Podcasts about Rolodex

Behar joins executive producer Brian Teta to discuss who is the most famous person in her phone and who she wants to see run for president on the Democratic ticket in 2028. Plus, what does Joy Behar think about polyamory? Request tickets to "Behind the Table" LIVE here: https://1iota.com/event/85162/request?promo=BTT Have a question or want advice from Brian or a co-host? Call or text us at (917) 960-3037 or leave us a message here: https://woobox.com/kaoojs. Messages may be used on a future podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's poem is a brief meditation on breath by Yesenia Montilla. The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We'll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we're going back into the archive to revisit Tracy K. Smith's time as host. Today's episode was originally released on October 19, 2020.In this episode, Tracy writes… “The whole time, I felt all of my senses struggle to decelerate. My heart was like a drum solo. It felt like someone was pounding on my chest. While I was there, I flipped through my mental Rolodex of workday vexation. I ticked off the headlines that, even on a good day, hamper my ability to unwind. Lying there, struggling to relax, egged on by the actual bothers my work-week forces me to wrestle, I understood something. Many people live like this on a regular basis. The peril, the worry, the blood pressure roiling. When you wake up and people doubt you, threaten you, overstep respectful bounds. When leaders utter slurs against you. When every day the deck, already stacked against you, is reshuffled.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

In this Expat Money Show episode, I don't hold back. I'm going to tell you the truth about what's really happening in Canada, and why I believe it's no longer a place where you can build wealth or secure a future for your family. As someone born and raised in Canada, I've watched the country unravel. After visiting over 100 countries and planting roots in Panama, I can confidently say that it's time to leave. This isn't hyperbole, it's economic reality. From confiscatory taxes to a state-run suicide program, the Canadian government is accelerating its war on prosperity. I break down the numbers, expose the agenda, and give you a real path forward. It's time to craft your Plan-B while you still can. . . IN TODAY'S EPISODE: Discover why Canada's capital gains hike to 66.6% is more than symbolism—it's economic warfare. Learn how taxation, red tape, and public vilification have made Canada hostile to productivity. Hear why the Canadian dollar is failing by design, not by accident. Understand the truth behind the government's own 2040 foresight report, and why it reads like a suicide note. Explore the real story behind MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying) and how it exposes the welfare state's collapse. Examine why voting won't save Canadians, no matter the party—Carney vs. Poilievre is just theatre. See how universal basic income, CBDCs, and climate lockdowns are being preconditioned as “solutions.” Discover the best places to build a new life—Panama, Paraguay, and Costa Rica—and why they welcome expats. Get the truth about Canada's proposed $25,000 departure tax and what it means for your future. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER You would have already heard about many of these new items if you had been subscribed to our newsletter. You will receive the EMS Pulse newsletter and the weekly Expat Sunday Times; sign up now and receive my FREE special report, “Plan B Residencies and Instant Citizenships.” RELATED EPISODES 335: Canada: How Socialism Is Destroying The Great White North – Shaun Newman 346: Expat News: Trump's Tariffs, Canada's New PM, UK Bans “Ninja Swords” 347: Could Your Passport Be Your Downfall? Mentioned in this episode:This Is Your Invitation to The HubThis isn't for tourists. This is for serious freedom-seekers. The Hub—our private membership for expats and investors—is now open. Inside, you'll get $2,000 off every trip, direct access to my offshore Rolodex, and exclusive calls with the sharpest minds in the game. No fluff. No gatekeeping. Just real strategies for real sovereignty. We only open this a few times a year—and spots fill fast. Go to ExpatMoney.com/go. Join The Hub - Our Paid Members Only CommunityThis Is Your

Joined for part 5 of our series on mental health by John Lenhart (flowcess.com) to discuss triggers and communication.  We dive into the amigdala, emotional processing, and storing of negative interactions. Reaction to outside stimuli from this subconscious Rolodex controls how we respond and reply. Reshaping our communication strategies to include a person's uniqueness goes a long way to reforming our trauma responses and habits. Trauma-informed care is key in patient success. Follow John on IG and X @modelinggod www.flowcess.com www.modelinggod.com   #triggers #communication #traumainformedcare #ego #selfesteem #amigdala #emotions #trauma #reaction

