Business RadioX ®

Emily Huynh With Emily Kim Photography

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EmilyKimPhotography
Bay Area Business Radio
Emily Huynh With Emily Kim Photography
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Leah-Davis-Ambassador-logo1

EmilyHuynhEmily Huynh is a traveling brand photographer and studio owner based in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Over the last four years, she’s helped 80+ entrepreneurs revamp their online presence through creative brand photography.

She’s passionate about helping business owners stand out as thought leaders in their industry by creating strategic, eye-catching imagery that aligns with their marketing strategy.

Connect with Emily on LinkedIn and follow Emily Kim Photography on Facebook.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Who needs brand photography and why do they need it?
  • The biggest mistake when hiring a photographer for business
  • Business owners consider hiring a brand photographer

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in the Bay Area. It’s time for Bay Area Business Radio. Now here’s your host

Lee Kantor: [00:00:17] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Bay Area Business Radio and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, Leah Davis, coaching inspiring women of color to claim their wealth legacy. Today on Bay Area Business Radio, we have Emily Kim with Emily Kim Photography. Welcome, Emily.

Emily Huynh: [00:00:38] Hi Lee, thanks for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:39] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about your practice. How are you serving, folks?

Emily Huynh: [00:00:45] Yeah. So I am a brand photographer for entrepreneurs and business owners who want to stand out in their industry. So brand photography is kind of like commercial photography. If you’ve if you’re familiar with that phrase. And basically what I do is I help give small business owners and personal brands the confidence and the consistency that they need to market their business by providing them beautiful photography that elevates their presence both online and in print. So billboards, magazines, stuff like that. And I guess really the the people that I work with are all kinds of people, really. So when I say personal brand, that could be anyone from a realtor to a chiropractor to coaches to jewelry makers, they run the gamut.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:27] Now are they typically solopreneurs or owners of small firms? Or they could be a big corporate executive as well?

Emily Huynh: [00:01:35] Yeah, so they can be both. I primarily work with smaller businesses like solo entrepreneurs and maybe small teams, but occasionally I do have a corporate client who’s looking to rebrand their presence. Like maybe they’re speaking at events more often or they’re writing a book and they just want to elevate their presence.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:53] Now you mentioned the you use the phrase brand photography. How is that different than, like a headshot?

Emily Huynh: [00:02:00] Yeah, yeah, so with the head shot, right when you think about it, you kind of show up, you get your, you know, you get all judged up makeup, hair, you’re wearing a suit, maybe, and it’s just one picture of you that you use everywhere. But with brand photography, it’s not just one image, it’s really a gallery or a library of images that you can use, and it represents who you are and what you do in your business. So as an example, like with the chiropractor, a headshot would be just the chiropractor, you know, standing against a plain background. And that’s something that they can use. But it doesn’t really tell me what they do. But for chiropractor clients that I have, what we do is we go into the practice and I will take photos of them in action. So photos of them, you know, working on their clients, using things that they use around their office. So they have little like models and things that they use to show people with the spine looks like what they’re doing. I show pictures of their of them making adjustments and just showing off what you do in your everyday work, everyday life.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:00] Now that sounds good. If I have a job that you know, I play with toys and I do things like that. But what say if I’m a lawyer or I’m an accountant? How do you kind of bring out? My passion and what separates me from everybody else via photography, when you know what I actually do is, like I said at my desk and think,

Emily Huynh: [00:03:25] Yeah, that’s actually a really great question. So a lot of my clients spend most of their days in front of a computer, and I have worked with a law firm and let’s just take them. For example, they are personal injury attorneys. So the way that we pull out that information is we go through a planning process. So when you think of photography, traditionally a lot of the times it’s kind of like a you show up and you take pictures and then you leave. But with Brandon Photography, there’s a lot more planning and strategy that goes into it. So before the photo shoot, we have a planning call and I have you fill out a questionnaire and we go over what you do in a lot of detail. And that’s kind of how we start to pull out the things that you use in your everyday work. So a lot of the time it’s going to be a laptop, obviously. It could also be your phone. It could also be books. And then the more I learn about how my clients work with their own clients, the more I can kind of dig deeper and ask what other tools that they use. So with those personal injury attorneys, when they first meet with the client, they have these tiny model cars that they bring in so that the client can show them the situation that happened. So that’s not something that I would have thought initially like. Like when you say you’re a lawyer, I don’t think, Oh, you’re going to have little models that show off like what your client situation is. But that’s kind of how we begin the planning process and everyone comes to me and they’re like, Emily, all I do is work on a computer, but there’s always ways to show off what you do digitally in a photograph.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:53] Now what do you say to the folks that are like, Look, my camera? I mean, my is a camera. I’m on Instagram all the time. Well, like, why would I hire a professional photographer? You know, I can do it or my kids, 20 years old, they’re there on their phone constantly. They take a million pictures. Why don’t I just use them?

Emily Huynh: [00:05:13] Yeah, yeah, so a lot of my clients, when they first come to me, that is what they’ve been doing already, right, they’ll, you know, be out and about. They already look nice. They’ll ask their husband or their kid, Hey, can you take a quick photo of me? But then the more often you do that and as you grow your business presence online, that will get you to a point. But there always comes a point when you’re like, OK, I only have so many phone pictures. I’m imposing the same way and all of them, I’m tired of taking pictures. I’m tired of organizing them. I’m tired of editing them. Or, yeah, it just ends up being a huge time suck. So that’s where the library of images comes in. And then another reason that people stop doing that is they either get a big brand deal or they’re going to have a big feature in a publication and they’re like, OK, this is a really big publication. I don’t want to use my phone picture that my kid took in this publication. I want something professional that shows that I am a professional and I am a leader in this industry.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:10] So now when you’re working with your clients and you’re going over this, you know you’re having them fill out the form so you really can understand them and go layers deep to really explore possibilities in terms of getting the right framing the right background, the right materials in the in the photograph, are you helping them also kind of maybe get clear on what colors are the best for them that align with their brand? Are you? Are you? Kind of it sounds like you’re going a lot deeper than just I’m just taking a photo that looks good. I’m there’s more strategy to this that is maybe has more depth and more layers to it than a layperson would really realize or understand without talking to you.

Emily Huynh: [00:06:56] Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Brand photography is a lot of business strategy as well. So one of the first questions that I ask is what are your business goals over the next one to three years? Because when I know that, then I can help brainstorm photos that will actually help drive those business goals, right? Because now brand photography is getting a little bit more popular, I guess. And when people first start, they see what they see on Instagram, right? And that could be, Oh, I need a picture of me sitting at a laptop because that’s where I work or I need a personality picture of me holding a coffee mug. Well, it’s like, OK, a lot of people probably use their laptop and use their coffee mugs. But what really starts to create compelling imagery is when you dig deeper into what are your goals? Where do you want to go from here? So another example is, let’s say I’ve had some clients that come to me and they’re like, Hey, I am working on getting into more speaking gigs, and that’s one of their one one three year goals. And with that, what we’ll do is will actually stage photos of them at like a faux speaking event. I will set up a mic, will have them all take pictures of them talking like in action, as if they were at a speaking event and having those pictures. It helps drive those goals, right? Because if they have a picture of them at a speaking event on a website, then people potential publications or events that are coming to their website are going to be like, Oh, this person, like has a picture of them at a speaking event.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:31] Now, when you’re doing your work and you have a client and you mention that it’s not one photograph or four or six or ten, it’s a hundred ish, are you kind of strategizing in terms of OK, since it’s a hundred, let’s give them material that’s going to work throughout the year. So like, is there a holiday pictures or pictures around, you know, meaningful events or days that throughout the year so that they can deploy these photographs, you know, year round or they’re evergreen, that they can kind of come and go as the year goes on, depending on what’s happening.

Emily Huynh: [00:09:13] Yeah, absolutely. So more along the lines of the business strategy, questions that I ask, I also have a business background, so I have my MBA and I have a little bit of experience in advertising as well. So when we first approach a new project, when a client first approaches me for brand photography, another one of the questions that I ask in addition to What are your business goals? What is your brand mission and the visual stuff, like you mentioned, will go into colors and more of the visual aspects as well. But another question I ask is what is their launch calendar or just their business calendar over the next year looking like in general? Because if they have an upcoming launch, upcoming event, holiday promotion, stuff like that, then yes, we can add into that gallery and plan. Ok, let’s make sure we get two to three holiday shots. Let’s make sure we get enough photos to fill out your sales page for this upcoming launch, and that’s those questions help us drive. The shot list is what it’s called is what are the must get photos that we get on photo shoot day?

Lee Kantor: [00:10:11] And then when you say a shot list like how many shots are there? I know there’s 100 ish photographs, but how many shots does that typically turn out to be? Is that twenty five shots of four photographs, eight each is the 10 and 10 like had? How is that determined?

Emily Huynh: [00:10:27] Yeah. So I don’t get super dialed into the numbers because what I what I like to do is the way we plan the photo shoot. We’ll plan for about two to three locations and then we’ll plan for a variety of outfits. And based on those locations is where we’ll figure out, OK, what are the types of images that we want to get here? So I like to call them themes or stories, and it’s basically pretty self-explanatory. They’re like one story that we might want to capture is my client working in their office or my client working with one of their clients. And that can be a story. So depending on how important that is to the client, like if they need photos of them working with their clients will prioritize that and that can yield more images. So it kind of depends on what the client’s priorities are. Wherever they lie. I’ll make sure to get more images in that story. But for example, holidays, right? We don’t need tons and tons of holiday photos because it’s only going to be useful for maybe a couple of weeks out of the year. So maybe we’ll get five to 10 images, depending on what they’re planning on doing, like if they’re going to be posting on social versus an email newsletter or something in print, knowing where they’re going to be using the images or where they plan to helps me figure out in my head how many will probably need to get per story.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:47] So now, when they’re working with you, is there also I know you’re capturing the photos. Are you also giving them some counsel on how best to deploy them? Like, Hey, this is going to be better for mobile or this is going to be better for your website, or this should be shared on LinkedIn. Like, are they also, you know, some kind of distribution suggestions as well?

Emily Huynh: [00:12:12] Yeah, absolutely. So this also depends on the client, sometimes I’ll be working with clients that have a marketing coordinator or a marketing strategist that will be able to handle that for them. And sometimes they’ll give me a list of, Hey, here’s where we’re going to be using the images. So I need, you know, a long horizontal image for the website header or I need a square image for LinkedIn or something like that. But if it’s a client that maybe is doing it all themselves, then I do have tips on, Hey, make sure you use vertical images for Instagram because those are going to perform the best and then I provide an after I deliver the whole gallery, I have some information on, Hey, here’s the best types of images to use on social versus here’s what you should be using on your website and stuff like that.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:55] So what’s your back story? How did you get involved in photography?

Emily Huynh: [00:12:59] Yeah. So kind of a roundabout story. I actually my background is in computer science, and like I said, I did my undergrad degree and then I did my MBA back to back. And the way I started doing photography is while I was still on campus, finishing up my graduate degree, I needed a way to make money, and I’ve always been that person that had a camera in hand and I had a couple of friends ask, Hey, will you take our graduation photos? And I said, Sure. And I just kept doing that. And then when I got a job as a software engineer out in the Bay Area, I just kept doing it because I liked doing it on the weekends. So, you know, I worked in tech, I kept doing my photography business on the side, and the more I did it, the more I was like, Wait, I actually really like this. And this seems like a pretty viable career option, too. So once I started thinking about it with like, Oh wait, I can actually turn this into my career, that’s when I started taking it a lot more seriously, and it was just a really good match for me personally. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial kind of spirit and then being able to work with all kinds of business owners and all different industries has been so rewarding just to learn about them, to see how they run their business, to help them run their business and give them marketing collateral that grows their own business. It’s been really, really rewarding for me now.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:20] Is it limiting in the sense that you have to physically be at wherever you are to do this kind of work like so all your clients have to be in and around the Bay Area? Or is it something that you travel like? How do you handle that side of the business?

Emily Huynh: [00:14:35] Yeah. So almost all of my clients right now are local, but occasionally I do get a travel inquiry and that is something I can travel for as well. I was I I mean, barring the pandemic, but yeah, I’m very open to traveling. I have something coming up in the next couple of months where I’ll be flying down to Southern California, hopefully. And it’s definitely something I can travel to. And if not, if someone’s not in the position to where they want to hire an out-of-state photographer, then I always have recommendations to help people because I just want people to have what they need, you know?

Lee Kantor: [00:15:10] Now on your website, it mentions that you do mentorship. Can you talk about that?

Emily Huynh: [00:15:16] Yeah, yeah, definitely. So I do a few different things in the mentorship arena. So sometimes I’ll have photographers come to me that are maybe wedding photographers or more personal portrait photographers that want to break into brand photography. So I offer a mentorship session for them and they can ask me whatever they want. They can come prep with questions and we’ll go over my process and how I go about running my brand photography business because it’s really great. And I love that other people are getting into it too, because I think that just elevates the whole industry. And on the flip side of that, sometimes I’ll have my clients that aren’t photographers ask for marketing help. So whether that’s helping them implement their images or helping them with their Instagram strategy, I kind of do. I can act as like a marketing strategist for my clients as well if they need support in that area.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:09] So in your work, you’re 100 percent brand photography or do you do that kind of the college? You know, those photos or the, you know, the family photos when asked as well? Or you just kind of, Hey, I’m a brand photographer, and that’s what I do.

Emily Huynh: [00:16:24] Yeah, I’m about 100 percent into brand photography. Occasionally, I’ll have, you know, long time brand clients that say, Hey, Emily, I need family photo for our Christmas card this year. Will you take it because I don’t want to work with someone else, then I’ll definitely do that. But I am percent in the brand photography field.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:40] Wow, is there a lot of people like you out there that are kind of all in on brand photography? Or is this kind of something that, just like the wedding photographer is just adding to their skill set?

Emily Huynh: [00:16:53] It’s definitely a little bit of both brand photography has grown a lot in the pandemic to because when the pandemic started and everything went online, everyone realized, Oh wait, I need to be online, I need to put myself out there. And when the pandemic first started, I noticed that my business had a huge I had a huge influx of inquiries just because everyone is online and everyone needs to promote themselves professionally online. So it’s definitely a growing field. And I see a lot of current photographers like wedding photographers, portrait photographers switching into the commercial field. And it’s also great because when you’re in brand photography and you’re working with businesses, you work Monday through Fridays. Whereas with wedding photographers, you’d you know you’d have to work your weekend, Saturday, Sundays, doing doubleheaders at weddings. So it’s definitely it works for some lifestyles, a lot better than it does for other people. And for me, I I didn’t want to work on weekends, so brand photography made a lot of sense for me in that area as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:51] So if there’s someone out there that is looking to raise their photography game and get a hold of you or somebody on your team, what’s the website?

Emily Huynh: [00:18:02] Yeah, so my website is Emily Kim Photography. And then you can see my brand photography services there, as well as my mentorship options.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:11] Well, Emily, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Emily Huynh: [00:18:18] Thanks so much, Leigh. It was so great. Thanks for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:21] All right, this is Lee Kantor. We’ll see, y’all next time. Bay Area Business Radio.

Hugh Glazer With WinterView Group

by

WinterView
Coach The Coach
Hugh Glazer With WinterView Group
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HughGlazerThrough the WinterView Group, Hugh Glazer has provided coaching and business operations consulting services to private companies with a focus on Business Operations as a consulting CFO and Coach to CEOs & CFOs. Hugh Glazer is a career CFO/COO experienced in building and leading finance and business operations teams in over ten organizations.

He has held key operations and finance roles in early stage, high growth and media related technology companies that include The New England Journal of Medicine, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster. Architects and Advertising Agencies are among the range of professional services firms, Hugh has had as clients. He has worked with organizations with multiple locations and workforce teams as large as 500 people.

Hugh is also a Virtual Business Advisor in the Goldman Sachs/Babson 10,000 Small Businesses Initiative. The GS10KSB  is a program that provides business education to growth-oriented entrepreneurs. Hugh as advised over 200 CEO scholars in the program.

He was appointed to the American Arbitration Association Roster of Neutrals to serve as a commercial arbitrator.

Connect with Hugh on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Business Operations
  • Business Strategy
  • Business Planning
  • Prepare for growth
  • Managing cash flow

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 Coach the Coach radio brought to you by the Business RadioX Ambassador Program, the no cost business development strategy for coaches who want to spend more time serving local business clients and less time selling them. Go to brxambassador.com To learn more. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:33] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Coach the Coach Radio, and this is going to be a fun one today on the show, we have Hugh Glazer with WinterView Group Welcome.

Hugh Glazer: [00:00:42] Welcome leave, how are you?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:44] I am doing well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about Winter View Group. How are you serving, folks?

