone to be able to have one of these. I believe not just the rich and the ultra wealthy should be able to have one. I believe the person that’s making $25,000 up to $150,000, call it dual income households. The most amount of people that pay the most amount of taxes. If everyone if special people have the ability to be able to adjust their taxable income while still being charitable and having an impact on their community, why shouldn’t everyone be able to have access to that? So it already with your 41k or your IRA, your HSA, let’s be very charitable with the with the donor advised fund side.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:44] So how did you pull this off in terms of, you know, kind of before? I would think that people who wanted to do this, there are some sort of a minimum amount and that is burdensome, burdensome for regular folks. How did you kind of get around having that kind of minimum investment amount?

Quest Moffat: [00:14:05] I’m not interested. Okay. Well, let me rephrase that. It’s not our first business line of making profit. There are many other ways of making profit in revenue, which is why we have a SAS plan, which is why we have a SAS plan, a monthly subscription for individuals or the company. We want to be focused on that asset under management fee where it was. We’ve talked to a lot of wealth management or financial advisors where they can’t focus on the person below $1,000,000, let alone a person that $150,000 three years in at Boeing or Qualcomm, super talented, 27 year old, the 30 year old. They’re not. But approaching them. That’s what Wealthfront was for. But Wealthfront just got purchased for that reason. And so I believe that. You. How we pulled it off was, like you said, it’s complex, is that there’s all of the revolving pieces of a proper donor advise fund. Starting off with you need the nonprofit status so there is could go Gibbs. That’s the 500 1c3. Behind that you have a brokerage. So we have a brokerage partnership behind that. Then you have the our for profit that owns all the technology and that allows for you to achieve your taxable benefit, allows for you to get your taxable immediate donation. It allows for that entity to transfer the funds on the platform to other nonprofits that are within the ecosystem. And then that allows for the non-profits to now receive their funds in a multitude of ways, or divest their funds in a multitude of ways to grow their cash based investments.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:07] So now when you started this, did you try to bootstrap this at the beginning, or were you always looking for funding and looking for kind of venture help in this?

Quest Moffat: [00:16:19] I bootstrapped as much as possible because I knew that if we took on early capital, we were going to give up a chunk of the company. I did, since I did run a startup studio and a venture builder out a Rolodex of investors. So I circulated through my close network and took some very good advice from some investor friends that if I can bootstrap it and get this to a certain stage, get some customers on the platform, get some early stage traction, that this would be a lot easier. We still operate within the charitable space, but we don’t operate in the charitable space. We try and as you all know, it’s hard to raise money within the doing anything for non-profits. They’re a hard sell, but we’re in the enterprise side of that operation. When I started this entity, I guess be here at that point.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:12] So how did you hear about the startup shutdown?

Quest Moffat: [00:17:17] I went through. So I started off after that bootstrapping moment. We went through a another like a venture builder start up studio, early stage. We went through a generator in motion startup studio out in Lincoln, Nebraska, mainly because of their financial background in the in the city, very financially connected. That financial that journey through the studio was the first set of, call it early little legs where we built our little our beachhead. And through that, I heard about startup showdown through them by talking to a run. I was running through 5 to 10 investors a day with generator and one of the investors was like, Hey, you should really go through Startup Showdown. She threw the link over here. She sent it again through the email and even sent it to me through Twitter if you need to apply. Even stated that even if you don’t win, that it would be a great form of just general advertising and people just knowing about your business.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:31] So what was the most beneficial part of going through the process?

Quest Moffat: [00:18:38] I’d say the most beneficial part is it’s just always nice to be able to speak with. Individuals that know a little bit about the industry. Like you mentioned, you picked up on donor advised funds. Not a lot of people know about. And so that has someone be able to. Pick it apart and then offer ways to make it a little bit palatable and more understandable is a great benefit. At any point. So also they there’s a little bit more of how to streamline the message so it doesn’t become overly complicated as we keep peeling back the onion.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:24] Now, have you had a mentor or maybe another startup founder that has been inspirational to you during this journey?

Quest Moffat: [00:19:39] During this journey. I mean, I have my my co-founder Alejandro is my CTO. We had another co-founder, she died and that was our that was my mentor inspiration piece. She had all the licenses for series six, seven and 24 was the registered broker. Outside of this now is her name is Annie. Annie has been. She’s actually out in Lincoln. Annie has been one of our or. Annie Crimmins has been one of our. Probably the individual that I can randomly call it ten, 11:00 at night. Or early in the morning. I think the last time we spoke, she was on our way to Target. And I needed help with a piece of my. Of my pitch, but I was just, you know, just typical founder stuff. You know, you’re just going through the typical woes up and downs. And I realized after I looked down, we’ve been on the phone for like an hour and 50 minutes, and at the end of it, she was like, Well, I’m going to go to Target. And I mean, you have mentors and you have advisors and then you have like mentors that turn into friends. And I would say that’s been Annie is just a good person that has like a deep wealth of knowledge, of experience, that when we first met, I didn’t know that she knew what all the donor advised fund stuff was or to foundations or nonprofits.

Quest Moffat: [00:21:17] It was as we peeled back the iron and gained trust and start to really learn about each other, you just start to know. And on the other side, I mean, there are some other mentors and advisors that thanks to Sputnik and being a part of their program now another accelerator here in Austin is you just serendipity meet. Mentor or people that end up being your mentor or being your advisor without you really asking for it, and they end up asking you to be your mentor or advisor. So we’ve started to run and I’ve started to run into some of those. So I’m I’m working on being a little bit more open. A lot of founders are very closed off and protective. And specifically after I lost my co-founder, I became very closed because it was hard to deal with loss and grief and all that fun stuff that goes with it. But I’ve got a wealth of mentors and advisors around me now that keep me moving forward.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:16] Now, do you have any advice for other startup founders who are working in this space? Because as you mentioned, this is a difficult space to be starting new ventures and.

Quest Moffat: [00:22:27] I call it if you’re sitting in a frontier space where there are minimum people doing it, or when you explain it even to licensed and regulated people, I’m talking about the wealth advisors and the financial advisors don’t even know what the hell are you talking about? You know, you’re in a in a space. Even if you don’t think you need the licensed mentor and advisor in the space grab that licensed individual. So my advice is always keep experts and professionals that have been there and done it. With 20 years knowledge on you because it can help you cut through a lot of stuff way faster and easier. I learned about a section of the wealth market that I had no idea existed because of legal laws of what happens with IRAs after a certain time frame if you don’t need it later conversation. But I wouldn’t have known that if this financial wealth advisor was not my advisor, not from that side, but from a company standpoint. It’s been in the game for 18 years. There’s going to be some things that I cannot learn on Google or classes or talking to people that he knows. There’s another woman that’s one of our advisors that we’re playing with that she’s been in the world for 40 years on the legal side. So legal, banking, finance. Those are people that you want to have around you because their network. Supercedes yours. And when you’re in my industry, I can go and build the coolest technology. We can automate all of this. Who cares if you do not have the trust? And I’m 35, so. I have some trust, but I have a lot of more earning of trust to get to your mentors and advisors and the people that are closest to you have the trust of their network and circle that are either going to be your first investors or they’re going to be your first customers. So I advise everyone to find people around them that are. 15 years minimum, but really 20 years older than them to be on their team of advisors and mentors.

Lee Kantor: [00:24:49] So what’s your superpower that gives you a competitive advantage?

Quest Moffat: [00:24:58] Call me to affirm the fun title of the digital mercenary. I can understand. I can understand very, very complex things from you can tell me A to Z and then Z to 100 and I can figure out the items in between. I never thought I would have to figure out how to set up and create a brokerage partnership, let alone all of the things that go into a brokerage and the legal regulation side of it. It’s not my industry, but I believe as being an entrepreneur, you have to be almost a master of none but be able to read something in about 5 to 15 minutes and be able to jump into that conversation with the professionals to learn more. I would say that probably comes from my cybersecurity background. My self taught my way into coding. I just love to learn. So my superpower is just being curious. I think that’s what every person in the investor space wants to see is. I know when to stop at the end of the rabbit hole and back out. But I know how to be curious enough to venture into it. And I believe that’s the downside of a lot of entrepreneurs. Curious enough.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:17] And what do you need more of? How can we help?

Quest Moffat: [00:26:21] Right now I am seeking to find. That. That that special person to be a part of our company that happens to have some of these licenses that we’re looking to get connected deeper into the financial advisor and wealth advisor market. To start making those connections so we can easily navigate. We know we are doing something in a dual sided marketplace, but now that we have built out the customer segment side, this world does operate off of strategic partnerships. So that’s my ask, is to get deeply into that side.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:01] So what is if somebody wants to learn more? What’s the coordinates for? Dojo.

Quest Moffat: [00:27:07] Then go to Codelco. That’s a dogo loco. We are codelco gives on all networks. So we’re on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. We suggest our website as the best place to go to learn any of the information of how to get involved and look forward to speaking with anyone and everyone.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:33] All right. Well, Quest, thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing important work, and we appreciate you.

Quest Moffat: [00:27:38] Thank you. And thanks for knowing a little bit about donor advised funds. It’s always exciting to talk to someone else who understands the game.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:44] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on Startup Showdown.

Intro: [00:27:49] 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 Dot VC. That’s Showdown Dot VC. All right, that’s all for this week. Goodbye for now.

 

ZaLonya Allen With National Entrepreneurs Association

by

ZaLonyaAllen
Association Leadership Radio
ZaLonya Allen With National Entrepreneurs Association
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NEA

ZaLonyaAllenDr. ZaLonya Allen is President/CEO of the National Entrepreneurs Association, a 501c3 created to empower entrepreneurs to grow and sustain successful businesses through monthly networking events, training conferences and educational programs.

As a speaker Dr. Allen has delivered hundreds of presentations for organizations throughout the country including, Society for Human Resource Management, Ford UAW, Edison, Roanoke College and the Federal Government to name a few. As a leadership and entrepreneurial coach she has worked with professionals in a variety of industries from corporate executives to professional athletes. Using the principles of psychology, Dr. Allen helps her clients master their mindset and get on a path to goal attainment.

Dr. Allen has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Woman of Wonder Award from University of Phoenix, Unsung Hero Award from Wayne state University Association of Black Business Students and the Spirit of Detroit Award. Her work has been featured by numerous media outlets including Detroit News, Fox 2 News, CW50 Street Beat, Crain’s Detroit, DBusiness, 910AM Superstation and 105.9 FM.

Dr. Allen is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Wayne State University and North Central University. She holds degrees in industrial relations, sociology and two degrees in psychology with a focus in I/O psychology. She is a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success, an invitation only honors society for students with a GPA of 3.3 or higher.

Connect with Dr. Zalonya on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • The mission of NEA
  • What makes your association different

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. Today on the show, we have ZaLonya Allen and she’s with National Entrepreneurs Association. Welcome.

ZaLonya Allen: [00:00:30] Hello and thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:32] I’m so excited to learn what you’re up to. Before we get too far into things, tell us a little bit about National Entrepreneurs Association. How you serving folks?

ZaLonya Allen: [00:00:42] Absolutely. The National Entrepreneurs Association is a 501 C three nonprofit corporation that exists to help entrepreneurs succeed. The fail rate and entrepreneurship is relatively high, and we feel that if entrepreneurs can get together and connect with like minded entrepreneurs, they will be more successful. In addition, if they receive the training that they need, they can be successful. So we offer quality training programs and networking events.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:20] So what was kind of the genesis of the idea? What inspired you to get involved with this?

ZaLonya Allen: [00:01:27] What inspired me is I’m a lifelong entrepreneur. My parents were entrepreneurs. And when I got into it, I didn’t know exactly what I was doing. There’s so many different components to it and I just thought if I’m having difficulty, others are probably having difficulty too. And then when I did the research, I found out that there was in fact a high failure rate for small businesses as well as entrepreneurs. So that motivated me to put on a conference called the Entrepreneurs Forum. And from that, the National Entrepreneurs Association emerged.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:13] So now is the group National in the sense that there aren’t local chapters, or is it national in the sense that this is an overriding mission and you’re trying to put chapters around the country.

ZaLonya Allen: [00:02:25] So we are a national organization. We meet virtually and entrepreneurs from all over the country join our meetings. Of course, the pandemic has been going on for over two years. We started this in 2018 and the goal is, yes, to have chapters in every major city in the United States. But because of the pandemic, we began meeting virtually and we do all kinds of events to support entrepreneurs on a national level.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:03] So what’s an example of some of the events you do?

ZaLonya Allen: [00:03:07] Sure, we do national virtual pitch competitions. Those events are sponsored by Dell Technologies and Comerica Bank, where contestants can pitch their business in 3 minutes and win $3,000. They also win a Dell Computer and a one year membership to the NBA. And we do those twice a year. We also have second and third place winners. We do an entrepreneur, bootcamp and certification program so entrepreneurs can become certified. And it’s a nine week training program where we give entrepreneurs an overview of entrepreneurship, because often when people become entrepreneurs, they are passionate about a particular product or service, but they may not understand the other aspects of business like the legal side or how to market effectively. So we give them a nice overview. At the end of the program, they take an exam. If they pass with 80% or better, they receive our certification.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:20] And then this is the objective of that is to help educate the entrepreneur so they don’t kind of make some of the the mistakes that caused such a high failure rate for entrepreneurs.

ZaLonya Allen: [00:04:33] Exactly. It’s to better prepare them so that they know what they’re getting into. Often when people become entrepreneurs, they may not anticipate everything that that they’re getting themselves into. So it just kind of prepares you for what is to come. And if you’re a seasoned entrepreneur and you’ve been in business for a while, it’s still a great program because you get training from experts. Every module is taught by an expert and you don’t know what you don’t know. So entrepreneurs always learn something new in this program.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:14] Now, has the membership been growing since the beginning? Has this been something that’s been, you know, are you starting to get traction?

ZaLonya Allen: [00:05:24] Absolutely. We have over 10,000 followers on our various social media platforms. Actually, we have over 13,000 on Facebook. Our email database has over 10,000. And that’s just grown since the pandemic because we started in Michigan. And like I said earlier, we’re servicing entrepreneurs all over the country now through our pitch competition, through our boot camp. And we also do monthly networking events, and that is virtual as well, where entrepreneurs can log on, zoom and connect with other entrepreneurs and exchange referrals and just support each other.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:11] Now, are you finding that people are hungry for this kind of information? We hear a lot about this great resignation where a lot of folks are just frustrated with their kind of corporate job and they want to kind of, you know, go their own way and carve their own path. Do you find that that people are just really looking for this type of information so they can get a solid foundation as they launch a new venture?

ZaLonya Allen: [00:06:37] I do. I do. Because I think the pandemic caused people to do some self-reflection and they want more out of life. And I think that’s why we’re seeing the great resignation. People are pursuing their passion and they need guidance and direction. So whenever we put out the advertisement for our pitch and our boot camp, the applications are through the roof. We actually cannot accept everyone who applies for these great programs. So absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:14] Now, do you have any advice for other leaders of associations that are launching a venture like yours? You’re you’re trying to serve the nation. How did you kind of attract those early corporate partners that probably help you fund this venture?