Russ D'Argento, CEO and founder of FINTRX, sits down with CJ in this episode to discuss building a Data as a Service (DaaS) business while also sharing insight into the highly lucrative world of family offices. He explains what a family office is (name a billionaire, they probably have one), their roles in wealth management, and how he identified this niche. He sheds light on FINTRX, what it does, and why building a verticalized data business for a niche market can be both exceptionally complicated and rewarding. He delves into the nuances of DaaS business models, what makes them different from SaaS, why it's so important to own your own data, and the unique challenges one faces in a business like this. He also talks bout the fine art of workflow integration and how allowing customers to access FINTRX's data in other APIs has been surprisingly beneficial.If you're looking for an ERP, head to NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/metrics and get the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning.—SPONSORS:Rippling Spend is a spend management solution that handles your entire company's spending in one unified system. It enables you to bring your corporate cards, expense management, bill pay, and more into one place to achieve real-time visibility and uniquely granular control with automated policy controls across every type of spend. Get a demo to see how much time your org would save at rippling.com/metrics.Vanta's trust management platform takes the manual work out of your security and compliance process and replaces it with continuous automation. Over 9000 businesses use it to automate compliance needs across over 35 frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001. Centralize security workflows, complete questionnaires up to five times faster, and proactively manage vendor risk. For a limited time, get $1,000 off Vanta at vanta.com/metrics.Tropic is an intelligent spend management solution that consolidates your spend data and processes into one unified offering, enabling insights and decisive action. From spotting hidden optimization opportunities to automating painful procurement workflows and giving you the best market data to turn vendor negotiations in your favor, Tropic combines smart insights with real human expertise to keep you ahead of the curve. Visit tropicapp.io/mostlymetrics to learn how.NetSuite provides financial software for all your business needs. More than 40,000 companies have already upgraded to NetSuite, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you're looking for an ERP platform, head to NetSuite https://netsuite.com/metrics and get the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning.Planful is a financial performance management platform designed to streamline financial tasks for businesses. It helps with budgeting, closing the books, and financial reporting, all on a cloud-based platform. By improving the efficiency and accuracy of these processes, Planful allows businesses to make better financial decisions. Find out more at www.planful.com/metrics.Subscript is a modern billing and revenue recognition platform designed for SaaS finance teams that need flexibility and accuracy. From automated invoicing and dunning to compliant, transparent revenue recognition and real-time analytics, Subscript eliminates manual work, reduces errors, and gives you a single source of truth for all your financial data. Book a free demo at subscript.com.—FOLLOW US ON X:@cjgustafson222 (CJ)—TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Preview and Intro(02:57) Sponsor – Rippling Spend | Vanta | Tropic(07:23) What Is a Family Office(11:49) Why Family Offices Are an Attractive Place To Grow Your Career(14:06) Examples of Family and Multi-Family Offices(18:04) Sponsor – NetSuite | Planful | Subscript(21:13) The Founding Story of FINTRX(23:38) What FINTRX Does(25:02) The Data as a Service Business Model(28:50) The Challenges of Starting a DaaS Business(34:07) Broad Versus Narrow in DaaS(37:57) Building FINTRX's Ideal Customer Profile(42:20) Sourcing Your Own Data Versus Partnering With Others(46:09) Hiring for Engineering and Data Science(51:07) Using FINTRX's Interface Versus Accessing the Data in Another Tool(1:02:26) Advice for Someone Launching a DaaS Business(1:02:02) A Habit That Russ Swears By as a Founder(1:03:24) A Lesson From Something That Went Awry Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

Host Dave Fiore speaks with Carrie Zimmerman, co-founder and former CEO of The Zimmerman Agency. Carrie is a native Tallahassean whose family has been in the Capital City for more than 100 years. She grew up in a competitive, sports-oriented environment, but it was rolling on the mats of the Tallahassee Tumbling Tots that sparked a passion that would lead to exploring gymnastics, training full-time in Oregon at age 15 and earning a coveted spot on the 1976 U.S. Olympic team – a memory that still elicits great emotion. After graduating from the University of Georgia, Carrie worked with her husband, Curtis, at an ad agency in Atlanta, before moving to Tallahassee to be near her family. Starting with no clients but a considerable Rolodex, the couple started The Zimmerman Agency, which today has more than 130 employees and competes with New York agencies (and often wins) for the right to represent some of the most prestigious brands in the world. Recently retired, Carrie now focuses on travel, FSU sports and enjoying being a grandmother.

“I was probably the wealthiest person in my family when I chose to go into ministry—then I had to go back and ask my family for money.”“If God did it in my life, He can do it in yours.”“If you're not willing to be faithful, I can't do much with you. But if you are—I got you.”In this powerful episode, Tony Dentman of Funding Tribe joins hosts Heather and Andy to reframe the soundtrack of “This is impossible.” Tony shares his journey from inner-city St. Louis to full-time ministry, despite having no wealthy or Christian background. He explains how his organization empowers minority leaders to get fully funded and mobilized for mission. The conversation dives deep into character formation, faith-building, and the systemic lie that fundraising success is tied to privilege. A must-listen for anyone who has ever doubted their calling or resources.