Hugh Glazer: [00:00:51] Well, Winter View of Europe is a consulting practice that I have started 20 plus years ago, and in its original form, where it was back on the days when being a part time or fractional CFO or chief financial officer was was a kind of a unique thing to provide smaller companies with the support and knowledge of experience of an experienced CFO. But on something less than a full time basis and and today it’s much more common than it was. But I enjoy working with entrepreneurs, small business owners and trying to help them accomplish their goals and objectives. And through more and more of the years, I’ve been doing more work as a trusted business advisor. I’m also an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association, so I also help folks with transition of businesses, both in terms of succession planning, you know, buying selling companies. But my real core sweet spot is just helping folks do a better job of growing and enlarging their businesses. And I tell folks when we work together, all I ask them from what keeps them up at night. From a business perspective,

Lee Kantor: [00:02:09] Now working on businesses operations might not be obvious for new entrepreneurs, but if you don’t get that right, you’re going to have a problem. And I would imagine most entrepreneurs go into business with kind of big dreams and big aspirations, but they take the operations side of the business and the financial financial side almost for granted. Is that really kind of true number one? And is that that’s your sweet spot, that’s where you really can help an organization come?

Hugh Glazer: [00:02:41] Oh, most definitely, and I often say, folks, no one starts a business or a company, you know, or let me rephrase that every an entrepreneur starts a business or a company because they have an idea of a product or service that they want to bring to an audience. And they don’t think about that. No one starts a company because they want to get involved with running it and filing reports and returns and and employees and issues. But you know, the good news bad news is, is that that’s part of success. Your idea takes hold. You have an audience, you need to add a team of people. And now all of a sudden you’ve got a company in an organization and those things need to be tended to. And as you said that that entrepreneurs and business owners don’t think about that in the beginning, and they kind of start off with some bad habits that end up if you don’t get in front of them. It can create problems where all of a sudden there’s no money in the bank or or they’ve got a lot of bills they’re sending out with. Clients aren’t paying them. So those are the things I try to help folks think about simple ways. It’s like anything. If you do it right in the beginning, then as you grow or scale, as we like to say these days, you’re just adding, you know, more pieces to a strong foundation.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:02] And then these kind of things that you’re working on are foundational. If you get these right at the beginning, you’re giving yourself a better chance at succeeding in the long run.

Hugh Glazer: [00:04:15] Oh, exactly, because the more you know about those aspects of the business, the better able you are to to leverage this, and I think that’s why it’s important. A lot of times, some folks is perspective as well. I’m good at the product part or I’m good at the creative part or I’m good at selling the business of the service teams. And I don’t want to focus on these other pieces. And oftentimes what happens is they wherever they’re getting their bookkeeping or backroom resources for, they all, they create a reverse dependency where they’re almost dependent on the person that’s supposed to be. Their employee actually knows more about what’s going on with those operational mechanics of the business than the owner does.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:07] Now let’s talk about how you work with your clients. What is typically the pain that this organization is having where they call you and your team?

Hugh Glazer: [00:05:17] Well, you know what? I’ve been very fortunately in the 20-plus years I’ve been doing this, that almost 100 percent of my new clients or new introductions are from referrals. And typically, there is something that goes on where, hey, we’re out of cash, we lost money. I also have a background in turnaround management, which is, you know, distressed companies that either are, you know, bankruptcy candidates or on the potential board or that, God forbid. And it’s, you know, there’s just there’s something wrong, you know, there are the bankers telling them, Hey, your financial statements that you’re getting, don’t look right or they need just someone to be their partner, almost so to speak, to make sure they’re on, you know, a good path to getting accurate and timely financial reporting, as well as someone that will work with them and motivate them on strategy and particularly this time of year as we get to the end of the calendar year, budgeting and thinking about next year and plans as an important component that successful companies, you know, employ on an ongoing basis.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:28] So now, almost by necessity, the people that you’re starting to work with are under some financial pressure. So how does the how do they take the leap of, well, you and his team are going to be able to I’ll invest in them to help me get through this, like how you’re kind of joining them in a vulnerable state?

Hugh Glazer: [00:06:48] Well, I think it’s, you know, having the wherewithal of being able to stand up or look at yourself in the mirror and say, Hey, I need some help here, you know, and it could be that scenario I just mentioned where we are existing bank isn’t happy with the information you’re getting or you’re even applying for loans and getting turned down, and you just realize you need someone. You know, as we said on the internet, you know, a coach or an advisor to kind of sit with you and listen to what your concerns and fears are and help you kind of set a path and a program to hold yourself accountable. You know, being in a small business owner, if you don’t have a partner or what I it can be a lonely place sometimes, and you can only throw so much on the shoulders of your family or your friends. You know they’re going to be empathetic with with you, certainly. But you want someone that can also be firm and guide guide you and say, Hey, you know, you need to change these practices if you keep doing what you just described. Nothing is going to change now.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:01] When you start working with new client, is it something that you have to really kind of immerse yourself in their financials and their business to really see where the opportunity is and where the kind of the holes in the boat are?

Hugh Glazer: [00:08:15] Well, to some extent, yes, I have when I get started with a new client or even before the relationship is formalized, something we have a I would call a discovery project that could be anywhere from five, 10, 15 hours, just probing some of those things. I mean, solid financial and business practices or are pretty straightforward and generic, but every organization is different. Everybody has a different style, and I like to try to find a path of fitting controls and practices that fit the needs of the particular company and what their business niches is. This isn’t a one size fits all kind of thing. You know, just to take a personalized approach. And part of my background has a theme of working with what I like to call creative people doing creative things to. While my experience space is very broad, I do have a lot of concentration in areas such as architecture, engineering, publishing, software, design, education related companies and those sectors. And you, you know some aspects of that and also the advertising industry as well. Have a little different approach than someone that’s in the manufacturing business now.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:43] Can you share maybe a success story? Don’t name the name, but maybe explain what the challenge they were having and how you were able to come in and shore things up and take them to a new level.

Hugh Glazer: [00:09:52] Sure, sure. In this architecture space, I have very deep operating experience as well as financial experience with one of the leading architecture practice management systems. And it’s a kind of thing today that a lot of companies under invest when they’re making a change or starting a system like that. So I got a call from. Another professional that that was this client, and the story was they tried to put in this new software and they got overwhelmed and they haven’t been able to send a bill out to clients for almost 90 days. And now there’s no money coming in. So I was able to come in and help them assess and get the implementation of that system back on track. And in the course of that review, I happen to see you’ve got some other kind of holes in how you do your financial and business operation management. And we started a series of conversations that led has led to my being there by call consulting CFO. And it’s now I think we’re in our eighth or ninth year of that relationship. So I have many experiences like that at another client where essentially the controller stole a six figure sum of money, a high six figure sum of money and just didn’t show up to work one day. I actually it was because in this time he was around a Thanksgiving holiday, so I came in and helped rebuild the finance team there. And those folks, I think, are in our five or six year working relationship.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:34] Now you mentioned that your firm does coaching and consulting. How do you kind of draw the lines around each of those services?

Hugh Glazer: [00:11:43] Draw the line between what

Lee Kantor: [00:11:44] Coaching and consulting because of

Hugh Glazer: [00:11:46] Coaching and consulting,

Lee Kantor: [00:11:47] Because obviously they’re different.

Hugh Glazer: [00:11:49] Well, yeah, the difference. Sometimes, you know, a consulting is more focused on the accomplishment of specific set of tasks like, Hey, help us find this piece of software, help us implement and train people, whereas coaching is more about. I need to think about what the next generation of people running the company is going to be or my other partners. Don’t seem to be doing as much work as I’m doing is being more directive in helping people think about how they can do a better job with their own efforts and thinking just like you have on, you know, coaching comes, I think, from a sports metaphor of someone that will help you work out the right play to try. When you run back on the field, so to speak.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:43] Right. Well, sometimes you may well, sometimes you need help and sometimes you need a helper.

Hugh Glazer: [00:12:48] Exactly. And the coaching is is more about working through the help and what other kinds of helpers where oftentimes the consulting is being the helper exactly right.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:03] So sometimes you roll up your sleeves and you’re in there and doing some of the work, and then sometimes you’re just helping them kind of find the resources they need to get the job done right.

Hugh Glazer: [00:13:13] And very often my longer term, you know, relationships include a little of both, but I have other experiences and folks, I work with that it can be almost all, you know, the helping or versus the coaching. And and sometimes that comes and you know, things have a cycle versus an ongoing support need

Lee Kantor: [00:13:36] Now for you. What’s the most rewarding part of the job?

Hugh Glazer: [00:13:41] You be in terms of what I enjoy. Yeah, I like. Well, you know, we’re all in these kind of things. You know, having a traditional accounting background, you know, you know, being the help or sometimes has a service satisfaction because you can see the beginning in the end, where is the coaching is sometimes a little less transparent and more intangible. But I think at the end of the day, I like, you know, the things I like about the coaching is it’s sort of that old parable about a teaching a person to fish when you can see that someone is taking the lessons or the things you’ve discussed and they’re applying them in multiple situations going forward, so you can see that it has an impact. So I like working with companies and business folks that are looking to improve and go forward, and I always try to find or enjoy situations where I see it’s not only an opportunity for me to contribute and share my experience, but I get the opportunity to learn something new as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:53] Now let’s talk a little bit about your role with the Goldman Sachs 10000 Small Businesses initiative. How did that come about?

Hugh Glazer: [00:15:02] Over 10000. Goldman Sachs 10000 Small Businesses Initiative is a wonderful, wonderful program. It’s a joint venture in a way between the Goldman Sachs Foundation and Babson College, which is among the leading schools of entrepreneurship. I think it’s the U.S. News and World reports for 20+ years running as one of the best schools of entrepreneurship, and the program teaches business owners, etc. what I would say a business toolkit in a 13 week semester type format that they can apply to any business opportunity or issue in their business. And the way I became involved in it is I happen to be an alum of Babson College and involved in some similar kinds of things within the school itself, and I was just asked about whether I might be available to assist them with some initial parts of the program. And then I ended up getting involved as a virtual business advisor and then became a lead advisor, supervising uncertain times, up six to eight other advisors. So it’s a wonderful program to help strengthen small businesses in this country

Lee Kantor: [00:16:15] And is an ongoing program or was

Hugh Glazer: [00:16:18] That? Yes, that’s an ongoing program. It’s delivered in a couple of different formats as partnerships with community colleges across the United States. I’m part of a national program that delivers all the same content that’s run virtually through Babson directly, and I can give you a URL if we want to have if people have an interest in going to learn more. I’m happy to share that with you.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:49] Yeah, sure, that’d be great.

Hugh Glazer: [00:16:50] All right. So the URL would be, of course, w WW. I see. I see dot org. And that stands for the Inner City Initiative for Competition. And I see I see is the national recruiting partner. And if you poke around on their website, I think it’s under programs. There’ll be a dropdown that will show you the the 10000 Small Businesses program, and there’s no information there about the program itself and how you can apply. And depending on what part of the country would connect you with the either the national program or the Regional Community College.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:30] Well, thank you so much for doing

Hugh Glazer: [00:17:32] That wonderful program. Well, the best business experiences I’ve ever had. I’ve helped close to 200 CEOs go through that program, and I’ve got a wonderful network of, I can say, friends and business owners across the country from across all kinds of business segments, and

Lee Kantor: [00:17:49] It’s giving an opportunity for folks who might not have have access to this type of education. So thank you for doing that.

Hugh Glazer: [00:17:55] Oh, for those folks, yeah, it’s tremendous. And particularly now, you know, we’ve the program has got a strong emphasis on trying to help small businesses provide, you know, survive and these extra challenges of the last year or two. So there are some qualifying criteria, but they’re they’ve been adjusted to meet, you know, the needs of company, you know, that might potentially be struggling right now.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:22] Now a lot of our listeners are business coaches now. Do you have any advice for them when it comes to their operations? Is there any tips you can be giving as we end this year and go into next year that they can be doing to help maybe manage your cash flow, prepare for growth things that they can be doing strategically so they get into next year, you know, running instead of kind of looking back and wondering what happened.

Hugh Glazer: [00:18:47] All, I think for any kind of business, it’s always important to understand what I call your cash flow break even. And while I’m a big believer in investing and I think investing in marketing and business development is a particularly critical. When things slow down and oftentimes in smaller organizations, that’s the first place they cut back. But in the coaching sector in particular, I think my thoughts that I learned myself is we are not. All experts in everything. I think one of my strengths is I know what I know. I know what I don’t know and I know how to find out about what I don’t know is pretty quickly, but to not sell something that you’re not really capable of delivering. I mean, I very often will have a conversation with somebody and once I understand what their needs are. I realize that’s not my thing either by my knowledge and expertize. Or it may be something that you know. And this is probably maybe more on the helping side that it’s a task I’m not interested in taking on. So I think it’s very good to know what your core sweet spot is. And very often, as human beings, we we take the shotgun approach to things because we fear that, you know, there might be of the of the hundred things I might be qualified to do. If I don’t mention all 100 of them, I could lose an opportunity.

Hugh Glazer: [00:20:27] And I have found that’s much more important to kind of think of what your approach is is more of a shooting a rifle than a shotgun. And then it’s important to know what your core expertize is and demonstrate that. And when you’re talking with people that you know, they want to know that they’re dealing with an expert, the fact that they may have a question or something that’s outside your expertize, they it’s important to leave that hook that they’ll come back to because someone that can be a jack of all trades and do everything and markets themselves like that doesn’t leave anything in the prospects, you know, like a way to retain. Remember you, so you want to. Maybe that’s after all that babbling along. And the answer is you want to be able to have an expertize and make a memorable presentation and people will come back and resonate with that. Ok, this guy or gal was good at this or that. I was very impressed. Maybe they could help find me someone of equal skill set that could do whatever might help me with whatever it is I need. I’m asking for help for even though it might not be their expertize. So that’s some. And what I what I would say, don’t be afraid of putting yourself out there as an expert and don’t try to be a jack of all trades and everything.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:49] Yeah, we say here that niches bring riches. But you want to be the go to for something. And if you can pull that off, then you’ll be remembered and they’ll think of you when they need that something right?

Hugh Glazer: [00:22:01] Your goal is to position yourself as a trusted adviser. You know, confidentiality discreet those criteria. I think we all would agree, would be important in this kind of work.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:16] Now, if somebody wants to learn more about your practice and get a hold of you or somebody on your team, what’s a website?

Hugh Glazer: [00:22:22] It’s Winter View Group. All one word.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:26] Well, you. Thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Hugh Glazer: [00:22:32] All right, thank you. I appreciate this opportunity.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:35] All right, this is Lee Kantor Rochelle, next time on Coach the Coach radio.

Jania Bailey With FranNet

by

JaniaBailey
Franchise Marketing Radio
Jania Bailey With FranNet
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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.

FranNet

JaniaBaileyJania Bailey is an Executive Leader with over 30 years experience in the banking and franchise industries.

She was hired as President and COO of FranNet in 2006. Promoted to CEO in 2014. Her accomplishments include converting the company to a franchise model and establishing national relationships with several key organizations such as SCORE, ASBDC, and BNI.

She is over 8 years and in several different managerial capacities with Fantastic Sams International, a hair care franchise.

She served as the regional manager for Fantastic Sams. Oversaw operational support and development for franchisees in a five state region.

She has eighteen years in the Banking Industry in the commercial lending and business development areas and 3 years as a National Speaker, Consultant and Trainer.

She is a key-note speaker at several National and International events for organizations on topics including Change Management, Leadership Excellence, Team Building, Customer Service, Communication Skills, and Strategic Planning.

She is the Author of a book that was published in 1995, “Thriving – The Journey to Success in the Business World”.

She served 6 years on the IFA Executive Board, 6 years on IFA Supplier Forum Board, is currently the IFA Membership Committee Chair, and has been active as a mentor for new Franchisors through the IFA FranShip program.

Her specialties: Finance, Franchising, Leadership, Public Speaking, Change Management, Team building, Performance Coaching, Customer Service Excellence, and Management Training.

Connect with Jania on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • The catalyst that sparked the partnership between FranNet andFranConnect
  • The benefits of using a FranNet consultant
  • FranNet consultants help their clients choose a franchise

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 good one, but before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor SeoSamba. Thanks to them, we get to do these shows every day. Today on Franchise Marketing Radio, we have Jania Bailey with Frannet. Welcome.

Jania Bailey: [00:00:51] Thank you. Thank you. It’s nice to be here, Leigh.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:54] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about Fran Net. How are you serving, folks?

Jania Bailey: [00:00:59] Well, Fran Net is a 34 year old company now. What we do is we work with people that are interested in pursuing business ownership and obviously we have a specialty in franchising. So we do a lot of education around what is a franchise model like and what’s the difference and being, you know, start start it yourself or buying an existing business and then buying into a franchise. We work with people who do not have a clue which franchise they want or that would be a good fit for them. And we take them through a series of questionnaires and assessments and one on one time to really help boil down what is going to be the best match for their skill sets, for their budget and for their long term goals.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:50] Now how many franchises are out there to choose from if somebody was interested in a franchise?

Jania Bailey: [00:01:56] Well, according to the latest statistics, you know it’s close to 4000 different concepts, so it can be quite overwhelming. If you just go to the internet and Google franchise opportunities, you’re just bombarded. And of that, four thousand roughly concepts, you know, that’s 90 different industries. So it is a huge variation, everything from a hotel all the way down to vending machines. So it’s quite the range.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:25] And when a person is considering this, is this something that they’re they even aware that there’s this many choices? Or do they think like, I like yogurt, so I’ll just look for yogurt franchises?