ZaLonya Allen: [00:07:31] So I’ve been doing entrepreneurial events for a while since 2011. So for about ten years. And initially I funded the programs. My team, we self-funded and we attracted the sponsors. People saw what we were doing. They liked it. People would refer others to us, and that’s how we got our sponsors. I haven’t really aggressively pursued corporate sponsors. They’ve heard about what we’re doing and they liked it and came on board. So that’s what I would recommend to association. Do something that you’re passionate about that you believe in. Network invite corporate sponsors to your events, and if they like what you’re doing, they will most likely get on board.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:29] Now. Do you have the challenge that some associations have? I don’t know if you have this because a lot of your work is virtual, but the ability to find volunteers and people to help in the, you know, kind of fulfilling the mission. Is that something that you struggle with or is that something you’ve kind of figured out?

ZaLonya Allen: [00:08:49] No. I think volunteerism is always a challenge. You just have to find the right mix. We have a core group of entrepreneurs who are really passionate and looking for opportunities to give back. But I would say other than that core, it can be challenging. But one of the things we try to do to correct that is to teach entrepreneurs the importance of volunteerism and that in order to get, you have to give. So I think when they understand the law of reciprocity, it becomes easier to attract volunteers.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:38] Now, is this playing out the way that you envisioned when you launch this?

ZaLonya Allen: [00:09:44] Absolutely. We had a big vision. The country is huge. We have over 30 million people in this country and millions of people pursuing entrepreneurship. So the opportunities are endless. And if we can just impact a few lives, we feel that our work has been worthwhile. So I think the sky is the limit really here because the need is great. We need more help in this area.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:18] Now, do you find that you’re attracting kind of the beginning entrepreneur on the life cycle, like the aspirational person who is thinking about this but hasn’t pulled the trigger? Or do you attract more the veteran entrepreneur that wants to take their business to a new level, or is it a mix?

ZaLonya Allen: [00:10:37] But we do have an application process, and because research shows that most people start to drop out around a year and a half, we do require that our entrepreneurs be in business for at least one year, and that’s because we want serious entrepreneurs who understand a little bit more about what they’re getting into. It’s not a get rich quick scheme. You’re not going to achieve success overnight. So we do that. We like for people to be in business for at least one year. And then I would say it’s a mix. So we get late stage entrepreneurs as well as early stage, but we do want you to be in business for at least one year.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:30] So now how do you kind of create the different activities that would be beneficial to somebody who’s, you know, farther along? They would have different needs than somebody that’s just getting started or is just, you know, at the beginning of their journey.

ZaLonya Allen: [00:11:46] Well, actually, we found that our programs benefit early stage entrepreneurs as well as late stage, because, you know, I just coached someone who has a fear of public speaking. Maybe you have a business and you haven’t had to pitch it, but now you want to go to the next level and get out there and start pitching your business and get more exposure. But you don’t have that training. We provide that training. So the same thing with our boot camp. It’s an overview. So all of our entrepreneurs, we’ve graduated 60 so far, whether they were early stage or late stage, they always say, I learned something new because there’s so much to learn and you can’t possibly know at all. So if you go through a program like ours that’s giving you a nice overview, you’re going to pick up something new as well as meet other entrepreneurs that you’re going to learn from just by having a conversation.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:53] Now. Are you reaching out to the universities? There seems to be entrepreneur programs sprouting in universities all over the country. Are you partnering with any of them?

ZaLonya Allen: [00:13:04] But we are not necessarily reaching out to the universities, but we do attract university students. In fact, someone from I believe it’s Florida University just won our last pitch competition. So we do attract college students for our pitch. And he did an outstanding job. He was only 24 years old and had a great idea and pitched it and he won first place.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:35] Wow, that’s fantastic. Do you find that you’re reaching maybe some of these entrepreneurs from underserved areas that maybe aren’t getting the attention from some of the local resources that are maybe close by to them, but your your your organization is kind of attractive to them.

ZaLonya Allen: [00:13:55] Yes, we do have a lot of underserved communities that reach out to us. But again, the requirement is the same. We just want to know that they’re serious, they know what they want to do and they’ve taken those initial steps and then we’re happy to serve.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:17] Right. That’s the I guess that was that a point of where you had to decide if that is the path that you wanted to go on? Because on one hand, you you don’t want to discourage anybody, but you want people that have kind of skin in the game so that they are kind of really invested in this. And they’re not just dreamers that never take action.

ZaLonya Allen: [00:14:38] Yes style. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been doing entrepreneur events for over ten years. So initially when I started doing events, everyone was welcome. But what I was finding was that there was a high turnover rate because people would get into it not knowing what to expect. And a year later they had given up already and got a job. So that’s one of the reasons we do, as you said, want people to have skin in the game and not think that this just, you know, it’s fashionable and trendy right now. So let me just go and try to be an entrepreneur. We want people who understand it’s a lot of work and it’s not easy. So that’s why we have that one year requirement.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:31] Yeah, I think and I can see that that would be it’s a double edged sword in the sense that you need to encourage the people who haven’t taken action yet, but those people have to take action and only they can take the action. You can’t take the action for them. You can’t want it more than they do. So, you know, at some point, if they’re serious, they have to, you know, get in there and start trying something.

ZaLonya Allen: [00:15:59] Absolutely. And there within entrepreneurship, there’s different niches that you can serve. And there are organizations out there that will help pre startups and early startups. So that help is out there for them. We just chose to focus on late stage startups and growth stage entrepreneurs because they really need help. You know, there’s this population out there who they’ve taken the leap, they’ve decided This is what I want to do. They’ve invested the money and then around the 18 month mark they start failing. And we want to get those people when they need the help the most. And we feel like we can help a lot of people, save their businesses and be successful.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:50] Now, do you find that there are certain clusters within your membership? Are there are they professional services or are they manufacturing or are they creators like do they fall into any kind of niche or is it kind of industry agnostic, your members?

ZaLonya Allen: [00:17:08] Our members are very diverse. We do have a lot of service based businesses, people who were professionals, and now they’re getting into coaching and consulting. But we do have product based businesses as well. People who have created a product, we have one entrepreneur that I’m thinking of. He creates his own perfumes and his business has taken off. He’s doing six figure business in a relatively short period of time. So it’s very diverse, all kinds of entrepreneurs.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:47] So what do you need more of? How can we help?

ZaLonya Allen: [00:17:50] I think we need more exposure when people come to us, whether it’s to pitch or to get training or just to network. One of the things I consistently hear is I can’t believe that I have never heard of this organization and they love our programs. So I think we just need to let more people know that we are here.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:14] And if somebody wants to learn more, what is the website?

ZaLonya Allen: [00:18:18] The website is national entrepreneurs dot org or national e a dot org.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:26] The style and then that’s the website. Are you you know, can they find you also like on LinkedIn or any of the social platforms?

ZaLonya Allen: [00:18:35] Absolutely. We’re on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. They can you can connect with me personally. My name is Sonya Allen or just search National Entrepreneurs Association.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:50] Well, Zelena, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

ZaLonya Allen: [00:18:56] Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:58] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll all next time on Association Leadership Radio.

Brandon Bach With Consumer Convenience Technologies (CCT)

by

BrandonBach
Cherokee Business Radio
Brandon Bach With Consumer Convenience Technologies (CCT)
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CCT

BrandonBachBrandon Bach has over 18 years of experience in project management, marketing, video production, which includes both video and graphic creation as well as designing, setting up, and running live events. He currently serves as the president of CCT, the manufacturer of the EEASY Lid – the first major jar lid innovation in more than 75 years.

Brandon interacts with the other team members on a day-to-day basis dealing with testing, production, marketing and sales. Brandon earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and a Minor in Business from Otterbein University in Columbus, Ohio.

Connect with Brandon on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • About Consumer Convenience Technologies (CCT)
  • The need for accessible packaging is so important
  • The need for sustainable packaging is so important

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Stone Payton: [00:00:13] Welcome to High Velocity Radio, where we celebrate top performers producing better results in less time. Stone Payton here with you this afternoon and you guys are in for a real treat. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast President of Consumer Convenience Technologies, Mr. Brandon Bach. Good afternoon, sir.

Brandon Bach: [00:00:36] Hello. Thank you for having me. It’s great to be here.

Stone Payton: [00:00:38] Well, we’re delighted to have you on the show, man, and looking forward to this conversation as we open here. Maybe a good idea with just to get for us to get a little bit of an idea of mission purpose. Why would CCTV even founded Man?

Brandon Bach: [00:00:56] A great question. So roughly ten years ago, we have two founding partners or co managers, James Bock and Pete Sod Pete Scott, who unfortunately is no longer with us. He was actually in the beer and beverage industry and created a couple of products that are used today with with the canning industry. And he was at a function and speaking to an associate and one of his associates wives start talking with Pete and talking to him about some of the issues that she was going through at the time this woman was dealing with with cancer and through some of the treatments and procedures that she had to have done left her very weak and unable to open jars or to apply enough strength to to twist off that jar lid or or bottle bottle cap. So she posed the question to Pete, like, hey, you’re a smart guy. Why can’t you figure out a way to make an easier opening jar lid? So that pretty much started the idea, the concept where Pete then joined forces with James, Jim Bach. And from there they’ve been trying to tackle this age old problem or age old question in which we’ve found a solution in which which makes it 50% easier to open our lid, the easy lid, versus your standard tin plate lid that you find on the market today.

Stone Payton: [00:02:19] So the easy lid and it spelled with two E’s, right?

Brandon Bach: [00:02:23] Correct. Yeah. E a s y.

Stone Payton: [00:02:26] And so it actually literally makes it easier to the point that someone that is that has some of the challenges that you just described this lady had, it makes it easy or doable for them for them to open these these these containers.

Brandon Bach: [00:02:42] Exactly. So so what we’ve done and I’ll give you kind of the technical explanation, the lid is a software design technology that reduces the amount of vacuum, making it 50% easier to open. What we mean by that is we have developed a way to incorporate a button on the top center of the lid so the consumer or the end user would simply push that button until they hear it click. Once it clicks, that releases the vacuum. So you simply at that point twist the jar, lid off and enjoy the product. Now, if you do have some product remaining, if you have some pasta sauce leftover or if it’s pickles, olives, whatever, the vacuum sealed product is that you have leftover, you can take from the bottom side of the lid, push on the bottom side of the button to reset it. So that way when you put the lid back on the jar and it goes in the refrigerator for some reason, if that jar tips over or follows over your pasta sauce or the pickled brine or or any of the product inside will not leak out or spill into your refrigerator.

Stone Payton: [00:03:45] So are you finding beyond the initial input that you got to sort of compel you guys to come up with this thing? Are you finding that that there really is a substantial number of people that really, really need I guess that’s the right term. Right, accessible packaging.

Brandon Bach: [00:04:05] Yep. You’re very accurate through our research. You know what we have found and again, a lot of this data we have obtained from whether it’s the CDC or the service and inclusion website, there’s 19% of the US population that has a disability and that number does not include those that have carpal tunnel or arthritis, missing limbs or etc.. And on top of that, we also have another 14.9 or 15% of the population that is 65 and older, and that number is growing, increasing more and more every year. So when you just combine those two numbers alone, that roughly 35%, that represents basically over 100 million people in the US that either is over the age of 65 or has some sort of disability. So if I can offer a product that would allow a manufacturer or a brand to tap. Into that segment market, showing that they care and trying to make it easier for them to just accomplish everyday tasks. You know, we all have someone in our family or even ourselves that struggle just to do these simple tasks. One gentleman that we work with every day when he leaves, he actually has to open up all the cans and bottles and jars that his wife is going to need later that day because of her dealing with the arthritis and the carpal tunnel.

Brandon Bach: [00:05:33] So there’s a definite need out there for an easier open product. And what’s interesting is that this problem has been ingrained in our culture so much. It’s basically a comedy joke that’s used, whether it’s in TV, radio, movies, comic strips. I mean, there’s countless examples where that’s kind of the joke of people. How do you open the jar? Well, I bang it on the table. I use a knife. So it would be nice to give those that that need the extra help. And I’m one of those. As I get older, I mean, I’m finding there’s more and more jars that I actually have trouble opening. And so when I when I get to the time where I can no longer open the jars, I’m hoping that we figured something out to make it a little easier. Now, yes, you can go buy products or tools or whatever to help you open that jar. But why not go ahead and offer that in the product itself?

Stone Payton: [00:06:30] So I can certainly see the end user getting excited, excited about this. What was your experience? I’m operating under the impression that you went to the manufacturers. Did they initially embrace this idea or was it a little bit of an uphill climb trying to get them to adopt it?

Brandon Bach: [00:06:49] I’ll say all the above. And the reason why I would say that is it’s dependent on the film, on the filler and their equipment that they have in their filling line. So the easy lid is actually made out of aluminum, where most of your lids that are that you would find on the store shelves today are made out of steel or tin plate. When we actually started this project and doing our research and development, we actually tried over 40 different tool combinations to apply the easy technology on to the standard tin plate lids that’s on the market today. Wow. And there was definitely roadblocks along the way with trying to incorporate that button on that lid. And once we finally got to a point where we thought we had it solved, it made it way too complex in the sense of the our manufacturing line, the things that we were going to have to do, because it is still and when you expose that raw material, then you have corrosion. So for us to to make sure none of that happened, it just didn’t make sense for us to continue down that path. And at that point, we had to make the tough decision to say, are we going to add benefits to an already existing product or are we going to come out with our own product and try and change? Change the world in how we view and see opening jars. So like I said, we did try it on the steel and tin plate.

Brandon Bach: [00:08:19] So when you go and speak to the the fillers manufacturers, we have to look at their filling line and do a diagnostic assessment of it where we will, which we have hired two gentlemen that have over 70 years experience in the in the business that if a a brand or a fiddler would like us to come in and have a look at their line to see where or any issues that that might arise by trying to run an aluminum lid, then we can address those and then come up with a plan or a solution so they can run the easy lid. We’ve worked with fillers that they have zero issues with running, whether they’re running the tin plate lid or our aluminum lid. We’ve worked with some manufacturers where we had to make some minimal adjustments and now they’re able to to incorporate the aluminum easy lid. And we’ve also spoke spoken with and working with companies that it’s going to take a little more looking into to find out the best way so they can continue running those tin plate lids as well as running the easy lid. So we take it as a case by case basis. Not one filling line is the same because the equipment use or the way it’s set up. So yes, we’ve had great success and we’ve also had situations where we need to dig a little deeper to figure out the best way to accommodate that filling line, to run the easy lid.

Stone Payton: [00:09:47] So is there a sustainability aspect to this pursuit as well as this effort continues to unfold?