Rolodex.   But that's exactly what legacy firms want you to think.   They sell prestige. They sell access. They sell fear. And some companies buy it—because no one wants to screw up a high-profile hire.   Here's the truth: access is the easy part. Executives respond more than anyone. The real challenge? Fit. Immersion. Results after the hire. And most firms skip that part entirely.   Jeff Smith and James Hornick rip the curtain off the smoke-and-mirrors world of exec search—and explain why most firms are failing their clients (badly) in The 10 Minute Talent Rant, Episode 109, “What Everyone Gets Wrong About Executive Search.”  

Ever wondered what it takes to turn a new client into a long-term relationship? In this episode, Alyssa and Dakota dive into crafting a successful onboarding process to execute clear deliverables on a structured timeline. From brainstorming creative concepts to executing multi-channel campaigns, we cover it all.Episode highlights: Creating a proper client onboarding process, transparency and communicating deliverables and timelines will lead to long-term client relationships. Here are items to provide to ensure a strong client onboarding experience: Preparation and Welcome:Send a personalized welcome email, introducing the main points of contact and outlining next steps.Share a welcome packet or client guide that includes your services, communication protocols, and project timeline. Kickoff Meeting:Hold an initial meeting to discuss the client's goals, expectations, and any pain points.Review the project scope, deliverables, timelines, and any relevant documentation. Setting Expectations:Clearly define roles and responsibilities on both sides.Establish preferred communication channels and frequency of updates. Gathering Information and Documentation:Collect any necessary files, branding guidelines, login credentials, or project-specific data.Use a checklist to ensure you have everything you need to start effectively. Project Plan and Milestones:Develop a clear project roadmap with key milestones and deadlines.Share the plan with the client to make sure everyone is aligned. Training and Support (if needed):Provide training on how to use client portals, collaboration tools, or project management systems.Offer resources and guides to make the process smoother. Ongoing Communication and Follow-Up:Maintain regular check-ins to update on progress and address any concerns.Gather feedback to continuously improve the experience and build trust.TakeawaysWork with clients that align with your valuesBe transparent about mistakes and any issues around timelines or budgetsEnsure all stakeholders are involved in the kick-off sessionCelebrate your winsIf you enjoyed this episode of Ladies Who Launch, please be sure to take a screenshot and share it on social media and tag us @ladieswholaunchpod OR, link us to a friend or colleague by sharing the episode. Also, please give us a review and a five-star rating if you love what we're putting down! Ladies Who Launch is a podcast for marketers by marketers. ladieswholaunchpod@gmail.comInstagram: @ladieswholaunchpodYour hosts:Dakota Kidby owns Social Centric, a digital marketing agency based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  Instagram: @socialcentricincAlyssa Berry owns Alyssa Berry Communications, a boutique public relations agency based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Instagram: @aly_b_yycResources and links: Get in the queue for our new newsletter, dropping April 2025: https://gmail.us18.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=7ae9fd1fd06734635586825ce&id=4fcdb235baStay tuned to our Instagram for updates on episode drops, merch, newsletter drops, events and more: https://www.instagram.com/ladieswholaunchpod/__Transcript: Dakota Kidby: [00:00:08] Hey, hey, welcome to Ladies Who Launch, the podcast where we cut through the noise, ditch the fluff and get real about all things marketing.Alyssa Berry: [00:00:16] That's right, we are your host, Dakota and Alyssa, two entrepreneurs from Calgary who are here to serve up equal parts solid advice, industry banter, and a whole lot of unfiltered opinions.Dakota Kidby: [00:00:27] So grab your coffee, buckle up, and get ready for a podcast that's equal parts fun and real talk. Whether you're in the biz or just curious about what goes down behind the scenes of marketing, we've got you covered.Alyssa Berry: [00:00:38] Let's get to it. Welcome to Ladies Who Launch.Dakota Kidby: [00:00:46] Welcome back to another episode of the Ladies Who Launch. We are coming at you from a very cold Calgary, Alberta. Yes, that's right friends, it is March 29th and it snowed a lot. So that's the spring tease for you here in Alberta.Alyssa Berry: [00:01:03] Yeah. It's, uh, what? Fake? What do they call it, fake spring or?Dakota Kidby: [00:01:08] The fake spring.Alyssa Berry: [00:01:10] Here we are. Which is why Dakota... Yeah, which is why Dakota and I are in hoodies and hats today. Because it wasn't, it wasn't a day for venturing and getting ourselves suited up.Dakota Kidby: [00:01:23] No, but we endeavor to actually go for dinner after this. And, like, honestly, both of us are like, no, we're staying home. It's so cold. I shoveled, I think like three feet of snow off of my sidewalk today.Alyssa Berry: [00:01:34] It's not even like it's I mean, it's cold, it's chilly, but it's not cold cold. It's just lots of snow and it's that heavy, wet spring snow, which is the worst. Anyway.Dakota Kidby: [00:01:44] Absolutely. But today we want to talk to you guys about going behind the scenes of a successful marketing process. So basically, how to take a concept that a client would bring to you, whether you're in-house or an entrepreneur, and taking that concept to execution. And the reason we want to talk about this is something happened to me this week that I don't think has ever happened to me in my entire time running Social Centric. And it kind of got me thinking about my own processes and transparency in the sense that perhaps I need to be more clear about things sometimes. But I was thinking we could kick off with this because Alyssa hasn't heard the story yet.Alyssa Berry: [00:02:28] Please do.Dakota Kidby: [00:02:29] Okay. So without naming names, I had this really fantastic, cool business reach out to me and ask me for some support with their marketing. The very first thing that I do with a client when they come to me is I ask them if they have a plan. So do you have an overarching plan for your company or like a campaign that you want to run or a product that you want to launch? And I want to say like 98% of the time there is no plan in place, not even an overarching one. So from a due diligence and ethics standpoint, the very first thing that we do, even if we are just focusing on one tactic or solution, is we want to have some sort of a strategy or plan around that.Dakota Kidby: [00:03:12] And so I said to this person, okay, this is step one of our process. This is how this gets executed. And let me know how that sits and we can go from there. And I was very clear, I thought, from day one that it didn't include implementation. And anyway, we go through the process, we work together for three weeks. Great strategy, and of course, strategies always have a bit of a phased out approach. Right? So they can kind of come off as a bit of a timeline, but there's a lot of meat and juice in there that is the solution-oriented piece of what we're doing. And then from there, what will end up happening is clients will often come back to us and say, okay, great, now we need help executing. And so we would send them another contract, which is a different kind of contract and a price that would take care of that scope. And oftentimes we ask clients to sign up for a monthly fee because the project tends to be ongoing, just because it makes more sense from like a expectation standpoint on both sides. But other times we'll just do an hourly. So in this case, I proposed, of course, the monthly because there was a bunch of stuff that we needed to get done, and it was going to take probably about six months. Anyway, she came back and said, oh my God. I didn't realize that this strategy thing didn't include actual execution.Dakota Kidby: [00:04:32] And I was like, oh, well, what do you mean? And she's like, oh, I just like, I probably would not have invested in this had I not known that I was going to get actual help after. And I was like, oh, crap. So how I chose to handle it because first of all, I really respect and appreciate this person and I believe in their product, and I was kind of like, you know, I went back through all of our communications and like all of our agreements and everything like that. And I was like, you know, I'm pretty sure I was clear on this, but maybe I wasn't. And because they're a smaller business owner, perhaps this isn't actually, this isn't like the way I should be running this side of my business. So what I then ended up doing was spending a pretty solid chunk of time creating an actual like process and operation for specific businesses that have a lower budget. And it was like, you know what? Moving forward, I'm going to offer the strategy, but then I'm also going to offer some implementation because for organizations that don't have a huge budget, it might seem like a lot to just get that strategy piece done. So it was a really good learning experience for me because it helped me to like, add more value to this specific piece of my business, but also reminded me that clear-cut communication at every step of the way that is documented is a must.Alyssa Berry: [00:05:52] That is a tough lesson that I think many of us have experienced at some point, whether in our own business or otherwise. I think even in in-house, if you're working in-house, I think sometimes you'll get a, you'll move forward on a project or something, and suddenly your boss or director or something is like, this isn't what I asked you to do, or this isn't the direction and blah blah blah, and that you didn't keep copious notes or anything during the lead-up meetings. And so you have no recourse to be like, no, this is what we discussed and this is what I'm moving forward. So then you get yourself into a pickle. And I think that's just a good learning for everyone. But from a business perspective, I made that mistake early on in running a business and not having processes and like operationally set up from the get go and having very clear contracts. I think that's really where it needs to start with so many projects and even in-house projects like starting with a signed-off creative brief or a signed-off project brief, and then writing a business, it's like a signed-off contract that has very clear outlines of not just deliverables, but also expectations. So one of the things that I had to do in running my business is, I got into trouble moving, with people and clients expecting like proof changes after proof changes after proof changes. And of