Jania Bailey: [00:02:38] Well, that’s a very good question, and that’s exactly what happens, is people think fast food is what they typically think. Anything related to food or retail. And of course, franchising is so much more than that. But we help people try to get out of that narrow mindset and look at all of the opportunities out there now. Obviously, we don’t tell them to go look at four thousand concepts, but we try to help keep their mind open to it’s more than what comes first in your mind. And so somebody comes in and says they want yogurt. I would probably start with them and say, OK, tell me why. What about yogurt? Well, I like yogurt. You know, you might say, or it’s always busy. Or then we start going in to the model and what you would be doing as an owner. And it may not be a fit for anything close to what you would like to do

Lee Kantor: [00:03:33] Because as an owner, it’s a lot different than being a consumer of something than being an owner of something, because the business model has to really work for you in helping you achieve what it is for your lifestyle and your financial goals, right?

Jania Bailey: [00:03:46] Exactly. And that’s what we’ll go back to your yogurt concept. You know, we think about it. It’s seven days a week. It’s open nights and weekends because it’s in retail settings. Are you comfortable with that? And then you look at the workforce well, we ask people, Do you want to work with white collar or blue collar younger people, more mature professionals? Does it matter to you? And for some people, it is very important that they work with professionals and adults as well. Yogurt business probably a lot of your workforce is going to be, you know, teenagers and we know the challenges that can come with that. So it might be on Friday night when they had a better offer. You’re in there scooping yogurt. Is that really what you want to do

Lee Kantor: [00:04:34] Now with the through the pandemic and with this great resignation that’s happening? Is this attracting a different type of franchise owner or are people considering franchising?

Jania Bailey: [00:04:46] Well, I wouldn’t say it’s a different type of owner, I think there’s more right now. What we have seen historically is it’s our clients have been people in transition, either they’re recently laid off from their job or they foresee that coming or they’re just burned out with corporate America, quite frankly. Now what we see is some of that burnout happening happening, some of that reshuffling going on and people just saying it’s time to do something I want to do do something for me. I’m tired of the corporate grind. So this is always what’s driven people to franchising. We think it’s just more right now, and it’s coming at a time where it’s coming in mass waves as far as people looking. What we do see is just because people are looking does not mean they’re buying. We do expect an uptick, but we’re seeing a lot of people who are exploring and looking around and thinking about it. So they make it to the buying stage. But initially, there’s just a flood of people looking

Lee Kantor: [00:05:54] And then are a flood of people looking. You mentioned transition, so typically I’m sure historically transition was happening. Maybe later in life. Is transitioning happening now at a younger time for some folks?

Jania Bailey: [00:06:07] Yes, and people are looking sooner than they did and wanting to know their options, and we do believe, you know, the pandemic has brought a lot of this on people working from home that just realize they don’t want to go back to an office setting and thinking about their future and what’s important. I know that several of us had friends and family that were impacted over the last two years, and that causes us to reassess what’s important in our lives.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:34] So now talk about this partnership you have now with Fran Connect.

Jania Bailey: [00:06:39] Yes, Fran Connect and Fran met both service franchisors. If you think in terms of we work with about two hundred brands now, Fran Connects got a lot more brands than we do, but we both work to assist those franchise owners with their growth and their overall status in the industry as far as knowing what’s going on. We try to keep them informed so we work together on projects and data gathering to supply that information back to the franchise industry. And then also, you know, brands that work with us obviously may need Friends Connect and Fran Connect brands may need Fran Net. So we do some cross referrals and just make sure all of our clients are aware of the opportunities with the other company.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:28] So now how is Fran Connect different than Fran that?

Jania Bailey: [00:07:31] Well, Fran Connect is basically offering cerium services, so it’s more on the technology side, and they do have programs for emerging brands all the way up to, you know, legacy brands, very well established companies. So they’re on the technology side and providing that data and helping the franchisor stay on top of all of the data they need to run their business. And we’re on the side of helping them find franchisees.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:02] So you help the franchisor find franchisees, and Frank Connect helps the franchisor interact better with their franchisees through the technology.

Jania Bailey: [00:08:13] Exactly. And with prospective franchisees, they’ve got programs that help on the franchise development side that interact very well with what we do as far as the back and forth with the companies on those prospects.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:28] So for franchise owners and especially emerging franchises, why is it important for them to partner with the franchise? Why? How are you kind of a tool to help them grow?

Jania Bailey: [00:08:39] Well, we’re not for everybody. You know, and when a brand is thinking they might be ready to work with broker groups, there’s a lot of questions they should be asking. You know, is the expense something that they can take on? They’re going to have to go to meetings as well as any initial fees or monthly fees and that type of thing. Do they want to work with multiple broker groups or one? But when they start looking at broker groups and looking at Frenette, what we need to do is help determine if we’re the right fit. Are we going to bring them the type of clients that they’re looking for, the franchisees they need? We take our franchise orders through a process very similar to the ones we take our candidates and we’re. What are you looking for? What, who’s your top performer? What type of person is successful with you and what? What does their income level potentials look like? Is that going to line up with our average client? So there’s brands, for example, if somebody says we have to have someone with a real estate license, well, that’s not our client, that’s not who we see as a rule or not enough of them that it would be beneficial. So those are the type of things that a brand needs to look at when they’re talking to the broker groups is, you know, getting down to do they see the person on need and if not, then they need to look at other opportunities for candidate generation. But a good relationship with friend can be very beneficial to a young and growing brand because we are seeing candidates they would never see. We’re not buying portal leads or on the internet that much. Ours are coming from our local market marketing efforts. Our people are local market based. We are a franchise ourselves, so our people are out networking and finding people that are not surfing on the internet.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:37] So now do you find that most emerging franchise laws are kind of going technology first or digital first and this kind of boots on the ground second? Or is it do you recommend that it’s some combination? Like what if you were starting a franchise from scratch? How would you go about kind of marketing it the opportunity?

Jania Bailey: [00:10:59] Well, you know, the first 10 franchisees, a lot of times were friends, family and employees that have been a part of the flagship company. We tell them they really need to have their proof of concept buttoned down well before they try to work with the broker. So if it were me, I would get my five to 10 open and operational and make sure my unit economics are attractive to other people, and that the model works in multiple locations, not just in my hometown. So there are those type of things that need to happen. I would look at if I was ready for a broker group in terms of I financially can support the growth they could supply me and I’m ready to handle those leads. Who is my franchise development person who’s going to be the one to take the candidate through the process? Can I support the number of leads that may be coming in? I would never depend on just one source. Lee, I would always be looking at my own website and being sure it’s optimized and I’m driving traffic there where I can. I would be looking at social media. I would be looking probably at portals as well as some trade shows, the expos. I would do a little bit of everything in the beginning and to get my momentum going. The brokers should be a add on to those other things. Don’t ever put all your eggs in one basket.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:33] Now you mentioned at the start a lot of successful franchise laws start their first. Few are employees or super fans of the brand. How does that emerging franchise kind of get a clearer picture of who that ideal franchisee is? If most of the initial people are kind of people that are very comfortable and familiar with their brand? How do they kind of extrapolate that out to get clear on OK? This means that. This type of a person would be the most successful in some, you know, random market outside of my territory.

Jania Bailey: [00:13:08] Well, they need to really study who these people are and what they bring to the table because just because it’s a fan of the brand doesn’t mean they’re going to be the right fit. So look at these initial franchisees and who’s excelling and what is it about them? What did they bring to the table? What’s their background? What’s their skill set? And that begins to paint a picture for you of your ideal candidate. We know that some of the initial people, any franchisee or franchisees or brings on, there’s going to be some misalignment down the road. They may be great early franchisees because they support the brand. They support you as a franchisor, but it may become apparent pretty quickly that there are some that just long term aren’t the right fit. And that’s where we start having resale opportunities and we call it pruning to grow forward. So the franchise needs to stay very observant, let their operations. People start listing who’s who’s surviving and who’s doing well and why, and what is it about them that sets them apart?

Lee Kantor: [00:14:15] And then for you to help them, you have to be crystal clear on that, right, because the clearer they are on who that ideal franchisee is, that helps you identify the right match in the local market that you serve.

Jania Bailey: [00:14:28] That’s exactly right. And we’ve been called the match.com of franchising because we really do drill into both the franchisor and the candidates to make sure we’re making the best match. We don’t want to just be throwing spaghetti at a wall and seeing what sticks. And it’s very important to us because as I mentioned, our people are local market based, so their franchisees of their touring and the people they’re dealing with, they’re going to continue to see after the placement is made. So we’re very, very stringent about these introductions that we make and being sure we’re giving our clients the best possible options to review when they’re considering franchise ownership.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:10] Now for you, who is that ideal candidate for franchisee? What does that person look like in a local market for Fran?

Jania Bailey: [00:15:18] That’s a good one. We’re actually looking for hunters as it might be people who can go out and generate leads themselves in their local markets. They’re not afraid to knock on doors, so to speak, but do a lot of networking. They’re going to be involved in their local communities. I want them to be so visible that if somebody tells their friend, you know, I’m thinking about making a change, I might want to go into business that somebody that knows them is going to say, you should talk to fill in the blank, Fran, that person in our market. They seem to help a lot of people. So we want to become that local market expert that people know and immediately feel comfortable referring people to.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:03] So what is the day in the life of a friend that local market consultant look like? What are the what are some of the activities they’re doing every day to be top of mind because these people aren’t running ads like, Hey, I’m unemployed now or I’m about to be fired in three months or, you know, like these people are are not out and about, obviously. So they have to be kind of friends of friends in order to be identified, right?

Jania Bailey: [00:16:29] Exactly. And I will go back to it’s a lot of networking and that does include online being visible on LinkedIn and in the different groups in your community as much as possible. I mean, it’s great to connect with other people in the industry, but it’s more important to be connecting with prospective clients. So we need to think in terms of that when we’re picking and choosing how we use our time in their local markets, it’s going to be Chamber of Commerce. It’s going to be, you know, being AI groups. It’s going to be any type of networking that’s possible. Just getting your name out there. It’s going to be speaking at the rotary luncheon or speaking at the Chamber of Commerce or participating in a regional job fair expo type thing. So it’s it’s just getting your name out there in the beginning, especially what we finally, after thirty four years, the majority of our current clients are referrals from previous clients, which is very nice and says a lot about our success in what we’re doing.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:33] And do they typically come from like HR background? Are they people that were in HR? So they’re familiar with these kind of people in transition?

Jania Bailey: [00:17:44] The people in H.R., as it might be, or if you think in terms of outplacement firms, those consultants do refer people to us, that’s one of our referral sources friend that also has a national relationship with score. And with the small business development centers, both of which are under the SBA umbrella Small Business Administration. And we work with them on national, regional and local levels in providing education to their clients that are interested in business ownership. So a lot of referrals from these networks that we work with.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:23] Now what do you need more of? How can we help?

Jania Bailey: [00:18:27] Well, we just need more visibility and more people to understand what net does and how we’re different. We’re not your typical. There’s different groups that do things differently, and that is the oldest, and I’m very proud of the integrity of our organization. So just keeping us top of mind, if you’re looking for a franchise or if you’re a franchisor. Give us a shout and see if we’re a fit.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:52] And then what’s the website?

Jania Bailey: [00:18:55] W w w dot Fran Net. And there’s two INTs fray in in itI.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:04] Well, thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Jania Bailey: [00:19:08] Thank you, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:10] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We will see you all next time on franchise marketing network.

 

Ajay Sunkara With Nala Robotics

by

AjaySunkara
Chicago Business Radio
Ajay Sunkara With Nala Robotics
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Firmspace-sponsor-banner

AjaySunkaraMr. Sunkara is the President and Co-Founder of Nala Robotics. He is an entrepreneur carrying experience in multiple industries. He is a Director for Advansoft International and Usha Rama College of engineering. He cofounded Best Brains Learning Centers which has over 150 locations worldwide.

Mr. Sunkara is also a managing partner at multiple breweries, manufacturing and technology firms.

Connect with Ajay on LinkedIn and follow Nala Robotics on Facebook and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • About Nala Robotics
  • Robotic chef
  • One Mean Chicken in Naperville’s Mall of India
  • Nala Robotics in the future of the restaurant industry

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studio in Chicago, Illinois, it’s time for Chicago Business Radio brought to you by FirmSpace, your private sanctuary for productivity and growth. To learn more, go to Firmspace.com. Now here’s your host.

Max Kantor: [00:00:21] Hey, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Chicago Business Radio before we get into today’s show, I want to shout out our sponsor. Today’s show is sponsored by firm SpaceX and thanks to firm SpaceX because without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important and fascinating stories that we do. And today we have a very fascinating and important story to share. My guest today is the president and co-founder of Nala Robotics, so please welcome to the show. Ajay Sunkara, welcome to the show, Ajay.

Ajay Sunkara: [00:00:51] Well, thanks, Max. Thanks for having me.

Max Kantor: [00:00:53] I’m excited and very interested in what we are going to talk about today. I’ve been looking you up all day, kind of checking out your things and and what you guys are doing, but let’s jump right in. What is Nahla Robotics and how you guys serve in the community?

Ajay Sunkara: [00:01:07] Well, Nala is a fully automatic robotic chef. It’s kind of meant to automate the entire food making process, in fact. And it’s actually going to solve a lot of issues that we are currently facing, you know, with the impact of the pandemic. In fact, talking about the shortage that we have in the in the restaurant industry in terms of labor or we’re talking about contactless food prep and delivery. After the COVID thing, all these things have have been such a big priority to the community. And with nano robotics, we believe we can address a few of them.

Max Kantor: [00:01:50] So was Nano Robotics founded specifically for the food industry?

Ajay Sunkara: [00:01:56] That’s right, yeah, in fact, Nala is is designed only for the food industry. We started the company four years ago and we actually will be touching five next month, in fact. But the it’s we’ve been working on this for a while and with the pandemic coming, we kind of like went on the fast lane to kind of customize it to the current market trends, in fact.

Max Kantor: [00:02:20] Yeah, I’m sure the pandemic for a lot of people and for all of us, really, it was such a hardship. But for you guys, almost in a way, it sped up things. I mean, it gave you a tremendous opportunity to introduce what you guys are doing.

Ajay Sunkara: [00:02:32] Exactly, yeah, so, yeah, so all the way through, we we’ve been we’ve been concentrating on the food contamination, the Illuminati cross contamination kind of like being consistent in the food prep. But with the pandemic thing of the labor shortages, as well as the contactless food prep has been a priority and we could address that.

Max Kantor: [00:02:53] So I know you all just opened kind of your your very first kitchen. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got that going and what it actually is?

Ajay Sunkara: [00:03:03] Oh, yeah, we have actually opened our first two restaurants at the Mall of India in Naperville. And so the first restaurant, it’s actually a chicken and wing place. We’re talking about fried chicken, chicken tenders, wings and it’s called one mean chicken. And we also have another kitchen that opened there. It’s called Suya Defense. It’s more of South Indian breakfast. And so both the restaurants are basically the storefronts. But the actual back end part of it is done by the robot actually cooks the food for both the restaurants, and the front end is two different restaurants. But when you come to the back, it’s the same kitchen that the robot cooks the food there.

Max Kantor: [00:03:50] So in addition to the robot who’s cooking the food, are there human employees as well?

Ajay Sunkara: [00:03:56] Oh, yeah, we do have human employees right now. The plating part of it for now at one point zero, the building part of it is still manual as well as we have staff there to greet you at the point of sale to greet and take your order. So we still have the the human touch there, but the actual food prep outfit, the handling part of it is is done by the robot.

Max Kantor: [00:04:20] In fact, how many employees total do you guys have in your kitchens versus a standard restaurant?

Ajay Sunkara: [00:04:29] So typically we would be needing one third of the staff that a standard restaurant would operate with. For instance, if you’re a regular restaurant needs like 20 employees, we’d be needing anywhere from six to seven. So 30 percent of the regular staff is what we need now.

Max Kantor: [00:04:47] Do you see this in just fast casual settings, or can your robots eventually be expanded out to other types of restaurants?

Ajay Sunkara: [00:04:56] Well, it’s pretty much it can fit into any kind of set up right from fast casual to to fine dining virtually would be perfect for a cloud kitchen concept as well. So kind of pretty much whatever the model that we have, we can customize the total machine into to fit that need, in fact.

Max Kantor: [00:05:18] And how does it work?

Ajay Sunkara: [00:05:22] Oh, well, the way it works is it actually has millions of recipes in its database, so we decode the recipes into the database and the so whenever a dish is ordered, the robot actually goes and picks up. The recipe from the database kind of checks up the profile of the customer and kind of fine-tune it to to what they exactly need, for instance, like if this customer has a history of ordering something always a little spicy, you know, so it’s going to it’s going to spice it up. Someone needs it really cold. You know, it’s going to solve them at like the temperature, in fact what they need. So really kind of customize it based on the history of the customer. And then it goes to work. So it precisely puts those ingredients in your recipe. Calls for 10 grams of oil. Medium, rare or whatever it is like, it’s exactly fit fitting. This thing has hundreds of sensors, but actually monitors every step of it. And you know, the the entire cooking process is is thoroughly monitored and it’s been delivered, in fact.

Max Kantor: [00:06:28] Wow, that is super cool. That is that is just so awesome. And it’s funny. You mentioned Spice because I cannot stand spice. I’m like the I have to have everything as bland as possible. So if I went there, it would. All the sensors would just say, let’s make it as bland as we possibly can for him. No, no spice for me at all. If I had a recipe that like I really loved, maybe a family recipe. Is there a way I can submit it to your database of recipes?