Brandon Bach: [00:09:55] Absolutely. I mean, first of all, with it being made out of aluminum compared to the steel, you look at the recyclability, especially here in the US, where aluminum is a little more desirable to to recycle. I mean, we all have the the bins or most of us have the bins in our houses or homes where we’re throwing all of our recyclable pop cans and things like that. So it’s just as easy to throw this jar lid into that for recyclability. And you can get the aluminum association. More than two thirds of all the aluminum that has been produced is still in use, meaning that. So once the aluminum has been made and now it takes less energy product to to make that more pieces of aluminum because it is so recyclable. And then you then you start looking at transportation, the down waiting, you know, the easy lid, the weight is about half of what the tin plate is now one lid compared to one that’s not very much weight. But when you have a a truck full of of of pasta sauce or pickle jars, that that weight will add up. So now you’re saving on fuel costs and those sorts of things, especially in the time right now where gas is is very high. This might be a way that you can save some money because of the down waiting aspect of it.

Stone Payton: [00:11:23] So. So what have you guys enjoyed the most about getting this thing up and running? What are you finding the most rewarding?

Brandon Bach: [00:11:30] Well, I’ll be honest with you, it’s it’s helping those individuals that need help and answering that age old question. I left my previous job when I had the opportunity to to be a part of the easy lid and seek it. And that’s what excited me the most. I mean, like I said, we all know someone or have family members that struggle and I’m no different. I have a grandmother that struggles. She she can barely open any of the jars. My mother is starting to get to the point where we’re starting to see some arthritis and those sorts of things. So if I can find a solution and make it easier for my mom or someone else’s mom or grandmother or grandfather or father, brother, sister, I mean, that’s that makes you feel good at the end of the day that you’re truly helping individuals overcome some of those challenges that they face every day, especially with with what we’ve been through over the last several years. You know, everyone’s under a lot of stress with whatever the case may be. So to take some of that stress off their plate where they’re like, how do I make this meal for my family? Or, Hey, I’m having an event where my kids are coming over. I want to cook, cook them dinner, but how am I going to open this or, you know, those are those are true problems that people face on a day to day basis. That that those of us that don’t face that issue don’t think about it. But that truly is a challenge for a lot of people.

Stone Payton: [00:12:55] Well, I would think it’s certainly a noble pursuit. There’s no question about that. And I’m just as delighted as I can be for you that you’re enjoying some success with it. I would think that with regard to the culture, the the people that you’ve surrounded yourself with in the organization, they got to feel good about the work they’re doing as well. When they, as they understand it, the genuine impact they’re having on the markets that they’re serving.

Brandon Bach: [00:13:20] Absolutely. I mean, you know, it’s it doesn’t matter what kind of day you’re having. You can you can think about that end user and say if they have been struggling and they can get through their day, we can overcome any challenges that we have or we’re facing right now to try and help them. You know, they face those challenges every day so I can show up to the office and and work as hard as I can to try and help those people out.

Stone Payton: [00:13:46] So a lot of folks who choose to tap into this kind of conversation on the business radio network are either leading organizations that may be a little bit larger, like a medium to large sized business, or they may be running their own organization. So I’d love to get a little insight for them on a couple of fronts. One of which is this this idea of mentorship. Have you had an opportunity to be mentored as you’ve kind of come up through your career? And in the second part of that question, have you chosen to take the opportunity to try to be a mentor to to to other people?

Brandon Bach: [00:14:28] Great question. I would definitely say to to move forward in any business that you’re doing or project or that you’re trying to accomplish. You definitely want to rely on those within the industry or that it’s been there or to ask questions. I mean, we are we have joined many groups and organizations, whether that’s networking, for example, the New York State food processing authorities or the Texas State Food Processing authorities or Cornell University, through all of our testing and research to find out what is the industry looking at or for. So that way or pose the question, we want to face that question or challenge or issue head on. So we want to go to the that respected authority that does the testing or this or that or or how do you go in. And, you know, one of the or the challenges that we face when we first started this is like really who is our end customer? You know, is is it the end user, the consumer that’s going into the grocery store? Is it the brand owner of the product itself? Is it the filler that’s actually filling the product? So in order to open up a lot of those doors to find out some of those answers, it was definitely helpful to find people to work closely with that that would help educate us to make sure that we are doing the the appropriate testing or the appropriate strategies to to make sure that we’re following the guidelines and things to to make a product that is viable and people that they want. Now, as far as mentoring, we have been in the process of getting this product launched for roughly eight years through the research and development. Last year we finally commercialize the product. So we go from for about a year now, we’ve been starting to to sell and to push. So I haven’t really had the opportunity to mentor yet, but we’ve had such great help along the way that that absolutely definitely helps someone, whether it’s answer questions or or whatever the case may be because of the the the help and and things that we’ve received along the way.

Stone Payton: [00:16:53] Well, and that’s a nice dose of reality for our aspiring entrepreneurs, yet another eight year overnight success story.

Brandon Bach: [00:17:02] Yeah. Yeah. Well, and that’s what we keep telling ourselves. You know, if it was easy, then everyone would have done it when we were looking at it. There are actually hundreds and hundreds of different patents that have tried to come up with a a viable solution to this problem. And no one has been able to yet. We were able to overcome and adapt with the issues and the struggles that we had had. And and again, that comes from previous knowledge workings and things like that to overcome this this age old problem.

Stone Payton: [00:17:38] Well, another thing I have to imagine that you have to really be on top of and invest some genuine energy and in resources in is this this whole idea of recruiting, selecting and developing your people? Any counsel you might have to offer on that front? I know I would learn from it, but I think our listeners would be appreciative of that as well.

Brandon Bach: [00:18:03] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, for example, when I when I started here at TI, I needed to to learn and to understand the concepts, the ideas, the terminology that’s being used with this project. And so just like you said, you want to surround yourself with knowledgeable people. And here at CDT, we definitely had those individuals that were willing to take the time to to help help me understand and to help me learn or or send me in a direction of what I should understand at what point along the way know. Like I wasn’t focusing on. Things that I needed to know down the road. Not necessarily right now. I needed to understand the tooling or the technology itself before I understood the the filling line. So it was great to have that knowledge and know how here on staff. But there again, within this industry, there are a lot of knowledgeable and very well educated people in this business. And so the thing that I can stress stress the most is even if you have no one in your company or whatever, there are definitely associations of organizations out there that will help you, whether it’s find those people or to help train or educate your employees. Yeah. That’s kind of what I would say with that is, is definitely the the the outside groups organizations. You know, we’ve done that all the way from whether it’s testing to the aluminum product itself to the grocery store to the filling line. You know, we didn’t really have anyone on staff that knew all aspects of all those areas. So we definitely reached out to people, groups and organizations to help educate not only myself but the other team members here. So that way we can then in turn help educate future employees or employees that were hiring just recently. So there’s definitely a lot of help out there for that. You just have to look and make those connections.

Stone Payton: [00:20:26] Well, I’ve got to tell you, in my experience, people like you of vision organizations like the one that you guys have built, you’re not one to rest on your laurels and tread water. So I’ll ask, where do you see this thing going, man?

Brandon Bach: [00:20:43] Oh, well, from all the early success that we that we’ve received, I see this hopefully becoming the new industry standard. Right now we offer the easy lid on the 63 Mm. Size of jar. That’s mostly your pasta sauces, some other maybe olives products like that. As we expand and grow, we look to expand into all other sizes, whether that’s from a 58 millimeter all the way up to your 100 to 110 millimeter sized jars, you know, your family style sized jars, even all the way down to the 38 millimeter into the baby food. And that’s and that’s only speaking about the lug style of lid wear. And what I mean by when I say lug, it basically takes a quarter to a half inch turn to apply that lid to the jar. The other style of lid is a seat or continuous thread and obviously like it sounds, you have to give it a a full turn, about 3 to 5 turns to actually apply that lid. And again, all those same sizes apply to that style of lid as well. Then you have and there’s also a couple of different styles. So as we go along, as we continue to gain market share, we want to expand our capabilities. So that way that we can accommodate all sizes and all ranges of lids. So that way all jars have at least the opportunity to, to incorporate the easy lid, and then that way they can receive the benefits from it.

Stone Payton: [00:22:17] Well, I can hear your passion over the airwaves. Your enthusiasm is just so contagious. You sound like Superman on the air and probably in the boardroom. And we all know you’re human. When. When things get a little tough or you start to run out of juice, where do you go for inspiration to to recharge? And I don’t necessarily mean a physical place, but how do you go get kind of reinvigorated?

Brandon Bach: [00:22:48] I mean, great question. You know, and that applies to life itself, not just work. You definitely and what I always tell my son as well, you know, you definitely need to have outside interests. So that way you can step away, kind of recharge your batteries. For me, it’s kayaking, fishing, those sorts of things, you know, get out into nature and joy just being alive. And at the same time as I’m doing those things, thinking about those that struggle to try and do those simple things that I’m out there doing and. If I’m out there enjoying it, why can’t I make a product? Or why can’t I come up with a solution that can help others that may not have it as easy as I do where I don’t at the moment have arthritis or carpal tunnel or those those scenarios. But I mean, I just kind of look at that and think again, if they can if they can go through each each day dealing with that, then I can I can step up and do my part.

Stone Payton: [00:23:53] It’s an interesting insight that you just tapped into, and it’s not the first time I’ve heard something like that, because people will involve themselves in hobbies or they like to read or that kind of thing. And sometimes in doing that, when they when they sort of let the subconscious work on it and they go kayaking is darned if they don’t come up with some of the best ideas.

Brandon Bach: [00:24:13] Right? Oh, absolutely. It’s kind of that. And again, not that I don’t mean that I’m not reading or or doing things within within our industry or those sorts of things. But you do have to take a step away or take a step back sometimes, just like you said, to clear your mind, you know, how’s the saying go. You know, you’ve got to take a step back from the tree in order to see the forest, you know, and when you’re on top of a project or an idea and you’re trying to figure it out, sometimes you need to take that that mental break, that that step back. So you can say, am I am I thinking about this correctly? Am I am I going down the right path or do I need to rethink my approach or do I need to bring someone else in or another product, whatever the case may be, but just to kind of free and clear your mind so that that you can come back fresh and ready to to reevaluate where you stand with with the project or the the product.

Stone Payton: [00:25:10] Yeah. What marvelous counsel. All right. So if someone would like to learn more about accessible, sustainable packaging, whether it’s just a lay person, you know, or an end user consumer, or maybe there’s a filler or a manufacturer out there, someone in the packaging world that would like to make a connection. Let’s leave them a point or two of contact, whatever you feel like is appropriate, whether it’s LinkedIn or email or website. But I want to make sure that people can connect with you or someone on your team if they’d like to, to learn more about this.

Brandon Bach: [00:25:40] Absolutely. First, probably the easiest way would be our Easy Lid website and that’s just the W WW dot as y Lidcombe. And again, that goes for the same with all of our social media platforms, whether that’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or our phone number is area code 9373879244. And we’d love to hear from you.

Stone Payton: [00:26:07] All right. Brandon Bok, president with Consumer Convenience Technologies. Man, thank you so much for investing the time with us. Please keep up the good work and with your permission, maybe we’ll swing back around periodically and keep up with this story, because I think we’ve got even, even greater things in store.

Brandon Bach: [00:26:24] Man That sounds great. Stone Yep. We are definitely excited about this product and helping people. So the more that we talk about it and let consumers and individuals and people know that there is a product out there, that’s all we can ask for.

Stone Payton: [00:26:39] All right. Until next time. This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Brandon Bok, president with Consumer Convenience Technologies and everyone here at the business Radio X family saying we’ll see you in the fast lane.

 

Strategy Advisor Donte Shannon

by

Association Leadership Radio
Association Leadership Radio
Strategy Advisor Donte Shannon
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DonteShannon

Donté P. Shannon, FASAE, CAE, has 16 years experience in association management, 7 of those years include experience in the C-suite. Donte has worked with professional and trade associations, across many different industries. He’s served in numerous CEO roles ranging from state associations to national associations with global impact.

Donté is a highly recognized influencer in the association community, having led over 20 association management presentations, ranging in topics from strategic leadership and organization rebranding, to career development. Additionally, he has been featured in, and co-authored, numerous articles related to association management. A devoted professional, Donte recently served as Chair of the CAE Commission, the governing body of the global CAE credential and was pivotal in launching the credential in Australasia. He also contributes his industry expertise as a member of for-profit and nonprofit Boards and Councils. His career highlights include being selected as a 2020 digitalNow Leader of Distinction, a 2020 ASAE Fellow, and a 2011-2013 Diversity Education Leadership Program (DELP) Scholar.

Donte is a strong advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion and enjoys giving back to the various communities and industries he touches. Donte earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Education from the College of Charleston in 2003 and received the Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential in 2015.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • The future of the Association Profession
  • The Great Resignation
  • Executive Recruiting
  • DEI in Exec. Assoc. Roles

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: [00:00:17] Lee Kantor here another episode of Association Leadership Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show, we have Donte Shannon, who has been a CEO and a strategy advisor for associations for a minute or two. But we’ll get into that shortly. Welcome, Donte.

Donte Shannon: [00:00:34] Thank you so much, Lee, for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:36] Well, I’m so excited to get your thoughts about the the future of the association profession. So why don’t we dig right in and get a little bit about your backstory? How long have you been serving the association world?

Donte Shannon: [00:00:50] I’ve been in associations for about 17 years now, and I got started in associations back in 2007, I believe, or eight or six or seven. And I was referred into my first association job by a colleague at the time. And I tell you, within a week of starting with the association, I knew I had found my professional home.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:17] So what about that world kind of excited you?

Donte Shannon: [00:01:20] So I got to get my start in associations doing member facing activities. So I my role I started a very large association so my role was mostly comprised of managing committees. So I managed three or four committees at the time and I really loved being able to engage with the volunteers, engage with the membership. There was a component of my job that involved meeting planning and program development, education, curriculum. I just love the way it really allowed me to use utilize many different aspects of my brain. But my favorite part was the volunteer engagement piece.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:05] Now talk about kind of the impact you make in an association for the young people out there listening that maybe they’re they hadn’t really considered association work as a career direction. It’s not usually top of mind for, you know, the young kid out there going one day I’ll run an association.

Donte Shannon: [00:02:25] You know? Right. Yeah. And if you talk to a lot of people, most of the stories you’ll hear, they will tell you they kind of fell into associations, right? Like you just kind of stumble upon it. But the great thing about associations is that and why I also love it is because you are truly impacting industries and professions. You are really influencing and transitioning the world literally, because everybody in some way, shape or form is going to be associated with an association or knows about an association in their profession, whether they join or not, and use that association for resources, for professional, for continue professional development, career development. And so to be able to work for an association and have that kind of impact on someone else’s professional life for me is extremely rewarding and it’s an opportunity. I’ve always thought about it as a way to give back for what associations have given to me and my career growth and development.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:34] Now, do you find that as we are, you know, I guess they’re terming it this great resignation where there’s a lot of upheaval in employment nowadays and and folks just don’t have the patience to be a cog in the machine. They want to make an impact. They want to see the effect of their work be meaningful. And I think there’s no better place than an association to really attract some of these folks, to get them on board, because I think that’s what you do every day.

Donte Shannon: [00:04:00] I can agree morally, I think for people who are looking for more meaningful work and who are looking when they get home every day from their job to say, what did I what how did I make a difference today? Association should be one of the top places that they are looking to get that type of fulfillment from. Because like I said, you’re impacting people’s professional lives and even sometimes their personal lives as well. Because some of the work that associations do, you’re you’re impacting their lives. And, you know, it’s very rewarding to to really know that you’re making a difference in that way and not just working to increase someone’s bottom line or to make someone else rich, you know, or for someone to to get more money for some sort of non influencing cause or something. Associations are definitely should definitely be a very viable option for people who are looking for meaningful work. I think the great resignation is well is an indicator number one of how our times are changing is shifting, which some people are still ignoring and how we are going to associations soon are going to have to be looking at themselves because as we start to get an influx of people who are resigning from these roles that are not meaningful, associations are going to have to look at the work that they’re doing to and and how our profession is changing, especially in the next ten years and how we we don’t let the same thing happen to our profession, where we have people leaving because of some sort of grievance that they have with the profession.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:44] So now put on your CEO hat. If you were to advise some of these association leaders right now and give them advice for maybe kind of squeezing some juice out of this great resignation to attract some of these folks into their world and to get some of that talent that maybe has been in the private sector to at least consider joining forces with an association or at least, you know, kind of checking them out a little bit. What would you tell the the leaders of an association today in order to be more attractive to that group, number one? And number two, to make sure you’re not leaving anybody behind, because a lot of industries, if you look at the demographics of the industry, their leadership is not looking like their demographics. And how do you help them kind of attract some of those people into the fold as well?

Donte Shannon: [00:06:41] Yeah. So, wow, that’s a loaded question. Lee and I have had this conversation with myself in the shower, but have imagined that I’m talking to an audience of other CEOs because I do feel like the association profession and many and not just the association profession, but many professions are really missing what is happening. Meaning right now and in our world. So what I would say to CEOs is you want to be able to sell what you’re doing for the future of whatever industry or profession you’re representing or whatever cause you’re trying to further in the world. You need to be able to talk and speak passionately and quickly to to how you are impacting that for the future. So when we think about the younger generation, we want to be talking to them about the world we envision for them and for their children. Right. And how our associations are doing work to make the world better for them and for their children. I think that’s going to be a selling point to attract younger people into association management. I think what we have to do also is understand the times we’re in. I have talked I’ve talked with one of my dear mentors, Cynthia Mills, in which she always refers to the time we’re in now as a turbulent twenties. And I completely agree with her, because what we are realizing and witnessing now are shifts in generational workforces. We’re witnessing shifts in generational power. And not only like a transition in the next generation of people who hold wealth coming into coming into power, taking over for wealth for their families or things like that. We’re also witnessing transition and generational power from younger people stepping into executive roles, right? So baby boomers, retiring, people who have been who are seasoned executives leaving those roles and now a different generation stepping in as you see Xers and Zinnias, as I call them, millennials, stepping into these roles now.

Donte Shannon: [00:09:02] Then we are also seeing shifts and buys for power in in the world. Right. So countries who are who are trying to achieve world dominance and become the number one country or the number one power dynamic in the world and all of these things that we’re seeing happening is going to impact every industry, every profession at some point or another, in some sort of way. And so we’ve got to be paying attention and associations have got to take their head out of the sand and hit and get their head out of whatever they’re focused on right now and whatever they’re dependent on right now for revenue or for relevancy. And they’ve got to start looking at where what is what are we doing to impact our profession, our industry, our world in 2035, 2040, 2050? What are we doing now that we want to bring to fruition at that point? And I think the more passionately, the more vivid you can make your vision for what that is going to look like in the future years and communicate that back to the younger generations is going to be compelling for them to to join your to join your association or join whatever cause your association is working towards in the future. And you’re right, we cannot forget about diversity, equity and inclusion and and how our executive teams and our leadership of these organizations need to reflect more, more diversity and then the culture really advocating and cultivating inclusivity within those organizations as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:54] Yeah, I think that associations have a unique opportunity to be the role models for the industries they serve and and to be aspirational. This is what it could be. And if they’re not role modeling that behavior, it’s hard for the members of the association to think, Oh, I’m going to be the one that set it up. If my own association isn’t kind of walking the walk, it’s it’s kind of giving me cover to not walk the walk myself as a member. So I think it’s almost, you know, they should be the true north of what could be in the industry, not just keep the status quo. The status quo.

Donte Shannon: [00:11:34] You’re absolutely right. But some of the sometimes the problem with that is that even our members don’t know where we need to be. Right, or where we need to be heading as an association. Sometimes our membership can be so comfortable in how things have always been and they can be comfortable in how they’ve been benefited from the things that the association has done in the past, that they are not quick for change or quick for how things have to be different in the future. And so I think you’re right. We as associations have an opportunity to be the leaders, but it’s going to take really bold, strong leadership from CEOs and executive teams to even say listen and say to their membership, I know, I know this isn’t what you want, but this is going to be what you need from our organization in the future. And while you may not see it now, we have to make changes for the benefit and the longevity of our association in the future and for the industry we represent or for the profession we represent.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:41] Right. And that’s called leadership. That’s the definition of leadership is to be able to kind of see into the future a little bit, have a vision, and then just, you know, get people to buy in and move the ball. And I’m not saying that you have to flip a switch and say this is how future us is going to look like, but you better be doing pilot programs and you better be, you know, at least playing around the edges somewhere.

Donte Shannon: [00:13:03] Yeah. Yeah. It is a transition, not a light switch. You’re right. Yeah.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:07] So so now in your work over the years, what has been kind of maybe look back a little bit and share what has been kind of an impact that you’re most proud of, that you came into a situation that maybe was struggling and you were able to make a difference.

Donte Shannon: [00:13:24] Oh, wow.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:25] You don’t have to name the association, but just maybe, maybe talk about the challenge that they had and how you were able to help them overcome that.

Donte Shannon: [00:13:32] Yeah, it was. I will say I had an opportunity in my career to make a huge leap from being a manager to a first time CEO. And it was rewarding for me because when I came to that organization, I really can say after three years of working with them, I left them better than I found them. Now, again, as we talk about members not really understanding where the organization’s where organizations need to be or understanding the future of the organizations. I had those challenges with members as well. Right. But I’m a strategist. I’m a visionary. And I stayed true to that and I stayed true to my leadership. And luckily I had a board that supported me and had my back when a lot of the changes we needed to make to make that organization viable again and also to attract the younger start attracting a younger demographic there future members of that organization. And so we were able to make we try bold experiments with our trade show. We started to see significant changes in our membership and in our membership demographic changes. We started to offer some programing that started to be extremely receptive to to members. We changed the financial trajectory of the organization. So for that to be my first CEO Executive Director experience, I knew that experience as much as I was trying to. Give all I had to help that organization. They were also helping me at the time because it was a sink or swim type of moment in that situation. So it was really sort of a as I gave to them, they gave back to me in my career.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:30] Now. Any advice for that association leader right now? And let’s talk specifically about attracting younger or maybe a more diverse member base. Like what are some things they can do? Is there anything you can share that’s actionable where they can say, you know what, let let’s take this baby step. What are some baby steps somebody that’s leading an organization can do to attract this younger, more diverse member?

Donte Shannon: [00:15:54] Yeah, the first thing I would say is don’t assume you know what they want or what they need. I think if there’s a younger demographic or a different membership demographic that you’re trying to attract, you need to go where they are. Learn as much as you can about them. Do research and find out what they need and what they want from an organization. If they were to join it, or if they were to get involved in an organization and then slowly work to build those things or those products or their services, are the types of engagement that they’re looking for. Slowly don’t I would say don’t do it in a rush. And as I think we mentioned earlier, these are the things you want to do focus groups for, right? So bring a few of them together and say, hey, we’re trying to launch this program or we’re thinking about doing this. What is your feedback for us or what? What would you do differently? I would say do small nuggets of engagement, but definitely start working to build your association or make your association attractive to those people because again, those are your future members. Those are the future board members, the future of the profession that you’re serving or industry that you’re serving. So yeah, that would be my first monumental piece of advice is don’t assume you know what they want or what they need. Go to where they are, meet them where they are, and do some research on what what it is they need and want in an organization. In a membership organization.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:30] So now are you are you bullish about the association industry and the association profession? Is this something that you’re optimistic about? Like, where do you think they are right now and what’s trending ahead?

Donte Shannon: [00:17:42] I am extremely optimistic about the association. I always, in the back of my mind know and understand the power of a is a say is coined. I think associations are extremely powerful and we haven’t even I don’t even think we’ve tapped into that power yet or the fullness of the power that we have to change the world as representatives of our industries and our professions, we have power to influence people. And I think even when we think about our elected officials and things, the policies that are impacting our world and impacting people, associations, I think, have an opportunity to have extremely large leverages or things to leverage in those conversations and in those discussions when those policies are created or talked about or get made. And so for the future, I think we’ll see associations really start to lean more into that impact and power, especially as they start to draw in younger demographics of people who are more vocal about what is happening, happening in the world and who want to see certain things and shifts and in the world. I think associations will will find an opportunity to really lean into that power and utilize it more. So I’m optimistic about where associations are going, especially also as we try to get more diverse executive leaders, CEOs and executive directors into roles of power. I think we’ll see we’ll continue to see a driving force into a positive trajectory for the association management profession.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:33] Yeah, I agree. I’m optimistic as well. And with people like you out there battling, I think that that’s a dream that can come true.

Donte Shannon: [00:19:41] Well, thank you. I appreciate it. And I do, too. And I think it’s platforms like this, too, that help us get our voices out and express what can be done in the possibilities of our future.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:55] Now, if somebody wants to connect with you, have a conversation about maybe help in their association. What’s the best way to get ahold of you?

Donte Shannon: [00:20:03] The fastest and quickest way is to reach me on LinkedIn. You can just search me at Don Shannon. You can also email me at Dante Shannon DPS at gmail.com.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:15] Well, t, thank you again for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Donte Shannon: [00:20:21] Thank you, Lee, for the platform and the opportunity.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:24] All right. This is Lee Kantor. What’s your next time on Association Leadership Radio?

Spencer Packer With 360º Painting of Kennesaw

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360painting
Franchise Marketing Radio
Spencer Packer With 360º Painting of Kennesaw
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Brought To You By SeoSamba . . . Comprehensive, High Performing Marketing Solutions For Mature And Emerging Franchise Brands . . . To Supercharge Your Franchise Marketing, Go To seosamba.com.

360

Spencer Packer, Owner at 360º Painting of Kennesaw

Spencer Packer is an MBA from Brigham Young University. He worked for CIA for several years out of Graduate School, transitioned to the private sector, and worked for Target and The Home Depot in leadership roles.

He purchased 360 Painting franchise and went live in February of this year (2022). He is married with 4 kids (2 boys and 2 girls) ages 12 – 21.

Follow 360º Painting on Facebook and LinkedIn.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Welcome to Franchise Marketing Radio. Brought to you by SeoSamba comprehensive high performing marketing solutions for mature and emerging franchise brands. To supercharge your franchise marketing, go to seosamba.com. That’s seosamba.com.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:32] Lee Kantor here another episode of Franchise Marketing Radio, and this is going to be a fun one. Today on the show we have Spencer Packer with 360 painting of Kennesaw. Welcome, Spencer.

Spencer Packer: [00:00:43] Hey, thank you. I appreciate you having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:45] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about 360 painting. How are you serving folks?

Spencer Packer: [00:00:50] So we are a painting business. We do exterior and interior painting both for commercial and residential sectors. We also do fences, decks, garage floors, concrete staining. So anybody, whether they’re commercial or residential, they need some some painting work done. That’s where we come in.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:09] So now tell us a little bit about your story. You’re the franchisee in Kennesaw. Were you always in interested in painting?

Spencer Packer: [00:01:19] So I’ve always been interested in owning and running my own business. Just a little slow to act on it. I actually worked for the government, actually for the CIA for a number of years out of a graduate school did that, was away from the family for a long time and returned did some work for Target as well as the Home Depot. Just kind of always had that dream to want to run and own my own business. I finally decided to act on it and really look to this this type of business. I fell in love with premium service brands, which is the company that owns 360 painting, just had a great business model, easy to scale. And but I’ve always I’ve done painting. I’ve done a lot of that in my life. So look, something I was pretty good at and could feel like I could excel from a customer service perspective.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:03] So now walk me through kind of the thought process. When you decide, okay, I am want to do something else. I’ve been working with these large enterprise businesses over the years and now I want to venture out on my own. Did you ever consider, Hey, why don’t I open up my own? You know, Shingle Spencer, the consultant, I can, you know, figure out something to sell somebody. Did you ever want to do something like that?

Spencer Packer: [00:02:30] I did. I looked at a number, different franchises. I looked at doing stuff on my own. But really, since I’ve never ventured out into the entrepreneurial world, I felt like it was probably the smarter thing to do to look at established companies with good reputations that I could follow a proven system. I felt like that was probably more kind of what I would be good at, what was suitable for me at the time. And so I did a lot of investigating, looked at a number, different franchises, a number of different businesses, even those I could run myself, but just so far really happy with with 360 painting and premium service brands and the support that they that they provide and just a proven business model, I could go in and provide outstanding customer service and build on that that that brand awareness and that that reputation that they’ve built for a number of years now.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:18] How did you kind of narrow it down to them? Like you said, there’s lots and lots of choices when it comes to choosing, which once you decide to, you know, go down the path of franchise. Right. It’s not like there’s only three to pick from. Like there’s thousands.

Spencer Packer: [00:03:33] That’s right. And there were a number of good ones. I felt like with this one, it was one where I could get into. There weren’t a lot of barriers to entry. I felt like I could go in with a professional appearance, a professional presentation, and make an immediate difference, since it’s an industry that’s not really heavily regulated or dominated at this point by just a few different companies. There are a lot of painters out there, some good, some not so good. And so I felt like this was one where I could really make an immediate impact, an immediate difference and really start to scale it quite quickly. That’s really what did it did for me. There were a number of other viable good options for me as well, but I really felt like having just done a ton of painting in my life where I can really assess the quality and as well as the type of customer service and be able to feel like I could beat my competition in that respect. That’s kind of what what really did it for me in terms of helping me make my decision to go with 360 painting.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:24] Now, did you always go in with the mindset of, okay, I’m here to build an empire? I’m not just here to build one painting, you know, location here in Kennesaw.