Ajay Sunkara: [00:06:55] Oh, that’s right. In fact. So we have this concept of called immortalize your grandma’s recipe. We would be launching that pretty soon, in fact. So the concept of that is your, for instance, like your grandma, grandma, pasta or whatever dish that you know that you have as a family tradition, you actually can code it into the database with the exact ingredients, exact quantities and whenever you need it. Or whenever you feel you want to taste that food, you just go online all of that food. You can either pick it up or get it delivered through a delivery app, in fact.

Max Kantor: [00:07:32] So who is the customer for knowledge robotics? Who’s your average customer?

Ajay Sunkara: [00:07:39] The average customer is. Is anyone who actually eats fast casual, anyone who actually loves to dine out, and also anyone who actually wants to have consistent food that’s tasty and kind of adventurous as well. So we have this surprise me button where, you know it actually is going to try a new item for you. So our average customer kind of varies multi cuisine. So it’s kind of pretty much anyone who loves eating out.

Max Kantor: [00:08:05] And how did you test your robot chef? Did you guys have your own kitchen? Did you take over a kitchen of a restaurant? How was it tested to kind of figure out the best way for it to work?

Ajay Sunkara: [00:08:18] Well, it’s it’ll be been having it in our office for a while now. So most of our staff, they don’t get their lunch boxes anymore. We’ve been trying it for quite quite a good amount of time. We did cater for a few events. Most of them related to our own form, in fact. And the first restaurant that we have, it’s actually built from scratch every bit of it, and it was built from scratch, in fact. So we did test it out quite a bit. Kind of fine tuned it. And we’re still learning. In fact, not just us, even the machine, its air power, in fact. And what that means is it actually gets smarter and smarter every day. As I mentioned earlier, it goes based on the history, in fact, and you know, it gets finer and finer, smarter and smarter. The more the data it has, the most moderate gets, in fact. So we’re going to see the future versions of Malla, like pretty, pretty smart in terms of getting into new recipes, getting into the customer trends of the area, for instance, like, you know, what people love in Naperville might be different to what people love. Somewhere in the city, in fact. So it actually would kind of customize based on the weather, for instance, the weather is cool. Like, like today it might it might be preferring, or it might throw your recommendations or foods that are that are pretty decent for the for the weather right now.

Max Kantor: [00:09:39] Can other restaurants buy your nulla technology robot?

Ajay Sunkara: [00:09:45] So we are actually currently in works of partnering with a few chains, you know, to have nanotechnology put in there, but also not just a chain or an established restaurant. We have this feature that we’ll be launching very soon called the marketplace. And what the marketplace is, it’s it’s a platform where anyone from a from a Michelin star to a home chef to pretty much anyone who has a desire or passion to cook and serve you. A quality food can go onto the can go online to a marketplace, create a virtual restaurant or have it upload their recipes and their menus into it and stop serving their food instantly. And for instance, if you have 10 locations of tomorrow and someone who goes online can upload their recipes and all these 10 locations can instantly start serving the virtual menu.

Max Kantor: [00:10:40] Wow, that’s incredible. That is absolutely incredible. Now what other verticals are you in within the food industry?

Ajay Sunkara: [00:10:48] So basically, Nulla would have five different verticals. The first one is the restaurants that we discussed about our own restaurants. I’m talking about the Taiwan that we’re starting early next week, the the Indian Kitchen. We actually want to have a virtual restaurant for soups and salads. So the typical Nala company owned restaurants is our first vertical and we have another vertical for on the go food side factor. We’re talking about, you know, frozen foods or on the go foods that you can find in a local grocery store or, you know, somewhere in your neighborhood stores where you know, the the machine. Actually, during this during its off peak hours, it actually would make the food kind of freeze it and keep it ready to be sold in the shelves. The second vertical, the third one is the meal plan. So since the machine can pretty much cook every day around the clock, we’ll be having this meal plan to so freshly prepared meals every day. Some it sounds like someone has a dietary restriction or someone needs a freshly prepared diet. Food, in fact, knows all these things can be prepared with meal plan. The next vertical is a marketplace, the one that I talked about earlier, where anyone from a home chef to celebrity to you have your own recipes store own grandma recipe stored there. So somewhere a platform where anyone can create a restaurant or order food and stop spending thousands and thousands to build their own restaurant, that’s a market place vertical. And the last one we have is is a business partnership. It’s more of a B2B thing that we discussed earlier, where we partner with existing restaurant chains and customized Lala to fit in their kitchen, in fact.

Max Kantor: [00:12:38] Now what you guys are doing is so innovative, so game changing. How do you see this impacting the future of the restaurant industry?

Ajay Sunkara: [00:12:46] The technology, in fact, is is one area that the restaurant industry has always benefited, benefited from. If you look at the recent introduced the introduction of technology, is it on the pure systems or in the food to food delivery apps? It actually helped the restaurant industry survive during the pandemic. It actually had the survive industry reached new levels in terms of their, you know, their service. In fact, if you take a few years ago, it’s only pizza businesses that were able to deliver to customers. Now, almost every restaurant is able to deliver because of the technology that they’ve adapted. Similarly, with the introduction of Nala, the entire food industry would be benefiting in terms of quality, consistent food you’d be saving on the food wastage type, which is a big budget constraint for a lot of restaurants. So food wastage, cross-contamination and all those things can be alleviated, and that’ll actually elevate the food sector as a whole effect.

Max Kantor: [00:13:46] So as we start to wrap things up, I do. I do have another question for you that I’m just so curious about. I’m assuming you’ve had a lot of dishes made by your knowledge chef. What’s your favorite thing the robot has made for you?

Ajay Sunkara: [00:13:59] Well, actually, that’s something I’m going to have for dinner again tonight. My favorite is is the spicy garlic wings, you know? And yeah, in fact, there was one of the first dishes that I made and always had the same amount of spice, you know, introduced to it. And that’s my favorite, actually.

Max Kantor: [00:14:17] Awesome. Well, next time I’m in Naperville, I’ll definitely have to come try out one mean chicken. And speaking of Naperville, tell us again where people can find your restaurants and if they’re interested in learning more, where they can find you online.

Ajay Sunkara: [00:14:30] Sure. So we are in Naperville at the Mall of India. It is right opposite to the Fox Valley Mall in between New York Street and Ogden on fifty nine and. You are open from 12 noon to nine p.m., in fact, all seven days of the week

Max Kantor: [00:14:51] And AJ is my last question for you. What do you need more of? What does Nahla Robotics need more of?

Ajay Sunkara: [00:14:58] A wall of what we need more of is is more recipes, more cuisines that we can introduce. We’re talking about the next versions of it. We’re going to have more like the pizza thing that you be introduced. We’re talking about the burger thing that will be introduced. So that’s what Nahla would be would be doing in the next coming future, in fact.

Max Kantor: [00:15:21] And is there a website that our listeners can find more about Nahla Robotics?

Ajay Sunkara: [00:15:26] Sure, it’s it’s nulla robotics dot com. You can go and check us out there. And also our Twitter handle is na’allah robotics so you can handle it. You can check us out on to transfer.

Max Kantor: [00:15:39] Awesome. Well, RJ, thank you so much for being on the show today. It’s been very fascinating talking to you and all the work you’re doing with knowledge robotics.

Ajay Sunkara: [00:15:46] Sure. Thank you, Max. Thank you for having me.

Max Kantor: [00:15:48] And thanks to you for listening to another episode of Chicago Business Radio. I’m max cantor and we’ll see you next time.

Intro: [00:15:55] This episode is Chicago Business Radio has been brought to you by firm SpaceX, your private sanctuary for productivity and growth. To learn more, go to Firme Space.com.

Kelly Gay With OnBoard

by

KellyGay
Atlanta Business Radio
Kelly Gay With OnBoard
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KellyGayKelly Gay is the chair of OnBoard and immediate past chair of Venture Atlanta. She also serves on the boards of 1105 Media, the Atlanta CEO Council, ATDC, and Acivilate.

Kelly has led companies ranging from billion dollar organizations to startups. As CEO, she has led both private and public companies, all of which resulted in successful exit transactions for shareholders and employees.

Kelly is the former head of Vertical Markets for Sierra Wireless (NASDAQ: SWIR), as well as co-CEO and COO of Numerex Corp (NASDAQ: NMRX), which was acquired by Sierra Wireless in 2017. She joined Numerex with the acquisition of Omnilink Systems, where she was president and CEO.

Prior to leading Omnilink, Kelly was chair, CEO, and president of KnowledgeStorm, and led the company from startup to acquisition by TechTarget (NASDAQ: TTGT). She also led IBM in the media, entertainment, advertising, sports, music, publishing, broadcast, and cable markets as vice president of IBM’s North American Media and Entertainment division. Under her leadership, this division grew to $1.2 billion in annual sales, with 18% annual growth over a three-year period.

Kelly’s management and accomplishments have been recognized by industry-leading publications and organizations, including The Indus Entrepreneurs’ inaugural Atlanta Top Entrepreneur, IoT Now’s first Top Women of IoT, Connected World’s inaugural Top Women of M2M, and Pathbuilders’ first Inspiria Award. The companies Kelly led were recognized with Inc.’s Inc. 500, the Deloitte Technology Fast 500, BtoB’s Media Power 50, and Software Magazine’s Software 500.

Kelly serves on the boards of directors of OnBoard, where she is the chair; Venture Atlanta, where she is the past chair; 1105 Media, where she is the lead digital marketing director; Acivilate, and the Atlanta CEO Council. She also serves on the governing board of the Advanced Technology Development Center, named by Forbes as one of the Incubators Changing the World.

Kelly is a magna cum laude graduate of Tulane University with a bachelor’s degree in economics. She was the first Newcomb College recipient in the school’s history to receive the Murphy Prize in Political Economy, awarded by the Murphy Institute.

Connect with Kelly on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • The transformation of Atlanta’s tech community
  • Advice to up and coming female technology leaders
  • Perspective on where the future of Atlanta’s tech ecosystem is headed

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 built in Atlanta. OnPay is the top rated payroll and HR software anywhere. Get one month free at Onpay. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:31] 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 the Atlanta Business Radio. We have Kelly Gay, who is the first female that was awarded the John Imlay Leadership Award. Congratulations and welcome, Kelly.

Kelly Gay: [00:00:55] Thank you, Lee. Thank you so much.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:57] Now, before we get to 400 things, can you let our listeners know a little bit about your career? It spans a year or two and then the history of Atlanta, the technology scene. But you have such an interesting background. Can you share a little bit of the highlights?

Kelly Gay: [00:01:13] Yes, absolutely. So highlights I. Hi, my Atlanta and my non Atlanta, a portion of my career, my non Atlanta portion of my career, essentially this of IBM starting as a marketing rep or sales rep at IBM and partying after 19 years with IBM from Atlanta. Actually, by then, we’ve been moved back to Atlanta or to Atlanta, departing as the vice president of media and entertainment for IBM. And that meant serving the industries that made up media and made up entertainment, not not dealing with the media in in terms of marketing. So always using all these customer facing love that. And in Atlanta, I have run two venture backed companies and sold both of those two public companies. One was knowledge, storm one was Omni Lane, and then I was asked to sell the public company to another public company, which was Sierra Wireless out of Canada. And that has all occurred. While I’ve lived in Atlanta, I would say the most significant part of my Atlanta. Her tenure, though, has been the joy and the involvement I had had in this Atlanta technology community. Lee, as you know, I’ve been very involved in the Technology Association of Georgia over the years then to Atlanta, where, well, I was the chairman of the tag. I was chairman of Venture Atlanta involved in on board, which is an organization focused on women moving women forward in both their leadership opportunities as well as helping them get on board. And then Techbridge and early days with Sidetrack and Atlanta CEO Council and HTC, et cetera, et cetera. Just those are the kind of things that this technology community affords all of us and I have taken full advantage of it.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:15] Now, how have you seen the community evolve over the years? I know women in technology. We’ve been involved with that group for a long time and that was the, you know, born because of the lack of women in technology, and they needed a place to kind of hang out together and help each other. How have you seen kind of females fare in technology over the years?

Kelly Gay: [00:03:38] Great. If you don’t mind, I’ll start with technology overall in the Atlanta community and then add to it with the what I’ve seen for women because it all a continuum. When I first became involved in the Atlanta technology community with the 1999 2000 kind of time period, the fabulous entrepreneurs are fabulous companies. You know, that was the heyday of of DSL and internet security systems coming of age and certainly MSA and, you know, early successes, lots of fabulous entrepreneurs and executives. But it wasn’t all bundled up, shall we say, as a community that relied upon each other and built off of each other’s successes over time. It was a little more wild, Westy, just because that’s where we were at that time in terms of the development of the technology community in Atlanta. What I see now is a clear understanding by the leadership and the base technology base of people who work in this industry in Atlanta, a clear understanding. We are all pulling each other up every penny, the rest of the companies of every venture firm that has a great exit or invest in a unicorn or lead the unicorn. The rest of the venture community by virtue of the airtime that it creates for the city and and that investing community overall startup community, we are second only to New York. So I guess we’re third and San Francisco, but we’re in terms of raw volume of startups.

Kelly Gay: [00:05:33] It’s pretty funny that we’re in when you’re when you’re being mentioned and have that kind of success in the startup community and then we have a whole set of organizations and community, well, community organizations that support that community, the sort of community and those entrepreneurs. And what I see is it’s all we’re all working together to create this phenomenal technology community that Atlanta has, which then leads to women. We have got so many, just so many talented, capable women leaders, women executives, women CEOs, women engineers. You can go on and on in the city. And I think the technology community, the business community overall and our industry here in town have all rallied around. This needs to be a moment to start recognizing. And I don’t mean with awards, I mean, recognizing the talent and the contributions that not only women, but all underrepresented communities in this in Atlanta can contribute to our growth and our success and on the brand of Atlanta community technology community. And I’ve said a number of times if we can’t in Atlanta, take advantage of the fantastic, underrepresented, very diverse, very broad technology community that we have here in Atlanta. What city can? And I, you see it all coming together and and that does include women.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:10] Only now do you think that something that kind of leans in our favor here in Atlanta and I think Atlanta is unique compared to the other cities you mentioned that are kind of these startup communities in that Atlanta has such a diverse economy and there is there’s multiple industries that touch technology and it’s primarily be to be like there’s not a lot of B2C companies in technology that are the household names, but there’s a lot of B2B companies that are kind of running maybe those B2C companies or they’re or they’re the kind of the background of those B2C companies. But the fact that it’s B2B may be kind of a little more anonymous and not kind of front page news that allows leaders to kind of jump maybe from one company to another a little easier here in Atlanta than maybe in these other areas.

Kelly Gay: [00:08:04] Yeah, I think there’s there are both good and bad to what you just said in terms and you know, somebody who’s on the other side of the equation as you just outlined it, there’s good and bad on that side, too. I actually don’t think that this Atlantic technology community in general, I don’t think I don’t think we took jobs like in general, like you see happen in San Francisco. I do think there is a higher level of, you know, loyalty will use that word or commitment to what you’re doing. And part of it is we’re not as big as San Francisco or the New York communities because we’re not as big a city in terms of technology and the respect of community matters and your reputation matters and people are aware of that. Additionally, we have a pretty youthful community here, which is a great strength of ours, just a fabulous strength of ours. And many of them are joining smaller entrepreneurial companies where they can make a real difference. And then you’re very invested in the difference that you make and and you become a critical, critical part of the growth of a company. And people aren’t going to switch jobs when when that’s your situation.

Kelly Gay: [00:09:19] So those are the good things related to the B2B and the size and scope of what we have. You are right. We are more the things that make it all work. There’s nothing wrong with being the things that make it all work, like being so, so big in the city with us being the number one financial payment processing clearinghouse, Atlanta being the number one Georgia, really because there are some outside of Georgia. So outside of Atlanta, the number one payment processing, clearing technology stations, shall we call it, in the world? That’s not glamorous, that’s not A. But it generates billions and billions of dollars of revenue, some of which much of which gets infused back into the Atlanta community. So I do think there are some things. No, we don’t have the big big retail names or the big consumer names that do your brand. So that’s a little harder to come by when you don’t have it. But. But you know, to me, the B2B element with Atlanta, overall, we’re very functional city. We’re a very practical city. We are. Pragmatic in our approach, we’re not showing General as a city. It all comes together to me.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:37] Yeah, and I had a funny thing happen to me. I was doing broadcast from Fintech South a few years ago and that was a global conference and people were coming from all over the world to come to Atlanta. And I would ask some of these people who were when they were leaving their country and they were saying, Hey, I’m coming to America for this big global fintech conference. And and I said, when you told them you were going to Atlanta, did they know like what was their take on that? Because I’m sure their assumption was, Oh, this has to be in New York or in Silicon Valley or in Boston. But Atlanta, you know, for people who don’t know, like you said, this were the world where all the action is in that space. But it’s not just common knowledge and and it’s frustrating. I remember at the time when you were beginning, you know, Atlanta always had kind of a chip on the shoulder that, hey, why aren’t we getting any of this attention? There’s a lot of great things happening here. And it’s like you said, when we’re the people that are running kind of the companies that are making headlines, it’s frustrating that we’re not getting our due. But I think. But just by doing the, you know, grinding and doing the blocking and the tackling of the work that it is starting to come, you know, everything is kind of leaning our way nowadays. So many people are exiting and staying here and doing more to help the community grow. It’s really kind of a golden age, I think, for for the city when it comes to technology.