Spencer Packer: [00:04:36] Correct? Yeah. I’ve always had that mindset that I want to scale and like you said, build an empire and quickly get to $1,000,000 business and keep going from there and and purchase other territories, purchase other businesses. So this is this is sort of my first foray into it. It’s been going really well so far and excited to, like said, build an empire.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:57] So now when you kind of first said, okay, now I’ve narrowed it down to franchising, now I’ve narrowed it down to the 360 painting. So now I’m really going to I’m really considering doing this. Were you was it the only kind of choice left or had you kind of did you have a couple you were considering? And then eventually just obviously went with 360.

Spencer Packer: [00:05:23] Yeah. No, there were a number I was considering. I kept narrowing it down a little by little. I was working with a franchise consultant really for several months at least, I think four months by the time I finally. Well, probably three months, three and a half months or so. And then I whittle it down to just 360. But there were there were was a ten at first, then it was five and then it was then it was really between three and really 360. I did the discovery days at each of those. I really dove in and it really made the most sense for me to do 360 from a number of different perspectives. Just feel like my ability to to become profitable, make a difference in the community, really sell my business and establish my reputation. Early on, I feel like 360 was was the one that was going to be the best fit for me and I, having done that for a few months, I feel even stronger about that.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:16] So now when you were going through the narrowing down process, what were some of the things that after you kind of as you’re doing that process, you’re obviously educating yourself of what’s out there and how people present themselves. And and things probably started going, okay, this is a red flag or this is a must have. Can you share a little bit about what are some of the red flags for you and what are some of the must haves?

Spencer Packer: [00:06:40] Well, for me, the red flags were, if it takes a while to be profitable, if I looked at as I’m looking at KPIs, I’m looking at some of the the the documents and from from some of the franchisees and looking how long it takes for them to become profitable. Really, it was one thing to to to create a great revenue stream, revenue stream for three 1624 premium service brands. But I wanted to kind of be like, okay, how soon can I be profitable? What are my margins? So I wanted to see what is what is my ability to become profitable. That was one, I think, to just the level of support hearing from other franchisees. I didn’t get a sense that they were receiving outstanding support from the parent company or from the franchise and that they were kind of there every step of the way to kind of get them moving with the right help marketing production, just the administrative staff providing financial help, not in terms of like necessary financial assistance with loans, but with with regards to bookkeeping and just some some basic business principles that will help the franchisee become successful. So I really sensed that that was there were some red flags there when I was looking at some of the other other businesses and talking to some of the franchisees and just felt like, oh, I that’s I can tell they’re frustrated.

Spencer Packer: [00:07:51] I can tell they’ve, you know, they’re inundated and they’re not necessarily getting the support they need from from the parent company or the franchise. So I think to just just the amount of debt some people are taking on, I think also just the level of kind of feeling weighed down when they initially go into this franchise. Obviously, with 360, it’s one where it’s it’s it’s a painting business. So there’s not a buy in comparison. There’s not a ton that goes into it. In terms of the franchise fee, I mean, it’s it’s less than most that there’s there’s not as many barriers to entry. So really for me, the red flags were the things that would I felt like we’re going to preclude me from becoming profitable quickly, as well as just not providing me the level of support in terms of marketing, bookkeeping, any kind of level support that I needed to to to be successful.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:44] Now, did something happen where you were like, okay, I get this. This makes perfect sense. This is the one for me. Like, did was there something that was like an epiphany moment for you that you were like, okay, I’m in the right place. These are my people.

Spencer Packer: [00:08:57] I don’t know if there was necessarily one. I think it was just talking to the franchisees one, one on one and even going out and having had lunch with with a couple of them and just really getting a sense of their day to day activities. I mean, like, okay, can I can I do this is something that do you have to really just sort of just get lucky? Do you have to just sort of be just the exact right personality? Is there something super unique to to a successful franchisee, or is it something that I feel like not only I, but a lot of people can do just by putting in a lot of hard work and following the system? And so I think after probably talking to my third franchisee and and this was this was in the midst of going to the discovery days, too, and getting to know the team up there in Charlottesville, Virginia, that would be supporting me. And so I think all those kind of combined, I guess really once I took my wife up to Discovery days and also had her meet with a couple of the franchisees once she was on board because she’s a little harder to convince, more conservative in terms not wanting to take chances. She was really once she was kind of convinced like, yeah, this is this is going to be a good deal for you. That’s I guess that even though I was convinced that was that really is what I guess was the the biggest aha decision maker for me is like, okay if she’s, she’s really excited about it, she’s into it, then this is a no brainer. We got to do it.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:14] So now you go through the process, you sign on the dotted line and then you’re off and running. So you went live, what, the early this year. Right?

Spencer Packer: [00:10:23] Yes. In mid mid-February. Correct.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:25] So now it’s day one or day zero. What are you doing to ensure a successful launch? And what are they doing for you to ensure a successful launch?

Spencer Packer: [00:10:36] So I have weekly calls with my coach. We have a coach there that really looks at all of our KPIs. They’re looking at all of our performance indicators or metrics. You know, how many estimates are we doing each week? How many leads are we getting each week? How many? How many jobs are we getting each week? What’s our average job size? What are the cogs? The cost of goods sold? What what what kind of customer feedback are you getting? So they we have a number of different systems. One of them is, is listen 360 and we get feedback from every person we do a painting job for and they provide detailed feedback on what kind of job we’re doing. So also, too, I have a call periodically with my with our marketing director to kind of go over just the cost per lead, the cost per estimate, the cost per job, how much I’m spending versus how much I’m getting back in it. So there’s a lot of support and they have a number of different programs. Right now. I’m using Scorpion for my website and Google Marketing. I’m using a bunch of different lead aggregators, a company called Clarity. I’m also using a company called Pro Leo to really just do a lot of social media ads for me to get the word out.

Spencer Packer: [00:11:45] I’ve also joined a BNI network. Also, I’ve been in with the Kennesaw Business Association. I’ve been out there to get my name and our business profile out doing some events there. So really a lot. I mean, I’ve spent probably even more than the recommended amount of marketing. We are asked to spend a certain amount in the first three months. I’ve gone even above and beyond that, just to really kind of push hard at first, to get to get our to get our name out what we do or our reputation. And then we, we have a referral program to that we use with the customers. And so we certainly use that extensively. But it starts with the coaching call that we get each week and really going over all everything that’s working for us, how much money is being allotted to it to make sure we’re on on target, not only to to generate revenue and generate sales, but more importantly, to make sure we’re profitable. And we’re not just not just earning money, but but going bankrupt in the process by by doing some foolish things.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:48] Now, you mentioned that kind of that level of support was important to you and that level of, you know, kind of watching your back as you progress. Right. Are you it sounds like the coaching is helpful as an accountability partner. Are there are they giving you kind of levers that you can consistently pull that are going to bubble up the leads you need in order to make the sales you need? Like, do you have do you feel confident that if I do these three things every day, then success, eventually it has to happen?

Spencer Packer: [00:13:22] Well, they are. And I’ve already I’ve already seen that. I’ve been like I’ve been pretty successful. We’re starting up in this area, brand new. We’ve done quite well. Obviously, we want to keep pushing. But as far as the levers go, yes, that’s one thing we talk about extensively during our coaching calls, just putting certain amount of money into at least initially certain lead aggregators, which we’ve always kind of monitored, which lead aggregators are working because not all the aggregators work the same in each areas. I talked to some of my 360 colleagues in Texas. I use a little bit more of one. They use a little bit more of other because they haven’t had as much success with one I’ve had success with. So that is a little bit region specific and then also varying success with related to some of the business networking groups that you associate with. So we do kind of look at that and we have reports that we kind of dove into extensively to see what how many jobs have come from certain marketing campaigns. What’s our is it so really, I’m kind of looking at what’s the cost per lead and what is the cost per estimate and does that making sense to keep using? And so I found in just the first few months I’ve done this, I don’t even know if I’ve quite been.

Spencer Packer: [00:14:33] Well, I guess I’ve just barely passed my three month mark that I have even already. I get that we’re going to see much more of this going forward. But when I have done certain things, put more money into certain programs that I’m seeing, more and more jobs come from it. I think I’ll see more results from like a direct mail campaign. I haven’t seen the results from that specifically yet, but I’m starting to put more money into that and I’m already getting a lot of leads and a lot of estimates from that. But I don’t know. It’ll be interesting to see what the average job size from those from that campaign, from the direct mail, what that results in. And we’ll kind of have to see. But so far as I’ve done certain things with Google as well as with them with some of my social media campaigns, as well as the lead aggregators I’ve seen, I’ve already seen, okay, this pull this lever, this is what I’m getting from it. And so it’s been kind of fun to be able to test out certain things and see what works and what doesn’t.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:30] Now, as you kind of progress in the business, is it primarily a B to C play? Is it like you’re doing residential homes or is it B to B play as well where you’re going into businesses and doing work there.

Spencer Packer: [00:15:45] It is a B to B play. I’ve done a little bit of that, but it’s mostly for to start out and this is kind of the advice for my coach as well as some of the others there at 360 up in Charlottesville is to start out mainly with with residential and with just the customer. So I’ve been then primarily targeting a marketing to new homeowners or people moving as obviously. But I have been working a lot too with, with real estate agents, some interior designers, some. People are more in other home services and construction people just to get more get my foot in the door. And that’s and that’s work. We’ve received a few jobs from from some real estate agents. And and so I’m going to start pushing that more and more as I get a little more seasoned a little I guess a little better at this. But it’s been kind of fun to to tap into the commercial market just a little bit.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:35] Now when you’re starting a venture like this or any kind of venture really is getting those first wins. How was that to your family, to your team, like when you first got that first estimate or the first person that’s, you know, was a sale or the first person that referred you to another sale. Like how has that been in terms of in your career, you’ve had wins. How has that feeling differed from maybe some of the previous things you’ve experienced so much more?

Spencer Packer: [00:17:05] I just I’ve just enjoyed it so much more. I mean, there were so many things I did in my previous work experience. I really it was nice to receive some accolades from recognition based on, you know, getting a cost out for your company or certain things that were, that were certainly satisfying. But, but when you’re building this on your own and you actually see the profits and you see the checks coming, that, oh, I just I’m building up my business bank account. It was just so satisfying. I told my dad the other day, I’m like, I don’t I just kind of left my other job, but I don’t know how I can ever go back to something like this. This is so much more enjoyable and so much more thrilling when you’re able to to make the sale. It really what does it for me is when you really create that customer satisfaction, they really feel like, wow, you you said you have integrity. You said you did what you said you were going to do. You were really professional. And you get that referral, that recommendation to others, and they’re really satisfied with your performance. I think that’s that’s the biggest intrinsic reward or intrinsic value for me is as a business owner is just to know that, hey, we’re we’re on the right track, we’re doing the right thing. And this is we can we can go places with this. Now, we’ve got the team in place. We’ve got the crews, we’ve got the painters. We we’re we’re living up to the 360 values to 60 painting values. And and everybody always needs something painted. There’s always painting that needs to be done. So we really want them to kind of look to us and know that if they go with us, they’re they’re going to be satisfied and we’re going to make sure we’re not going to stop until they are satisfied with with the work we do.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:41] And it’s that feeling of this is something I created. You know, this wasn’t here before and now it is. And now these people are happy customers and they benefited from my efforts. And it’s you’re not a cog in the machine. You’re the machine.

Spencer Packer: [00:18:55] Exactly right. And I think I mentioned this before. Now it’s kind of limitless. We can keep going. Whereas when I was of my former job, it was it was sort of just, hey, good job, Pat on the back. Or here’s a sort of minor monetary reward, but there was nothing really. I was like, so I was in some big organizations. So it was really kind of hard to to move upward as fast as you want it to. So here it’s nice because it’s limitless now that we can keep building this building this and and the the extrinsic the money is going to keep growing as well as the the business, the the sense of being involved in the community and getting our word out. And it’s just limitless. And that’s that’s kind of what I like. Is there just so much potential and and it’s not like, hey, good job, you know, here’s your limited bonus check or here’s here’s your here’s your plaque or whatever it is, it’s, it’s we can really grow this and make make a lot more money and then establish a greater and greater reputation.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:53] Now, what about from the hiring standpoint? It’s a tough hiring market now, or is that a challenge for you?

Spencer Packer: [00:19:59] It is, yes, it is. And so it’s that’s been where I have I’m going to keep pushing because is is I keep recruiting crews and recruiting people. It’s I want to make sure the quality is always top notch. And there have been times where I’ve had to kind of move on from different crews because the quality wasn’t exactly where I needed to be. And so I’m growing fast enough now where I’m going to be needing some production managers. So I’m actually interviewing the process of interviewing some people as well, some administrative people. And it’s I’m already. You know, I’m very much understanding. I mean, I understood before trying to find the right crews, the right painters to actually go in and do the jobs. But I’m finding out now it is to get some some quality production managers. I’ve got a few who I’m looking at that I think I want to keep progressing with. But but it is tight out there. That’s that’s certainly that’s certainly the biggest challenge for me right now. And I’ve noticed I knew it would be I mean, I remember going into my wife and I talked about it and said, yeah, this is this is what we’re going to really have to to be smart and to work hard and to persist because there’s great workers out there. There are people who are going to really make a lot of be a great asset to my business. That’s just up to me to make sure I do the due diligence and and the work to find these people. And so I’ve been doing that for the last few weeks and really narrowed it down. But but I could already sense that some of the people I was interviewing and. Little uncertain with the reliability issues as well as just how committed they would be to. To to my. To our business.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:35] Yeah. It’s it’s going full circle. Right. When you were going to those other potential franchisees at the beginning, you were vetting them. And that’s and now it’s here we go again. It’s a never ending process. You know, that activity is forever.

Spencer Packer: [00:21:49] Right. That’s right.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:50] Especially if you want to be that high quality provider. You know, you’re not trying to do any job for any money. You’re you’re trying to do good work every time. So it takes.

Spencer Packer: [00:22:01] A special.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:01] Person to deliver.

Spencer Packer: [00:22:03] Yep, correct. And that’s where we feel the feel some pressure is to make sure we have people that are always going to deliver for us and kind of what we promise and what our reputation is. We want to make sure that every single person is associated with this. This business with my business has that vision and will some customers are going to be a little harder to satisfy than others. But we’re that’s our goal. We’re always going to still make sure we satisfy them with the high the highest quality work possible. And and want to make sure whoever we have on board is is committed to that.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:34] Well, congratulations on all the success. If somebody wants to learn more, what is the website?

Spencer Packer: [00:22:40] Yeah, it’s is 360 painting of Kennesaw. Anyway, they they can find me. My name is Spencer Packer. We’re. We’re kind of everywhere on the Internet now. Yeah, just 360 painting. Exactly. I’m sorry. 360 painting forward slash Kennesaw.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:57] Yeah, I’m sure if they get to 360 painting. That’s right. They’ll be able to find you. Well, thank you again for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Spencer Packer: [00:23:07] Hey, thank you so much. Sure. Appreciate you having me. Thank you so.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:09] Much. All right. This is Lee Kantor crucial next time on Franchise Marketing Radio.

Ted Laatz With SUCCESS Space

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TedLaatz
Franchise Marketing Radio
Ted Laatz With SUCCESS Space
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Brought To You By SeoSamba . . . Comprehensive, High Performing Marketing Solutions For Mature And Emerging Franchise Brands . . . To Supercharge Your Franchise Marketing, Go To seosamba.com.

TedLaatzTed Laatz, President at SUCCESS Space

Ted Laatz holds a BS in Business Administration from Bradley University, an MBA with a dual emphasis in Entrepreneurship and Stategy, Execution & Valuation from DePaul University, and a Certificate in Franchise Management from Georgetown University.

He has been with eXp Holdings since 2020, and heavily involved in the real estate industry for over 20 years.

Follow SUCCESS Space on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • About SUCCESS Space
  • The core mission and values

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Welcome to Franchise Marketing Radio. Brought to you by SeoSamba comprehensive high performing marketing solutions for mature and emerging franchise brands. To supercharge your franchise marketing, go to seosamba.com. That’s seosamba.com.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:31] Lee Kantor here another episode of Franchise Marketing Radio and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Ted Laatz and he is with Success Space. Welcome, Ted.

Ted Laatz: [00:00:42] Hey, good morning, Lee. Thanks so much for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:44] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about Success Space. How are you serving folks?

Ted Laatz: [00:00:49] Yeah, most definitely so. Success. Spacex is a cafe coworking and coaching facility, and we’re doing things a little differently in terms of the coworking section, whereas most of the time a co-working facility that you would think of would be, let’s say, 15 or 20,000 square feet downtown, a major MSA. What we’ve decided in light of the new the new way people are working is to have the success space facilities be approximately 5000 to 6000 square feet in the suburbs, basically where people used to get on the highway to go downtown, the MSA. We we want to be in that area. We want to be in the strip mall where they’re getting their groceries and where they’re dropping off their laundry, dry cleaning and that type of thing. So we’re taking a little bit of different approach to to the coworking industry.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:54] Now, is this because of coming out of the pandemic? You think this is a better model or you think that’s an untapped area? I mean, historically co-working has been in, like you said, large metros and maybe taking up ten floors of a, you know, a huge building.

Ted Laatz: [00:02:10] Correct. Yeah. And so both to answer your question. Right. So number one, the way people are working is definitely different. Now you’re seeing a lot of that where people don’t want to go back to the office or just are not going back, they’re not being asked to come back. And so a lot more people are working out of their house. And they still need a spot, though, to go to to have calls like this or to get away from the dog that might be barking or focus, whatever it might be. And so we wanted to have a facility that’s very close to their home that they could go to to work now.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:48] So that means kind of the the ideal client or member is a little different than because some of those larger co-working spaces, they were targeting big companies that had maybe remote offices and they were using that as kind of the funding. And it was less about the entrepreneur that that individual business owner.

Ted Laatz: [00:03:09] Well, so for us it’s both right. So again, the the corporation might still have an office downtown. The MSA, they might ask might not be asking people to come in as much though. Right. You’re hearing some companies now taking a hybrid approach, come in for a couple of days, work from home for a few days again. Others go ahead and work from home full time. So it takes advantage of that situation and offers a solution to that situation. But conversely, you brought up entrepreneurs and we are focused on entrepreneurs as well. And that’s our our coaching program is very unique in that we have a coach on premise and that coach serves two purposes. So one is business development and business coaching, and that’s more along the lines of an entrepreneur and helping them grow their business. And then the other side is for that corporate employee executive that might need personal development coaching or something along those lines. So we’re definitely targeting both in our facilities.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:22] Is that coach the franchisee or is that a revenue stream for the franchisee?

Ted Laatz: [00:04:28] It’s a revenue stream for the franchisee and the actual coach could be the franchisee themselves or someone they hire.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:36] And then which that’s pretty innovative. I haven’t seen any other co-working spaces kind of go that way. What what spurred that?

Ted Laatz: [00:04:47] Well, our sister company is Success Enterprises. Success magazine been around for 125 years, a personal development magazine. And part of that company is coaching as well. And so we were able to tap into that piece that’s already existing and bring that into our facilities also.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:12] Now, at what stage are you as you’re an emerging franchise right now? Are there some up and running?

Ted Laatz: [00:05:19] We’re emerging right now. So we have sold nine franchise locations with expecting to sign another two or three here in the next couple of weeks. We have three facilities that are about to go under lease and so they should be completed in the next 90 to 120 days for our first openings.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:44] And what part of the country are they?

Ted Laatz: [00:05:49] Southeast mainly, but Texas. We have some in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama. So kind of that southeast area.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:59] Now, is the person opening these franchises? Are they kind of the professional franchise in that? This is a complementary brand to a portfolio that already exists or these first time franchisees.

Ted Laatz: [00:06:12] They are first time franchisees that tend to be entrepreneurs, tend to be focused on personal development and willing to to to join us in this exciting ride.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:28] So you so what came first, kind of the profile of this ideal franchisee or the concept and then finding people that were attracted to it?

Ted Laatz: [00:06:40] So our parent company is XP World Holdings. And so XP World Holdings actually has a little over 80,000 real estate agents now as part of that company, and it is a 100% remote company. They’ve been working out of the metaverse for since their inception in 2009. And so with that, they do not have any brick and mortar locations. But this is a nice complementary offering to XP World Holdings in that agents can utilize these spaces to work out of. So that’s what spurred the thought of, all right, this works well for agents, but it actually works really well for everybody else also, especially in light of COVID and everything that’s going on. And so it all kind of spawned out of that initial conversation.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:42] So then how did you get involved because of franchising background?

Ted Laatz: [00:07:48] A little bit of both. I tend to my background is starting and launching brands and so I’ve launched a national real estate franchise in my past, then been around franchising quite a bit, have a certificate franchise management from Georgetown. So, you know, franchising is in my history, but real estate is as well. And so I worked with XP World Holdings, launching a number of initiatives for them. And when this one came up, since I have the franchising background as well, I was tapped to do this also.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:30] It’s an interesting concept to leverage that success brand into the coworking space and then offer coaching. This is very unique and it’s it must be pretty exciting to go out there with that. Most new emerging franchises don’t have that in their back pocket.

Ted Laatz: [00:08:49] Exactly. I mean, to to have this iconic brand that’s been around for 125 years as our as our brand is definitely an exciting way to start.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:59] So now when you’re going to market with this, I mean, is just the success name enough to at least get people interested in this?

Ted Laatz: [00:09:07] Well, I think it’s both. I think it’s the success name, but I think it’s also the unique offering. Right. I mean, people are recognizing it that it really is an opportune offering for this time in history, you know, and to to have multiple revenue streams, you know, lower overhead with the the smaller square footage. I mean, I think it’s the the entire package that people are attracted to.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:37] So now in that space, how many actual offices are there?

Ted Laatz: [00:09:43] Well, sort of describe the space. The first 1500 square feet is our cafe area. And so that cafe here is a full service cafe. Someone someone early on said to me, you know, Starbucks is a co-working facility. They just do it one latte at a time. And that that really struck struck me and stayed with me. So that first 1500 square feet full service cafe, you could if you think of Starbucks or if you think of Panera or anything along those lines, that that first 1500 square feet will be comparable from there, you’ll walk back through some glass doors and and by the way, that cafe is open to the public. So it’s not a membership or anything along those lines. Anybody can come into the cafe, enjoy their coffee, sandwiches, whatever it might be. From there, you’ll walk through glass doors to the 3500 square foot co-working facility. And again, the coach will have a ten by ten office or so in there, and then the rest will all be the co-working offices. We’re designing them to be again in light of COVID and and just the change in work style altogether smaller offices, most of them will be either one person or two person offices down to a phone booth size that people can just come in and work all the way up to a two person office a little bit larger. And then another unique offering that we have is that we’ve designed a billing system that is by the minute rather than the typical facility that might do by the month. And so literally somebody could be come into the cafe, get a coffee, a pastry, whatever it might be, working in the cafe and decide, you know, I’d rather have a change of environment. I’d rather have a little quieter environment. I need to make a phone call, whatever it might be. And they can walk into the co-working facility and they can stay for five or 10 minutes or hours or days, whatever it is. But we have that unique offering in our billing system as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:57] Now, is it possible to have, you know, kind of a permanent, quote unquote, space where I know I’m going to this, I can leave stuff there? Or is everything just mentally so.

Ted Laatz: [00:12:07] Yeah. Most definitely. So we do we do offer the monthly as well, just like other facilities, you know, and we’re probably estimating maybe a third to a half might actually go that route, whereas the other, let’s say half or so might go the by minute route.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:28] Now, you also mentioned the metaverse. Is there kind of a virtual membership as well where I can have access to all of the success ecosystem wherever they are?

Ted Laatz: [00:12:39] There is. There is. And that’s really you know, I appreciate you bringing that up. That’s a whole other exciting aspect of this. So as I mentioned, our sister company, XP Realty, has been working out of the metaverse for since 2009 on a platform called Ver Bella and which is also owned by XP World Holdings. And so we’re able to tap into rubella as well and have a metaverse available for our clients. And so imagine, you know, you walk in to our co-working facility, you have someone somewhere else in the world that you’d like to communicate with. You can do so in our metaverse, meet them in our metaverse, you can have an office space in our metaverse. So it’s a it’s a whole nother layer to this that’s pretty exciting. You can almost think of it as the metaverse, the our platform being the hub with all of the coworking franchises, being the spokes.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:40] Now, as a member, do I have access to all of the success spaces wherever they are? Or is this something that I you know, I’m in wherever you said, like Dallas or City in Texas. So that’s my home base. And then if I’m traveling and there’s another one in, you know, Des Moines, I can go to Des Moines.

Ted Laatz: [00:13:59] Correct? You can.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:01] And is there additional fee or that I’m just in the club, so I get access?

Ted Laatz: [00:14:06] Well, there’ll be a membership fee, write a monthly membership fee and then again you can we build by the minute. Right. And so if you wanted to walk into that facility and use an office, you could work into that office by the minute. We do have kind of common area that you could just sit in if you wanted to do that. But if you’d like an actual office space, you know, again, our unique offering, you could do that by the minute.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:30] So it’s that by the minute really serves multiple purposes.

Ted Laatz: [00:14:35] It does. It does.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:38] So congratulations on all the success you mentioned. That you’re kind of clear on this ideal franchisee. Can you describe like, are they somebody from corporate America that just maybe is into their second act? Or is this somebody that you have to have restaurant experience because there is a café in the front? Like, what is the kind of profile?

Ted Laatz: [00:14:59] You don’t have to have a restaurant experience. We have a very robust LMS and team. We have multiple members on our team that are from the OR I’m sorry, the restaurant industry as well as we have members from the coworking industry, the coaching industry. So we’ve built a very robust team. They’re there to help our franchisee franchisees when they are on board with ongoing operation. But we also have I’m pretty proud of the LMS that we’ve put together that that really is there to help our franchisees. I would say that our LMS is comparable to any anyone out there for franchisees, franchises that have been around for much longer, obviously. So we’re here to support you ask about the profile, the profile we’re really looking for, and it could be someone’s second act coming out of corporate. But what we’re finding is that that entrepreneurial spirit is really important as long as well as that that personal development kind of understanding. Right. If you have both that entrepreneurial and personal development understanding, then you really believe in our model and and are able to go from there.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:19] But are you looking from a personality standpoint, somebody who is kind of a community builder because this is a space, a cafe space, which is, you know, kind of you need that. Ted Danson from Cheers. Right, to get that kind of community built. But also you need that person that’s going to help business people. You know, you’re you’re investing in them in terms of coaching. You’re saying, I’m going to help you become better and I’m going to help you grow your business and things like that. So it’s a really it takes a special person to kind of pull that off, I would think.

Ted Laatz: [00:16:52] Well, so two things there. The coaching, again, we have a coaching certification so the franchisee can hire a coach that kind of meets that profile and we’ll run them through a certification to help with that. And then we have a coach of the coaches that actually helps coach our coaches, provide them with monthly training that they can then pass along to their clients and things along those lines. For the the coach themselves, the franchisee, you’re absolutely right. That community builder is is ideal. I mean, somebody that can really go out and represent the brand in the community, let, again, both entrepreneurs and corporate employees know what’s there and available. And again, I think a lot of it will also be organic, right? Our cafe will be a very robust cafe competing at the highest level. And so I think, you know, from a marketing standpoint, that’s somewhat serves as a top of funnel in that people will organically come into the cafe and from there, see if you can picture glass doors that say welcome to success or this way to success in the towards the back. And that café will serve as an organic to the the coworking and coaching.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:22] Right but you need a relationship driven person. This isn’t a person that, you know, isn’t caring. They have to be kind of a servant leader type person that is caring about the community that wants them to do better and be better and to help.

Ted Laatz: [00:18:39] 100%, 100% agree. Right. You can’t have someone sitting behind a desk waiting for sure.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:44] Right. So they have to be immersed in the community and really have a heart of service.

Ted Laatz: [00:18:48] It’s 100%, you know, to give you an example. One of our franchisees very involved in their church. Their church happens to be located across the street from where they’re going to put their facility. You know, the church is excited that they’ll be able to utilize that facility as well for overflow, for their meetings, for their events. All of those different things. This person also very involved in the Chamber of Commerce. So to your point. Right, very, very immersed in that local community and excited to help grow it.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:29] Well, if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team what’s the website.

Ted Laatz: [00:19:36] Success franchise dot com we keep it simple success franchise dot.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:40] Com. Well Ted, congratulations on all the success. Thanks for coming on and sharing this story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Ted Laatz: [00:19:49] And I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you. Thank you so much.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:52] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you next time on Franchise Marketing Radio.

Anthony Joiner With Blooksy

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Startup Showdown Podcast
Startup Showdown Podcast
Anthony Joiner With Blooksy
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AnthonyJoinerAnthony ‘AJ’ Joiner is a radio personality, entrepreneur, 3x Best-selling author, and is the founder of Blooksy – the software platform that makes writing books simple.

AJ has published over 200 authors and helped thousands more through start writing their books over the last 5 years.

His hobbies include reading and listening to story-telling podcasts. He’s a passionate New Orleans Saints fan, and proudly represents the #1 HBCU in America – Southern University.

A native of Leesville, Louisiana, AJ loves nothing more than, eating authentic Louisiana food, and yelling WHODAT during football season.

Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn In This EpisodeBlooksy

  • How it’s important for entrepreneurs to share their story
  • Book is a powerful asset
  • The struggles people face when they decide to write a book

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Welcome 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: [00:00:38] Lee Kantor here another episode of Startup Showdown, and this is going to be a fun one. But before we get into it, 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 Anthony Joiner and he is the founder of Blooksy. Welcome, AJ.