Kelly Gay: [00:12:04] I completely agree with you and on a point you said about people growing and being successful and staying with the city. We’re so fortunate that we have people willing to do that. That is how San Francisco became. San Francisco is in terms of technology, is this wealth of knowledge and capability and expertize that you need there and grew the next thing and next thing. So we’re very lucky on that. It is frustrating. At one level, we we have to beat the drum seven times more loudly. To do that, we are worth the city. That’s bad in terms of the contribution we’re making certain industries. Technology is one, but communications is another. Iot is another distribution, technology, transportation. I mean, there are a lot of great hub for that’s bad. Good of it, however, is that we don’t have a hyper. We don’t have a tulip bulb bubble occurring because everything is here in Atlanta. It’s more rational. It’s more pragmatic. If at a time, a company at a time, a person at a time. And so it just generates a better result in terms of our growth.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:21] Yeah. Like our foundation is strong and it’s diverse so that it can withstand, you know, a downturn in any one given market where we have enough infrastructure here that’s going to support us.

Kelly Gay: [00:13:37] Yeah, you’re absolutely right. And our infrastructure, you know, we’re a we’re a backbone to so many of the things that travel on the internet was quietly, just quietly in the background being this this, you know, infrastructure city that makes the internet work makes companies make payments work. You know, I don’t know that we mind being this quiet. You know, megatropolis in terms of technology and that contribution, because we wouldn’t attract the companies, we have been able to protect this city, all we were doing was yelling right here.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:20] Well, and you’re seeing the ripples go beyond Atlanta in terms of the southeast now in Nashville and Birmingham, Chattanooga. There’s other kind of areas sprouting in technology. And, you know, we might have been the catalyst to get it going or at least kind of have people looking in this area of the country, at least. But you’re seeing some of the ripples, you know, appear throughout the southeast.

Kelly Gay: [00:14:48] You’re right about that. And while not every city recognizes that Atlanta is a bit of a hub, not with not the we’re the only ones in the southeast. There’s one or two, shall we say, in Florida. And then burgeoning burgeoning success in Nashville and Charlotte and that kind of thing. But if you look at, for instance, just center Atlanta, we had over 400 applications from 16 states to come to Atlanta, and any venture conference in the southeast will tell you that venture. Atlanta has figured out the formula to to showcase. Hard southeastern companies, certainly Atlanta based companies, both early states and more world stage companies, over 60 percent of the presenting companies on stage at Venture Atlanta, of which there were almost 100 presenting companies ninety one overall. But of that, 91 over 60 percent were from 12 different southeastern states, with a little bit over to the West as well. And get this late fifty nine percent of the of the companies that ultimately presented were led by underrepresented founders back to where we started with both women and diverse populations. And we in Atlanta can can attract that and showcase it. Yeah, very unique among the southeast

Lee Kantor: [00:16:13] And not only unique, it’s important because there’s a lot of folks out there that fall under that category that deserve a chance to be seen and heard.

Kelly Gay: [00:16:23] You’re completely right. I wish I’d been here to the punch on that critically important. And beyond the critically important. You see, Atlanta has always had such great corporate leadership outside of technology as well in terms of being good citizens, being proper shepherds of the human race. And you see companies overall, yes, many in technology, but many not in technology and in many consumer brands, for instance, looking at each other and saying, you know, we’ve an obligation and an opportunity better for a company and our community by lifting up this population of diverse, talented people that we represent. You see it happening all over the city. And technology is just one of the places that has been smart enough to take advantage of the great base of both leadership and a base of employees from every walk of life.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:27] Now, if you look into your crystal ball, what are you seeing coming into 2022 and then beyond as we hopefully get out of this pandemic? And then we go back to some sense of normalcy, even if that normalcy is just dealing with these kind of an endemic at this point?

Kelly Gay: [00:17:45] Right, right? You know? I think we all would like to believe there will be a moment it’s over. I think we all would like that. We’re desperate for that. I don’t I do think we’re headed towards an endemic, but I don’t think it’s fun and it will. You know, the flu is an endemic olarinde and endemic. There’s a set of things you can just not wipe out. The flu is a great example, but we manage it and we manage it fine. I think technology stands at a wonderful place in terms of being able to deal with whatever comes our way because people can work remotely. We have the technology to work remotely. We are all about providing populations with the ability to do your job with with great tools from wherever you are. That’s the great strength of technology, much of the work. Yeah, it’s much work technology companies being able to do that work from wherever you are and, you know, so many collaborative tools and and the ability for those teams to work collaboratively. I think that we will. No, I’m not worried about technology industry in the population of industries that Atlanta and its very diverse set of industries represents will be fine as an industry. I think that our big industries, let’s just use fintech and payment processing as an example. I think those will continue to thrive because there is no question that scale drives scale.

Kelly Gay: [00:19:25] And I hope it continues at a rate that can be consumed properly by the city, by the employment base, by the number of companies that are created so that we don’t create, you know, the equivalent of a Dutch tulip bubble and some trouble. I don’t think it will. We’re just too practical a city and too diverse for us to lean all in on one thing and create a problem for ourselves. So I do I. We’ll continue to drive scale. I think that the our diverse population. Is it down? And I think there are many technology companies realizing it’s a gem and there as a group that is a gem of humankind, that other companies in other cities would love to be able to replicate where they are, but they can’t. And so you see a fair number of companies. Yes, many of them are smaller. Moving to Atlanta and Georgia, but certainly the Atlanta metropolitan area to be able to capitalize on the opportunity of. Having a diverse workforce, which, you know, has so many benefits, it has so many benefits to your current employees, you know, who want to live in that kind of a world. And so I do think that we’ll see companies continue to to move to Atlanta to participate in this in this fabulous environment that we have.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:06] Yeah, I mean, it’s it’s a true melting pot, and I’ve been fortunate to do some of the radio for ATC and Georgia State University’s Entrepreneurship Institute and to see those the startups that come out of each one of those are totally different, even though there are just a few blocks apart, you know, from there just down the road from each other. But it’s a different group of people, a different kind of mission and different kind of activities that interest them and they’re good at. And it’s just fascinating to see them both have a place to grow and learn, and people are investing in them and helping them get to new levels. And I think that that is, you know, that raises all boats, that kind of effort and that type of collaboration. I think that’s what we need here in Atlanta. More of and that’s what the country needs as a whole.

Kelly Gay: [00:21:54] Mm hmm. I completely agree and you said an important thing, but the populations are different and the support and raising up is probably a little different. But the strength is in all of us. No one of us, the strength is and the strength is in the diversity. And I mean that broadly, not just underrepresented communities. And that’s an important point that you just make.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:21] Well, thank you so much for all that you do, and congratulations on the John M. Leo Award. We really appreciate you and your work here in the city and beyond. And if there’s anything we could be doing for you, please let us know. We think your work is important.

Kelly Gay: [00:22:38] Well, thank you. Thank you so much, Liane. Thanks for the time.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:41] All right, this is Lee Kantor Willis Hale next time on Atlanta Business Radio.

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Vanessa Abron With Agency Abron

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AgencyAbron
Chicago Business Radio
Vanessa Abron With Agency Abron
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VanessaAbronVanessa Abron, the founder of Agency Abron, is an artist who has several years of experience working in corporate environments.

She spent a vast portion of her life studying dance, music, theater, visual, and media arts, possessing both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in arts management but also has more than 15 years of experience in marketing and public relations after working with companies and firms such as Atlantic Records, Ch’rwed Marketing & Promotions, Weber Shandwick, Hill + Knowlton Strategies, Ebony/Jet magazine, Fashion Fair Cosmetics, and Nielsen to name a few.

Connect with Vanessa on LinkedIn and Facebook and follow Agency Abron on Twitter.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Marketing
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Branding
  • Music/Creative Arts

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studio in Chicago, Illinois, it’s time for Chicago Business Radio brought to you by Firm Space, your private sanctuary for productivity and growth. To learn more, go to FirmSpace.com. Now here’s your host.

Max Kantor: [00:00:20] Hey everybody, and welcome to Chicago Business Radio. I’m your host, Max Kantor. And before we jump into the show today, I just want to thank our sponsor firm SpaceX. Without them, we could not be sharing these important stories that we do. And speaking of important stories. I’m excited to talk to our guests today. She is the director of agency Abron. Please welcome to the show, Vanessa Abron, and welcome to the show, Vanessa.

Vanessa Abron: [00:00:45] Thank you for having me.

Max Kantor: [00:00:46] Of course. Thanks for being here. So let’s dove right in. Tell me a little bit about agency. What do you guys do?

Vanessa Abron: [00:00:53] Well, Max, you caught me at a great time. So Agency Apron is a creative direction company. We started primarily doing public relations, helping agencies and businesses and things of that nature with their public relations initiatives, especially getting them into medium. And since then, we’ve expanded beyond that. So that also includes even management and development consultations, creative direction, concept development and things of that nature.

Max Kantor: [00:01:26] So I saw that you yourself used to be an artist. Is that right?

Vanessa Abron: [00:01:33] That is incorrect. I am currently an artist.

Max Kantor: [00:01:38] You did get me there. Yes, of course. You’re currently an artist. So how did you kind of pivot from maybe doing the arts one hundred percent to then doing what you do now?

Vanessa Abron: [00:01:49] Oh, my gosh. That’s a loaded question, but let me see how I can make this really quickly. So growing up as a kid, my parents put me in dance and music lessons and I carried that over into high school college. I wanted to focus more on the development of the music business, did work in music right after college and right when I was in grad school working with an agency called Shrewd Marketing, Shrewd Marketing and Promotions, where we did marketing for Def Jam, Interscope, Bad Boy, Virgin, to name a few. The record industry had took a pivot and it was recommended that I should explore PR. And when I was in college, when I was an undergrad, a PR teacher said the same thing. So I was like, I need to give it a try. I started working in public relations full time after that, working at agencies like at Hill and Knowlton. Then I transitioned to working with Ebony magazine well, actually with Johnson Publishing Company, which had Ebony Jet, Ebony Magazine, Jet magazine and Fashion Fair Cosmetics. So working with the magazine got in touch with the music industry again because a lot of the artists that were on different labels were working to get interviews in Ebony and Jet magazine. So it kind of got my feet wet again there, especially working red carpet events and things of that nature for the publication. So that sparked my interest again. After that, I did a quick corporate stint before transitioning into being an independent consultant. And from there, I started to attract a lot of other artists, and just organically, the artists within me started to get revived again.

Max Kantor: [00:03:41] Wow, Vanessa, that that’s a crazy, cool story. And if you I don’t know if you have a Wikipedia page or not, but if you did, it would be huge. You’ve done so much in your career, and it’s very cool to see how kind of each step in your career has led you to what you do now.

Vanessa Abron: [00:03:58] Yeah, I mean, I don’t have a Wikipedia page, I think you can’t start your own Wikipedia page from what I heard, I don’t know, but no. So if you want to go start one for me, go for it.

Max Kantor: [00:04:07] Gotcha. So for agency Abrams, who is your ideal client?

Vanessa Abron: [00:04:14] Oh, my gosh. So that’s a really good question, and I really was just talking to a friend of mine earlier today about how I really want to make sure that everyone knows the agency isn’t for everyone. First and foremost, while this may sound very esoteric, I just like to connect with other individuals that we kind of have like this this connection that you can’t quite put your finger on, if that makes sense. So it’s usually like you have like this synergy that is that you can’t quite describe, and that is very important to me. I like to have I like to have clients that’s looking for a relationship as opposed to, Oh, give me, I’m going to give you my money and you execute this, and that’s it. Like, I really want my clients to feel like they’re part of a family. So, for example, just this past summer, I had a client. She is a musician and she did a listening event in L.A. I was there and I helped her with it. And when I was there, like her friends and family mentioned to me that although I had known her for only a year, our connection seemed like it was one that we have for years and years and years. And that is that. And that meant a lot to me that I would like to have that connection with my clients, but I’m also looking for those if we’re going to. So that’s the esoteric, you know, fluffy but very important aspect of it. But also, I’m looking for clients that’s looking for nontraditional ways of meeting their goals. So and actually just thinking about exploring, you know, exploring outside of the box and willing to take some risk while also combining that with some traditional means as well.

Max Kantor: [00:06:05] So you mentioned goals. What are some goals that your clients have brought to you? So some examples of those.

Vanessa Abron: [00:06:13] Well, most most importantly, everyone wants to get more visibility, and that’s different for every person, every everybody, every company, every brand. They want more exposure. They want more visibility. And what that looks like is very different for each client. So one client may want more followers on social media and or some somebody, but I going back to the ideal client, I would prefer to have the client that’s looking for more engagement on social media versus the client that’s looking for more followers on social media so that, you know, that is some goals. And you know, and so engagement is the how much are people connecting with you? You can get those followers, you can buy followers. That means absolutely nothing. But if they’re connecting with you and engaging with you and talking to you and commenting and sharing and supporting you as a result of being a part of your community, then that speaks volumes and I would prefer to work with that type of client. And so. So that’s one that’s a goal. For example, some clients may want media exposure. They may say, I have a dream of being on Good Morning America or something local like Wendy City Live, which is now, you know, Wendy Weekend. So something like that or just ABC, your local ABC or NBC affiliate. Some people may come to me and they just want their goal is I’m trying to create a video and this I’m having a hard time coming up with what that looks like visually. So I will work with that client to visually lay out what the concept is of that video. I have another client where this weekend I have to give him feedback on his upcoming album, so it’s different for every client.

Max Kantor: [00:08:20] Mm-hmm. And I know that, you know, especially in the arts visibility, getting an audience that’s so important. So the people who are coming to you, do you get a range of people with levels of followers? So like, are you getting people with 10 followers on Instagram and people who have a million followers? Is it broader? Are you focusing more for people who are just starting out?

Vanessa Abron: [00:08:44] I wouldn’t say I’m working with those in the millions, however, I do work with some corporate brands, so I want to say that I have worked with artists and I do work with small businesses. I work with some non-profits as well. And I do work with other, like other larger agencies on bigger corporate clients. So it it it varies, to be honest with you. And it just depends on. I mean, so when a customer, when a client comes to me, I have them go through an exploratory call and through that exploratory call, I really like listen to what it is that they’re trying to accomplish. And I think about, OK, what? What are your goals? What are you trying to do? And I am I able to feasibly help you accomplish those goals? And depending on where you are. So someone can come into the door and they can have 10 followers and it can be a brand new startup. And. And but if their goal is I just want to get up to one hundred followers on social media, I want to, you know, media placements. I want to do a couple of speaking engagements. I want to do some. Then that’s like, OK, I can work with you. But if a person with 10 followers comes in is like, I want to be on Good Morning America. That might be a little bit of a stretch, but if a client comes in and they already had some traction in there and they’ve been doing a lot of things before me, and it’s like, and they’re like, OK, this is all the things that we’re done. We’re ready to level up, we’re ready to go. And Good Morning America, the Today show, then I can say, OK, that’s possible.

Vanessa Abron: [00:10:19] So it depends on where someone is in their journey. I will say personally, I like the I like the MIT startup, so I noticed that like when you’re like a brand new startup, it’s like it’s harder because it’s like, OK, this is like your business is your baby, right? This is your baby, it’s your pride and joy, and you want everyone to look at your baby like it’s the most beautiful baby in the whole entire world. And unfortunately, that’s not the case because there’s a million babies out there and everybody. I mean, they may look at your and like, Oh, that’s great, we applaud you. Congratulations, and then they keep going. So it’s not about so it’s like it’s like getting people to understand or clients understand that you have to build the foundation and grow from that to really get to where you’re trying to be. It’s not it’s not as cut and dry as you would like it to be. Sometimes it isn’t, but oftentimes it’s not. So it’s like, OK, I have this brand new baby and I want this baby to go to Harvard. Let’s say, you know, it’s like your baby’s not going to be at Harvard in two or three years, but through growth and development and with the right, you know, with the right, whatever, you can get it to this Harvard level status, right? So I’m using Harvard as a metaphor, right? Or, you know, or I just like, I just want to. Maybe it’s not Harvard. I just want a child to college, right? So it’s like, what does that look like? So I hope I’m making sense because I feel like I’m rambling a little bit.

Max Kantor: [00:11:51] No, no, I’m totally following what you’re saying, and I think your business is so cool because you’re not just working with one type of artist. You know, it’s not just musicians or it’s not just videographers going through your website. You see, there’s such a broad spectrum of people that you can help. And so for you, that must keep things so interesting and so fun.

Vanessa Abron: [00:12:12] It does it does in a lot of different ways. It keeps me on my toes, it keeps me somewhat cool, especially with my nieces and nephew by having, you know, my finger on the pulse of what’s going on in today’s culture and being able to not just have my finger on the pulse, but being able to help influence it and tell the stories that’s going on in today’s culture. Like, I think one of the most invigorating things is like when you see other people talking about something that at one point they weren’t talking about before or was under the radar or, you know, just getting it to a level where it wasn’t before. And that’s pretty awesome. Mm hmm.