Anthony Joiner: [00:00:57] Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:58] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about Biloxi. How are you serving folks?

Anthony Joiner: [00:01:05] Okay. So I have helped over 230 people write and published books. And I saw a gap in the marketplace. And the gap was. There are tons of book writing tools out there, but there’s nothing that manages the process from start to finish. So I started initially by Googling like, is there software to manage the book writing process? It wasn’t there, so I built it. And that’s the story of Biloxi to end to end book writing, publishing and distribution tool. And we have right now we’re about 300 people in, but we’ve made a small pivot and we can talk about that a little bit as our conversation goes on.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:39] So how did you get involved in publishing books at the very beginning? Was this something you did for yourself?

Anthony Joiner: [00:01:45] Total coincidence. So I took actually a book writing course, and the first book that I published was called Instagram Marketing on Fire, and it was totally coincidental, but I published it right around the time that Facebook purchased Instagram. So when I published it, I think I sold two or 3000 copies like in the first couple of days. Again, total coincidence. And when I saw that happen, I thought to myself, okay, well. Let me take advantage of this opportunity. So I published a second book called Instagram Marketing for Restaurants. Then I published a third book called Instagram Marketing for Barbershops and Beauty Salons. And when I did that, more and more people started asking me, AJ, how are you publishing all these books? And my secret was I had a process, but then I hired ghostwriters to do all the heavy lifting after my first one, which I did myself. But the second and third I hired ghostwriters, and I put a system in place so that I could very quickly and easily get books out of my head and publish.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:44] Now, you mentioned early that the first book sold a few thousand copies. That number is an unusually large number, and I don’t think our listeners understand that. Can you share a little bit about some of the stats of a typical book? There are so many books on Amazon and out there, but the numbers that actually get sold is very few per book, right?

Anthony Joiner: [00:03:07] Absolutely. So most books never hit. 200 sales people go into the publishing process thinking that if they build it, they will come. And it doesn’t work like that for books. And if you think about your purchasing habits, most of the books that you purchase probably come from a few different ways. Number one, someone refers you to the book. Number two, there’s something that you’re trying to figure out. So you go and buy a book, a book for that specific problem. But most of the time, and most of the books that I see people write are more books about their life story. And most people, we are interesting, but more so to our friends and family. And most people don’t have more than 200 friends and family that will purchase their books. So, yes, you’re absolutely right. 2000 books is is a large number.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:54] And then you said that a lot of folks want to tell that kind of story, that personal story about their journey. And what types of books are you typically working with the nonfiction business books, or are you doing those kind of personal stories or fiction books?

Anthony Joiner: [00:04:11] I do. I do mostly nonfiction, right? So I work with a lot of experts who are have achieved a certain level of success in a particular field. And they want to share that success and show other people how they can sort of shortcut that success. Those are typically the most successful if you can take your life experience and you can wrap it into sort of a how to or a step by step guide or a shortcut to do what I have done. Those are really successful because everyone wants a shortcut to success.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:42] And then do you find that this is it becomes almost a must have if you’re an entrepreneur or business owner to have some sort of book as you’re calling card, as your kind of credibility and authority as an expert in your space in today’s world.

Anthony Joiner: [00:04:59] Absolutely. So. And here’s the example that I use. So if you’re moving to a new city, would you rather purchase a home from a real estate agent who has billboards all over the city? Or would you purchase a real estate agent who says, Here are the top ten neighborhoods of our city? And these are the things you should look for in each neighborhood, right? It immediately positions you as an expert. And again, you nailed it. It’s the calling card or it’s the business card that will open doors for you. Because once you write a book, it’s solidified your expertize because so much work goes into understanding your area of expertize. Then you have to do the research and you have to structure it and you have to do all the things to publish it. And most people don’t do that. So when you step out and do that, especially if it’s about your expertize, it’s sets you up in a class of your own.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:46] Now in your system, is this something that I don’t have to have my idea fully fleshed out? I just know that, hey, I’m an expert in X and if I kind of plug into your world, I can you can kind of tease out that that secret sauce, that thing that’s going to make my book special and maybe stand out.

Anthony Joiner: [00:06:09] Absolutely. So let me share with you my thought process. When we built this, prior to launching my publishing company, I traveled around the country doing something called Books Across America, where I would travel to different cities and I would help people structure their stories. Then I would have people tell their stories based on their experience, and I would record them telling their stories. I sent it away to a transcription company, and that would become the dirty first draft of that particular chapter. So when I built the software, I duplicated the exact same process. So when you log in, you can structure your book in an outline very quickly. And again, when you log in, it’s very user friendly. So you literally add chapters by clicking at chapter, right? Then when you add a chapter, you can click on the record button and you can speak your story directly into the book. Another thing that we did was we built artificial intelligence into the software. So if you’re writing a book about a specific thing and it’s a nonfiction, it’s factual information or a process, you can type into the AI a few sentences about what you want it to create, and it will automatically create original content for you. Right now, the goal is not for you to copy and paste that content into your book.

Anthony Joiner: [00:07:22] The goal is for you to use that content as a baseline because the thing that people struggle with most when writing a book is the blank page and Google Docs, Microsoft Word. They’re built for desktop publishing, not necessarily writing books, right? My user experience, when you log in, it feels like you’re in a book, right? The front matter is all there. The copyright page is already done. Your acknowledgment page, your dedication page, your introduction. They all have instructions on exactly what to write in those sections. And when you get to your chapters, you can outline them very quickly. Add chapter, you click record, you say This chapter is going to be about X, Y, Z. Here’s a story that I experienced when I was doing this in my professional career. You just tell the story, it’ll record it for you. And if you run out of ideas, you can say, What are four different ways that people can accomplish X, Y, Z based on these three or four facts, and it will write it for you. Then you can take that content and you can rewrite it in your own language so that it fits the voice that you want to communicate to your your customer or your client.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:24] Now, at the end of that, is there something that kind of professionally edits it to make it sound cohesive?

Anthony Joiner: [00:08:32] Okay, so here’s where we’re going with it. We’re building out a marketplace so that you can hire an editor from inside the platform. We’re not there yet. Most of the people that are writing right now, they’re probably anywhere from 10 to 80% done. But when they finish and we’ve had several people finish, we take them through the rest of the process manually. We introduce them to editors and we give them several to choose from. Those editors then edit their book by logging in because it’s collaborative. So you just give them, they give you their email address, they can log in without creating their own account and do their edits inside the software. When you’re done, you can export it. It’s already pre formatted to the right size. So if you want five by eight, five and a half by eight and a half, six by nine, you choose the size that you want. Then you can actually hire a designer for your book cover and then you publish. So we again, we’re bringing everything under one roof.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:24] And so this is a turnkey process. So what would be the length of time if I have an idea of a book and I’m like, okay, I’m going to check out Booksy to see if that’s the way for me to execute this. What would be the length of time, you know, maybe personal, best length of time from idea to, you know, it’s on Amazon.

Anthony Joiner: [00:09:43] Okay, so here’s what I tell people. If you can dedicate 30 minutes three times a week, you can finish your book in about 10 to 12 weeks. So 60 to 90 days, that’s typically the time that we see people specifically if it’s a book on your expertize, because once you have your outline done now it’s a matter of going back and sharing a story or two about each specific thing that you want to communicate. Then you summarize that by saying, Okay, so here are the actionable things that you can do for this particular chapter. Then you move on to the next chapter. So 10 to 12 weeks from idea to book.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:20] And then is there an area that folks typically struggle? Is it the actual writing part or is it like I’ve written it and I’m never think it’s good enough, so I’m afraid to pull the trigger and like put it out there to the world or is it the distribution of it? Where is usually the the hurdle that keeps people from following all the way through?

Anthony Joiner: [00:10:39] The biggest hurdle is the writing of the book, right? Because sitting down to a blank pages, you know, it’s scary. Right, because you’re in your head, you’re writing, and then you’re deleting and you’re like, That’s not good enough. That’s why we built the transcription. So you don’t have this. You don’t have to sit there and look at a blank page. You can start to articulate your thoughts out loud and it will transcribe it. Now you have something to work with. Then you can take what you articulated out loud, add it to the AI and it will create something else for you. So the biggest hurdle is sitting in front of the blank page. We eliminate that in our software.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:14] Now, what was it like kind of in your career to go from the entrepreneur to the founder of a company that’s helping other entrepreneurs? Was that a difficult transition?

Anthony Joiner: [00:11:27] So the only thing that was difficult was in the beginning I coached people through the writing process. Once I started a publishing company, I hated it from day one, literally hated it from day one because there were so many moving pieces in parts. But once I decided to build the software to solve that problem, it wasn’t hard because I’ve spent 15 or 16 years managing software projects for the CDC and Department of Transportation for in Georgia. So I had experience building software. And the hardest part, I think, has been maybe bootstrapping it before I ended up winning a panoramic pitch competition. But I think that was the struggle in the beginning. I already had a market of people who were interested in the software, and before I started building it, I asked the people that I was working with, Hey, if I built this thing, would it make your life easier and would you pay for it? And I said in the beginning, I didn’t know what to charge, right? I looked at all the other tools and I said, okay, it’s going to be 20 bucks a month. And I had people sign up and I was like, okay, well, I’m on to something.

Anthony Joiner: [00:12:31] Then I had the fortunate opportunity to meet Seth Godin, who’s like the God of marketing in my eyes. And he actually reached out. I saw an email and I was like, Wait a minute, is that Seth Godin or is that spam? So when I met with him, he said, AJ, I think you’re really onto something. You should charge $100 a month and you shouldn’t look backwards. Right now. I don’t have the confidence to charge $100 a month yet because there’s so much more that I want to add to the software. But once we build it and we built it in a way to where publishers can manage their authors, and we already have that. We’re publishing companies, they’re sending their authors to Booksy, and they can actually see the progress of the author. But there is so much more functionality that I want to add. So right now it’s 39 bucks a month, but eventually it will get to 100 bucks a month. So the hardest part was, you know, having the confidence to go out and build it with the nervousness of thinking, well, someone paid for it. So once I saw that I was in I was in business.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:29] And then once you started getting sales, that obviously gives you confidence to continue on the project. What gave you the confidence to say to, I’m going to go and start pursuing outside investment and not just rely on the sales that I’m getting to fund the venture.

Anthony Joiner: [00:13:47] Through different things. So when I built it, I thought, okay, if I’m going to build this, what are the other edge cases that we can solve with the same software? And I thought, Well, writing a dissertation is a lot like writing a book. So we built dissertation templates and then I thought, Hmm, what about a cookbook? So we built cookbook templates and we’re building different templates that solve different problems. And once I realized that this is actually publishing as a system or publishing as a software, it’s more than just books. You can write dissertations, white papers. Then I thought, okay, this is a lot bigger, or it has the potential to be a lot bigger. So let me at least give it a shot and see what venture capitalists would think about it. And I’ve had an amazing response, even talking to different VCs, they all they all say, AJ, this is a seven figure business. I’m sorry, this is a nine figure business in 5 to 7 years. Right. The real question is, are you going to take it there or are you going to exit early? So once I saw that and I realized it was a bigger it’s more than just publishing books. That’s when I thought about outside money.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:53] And then what kind of led you to startup shutdown?

Anthony Joiner: [00:14:58] So I had a friend. His name is Joey. He’s Over Goody Nation. He’s actually based in Atlanta. He told me about the competition, along with a few other people. So I applied and luckily I was accepted. It was intense, right? Because the feedback that they give you is very honest and it’s sometimes brutally honest. And my pitch, the deck that I presented to them, it was it wasn’t good in the beginning. Right. But based on their feedback, I made the changes and the deck from the beginning to end was totally different and I ended up winning the competition. So I was introduced to it by Joey. I took the feedback from all the different judges and coaches and I ended up winning it. So it’s been great.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:44] And what has been kind? The biggest benefit of having gone through that process and actually winning.

Anthony Joiner: [00:15:52] One of the big benefits that I see right away is the credibility that it lends, because now it’s it’s this amazing company. They see what you’ve built. They believe in what you’ve built. And they’re willing to introduce you to other people to help move you further down the train tracks, if you will. So it’s the confidence and the credibility that they lend and then the the network that they provide. So it’s when I say that I’ve been invested in by panoramic, it turns heads immediately. Right. So that’s been that’s been huge for me, the confidence and the credibility.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:30] Now, you mentioned Seth Godin as somebody that was inspirational, if not maybe a mentor in some ways on this journey. Has there been other mentors that have helped you get to this level?

Anthony Joiner: [00:16:42] Absolutely. So I’m to Atlanta Tech Village and a pre incubator called It Takes a Village. And I’ve met with so many different people, Paul Gomes, James Summer and he’s he’s over at Ernst and Young. He’s been extremely beneficial from day one. He reached out, introduced himself to me, and he’s offered some of the most amazing advice that I’ve ever had. Paul Gomes, he’s at Atlantic Village as well. He helped me sort of focus and go from I’m going to serve all these different audiences to choosing a specific audience to focus on. And he calls it so small. I think he’s actually been on your podcast, but he’s been incredible. James Summer, Paul Gomes, Brandon over at Atlantic Village and the entire Atlantic Village family.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:31] Now, any advice for other startup founders out there, whether it’s being, you know, participate in this type of startup showdown or just kind of get talked to some people to just kind of vet out your idea and poke holes at it. It sounds like you spent a lot of time in that kind of mindset of just trying to really make this as good as it can be. As you’ve you know, you’ve been very coachable. You haven’t just said, this is my thing and I’m going this, you know, I’m not listen to anybody. It sounds like you’ve been getting a lot of input and been able to translate that input to incremental, you know, achievements that have been helping you grow.

Anthony Joiner: [00:18:11] Yes. So I think the the most beneficial thing for anybody who wants to start a company is to get it in front of potential buyers early because everyone thinks that their idea is solid. But if you don’t get market validation early, you can spend and actually waste a lot of time building something that no one is actually interested in. So I would say as early as possible, you know, build, build, build a prototype. And actually I wouldn’t even say build a prototype, but I would say is build a landing page with some mock ups that you can get done somewhere like fiber and show people that and say, would you be interested if I build this right? So spend less than $100, go to fiber, get get the mockup done. And then if people are willing and they say not only do they say they will buy it, but if they’re willing to swipe their card, then I think that’s the opportunity for you to go ahead and go forward. So as early as possible, get market validation.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:10] Yeah, I see how many. I’m sure this happens to you a lot since you’ve been involved in business for a minute. People with all these great ideas that are just afraid to take that first step, it’s always kind of, yeah, I’m doing more research or I’m thinking about this more. I’m planning to plan instead of just put something out there to see if somebody will pay a dollar, you know, to see if this is something that’s going to work or not.