Max Kantor: [00:12:58] So I’m curious about this. I know for Google, you can pay to get more views, like on YouTube. You can promote your video on Tik Tok. You can promote your video. Do you recommend that to artists when they publish content? Or are you looking at other ways? Yes, you do.

Vanessa Abron: [00:13:18] I do, but I recommend I. I definitely recommend integrated marketing approach. So, yes, like if you’re well and it depends on how you’re paying. So if you’re doing like paid ads and promotions, absolutely, you want to be able to have some ways that you can be. You can guarantee that you’re going to you can reach a new audience and have your eyes on have your brand on eyes that have never seen you before. And it’s like a commercial. Like when you look at a commercial, you, you look at it, you see it and it’s like, and you remember it and you see it over and over and over again. And maybe even if you can’t invest in that particular brand or product or service at the moment that you see it by seeing it over and over and over again through commercials, you remember it when it’s time for you to get something. So, for example, you know, I’m in Chicago and that five eight eight two three hundred empire like that, that the phone number is embedded in my memory forever. Yeah, you know, so if I was looking for carpet and I made, I may or may not go to Empire, but it is. I know I can call five eight eight two three hundred to get Empire. So there’s definitely value in doing some form of advertising on YouTube and Instagram and Facebook and things like that. Do do measure your due way in your expectations, right? So what I’ve noticed, like I had one client tell me that she can get more sales by doing promotions on Google, which makes more sense because on Google, if you type in something you’re probably looking for to buy when you do ads on like Facebook and Instagram and things like that.

Vanessa Abron: [00:15:03] It’s more of a visibility standpoint, so people may not instantly buy on Facebook or Instagram right away. Unless you’re doing a whole lot of marketing, you know you’re putting a lot of dollars in that for them to see that. But I’ve noticed, like if you’re doing a promotion or something like that or you have like a free event that people can register and sign up for Facebook and Instagram, as are good for that, especially as an artist too. Like if you have a video or a music video and you put some promotion behind it and that video pops up and someone’s ad. Even though they may be watching another YouTube video, if your video comes up in the ad and it sounds good, they may keep watching it and listening to it because you caught their attention when otherwise they may not have seen you. So, yes, I do agree that pay promotions is important and you tie that in. You should everyone should have a 360 approach. You should have some pay promotions. You should be doing some sales initiatives. You should be doing some public relations initiatives like you should you should be actively on social media. And I think that’s the one thing that’s, you know, goes back into making sure you level set your goals. Because I think a lot of times when a company is a small business or a fresh new small business, as I should say, they’re trying to operate as if they’re this, you know, like another company that has a huge investment and can invest in all of these different areas.

Vanessa Abron: [00:16:29] And sometimes you can’t do that with the limited budget and you’re new. And so I’m very honest with my clients, like if I turn clients away because I’m like, Look, what’s you’re trying to do and where you’re trying to go, the money that you can invest in me, I think you will get more traction if you did some pay promotions and then at some point you do grow past that and you do do some pay promotions and you do some public relations initiatives and you do some social media and you do some sales, you know, sales things and things like that. So you have to grow and see what is important to you right now. Somebody may be like, I just need people to. Is know who I am like, I love the client that says I want to be in media to give me credibility, that’s the ideal client when a client is like, I want to be a Meethi because they think that’s going to equal sales. That’s a red flag for me, because that doesn’t happen all the time. Like a person has to hear a brand or hear a name or hear a company at least seven times before they commit to trying to invest in it, or at least remember it. Of course, if you do events and things like that and you have them on the spot, you know you have a better chance because they have that engagement factor. But a person has to at least hear your brand seven times before they even remember it.

Max Kantor: [00:17:56] Wow, I did not know that. That’s that’s that’s a very interesting statistic, but it makes sense. You know, when you hear it the first time, you’re like, Oh, you know, whatever, I don’t know what this is, but the more you hear it, the more ingrained it becomes. And then soon you recognize it. And I guess seven times is the magic number.

Vanessa Abron: [00:18:11] Right? So if you’re doing a combination of paid advertising, public relations initiatives, you know, all sorts of marketing, then you’re increasing the opportunity for that person to hear your name at least seven times, right?

Max Kantor: [00:18:26] So from your agency, do you want to share your biggest success story with us?

Vanessa Abron: [00:18:33] Hmm. What is my biggest success story I have? Hold on, let me think

Max Kantor: [00:18:40] I know it’s a big question. It’s a loaded question.

Vanessa Abron: [00:18:46] Ok, I don’t have a big success story, but this is what I’m going to give you, I’m going to give you a memorable moment. You know, one of my most memorable moments. So I worked with an agency called Burrell Communications from time to time, and they do some things with McDonald’s. And through that, I’ve helped them with the all star, some all star PR management that they were doing during all star weekend when the NBA all star was here in Chicago. So during that time, we did some things with Magic Johnson while he was in town, and I remember he just made jokes about how short I was, which I’m which is, you know, really funny because he’s really, really tall and I’m really, really short. So to see was next to each other, it’s like very obvious. But like, I just like there’s pictures of him, like pointing at me, you know, it was like, it wasn’t good fun. But of him teasing me about how short I am. So that was that was super cool. And he was just like a really great guy. Like, I think the funny thing about it, what I will say is working in the industry that I work in, I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of celebrities and some are super cool and some are not super cool.

Vanessa Abron: [00:20:16] And I and one of the things that I noticed about Magic Johnson was that he was super cool, mega successful. You know, has like this amazing career that he’s developed, both in NBA and beyond the NBA as an entrepreneur as well. And just very humble and down to earth, like talking to him. It’s like talking to your uncle at a Thanksgiving dinner, right? And so and it was just amazing to me because it made an impression on me because I’m like, if someone like Magic Johnson can be super cool and down to earth and very personable, there’s no reason why anyone else try to treat someone else like they’re less than right. And so I kind of carried that with me as far as like always knowing your value because people that are really remarkable value people, regardless of where they are in their life, right?

Max Kantor: [00:21:15] Well, Vanessa, you have been a wonderful guest today. And for any artists who are listening right now, how can they learn more about agency apron or contact you for maybe scheduling a consultation?

Vanessa Abron: [00:21:28] Well, I highly recommend going to my website agency apron. That’s a g e n c y a b r o n dot com and i really highly recommend it because I want to make sure that you look at the website and make sure that it resonates with you. I really worked really hard to make sure that the website spoke to the ideal client. So if you’re the ideal client and you go to their website and it speaks to you, please reach out. Some people go to the website and they don’t get it, and that’s what it’s supposed to do as well. So if it goes, if it speaks to you, please go to the contact form on the agency EBONY.com website and set up a consultation with me. Or you can email me directly at new clients at agency bronchi.

Max Kantor: [00:22:21] Awesome. Well, Vanessa, thank you again. So much for being our guest today on Chicago Business Radio. Thank you and thank to all of you for listening and we will see you next time.

Intro: [00:22:34] This episode is Chicago Business Radio has been brought to you by firm SpaceX, your private sanctuary for productivity and growth. To learn more, go to Firme Space.com.

Tara Griffin With G&A Partners

by

TaraGriffin
Denver Business Radio
Tara Griffin With G&A Partners
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Tara Griffin with G&A Partners, works with HR departments for 1-500 employees to strategically manage all aspects of the employment life cycle. Including: HR compliance, benefit program design, safety & risk management, compensation plans, payroll processing, hiring systems, and employee relations.

Follow G&A Partners on LinkedIn.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • About G&A Partners
  • How G&A has helped businesses during the pandemic
  • G&A in helping businesses with recruiting and retention
  • Tapping into new industries
  • Post pandemic workplace

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studio in Denver, Colorado. It’s time for Denver Business Radio. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:23] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Denver Business Radio, and this is going to be a fun one today on the show, we have Tara Griffin with G&A Partners. Welcome, Tara.

Tara Griffin: [00:00:34] Thank you very much.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:36] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about Gina. How are you serving, folks?

Tara Griffin: [00:00:42] You bet. So Jana Partners is a full service P.O.. The term P.O. stands for Professional Employers organization. And so basically, that means that we work with other businesses and they outsource functions such as HR benefits, administration, payroll and risk management to our teams to help help their businesses grow and be competitive and, you know, help with employee retention and things like that.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:15] So now what types of companies are good fits to have a PPO?

Tara Griffin: [00:01:21] You know, really it isn’t industry specific. It has more to do with kind of the mindset and the desires of the business itself. We work with small, medium and large clients. I’ve got clients that I work with, with five employees. I have clients that I work with, with over 400 and 500 employees, and I know some of my counterparts work with even businesses larger than that. So really, it has more to do with the business’s own goals and how we can bring our expertize to the table to help them fulfill those goals rather than a specific industry. However, I will mention that there is a specific industry that we have recently started working with, and that is the cannabis industry. And in the past there have been some challenges that have now been overcome so that we can really serve those types of clients as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:17] Now the companies that tend to use POS. Is it that they started out maybe trying to do everything themselves and then they realized, Wow, this has a lot more complexity than I anticipated, or I’m not able to offer some of these benefits that my competitors are, and I’d like to get away. Find a way to be able to do that. Like what is typically the reason a company chooses a CEO from however they were doing it originally.

Tara Griffin: [00:02:46] You know, it’s all of the above all those things that you said were all valid reasons. So some people have experience working with the CEO in a in a prior work life. And so in a new work life, they may talk to the other people and say, Hey, let’s explore the options of a CEO. Maybe we can find some expertize there that can really supplement what we’re doing or help us with our employee lifecycle and an employee engagement or others might look at it and say, Hey, you know, benefits are really a tough thing right now. Let’s see what a CEO offering looks like. Some people just find themselves in a scenario like you brought up at the beginning where they say, I’m overwhelmed. I have so much to do to grow my business. And some of these things, like payroll and trying to keep up with the ever changing landscape of employment compliance these days is just too much for me. I need help and they go seek out help.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:39] Now, where does kind of these online payroll places fit into kind of your like what you do? How how is that different? How is it the same?

Tara Griffin: [00:03:52] So when you say online payroll places, give me an example of maybe something

Lee Kantor: [00:03:56] So like somebody goes, you know what? I don’t want to do payroll, so I’m going to just go to one of these, you know, kind of national branded payroll companies. And then they say they take that. Is that also a P.O. or is that they’re just doing kind of one part of what you guys do?

Tara Griffin: [00:04:15] So it depends. So they could go to a national or a local provider, and some of those national and local providers simply do payroll, and it’s a lot of self service. The business owner or whoever at the business can go online and utilize some type of software or system to produce payroll. And they just interact with them like a typical vendor. I’m buying this particular thing from you. I’m using it to produce payroll. It goes out the door. There are some situations like that where it is a P.O. and a P.O. arrangement. The difference between like just simply a payroll situation and a P.O. situation has to do with the term CO employment. And so an RPO situation, a company like GNC Partners actually enters into a contract where they became become a co employer of those employees. And so it kind of expands the scope of the interaction or services that can be offered to a client in that we can be the sponsoring employer for benefit packages and utilize economies of scale to offer more along the lines of a benefit package that a large company could offer and invite a small to medium sized business into our offering and take advantage of some of those economies of scale, if that makes sense. So that’s kind of the difference between maybe just going online and getting some payroll done. Jana Partners really looks for truly partner with our clients, and as much as they invite us to be part of their business and complement their strategy and their goals, we expand into benefits, risk management, HR consulting, you know, lots of things in any area that touches the employment lifecycle.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:13] Well, it sounds like you’re not you don’t really like kind of have a vendor relationship. You have more of a partner relationship that you’re there to be a trusted advisor to help them, whether it’s recruiting new employees, keeping existing employees, just helping them grow their business so they can focus in on their business side. And you’re kind of helping them focus on the people side.

Tara Griffin: [00:06:35] Absolutely. In fact, the team that I lead is one of the teams that is solely focused on that relationship with the client, and we know that it takes some time to build the trust so that we can be perceived and looked at and invited in as a trusted partner. So, you know, really starting with fulfilling the needs and accurately and timely and over time, we start to build trust and our goal is always to be that partner and to be in a consultative role with them and understand truly their needs so we can fulfill them.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:09] Now, a lot of times during a crisis is where some of this trust is built. Can you share how the pandemic, how you were able to help your clients kind of weather that and maybe help them kind of deal with the the post-pandemic issues of these hybrid workplace? Or, you know, some people going all remote, no remote, some remote and kind of navigate those waters because that’s been tough for a lot of folks.

Tara Griffin: [00:07:34] You bet. So if I may, I’ll start at the beginning of the pandemic and answering that question and really one of the most important things that. And reasons why we were able to help our clients so much is that the leadership team at GSA Partners is really built, a solid company where they didn’t have to worry about their own foundation. So we were able to just immediately mobilize and be the type and the quality of the professionals and people who work. Fit and partners mobilized very quickly to understand the laws and the regulations and things like PPP loans that were being thrown at us at lightning speed. And really, you know, work around the clock developing things that would help clients get things like PPP loans. So for example, we had a local community theater and one of our regions that we have an office and they had hundreds of employees and immediately they were out of work. They ended up being one of the very first companies to get a very large PPP loan to keep those employees paid, and we were able to help them get it back quickly because of how fast we mobilized to create the kinds of reports their banking institutions needed to approve such a such a loan. As time moved on again, we just within general partners designated different groups to become experts and to really study each new law or bill that was passed and how it would impact our clients so that we could disseminate that information through our organization and have answers and and help guide our clients with things like employer tax credits and and COVID, sick pay and different state compliance things that rolled out.

Tara Griffin: [00:09:27] For example, I’m in Colorado and Colorado had its own specific requirements in response to some of the COVID needs. You’ve also brought up that, you know, now talking about hybrid workplaces and things like that. And some of the results of the pandemic that we’re currently living and very involved with its client base to address those kinds of issues. How do we talk about employment engagement? What has changed? We’ve kind of changed from monitoring employees to really needing to facilitate a mindset of empowering employees because most of them are working remote. And a lot of our clients find themselves in situations where they would love to return back to the office and and see their teammates and people. They’re working together, but they find themselves in a situation where a lot of employees are saying time out, if you require me to come back to the office, I’m not going to continue to work here because there are other options and they have found working from home to be very beneficial to themselves. On the flip side, there are certainly employees who have been saying, I can’t stand working at home anymore, please send me back to an office and then they return to an office. But yet they’re not really surrounded by their teammates, which is something that feeds them. So there’s a lot of those types of dynamics that we’re hearing about from our clients and our HR professionals really have been working closely with them to help develop the policies that fit their particular need and and workforce.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:09] Now for your new clients, are they typically going from one IPO to a new IPO or are they going from no IPO to your IPO? Are they frustrated by a certain situation? They say, Hey, we need kind of help, like what is usually the spark that triggers a new relationship for you?

Tara Griffin: [00:11:30] That great question, so someone on the sales team may correct me, but from the new client sign ups that my team sees. I would say that probably seventy five percent of them are coming from a different relationship with either a different CEO or an accounting firm that’s been doing their payroll or a payroll relationship with just strictly payroll. I would say the majority of them fall into that category. There’s less of them that fall into the category of they’ve been doing it themselves and realized that in order for them to grow their business, they need to outsource some of these activities.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:15] So now what is what are they frustrated with that solution that they thought they had?

Tara Griffin: [00:12:22] Typically, it’s customer service and the ability to really talk to a specific individual that’s assigned to their account. We’ve seen in, you know, with our competitors and heard a lot of feedback from clients who joined our our company, our team, that the personal touch is starting to go away more and more and that they find themselves for all things, including payroll, having to call a general number. And it could be a different person processing payroll every time that they don’t have anybody direct number as their go to person. And so one of the things that Gina is committed to and continues to be committed to is that there are a couple of very specific points of contact that every client account has. And one of those is somebody for my team, which we would refer to as a client advocate, meaning that your go to person for anything that you don’t really answer to, or if there’s something that needs to be escalated or you feel like you want some additional service or you want to understand what’s available to you at Jana Partners, the people on my team really work at addressing those issues and having a relationship and an understanding of that particular business’s needs so it can translate to all of the specialists within our organization. The other specific contact that they always have by name is a payroll specialist, dedicated payroll specialist who certainly works on other client accounts besides just their own. But that is their go to person, the same person that always will process their payroll. And then the third consistent point of contact is a benefit specialist. If they participate in our benefit programs, they have a dedicated benefit specialist that both they and their employees can reach out to for assistance. For something as simple as getting a medical ID card all the way to, I’m really struggling to have a claim process the correct way. Can you please help me deal with the insurance carrier or make a short term disability claim or something like that? So that’s the big thing that I hear the most from clients who joined Gina and have just left a competitor of sorts.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:38] It’s what what was once old is new again, right? That that level of customer service and customer care is being automated out of everybody’s system to save themselves time and money and people. And that’s what people are hungry for, is that level of care.

Tara Griffin: [00:14:57] They are hungry for a level of care, and at the same time, there’s got to be a balance with those systems systems and some consistency in process, which are cyclical in nature at times, simply because the compliance piece of our world has continued to change and expand and get more complicated, that there are things that are necessary for an audit trail, so to speak, and to see who agreed to what. But you can’t really replace that human aspect where a human who’s got enough business acumen to understand the needs of their clients business and why it would even matter to them to have a competitive benefit strategy and translate that over to how they can fulfill that need and alleviate the time and the burden of that business leader so that they can go and continue to do what they got into business to do in the first place and grow their particular business.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:53] Well, if somebody out there that wants to learn more, what is the website?