Anthony Joiner: [00:19:35] Absolutely. And again, people will say they will buy something, but will they actually swipe their card? Right. Because there’s a huge difference in the two. So, yeah, early on, get validation.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:47] Yeah. And I think that that goes hand in hand with what Biloxi’s about. You’re making it as easy as possible for someone to make that dream of being a published author come true if they just put a little effort in skin in the game.

Anthony Joiner: [00:20:01] Absolutely. So, again, if you have an idea, you can very quickly and very easily take it from idea to book using the either you can leverage our voice, the text which is 90% accurate, or you can leverage the AI. And actually, our AI doesn’t roll out to next Monday to the public, but we’ve been using it a lot in staging. And I have some people that are using it and staging and they’re getting amazing results.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:25] So now what’s next? What what’s kind of on your roadmap for the next, you know, maybe the rest of the year, the next 12 months?

Anthony Joiner: [00:20:33] Yeah. So we have seen we’ve made a small pivot, right? We went after being in the market a bit. We saw an opportunity to get this in front of universities for academic articles and they are absolutely loving it because they write lots of academic articles and when they talk. I did a demo last Monday for University of South Florida with three professors in the room, and I literally they started clapping when they put their the lady, the one professor in particular, she spoke her abstract into Lucy. Then she copied her abstract and pasted it into our artificial intelligence. And it created 12 I’m sorry, 12 paragraphs based on a two paragraph abstract copy and paste it and said, Oh my God, you just made my research. You took it down from 6 to 8 weeks to a few seconds, right? So in under 60 seconds it provided so much content for her and she’s off and running, right? So we made a pivot and focused on universities. They start their testing or pilot program in a week. We have a few other universities in the pipeline. We talked to UGA, we talked to Auburn, we’ve talked to Mercer. So there are other universities that are interested. So that’s the pivot we made. So yes, we’re still serving authors, but our university use cases seem to be sort of because they really, really want it. So that’s the pivot we made from specific authors to entire universities. Sorry, could you say this again?

Lee Kantor: [00:22:07] Well, if somebody wants to learn more about Biloxi, maybe explore the software and or just talk to you or somebody on your team. What is the website?

Anthony Joiner: [00:22:17] Yes, they can go to Biloxi. That’s a block Viacom sign up. And if they type in half off forever, just like that lowercase, they can actually pay 50% of the $39 that it is a month. So if you type in half off forever, you get a discount for $19 and change a month and you’ll pay that forever. So it’s Biloxi at Lipscomb, and if you type the code half off forever, no spaces, you’ll get a 50% discount code.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:47] Well, AJ, thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Anthony Joiner: [00:22:52] All right. Thank you so much. I appreciate you.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:54] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see y’all next time on Startup Showdown.

Intro: [00:22:59] 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 Dot VC. That’s Showdown Dot VC. All right, that’s all for this week. Goodbye for now.

David Feldman With 3 Owl

by

DavidFeldman
Atlanta Business Radio
David Feldman With 3 Owl
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DavidFeldmanDavid Feldman is the founder of 3 Owl, an award-winning creative agency that crafts nimble brand identities and elegant digital experiences to equip clients for success. With a small core team and a carefully curated network of seasoned contractors, 3 Owl has generated tens of millions of dollars in added revenue for Fortune 500 and small business clients, transformed communities, and helped address the largest public health crisis in a century.

In addition to being a consistent contributor to Forbes, Feldman is a regular presenter at industry-leading events, and a popular guest lecturer in marketing at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, where he earned a unique dual degree in music and business. His first book, “Small By Design: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Growing Big While Staying Small” will be released by Morgan James Publishing in May. He currently resides in Atlanta, GA.

Connect with David on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Entrepreneurship
  • How have things changed for Small Businesses & B2B services businesses since the pandemic
  • How to scale up and down as a small business to take on big projects but not get bogged down by overstaffing or hurting your profitability
  • Rethinking/Tinkering/Failing Fast

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio brought to you by onpay 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 fun 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 David Feldman and he is with 3 Owl. Welcome, David.

David Feldman: [00:00:42] Hey, Lee, great to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:44] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about 3 hours. How are you serving folks?

David Feldman: [00:00:49] Sure. So 3 hours is right at the intersection of design and technology. So we’re there to imagine your brand build out your brand guidelines, translate that into a beautiful website or app design, and then code it all in-house and measure the results afterwards. So we really believe that having all of that handoff within one company yields much better work.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:11] And the folks who aren’t doing it that way, how are they typically doing it? Are they just cobbling together kind of resources to do each of those things kind of in a siloed individual manner?

David Feldman: [00:01:22] Yeah. This comes up a lot when we’re pitching branding work, for example, we’ll pitch against a branding agency and the potential client will say, so the branding agency is going to find another shop that’s going to take what we did and try to turn it into a website. So I think there’s some cobbling together. We just have a deeper understanding of how it all connects. So even early on as we’re working on the brand, we’re thinking about things like ADA compliance. Is the color contrast going to work on a button? How are these patterns and backgrounds going to scale on mobile devices? So I think there’s just that understanding start to finish. So very early on in that branding process, we’re already thinking about a final digital product.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:01] Now. Is your solution best for kind of startups who have a blank sheet of paper they’re working off of, or are these already established brands?

David Feldman: [00:02:11] Now we’ve gone both ways, and the process, the branding process for us always starts with a daylong workshop where we really learn a lot about the business. If it’s an established brand, we usually are not working with the people who are as close to it as founders or working with marketing directors or working typically at SEO or SEO could be in that meeting too. So really taking a step back and working on a on an entity that the client is not as deeply connected to. But we’ve done everything from renaming organizations that have been around for a long time, so you can’t be too precious about it or tinkering with and improving existing businesses like Fortune 500. On the startup side, we’re usually working with founders, so they’re very, very close to the business. So I think it usually takes a lot more care. Again, that brand workshop means we really deeply understand what our client wants rather than diving right into a website, we know what their goals are. We also know what they’re going to be pitching to potential investors, what current what their current market is saying. So I think process wise is the same. We definitely know there’s more handholding with startups, but it can also be a lot more fun with startups.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:26] Now what’s your back story? How did you get into this line of work?

David Feldman: [00:03:31] I graduated in 2008, which was a very tricky time to graduate. I took a job at a large marketing firm and very early on was not feeling it. I just remember looking down the long corridor and seeing my career path essentially laid out in front of me, like side office, corner office, big office at the end of the hallway. So I never corporate life was never for me. I ended up going off on my own and just doing a lot of independent contracting work and doing really just about anything marketing related I could get my hands on. So that was taking photos, video building, websites, copyrighting designing. I was really into all of that, doing it for very much bottom barrel pricing, but I learned a ton in those first few years when I was getting started and I realized pretty early on I didn’t want to become this really awesome independent contractor and specialize in anything specific. So I made that first decision, I think two years into running my business, to hire a full time designer, and I barely had the funds to do it, but it was that leap of faith that I took that we would grow. So I never looked back from that. I always wanted to build a company and not just be an independent contractor. So that’s always been the goal is really find people who have common values and find people who are experts in their field and luckily can direct a lot of it because I’ve done a little bit of all of it, but I’m certainly not a master at any of it.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:00] But it seems their heart is in this kind of scrappy entrepreneurial entity. Your book that’s just released Small by Design and Entrepreneur’s Guide to Growing Big While Staying Small. Talk about that and where that philosophy kind of ties in to what you were saying.

David Feldman: [00:05:18] In March of 2020, I was at a crossroads with my company. We had actually grown to be a little bit less small by design that I wanted to be. I had a lot of full time employees, a lot of juniors on my team. And the the profit was or the the revenue was going up or the costs were as well. And I realized that the company was not operating in a way that made me happy. And when we hit the when we started seeing, I think the NBA season canceled and the world really changing, I saw an opportunity to really take advantage of that moment and made a really hard decision and fired most of my team except for the senior folks, and decided to rebuild and really embrace being small. So we work with a lot of full time contractors. Some that we’ve had for six, seven plus years have a smaller team that is more senior level. But a funny thing happened, I think a month into the pandemic. We had a couple of clients come to me and say, Hey, we are we’re looking at firing or agencies of record and moving forward with you guys on all of our marketing work because we like how small you are.

David Feldman: [00:06:29] And I realized there’s this paradigm shift happening where when we stop pretending to be bigger than we are and actually embrace smaller clients, really liked it because they saw the extra fees they were paying to big agencies. Process is taking a long time, etc. So once we started owning it, we started getting more work and better work. And I’ve really built the agency around it and realize there’s just a lot of learnings and principles that have happened since. We’ve really rethought the agency to be small by design. You know, we can scale up as needed when bigger projects come in because we’ve got an amazing bench of part full time and part time contractors and we need to be small. We’re small. So it’s really it’s made me a lot happier and we operate so much more efficiently and our clients feel it too. It’s translated in our prices and our turnaround times and quality of work.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:18] So if somebody listening says, You know what, that really resonates with me, I’d like to, you know, kind of have the small core and be able to flex larger if need be. How would you recommend them going about doing that? How do you kind of, you know, get that true north, get the people on board, the key people that enable you to scale when you have to and then to cut back when you need to as well.

David Feldman: [00:07:44] For it to truly feel like a cohesive company. Start with your values. We did this in March of 2020. The team that I had left, we would sit in the park six feet apart and just talk about what went right with real and what didn’t. And really just when the team would start small, we were able to talk about everybody’s personal values. They were all really aligned and we use those to build out to the values of our company. So that’s that was the baseline. And we knew that any hiring decisions we would make would be based on shared values. Same with what kind of clients we bring on. We can tell early on if a client is going to be a good fit. Same thing with contractors. So that’s the baseline. So that way it still feels like very much a cohesive team. The second layer was really getting our processes tight, so having a tight onboarding process, a very well outlined branding process, website process. So it’s really repeatable. So when we do need to bring in an outside resource that we need to bring in a contractor, we just plug them right into our system. So that’s why it still feels really cohesive and it’s really about growing big while staying small. The systems are tight, the values are there, so we can scale up and it still feels very much like 3 hours. So that’s the advice I’d give everyone is start with the values, build your systems and then plug people in versus trying to adapt to the values of your contractors or clients. Does that can that can really set you off track.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:06] Now how do you make it kind of less transactional for the people you bring on a contract basis? Because it’s easy to say plug and play, be part of the team, but when they’re not really part of the team and they might have three other projects going simultaneously, how do you get them to kind of emotionally buy into what you’re talking about?

David Feldman: [00:09:27] You know, there’s a chapter in my book called Elasticity is Essential, and it really talks about how we get our contractors aligned with us. I’d say our least involved contractor is still 50% with three owl. I will invite them to events. The three outputs on course share our values with them. I’ll also just open up about where three owl is at financially, what we have coming down the pipeline and also build relationships with those contractors and ask them how their business is doing, how we can help connect them to more work so they start to see it as a partnership. I know that I’m succeeding with a contractor when they win a new project, not with three owl and call me up. It’s want to celebrate and say, David, I’m so excited I got this project. I want to share it with you first. And at the same time, I will. If there’s a project that comes across three Owls table, that’s not the right fit for us. I’ll just pass it over to one of the contractors. Always give them first rights of refusal so they see how invested I am into their business and I see them come back and invest in mine. I’ve seen us putting together proposals and I’ll reach out to one of our contractors and say, Hey, would you can you help me write out this section around your specialty? I’ll pay you for your hours, and they rarely ask me to pay them for the hours because they’re so bought into getting into work and really believing in what we do. So very much important to me never to treat a contractor like a vending machine, but really make them feel bought into what three owl does. And knowing that we have their back as professionals outside of contractors helping three owl.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:03] Now, you mentioned also one of the things that happened when you made this switch was that you were getting better clients. What is a better client look like for you? Like, what are the qualities of a great client?

David Feldman: [00:11:18] It’s a client that trusts the work that we do. I never want to have a client that’s paying us to argue with us. So we’re seeing that we have clients that have really impactful work for their company, and these are digital transformations where you have a multi unit restaurant switching to a major new online ordering platform that is going to create an entire shift and in their operations in their marketing dollar usage. So when we have projects that are going to impact the client to that degree. They’ve been coming to us for those projects and our existing clients too. They are seeing how quickly we get work done. And we’re also because we’re smaller, we really keep our finger on the pulse of what’s happening with the client. So I’ll send an email saying, I remember a conversation we had a few months ago about how you’re looking to switch to this this loyalty vendor. Here’s an interesting article I found about it. Let me know if you want to talk. So they also see that we’re never transactional with them. We’re really thinking about their business, and we can do that because we have those real conversations with our clients. So they’re really happy that they’re not paying extra dollars for a fancy office because I think clients can feel that and they get access to leadership like me or creative director or development manager. If they need to talk to people who are high level, we’re one email away.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:42] Now when you’re working with a new client, are they typically kind of biting off the whole big project or are they coming in with a small project to kind of just get a taste of what 3 hours can do? And then that just expands organically over time.

David Feldman: [00:12:58] It depends on the size of the company. If we’re working with a very large company, it’s usually one project and I will always earmark that project as an opportunity to impress them. The biggest clients we have worked with have been the ones that, for example, we had a major restaurant brand that wanted to have direct to consumer e-commerce sales and their existing agency said, You can’t do this in ten weeks. And they came to us and I told my team, if we knocked this out in ten weeks, do you know how many opportunities this will open up for this one client? So we did it and we have become the digital agency of record and they’ve connected to a lot of other clients of that size. So on that very large end, no, I just see the opportunity to do great work and impress them. If it’s a smaller sized company, typically the project will be brand website, etc. because they don’t have other agencies they’re working with. So it’s either a big project for a smaller client or a starter project that’s smaller for a bigger client, but always, always hoping to convert that into something bigger.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:00] Now, who should be reading your book?

David Feldman: [00:14:05] I’ve been thinking through this a lot. I actually have my book launch party on Saturday and I got that question about if somebody is working at a bigger company, does the book still have any validity? So I’m seeing really three audiences. If you’re a small business owner, like if you’re if you’re looking for a life of abundance, if you’re looking to figure out how to run your business without your business running you, this book is definitely for you. I’m also hoping that people who are leaders at large companies read the book and just see that they should give a chance to the smaller companies. They could really make an impact. And then I was also thinking a lot about big companies tend to create small teams within their company. So why you might be working for a Fortune 500 company, you’re likely still running a department. So I think this is a great book for folks who are overseeing smaller teams and there’s still a lot of learnings to run your team in a really nimble way. That’s really impactful.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:02] So if somebody wants to learn more about three aisle the agency or get a hold of your book, what’s the website?

David Feldman: [00:15:10] 3 hours agency is our company URL and if you want to read more about the book, it is small by design dot co. The ebooks are available now and paperbacks will be available June 28th.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:25] Well, David, congratulations on all the success. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

David Feldman: [00:15:31] Yeah, thank you so much.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:32] All right. This is Lee Kantor all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.

 

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