Tara Griffin: [00:15:58] It is G and a partners,

Lee Kantor: [00:16:03] And that’s G. The letter n a partner’s

Tara Griffin: [00:16:08] Not as accurate. Correct? Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:10] Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You doing important work and we appreciate you.

Tara Griffin: [00:16:16] Well, I appreciate your time, and thanks for inviting me to be here. All right,

Lee Kantor: [00:16:19] This is Lee Kantor will sail next time on Denver Business Radio.

Steven Howard With Caliente Leadership

by

Stevehoward
Coach The Coach
Steven Howard With Caliente Leadership
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StevehowardSteven Howard with Caliente Leadership, is the award-winning author of 21 leadership, business, and motivational books and the editor of nine professional and personal development books in the Project You series. His latest book is How Stress and Anxiety Impact Your Decision Making.

His book Better Decisions. Better Thinking. Better Outcomes. How to go from Mind Full to Mindful Leadership, received a Silver Award from the Nonfiction Authors Association. He also wrote Leadership Lessons from the Volkswagen Saga, which won three prestigious publishing industry awards (2017 Independent Press Award, National Indie Excellence Award, and San Francisco Book Festival Award). He is also the author of Great Leadership Words of Wisdom.

Howard is well-known and recognized for his truly international and multicultural perspective, having lived in the USA for over 30 years, in Singapore for 21 years, and in Australia for 12 years. He currently resides in Southern California.

Connect with Steven on LinkedIn and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • How leadership is changing today, post-pandemic
  • Leadership skills needed to emphasize to grow business
  • Prevent or minimize The Great Resignation of 2021

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 Coach the Coach radio brought to you by the Business RadioX Ambassador Program, the no cost business development strategy for coaches who want to spend more time serving local business clients and less time selling them. Go to brxambassador.com To learn more. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:32] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Coach the Coach Radio, and this is going to be a fun one today on the show, we have Steven Howard with Caliente leadership. Welcome, Steven.

Steven Howard: [00:00:42] Good Day League. Did it meet you?

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

Steven Howard: [00:00:50] Well, we do a leadership mentoring leadership, coaching one on one and also some leadership training. Plus I I’ve read a lot of books. I try to help people through the written word as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:02] So what’s your backstory? How did you get involved in leadership?

Steven Howard: [00:01:06] I had a job with Citibank many years ago at twenty three people reporting to me when I was living in Singapore, and fortunately, they sent me some good leadership training programs. And when I left Citibank, the company that we use as a training company, hired me to facilitate for other companies. So it was quite a stroke of luck, quite frankly.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:27] So what have you found regarding leadership over the years, is this something that everybody kind of has in them and it’s just a matter of getting it out? Or is it something that in times of trouble, this type of leadership qualities appear?

Steven Howard: [00:01:43] Oh, that’s an excellent question. I think everyone has the potential to be a leader. I don’t think everyone has the desire and part of getting them into leadership is stroking that desire. On the other hand, a lot of people are really good at individual contributor work, whether they’re a researcher or a chemical engineer or a scientist, and they just don’t want to lead people. They don’t want to deal with the people issues of it. So I call leadership in art. In fact, then I differentiate what a good leader is and a great leader is, and I think that’s what the art of leadership comes in.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:14] So you feel that some people just hard pass on being a leader, that they’re they want to be a cog in the machine and they don’t there’s no place for leadership for them. Or is that something that there is a place for leadership skills in everybody?

Steven Howard: [00:02:31] Well, there’s a place for everybody because you have to lead yourself. But when it comes to like leading other people, you know, leading other people about how do you motivate people, how they give them direction, how they give them great feedback, and now some people just don’t want to do that, quite frankly. And I wouldn’t call them this. They a cog in the machine as much as, you know. Like I said, if you’re a chemical engineer, I’ve known quite a few good chemical engineers in places like Shell and ExxonMobil, and that’s what they want to do. They want to be in, they want to be in their laboratories. You know, they work with colleagues. They don’t want to lead colleagues. They want to. They want to do the research, they want to write their research papers, they want to write their findings. They want to get their patents filed with the government. I think that’s a fine career path, if that’s what they choose to do. I think a mistake organizations make sometimes is putting those people in the leadership. I mean, I’m sure you’ve known people who are really, really good salespeople and then you make them a sales manager. They don’t know how to lead people. They know how to sell. And that’s probably if that’s what they want to do, that’s where you should leave them.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:32] So how as a leader of an organization, do you kind of discern who the people are that have potential and desire to be leaders and who should be kind of left to for themselves?

Steven Howard: [00:03:45] A lot of one on one conversations that you can you can take up leadership skill. You see the people who have an inclination for leadership. They’re the ones who, you know, they’ll start small, they’ll lead a task force the team into something. Or maybe maybe they just lead a team bonding session, you know, or they do the team, you know, Christmas party or something like that. The leadership skills will rise to the surface if given the opportunity. I think, like I said, I think most people candidly, I think almost everyone can be a leader. But for those who don’t, you’ll see them shy away when you ask them, Hey, could you go mentor this person? No, no, I don’t want to do that. Hey, could you? Could you lead this group task force on this new research study? No, no, no. I don’t want to do that. And you pick up those clues as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:29] So now has the pandemic kind of created more leaders, less leaders? The same amount of leaders created more?

Steven Howard: [00:04:39] I doubt it. I think it’s creating a different breed of leaders, at least those who are going to be successful coming out of the pandemic. They’re going to have to use a whole bunch of different leadership skills as they’ve had to use during the pandemic. I think leading during the pandemic is very different than leading before the pandemic. And when people start going back in the office place and you have everyone co-located again, it’s going to be you cannot go back to the old leadership skills that you relied on. There’s going to be a new subset of skills that are going to be extremely important to be successful sustainably going forward.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:14] So what are some of those skills?

Steven Howard: [00:05:17] Empathy, empathy would be number one, and I think it’s even taking empathy to to a level of compassion, quite frankly. You can’t just empathize with people’s situation. You’re going to have to show compassion. I think leaders have to understand that’s probably the silver lining coming out of the pandemic is that we have to realize that people have. Not only do they have lives outside work, they have responsibilities outside work. And I think that’s one of the things you’re seeing with the great resignation that’s going on right now with the organizations and leaders who don’t recognize that and don’t respect that they’re the ones who are losing their employees. The number one skill, though I would suggest coming out of the pandemic and for the next three to four years is the ability to handle ambiguity and uncertainty. You know, we used to we we measure leaders on their ability to execute to a plan, and that’s all been well and good in the past. I think now we’re going to have to measure leaders on their ability to adapt to a plan to handle the ambiguity, the uncertainty of what might happen six months from now, what might happen nine months from now? And be able to craft plan a Plan B, maybe even Plan C and D, rather than just focusing on executing a plan that they’ve already got in place.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:37] Well, the people that are comfortable in that level of chaos, that might mean that they might have to admit they made a mistake or that the path they initially started following with less information is now no longer valid. And now we have a new path with new information. Do you think like kind of politically in an organization that that type of I don’t want to say it’s wavering, but just adjusting to new information is acceptable in today’s world.

Steven Howard: [00:07:06] I think it’s going to have to become acceptable. But I will agree with you that there are going to be many organizations and the dinosaur type organizations who who won’t adapt, who won’t be willing to adapt. I mean, I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite philosophers is Yoda, and Yoda has a great said phrase that says You have to unlearn what you have learned. And I suggest that leaders coming out the pandemic, particularly those of, you know, those of us who are over 45. You know, we’ve done it one way for so many years. We’re used to it. We’re comfortable with it. But we’re going to have to unlearn some of the ways we learned previously and pick up some of these new skills. And and also the organizations are going to have to evaluate people and reward people differently. You can’t reward somebody because they executed a plan when like like you just said it may not have been a mistake, a decision that somebody made me think about this two years ago, all the wonderful plans that were being put in place, strategic plans in 2019, how people are going to do so well in 2020. And then came March of 2020. It doesn’t mean their plans are wrong. They just didn’t anticipate the future. They got surprised. And you can’t get surprised by the future anymore. Or can it get taken by surprise, I should say.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:26] Now, for a while now, leaders have been encouraging some of their people to maybe take risks and to, you know, think outside the box and that type of kind of verbiage, at least lip service towards that. But whenever there is kind of an inclination towards action, there are going to be times when you do make mistakes and that you did choose the wrong path and you, you have to self-correct. Typically, in the larger organizations, you’re kind of penalized for that mistake. Are you going to see more empathy and acceptance for that type of risk taking that’s going to be needed when there is such an ambiguity?

Steven Howard: [00:09:07] Absolutely. Again, by the companies that make that change, I would advocate to you that they’re going to be many companies who will not make that change, and they’re going to be the ones we talk about 10 years from now, 15 years from now. Oh, weren’t they successful at one time? I mean, you know, this is not new, necessarily. I mean, the newness now is the fact that the change has been created by a pandemic. In the past, the change has been created by technology. You look at people like Kodak. Kodak was the leader in digital film at one point in digital photography, but they were making most of their profits from chemicals. And so they ignored the trend, and they made the mistake of ignoring the trend towards digital photography. And you know, look where Kodak is today. And, you know, thanks to Steve Jobs and others who put cameras on phones, people don’t need to go to the CVS, you know, go to your local CVS and print sorry print pictures anymore. That’s where Kodak made its money when we used to print our pictures at CVS or any place else. So it’s not it’s not new. The newness now is the fact that the pandemic has forced the management leaders to to leave remotely and lead in the uncertainty caused by a pandemic which has been government influenced in terms of the management of the pandemic. But before you know you could have called technology, you could have called digital technology a pandemic for certain industries.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:40] Now why do you think that there’s very few examples of like a company say, like Netflix that started out in one way, you know, mailing you DVDs to compete against blockbuster totally blow up that whole model and say, Now we’re this new thing and then and then adjust after that to a new new thing that seems to be rare. Why don’t you think that there’s more people out there that can do that type of major pivot and major adjustment based on what they’re seeing in the marketplace?

Steven Howard: [00:11:16] It takes risk, and I think it takes it takes the ability to understand what the trends are. And but more importantly, like I said before, if if. People were being measured on their ability to execute a plan, and that plan didn’t include pivoting into a new industry or to a new distribution channel. Then they didn’t do that. And it’s interesting that analogy you made, you know, that Blockbuster could have bought Netflix for a few hundred million dollars at one point, and the board of Blockbuster said nobody wants to get their DVDs in the mail. People want to come into our stores and get the VRC the videos and buy their popcorn and buy their M&Ms, and they want to know what they’re getting. Whereas Netflix, originally when you got your DVDs in the mail, you know you had a list of 10 and you’d get it two or three in the mail, but you didn’t know which two or three of the 10 you’re going to get. So you didn’t know what you’re going to watch on Friday night or Saturday night until you open the envelope. Blockbuster did not think Netflix’s Business Strategy business model was going to work. Well, guess who won that? I think there’s one blockbuster left the entire country. I think it’s in Oregon somewhere now.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:27] Now, how do you help that leader that wants to be that bold? What are some what some counsel to make those kind of bold choices and to, you know, pivot and take the risk?

Steven Howard: [00:12:39] I think it’s understanding the trends. Looking at history when I think one of our shortfalls and leaders today is their sole focus on dealing with today and trying to prepare for tomorrow, they don’t look at historical trends, they don’t see what’s happened to other companies, other industries in the past. And they don’t. Therefore, they don’t think the lessons are relevant to them. Secondly, I think as we talked earlier, the ability to handle ambiguity and certainty in the building and say, OK, we’re going to go take Netflix as your excellent example. They’re, you know, we’re going to go down this road, we’re going to deliver DVDs. Oh, you know what? We can do something else we can. This streaming service that looks interesting. Well, why don’t we let people download and watch their movies on a streaming? Ok, that’s kind of interesting. Oh, technology is now now streaming. We could create a TV channel. We could create a TV channel that streams. Ok, let’s go in that direction. So it’s not just when you admit mistakes and you pivot. I think it’s also when you when you see technology becoming alive or anything becoming alive. The new distribution channels new customer trends and say, Let’s go give this a try. Let’s see how this works. And then when it starts to work, being not being afraid to drop a business unit, Netflix dropped the DVD distribution business unit for something that was going to be better in the future. Kodak refused to drop the chemical business or diminish their chemical business when they saw digital photography came. They stuck to what was working for them and didn’t realize the marketplace was changing.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:21] Now, do you have any advice for the leaders of an organization on choosing other leaders, like what are some of the kind of green lights and red flags when you’re assessing a potential leader?

Steven Howard: [00:14:37] I would say right now the number one red flag, if I can turn your question around slightly, number one red flag would be do not promote the bully, do not promote the person who gets results at all costs, who burns out his staff or her staff. Do not get the one who you know, and we all know who they are in the organization. Don’t promote the one who who throws the tirades and yells and screams and uses profanity because they’re the ones are going to have a high employee turnover. So turn it around. The green flag is promote the person who does both. And as I said earlier, the difference between a great leader, a great leader will either focus on results or focus on people. And if they focus only on people, they don’t necessarily get the results. A great leader will focus on both and and great leaders are not just in the C-suite. Great leaders can be supervisors. They can be team managers. They can be first line leaders. These are the people you need to promote, the ones who can, who can balance leading for results and leading people and leading people development. Those are the leaders that you want in your organization.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:47] Now what advice to a young person maybe that just graduated is entering the workforce. What are some things they can be doing today that can signal that they’re going to be a leader?

Steven Howard: [00:15:58] Well, put your hand up. Volunteer, it could be something simple. It could be leading a project. It could be leading a small task force. It could be as simple as leading the Christmas party or anything like that. Demonstrate your leadership skills whenever you get that opportunity. And obviously, when you’re first starting out, those leadership skills are all about driving results, so you’re not trying to become a great leader. Try and be a good leader. And you’re obviously the first step is to show that you can deliver show that you can that you can overcome obstacles. Resiliency is an important part of leadership today show that you don’t give up just because you hit a hurdle. And then as once you get your first leadership position, realize that you have three hats to wear, you’re going to be wearing the hat of a manager, and that means you give directions and dictate what people should be doing. You also going to have to continue doing your own individual contributor work so that your second hand, but your third hat. Once you get into leadership, you now need to start coaching people, mentoring people, developing people, communicating feedback, all that kind of stuff. So understand that there’s three distinct hats that you’re going to wear when you have your first leadership position.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:14] Now, when you’re delivering your service to your clients, are you delivering them through kind of training in some sort of workshops that are, I would imagine nowadays virtual, in-person? Or is it through your books? How do you typically deliver your coaching and your work that you do?

Steven Howard: [00:17:33] I deliver it through four channels. So you’re right, it’s now mostly online virtual workshops, with some hybrid work starting to come out now that would be number one and and part of what I do when I do training, I don’t just do training anymore. I always combine some element of coaching. I’ve been working with a major retailer right now in the United States with their IT department, and so we’ve been doing 90 minute workshops and then once a month we do 90 minute group coaching sessions for them where they get a chance to more interact and bring up their issues. So that would be one. The other would be one on one coaching again. Right now, it’s all virtual. Then most of the coaching has been virtual for many years now. You don’t need to sit down face to face to do that. The the books obviously are the third channel. The fourth one is and this goes to those young leaders you just talked about. I’ve got an online, self paced leadership development program that’s eight modules, and it comes with two years of monthly coaching sessions. So that’s for the, you know, the young people like to learn through video. They like to learn through self pace. They like to learn on their own. And so that program allows them to go through each module, send me questions if they have send me work workbook assignments when they want for me to review. And then we we get together once a month and answer their questions and develop them one on one. So it’s kind of a hybrid model as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:56] Now are you seeing coaching becoming more accepted as a tool for leaders of organizations that can be disseminated throughout the organization rather than just kind of at the highest levels?

Steven Howard: [00:19:10] Absolutely, absolutely, I. One company I work for right now has saved up five hundred and fifty employees there in the services business there on the West Coast. I’ve been coaching there. He started when I started coaching him. He was the chief technology officer. I’m sorry. He was the IT manager and now he’s the chief technology officer. He’s now in the executive team. I’m now coaching one of his direct reports now that he’s moved up to like assistant it manager. And I’ve got one of their regional sales managers that I’m coaching as well, who’s not on the executive team. So he’s on the second layer. So it’s not. It’s no longer just C-suite type individuals who are getting coaching. So this one organization is a great example. Three three of their mid-level managers are all going through coaching, and I know several others in the organization are using other coaches besides me. So it’s part of the ethos, part of the culture of that particular corporation.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:08] Are you finding that that’s happening more and more, that it is becoming part of the culture and it’s built into what’s attracting people to organizations that when they do have a robust coaching program?

Steven Howard: [00:20:20] Yes, definitely. It’s it’s one of the things that attracts them. And right now, I think it’s one of the things that’s keeping people in this organization because I asked this question the other day, the nine people who are receiving coaching are all staying with the organization. They have lost about four or five people during this. You know, this great resignation as people are calling it, none of those four or five at the same level had coaching had personal coaches. So I know it wasn’t so much that it wasn’t. I think it partly was. It wasn’t offered to them. And also they didn’t take it up. But yeah, definitely. The retail company I just mentioned earlier, they’re now offering coaching. To their second line and first line managers as well.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:03] Well, Stephen, thank you so much for sharing. What you do is if somebody is interested in learning more, can you share the website?

Steven Howard: [00:21:10] Yes, it’s client leadership calling Lee Kantor, as you probably know in Spanish, means hot, but the second definition is passionate. So I’m very passionate about leadership and leadership development, so it’s client leadership. My email is Stephen at Caliente Leadership. You can find me on LinkedIn under Stephen Howard. I think it’s as Greater Los Angeles area, but you can find me pretty readily.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:35] Well, thank you again for sharing your story. You’re doing important work, and we appreciate you.

Steven Howard: [00:21:39] Well, thank you, Lee. I appreciate this and I appreciate. I’m sure your listeners appreciate the opportunity that you’re giving people to share this. And before we sign off, I just want to wish you and your family all the best during the forthcoming holiday season.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:52] Yep, you too. Thank you. All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Coach the Coach radio.

Elizabeth Carter With Elizabeth L. Carter, Esq., LLC

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Bay Area Business Radio
Bay Area Business Radio
Elizabeth Carter With Elizabeth L. Carter, Esq., LLC
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Elizabeth L. Carter is a crowdfunding securities attorney who represents investment companies, small businesses, nonprofits, cooperatives, and other social enterprises with the legal strategy and compliance of raising capital from both accredited and non-accredited investors.

Her most recent work includes assisting a driver-owned ride-share cooperative with the legal compliance of its $1.07 million debt crowdfunding offer through Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF). Similarly, she assisted a consumer cooperative with the amendment of its by-laws and articles of incorporation in order to prepare it for an upcoming capital raise from non-member investors.

She also assisted a number of investment funds with the securities legal strategy and compliance of a SEC Rule 506(c) crowdfunding offer, including a cooperatively-owned investment fund that offered $2 million in equity to accredited investors, as well as a community development financial institution that offered $1 million in slow equity to mission-aligned accredited investors

Connect with Elizabeth on LinkedIn and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Legal Fund
  • The importance of representative legal services for underrepresented entrepreneurs using crowdfunding
  • Legal matters in crowdfunding

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in the Bay Area. It’s time for Bay Area Business Radio. Now here’s your host

Lee Kantor: [00:00:17] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Bay Area Business Radio and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, Leah Davis, coaching inspiring women of color to claim their wealth legacy. Today on Bay Area Business Radio, we have Elizabeth Carter with Elizabeth L. Carter, Esq., LLC. Welcome, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:00:39] Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:41] Well, I’m excited to learn about your practice. Tell us a little bit about your practice. How are you serving, folks?

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:00:46] Yes, thank you. So Elizabeth L. Carter, Esq., LLC is a crowdfunding securities law firm that represents investment companies, small businesses, nonprofit and cooperatives with the legal strategy and compliance of raising capital from investors.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:02] So for folks who aren’t familiar, can you talk a little bit about crowdfunding? I’m sure everybody’s, you know, heard of Kickstarter or Indiegogo or go fund me where there’s, you know, people go out to the crowd or grow it to people they know and say, Hey, I got this project or I got this thing. But there’s also a place for it in, in business and in the investment community as well, right?

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:01:24] Yeah. So crowdfunding is a particular area or specific area of the law concerning capital raising and to be more sort of specific. So you have the business law, right, which is an area of law and underneath business law, it’s securities law, which is more specific in the area of business law. And then underneath the securities law is crowdfunding law. So security securities concerns the legal rules and federal state rules regarding private fundraising from investors. So not the GO Fund Me, which is more donation and not the Indiegogo with your rewards, but actual securities or when you’re giving money with the expectation of significant return. Right. So that’s the difference between a donation. You’re giving money. You’re not expecting things. Return rewards. The only thing you’re expecting in return is sort of a small token, really. You’re just there to support the business. But the investment piece as an investor, you are actually expecting some type of return, whether it’s in no time is guaranteed. But the idea is that I’m giving you money so that you can work hard and provide some return or money back to me, plus whatever gave you plus interest or something, right? And so with crowdfunding does is basically is that area of the law. But there are exemptions under the Securities Act, which is the securities law that we’re speaking about, that allows that business to raise capital from investors without having to register with the SEC or do ongoing reporting requirements, which again can amount to hundreds of dollars a year. So crowdfunding designed for small businesses to cost effectively raise capital from investors.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:08] Now this type of raise is kind of new, right? Because historically, the only people that can get involved with investing in small businesses in this manner were kind of accredited investors. And those are people who had, you know, a certain amount of wealth that was kind of vetted and kind of deemed that they were able to take this kind of risk. But now through this vehicle, people that aren’t accredited can invest as well, right?

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:03:40] Right, exactly. So crowdfunding in a nutshell, there are two aspects to it. One is the fact that now, as you’re mentioning, a business can raise capital from non accredited investors just as they would accredited investors. So accredited investors are defined as investors, individual investors as people who have over $200000 in income, annual income, or over a million dollars in excluding the value of someone’s home. So these are just people who have investments elsewhere that are amounting to more than $1 million and then not accredited. That’s basically 90 percent of the rest of the population, right? Most people are not accredited investors. They do not have over many dollars a net worth, nor do they have possibly over $200000 in income and so would allow a small business to publicly advertise. That’s the other quality so publicly advertised to non accredited investors without having to register previously. And this is since 2012 Jobs Act of 2012. Allow for that. Previously, the business would have to have known that that investor privately. So whether a friend, family or business associate to then be able to ask them for money, what without violating any securities rules, right, whether they’re credit or non accredited. You have to know them. And so it kind of. Right, so only people who actually had wealth and people who were that, you know, right, so there’s a network thing that you are able to support, have them able to support your business. So now today, though, with crowd funding, you can go online. You don’t have to know this investor. You don’t have to be friends with them or have a long relationship with them. You can publicly advertise to them and they do not have to be wealthy, right? Just so long as you disclose properly, let them know what the offer is that they know will be businesses and do not misrepresent. So that’s what the legal or securities legal lawyer comes in to help you communicate that effectively through your disclosure documents.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:39] Now, does crowdfunding in this way have to only be equity in the company or can it be debt as well?

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:05:48] That is included? That is a security as well as membership interest in an LLC operating agreement when you have that agreement and people are signing on. That is also considered a security. So right in equity can include stocks, but it also can include, again, like I said, that that operating agreement where you’re agreeing to provide money for some type of ownership stake, but that is also very commonly used. And the reason why that is included is because even though you’re not getting an ownership stake, there still is an expectation of return in the form of interest rates.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:21] And are your clients contacting you before they’ve begun this or after they began it and realized they were in over their head? And it’s too complicated?

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:06:31] Ideally, before most of the time is before, and this one is more cost effective because before I have people who have gone either gone through the process by themselves and and we’re told that they need a securities lawyer or found out later like one one case. Actually, the SEC denied their filing and said it was actually fraudulent, even though the founder didn’t intend for it to be fraudulent or or misrepresenting. That’s really what it is because fraud is more intentional, but they all run in the same category. There’s a rule against misrepresentation, fraud, and so misrepresentation can simply be that you’ve been disclosed properly or you didn’t disclose fully. You miss some information, you admitted something. And so that is more costly because that particular person pay for an attorney to do that work, and the attorney didn’t do it properly. So now they have to go find another attorney and almost pay double right because the new attorney is saying, Well, I have to review everything with to start over. And so ideally, they should come before they make the offer, before they file anything, before they start asking people for money. You’ll save a whole lot of money just getting that advice and strategy going and then later.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:35] Now is this something that somebody should contact you at the very kind of beginning of their business if they’re thinking of launching? Like, should startups contact you if this is one of the ways that they might try to access funding? Or is this something that they have to have already established a business with clients? And it’s kind of ongoing and they’re trying to get it to a new level. So then they’re going to explore crowdfunding and then they would contact you.

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:08:01] Yeah, I think both legally, both. I mean, legally, so long as you have a strong business plan that shows the really lay out lays, lay out your plan to a operate, be bringing revenues and see generate returns for your investors. You have to lay that out. There should be some formula. There should be some visualization that shows the investor that if I give you X amount of dollars, which is what you’re asking for, that over time, some amount of time and that should also be laid out. You will get X amount of dollars in return or X amount of percentage in return that should be laid out. So usually the founders should have access to someone that can really work through those numbers and those financials for them, right? Whether it’s an accountant or a financial advisor that can guide them through really coming up with numbers that are more accurate. Now again, these are projections. So they’re not they’re not truly accurate or facts. They’re more saying. More likely than not, this is what you can expect. And so for me, that’s what I’m going to ask. They’ll they’ll say, I want to raise X amount of dollars and I want to know just how much I’m going to give them time.

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:09:04] So I’ll ask them, Well, how do you what did you come up with that number? How do you what was your basis? What’s your standing behind that? It’s not just you can’t just say that, right? And so I do help guide, but the idea is for them to come up with a strong team marketing accounting lawyer to then be successful. So legally, we can draft the documents, make sure they’re not misrepresenting or misrepresenting anyone. But for me, as an attorney who represent underrepresented founders where it’s already difficult to obtain capital, the traditional means, I want to make sure that they’re more successful than not. So I to the team, call them what I call the ecosystem around me so that we can make sure that they’re more successful than not. And in crowdfunding, what makes you successful is the crowd, right? Is your particular investors right or your who are also your friends, family or neighbors and then strangers that just want to support you so you want to be able to build that prior to or sooner than later when you’re starting to make your offer.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:59] Now, when you’re working with a client? Are you coming in just as this expert in crowdfunding or do you also take on some of the kind of general business law issues they might have?

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:10:11] Oh yeah. So so I do. I do the general business law. And then what that looks like is I help with the strategy of choosing what type of entity or entity. Sometimes there’s a strategy to create one entity that will be the parent company. Another would be a subsidiary, especially if they’re interested in becoming an investment company or fund. Because the other part is we’re looking for an exemption. There’s two statutes that we want to make sure we exempt from the Securities Act of 1933, which concerns the act of asking people for money. And then there’s the Investment Company Act of 1940, which concerns the entity itself. So if you’re saying I want to create a fund that will then ask people to invest and then reinvest in other companies. My mind is saying, OK, you’re trying to invest in or investment fund. So if you want to prevent that sort of yearly, ongoing, costly reporting requirements, we need to find an exemption. So part of that is looking at the strategic way of structuring these entities, these companies, so that they’re exempt from both the from both acts or, you know, just generally in securities, but also just depending on what their needs and wants are right. They may have certain membership privileges for certain people, certain classes. So we do that sort of structuring the governance and then we go into the particular investment specific and structured the term sheet, the subscription agreement, the offering statement or disclosure documents in times call the Form C. And so, yeah, so it’s both so the general business governance and then the contract surrounding investments.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:37] Now, can you share a kind of one of your success stories of one of your clients that have been able to get that escape velocity and make a go of this?

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:11:46] Yeah, yeah. So I’m happy to share one of my clients called the drivers pull up. Based out of New York City, created an alternative rideshare company alternative to like Uber or Lyft, right? And their model is designed to allow the drivers to be owners of the company, right? So unlike Uber or Lyft, Uber, Lyft, the drivers are more independent contractors. They’re not they don’t receive any equity. They have to have their own sort of business business model or business costs and in revenue. So it’s costly for the consumer because the profits are going to certain shareholders that are or that are not necessarily the drivers, but the drivers co-op. The drivers are actually co-owners of the Co-op or the company. And so what they did was in addition to the equity piece, which are owned by the members member drivers they. Created an offer a debt offer based upon the revenues of the company and up to two point five million, they raised over one million and they barely raised up fairly quickly, I’ll say in a couple of weeks. They raised one million dollars through regulation crowdfunding. So through that exemption, they’re able to raise from both accredited non accredited investors and they receive a lot of support all over the country. People are very interested in the co-op model, but also the fact that they’re providing an alternative to sort of this conglomerate. Big, big corporations write over and live.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:15] So that was said, they were able to kind of use that those funds to launch and then maybe are they only in New York? Are they around the country now?

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:13:23] Right, so they were so the funds were designed to be set to launch to hire new staff and then to eventually to expand to other cities. That is the goal they want to expand across the country with the same model.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:35] So now you use the term co-op. Can you explain what that is and why that entity might be kind of better for these kind of projects?

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:13:46] Right, right, right. So co-op is any entity that is owned and controlled by those that use the services. So if we’re talking about a worker co-op sort of with the driver’s co-op is it is owned and controlled by its workers, those that that provide labor to the company. If we’re talking about a housing co-op, we’re talking about the tenant owning, controlling the residential building where they reside. Sort of like a condo, but instead of individual deeds, it’s only one master d, so to speak, or blanket mortgage on top of the building. And then the members own a share of the company that then owns the building. And in terms of a consumer co-op, a lot of them are grocery stores. Those who consume or credit unions. Those who bank at the credit union are also co owners or, if it’s a nonprofit, just have the ability to control and vote on decisions within the entity. So that is attractive because it counters sort of this disconnect between particular worker co-op sense this power imbalance and disconnect between the owners or the employer and the employees and the workers, right? So now take away that power imbalance and the workers are the employers. They’re wanting the same.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:54] And that’s something that you help firms with as well, right?

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:14:57] Yes. Yeah, so I actually thought co-ops is something that I have particular knowledge and expertize and actually was part of forming a nonprofit back in 2016 that was designed to create and support co-ops, which is why I have affiliation with a Sustainable Economies Law Center based in Oakland, which is also designed to do the same thing not only just co-ops but other economies to help support legally these new sort of alternative business structures that are more supportive of social enterprise or more supportive, supportive of something beyond profits for your business going beyond profits. And so that’s what co-ops are really known for. And yes, I have a particular expertize in creating and being being creative in coming up with unique structures to create that model.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:44] Now let’s talk about that work in Oakland. Can you talk about that Black Capital Matters legal fund and the work that you’re doing to help in that area?

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:15:54] Yeah. So as I mentioned before, my firm is a mission based firm specifically to support the legal strategy and compliance of small businesses, investment companies that are owned and controlled by underrepresented founders, namely black black entrepreneurs. And the reason being is that, for instance, black women are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs and the least likely to be supported by Venture Capital Bank financing or just generally philanthropy and et cetera. Right? And so the idea is to be able to be a resource, a representative representative resource to these companies and businesses so that we can come up with unique strategies like the co-op model, right? Or like forming ecosystems with credit unions to be able to offset or counter those disadvantages. So so the the Black Capital Matter’s legal fund is one way that the firm is doing that. We decided to create the fund to offset the legal costs of raising capital, so the firm itself already provides one of the most, if not the most affordable legal rates when it comes to securities law. But even then, it’s still the law firm and law firms. Billable rates can be out of reach for many small businesses. And so even with that in mind, we’re thinking, Well, how can we be more accessible or have you more democratized so that more businesses who are, you know, equally talented have great ideas if need that legal support and marketing support to be able to shine through and grow? How do we best do that? And so as a law firm in this space and its law firm that is particularly designed to be accessible, we want it to be able to be creative and unique to partner with a nonprofit organization, to be a fiscal sponsor to help put forth this legal fund designed to again provide subsidized legal costs while they’re raising capital. Otherwise, what happens is these businesses just go along and do it wrong or just risk doing it wrong and risk being flagged by the SEC, which could amount to financial fines or criminal penalties, right? And so we want to prevent that.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:51] Now, what type of firms should think about going the crowdfunding route, or is that you think any firm that’s thinking about getting into business that this is appropriate for them?

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:18:04] Anything, anything. So crowdfunding is a means of acquiring investors. So even today, venture capital, which is has historically always been a private equity space but historically have been a type of investor that controls the deal. Right. They’ll come in and they’re the ones who provide the term sheet. They’re saying this how much are we going to invest and how much control we’re going to have? So historically, that was sort of the way these startups to get funding because again, banks thought it were too risky, like, what are you? You don’t have any revenues. You just have a business plan, right? They didn’t trust it. But the venture capital wasn’t a professional investor. And to do their own due diligence and see farther ahead in the future and say, actually looking at the market, looking at your traction, your mailing list, whatever we know, we can value this company a certain kind of way. And so we’re going to see ahead in the future, but we’re going to make sure we put terms in there that are more favorable to us so that, you know, we can cash out at some point or we can go make this company go public at some point.

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:18:57] So with crowdfunding, did was actually said no, actually, the business is going to actually control the terms they’re going to put in their own term sheet with what’s best for the business, for the long term longevity of the business and then Venture Capital Fund or others. If you want to invest, you have to agree to these terms, right? So it flips the control a bit with the investor and within investment space. And so really any business can get involved. But I say the business was a startup or small business, but I will say that it’s a startup is really interested in traditional route and going through the investment or VC funds that invest. Traditionally, they may be they may not be attracted to the crowdfunding means because again, it terms of the terms where the business is actually in control and the VC may not like that. So so yes and no, it just depends on who is that particular investor and what they’re interested in.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:50] Now, if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on the team, what’s the website w-w-what ELC?

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:19:58] Yes.

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

Elizabeth L. Carter: [00:20:05] Thank you so much for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:07] All right, this Lee Kantor. We’ll see, y’all. Next time I’m Bay Area Business Radio.

 

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