course, I'm paying for those because I'm paying the designer for their work. So then I'm eating that because I've already quoted the cost of the design to the client, now the designer is coming back to me and charging me for all these over and above changes, like when you're on, like, proof seven or something ridiculous.Alyssa Berry: [00:07:49] So I made that very clear in all my contracts that you get three proofs included in this cost and any more proofs or changes on any design, anything after that is charged at this X fee per hour or per 15 minutes or whatever, if I really wanted to be that. The other thing I added into mine from a process perspective too, and this is just a learning for anybody running their own business, is that I have specific wording in a clause in my contracts that states when our agreement and our contract is over, I'm not obligated to keep all of your stuff. You will get, you will have access to whatever you've done, and you have your folder and your documents. After 90 days, I can get rid of all of that. I'm not, I'm not your legal book, like your legal document holder. And I'm not responsible for anything that happens to anything after that, because I also got into a bit of a pickle with that in my business, too, where I had a complete computer meltdown and lost a whole bunch of files, and no clients ever came back to me and asked for any, like, I mean, but it was just my realization that, oh wait, I lost all of these files, and if anybody came back to me, I had no clear clause in my contract that I'm not responsible for housing your documents, nor should you want me to be either, because I am not a private closed circuit loop document holder situation here either. So.Dakota Kidby: [00:09:31] No. And you shouldn't have to give up that space on your computer or your drive. Unless they're an existing client.Alyssa Berry: [00:09:37] Yeah. So 90 days after our the end date of our contract, once you have everything that you get out of this, all of your file, whatever, you have no claim to anything, after that, that I may or may not have. So, it is interesting, and so when we get, when we talk about like process, like that was a process that we both found, but like that started at a contract stage so that we actually could go back and reference what we outlined and were clear or not clear about.Dakota Kidby: [00:10:14] Absolutely. And it's so funny because I run into that pickle, too, in the sense that we are mostly, you know, for the longest time, social media. And so I'll never forget one of our clients that we were parting ways with, and this was a sticky, toxic situation also, we weren't a fan of the client as they were leaving us. They had kind of taken advantage and been disrespectful and we didn't really leave on the best note, but they came back to me and said, I want all my social media graphics from the last three years. And I said, well, that's not part of our contract. And if you want them, you can go through your Facebook and get them. But now we do encourage our clients to start a Pro Canva account. We don't actually do work on our Canva account for clients for the most part, and then therefore they have access to all their graphics if they want to reuse them and stuff after we potentially part ways. And then that just helps us alleviate not having to make space on our drive, and giving them their Canva. Now, if a client says to us, well, we don't want to pay for that and we're using our Canva account, I've said to that we have a clear clause in our contract that they relinquish all, you know...Alyssa Berry: [00:11:32] Rights.Dakota Kidby: [00:11:32] Expectation that they would get. And then they also, if they ever did need us to do some sort of a downloading situation from social or our Canva for them onto a drive, it's like a $150 fee at the end of their contract for us to do that.Alyssa Berry: [00:11:47] Yeah.Dakota Kidby: [00:11:48] So that's just, we just explained that that's the transfer of file fee and process moving forward.Alyssa Berry: [00:11:55] It is interesting how things have changed, even in like the decade that I've had my business and sort of the expectations now and the amount of software that we all use and having, I was the same. I just used to do client work on my own pro Canva and it's like, yeah, don't do that anymore. Like, I'm not, I'm not, no, and even like ChatGPT. So most of us have business, are paying for business access to ChatGPT for various reasons, but then I think, is this like also something you could get called out on by using ChatGPT for client work? But then I'm like, ah, I use ChatGPT in my full time job all the time, so I'm like, I guess if a client really wanted to get all like nitpicky about it, like cool, but, I think there's a lot of things now that we're using that technically, I guess, could be breach of privacy in that way, because we're really putting client information into ChatGPT even if we're not using their names and stuff, we're still putting client information into ChatGPT. But then I'm like, eh, I do that for the company I work for, I put their, although they have their own corporate private ChatGPT whatever.Dakota Kidby: [00:13:18] But yeah that's another thing, like they have if, you know, and I think there will come a day where it's like you set up a suite of tools for a client and then you use that suite of tools and it's not, you know, far-fetched also for us to manage like a Hootsuite or a Metricool or a Sprout account that a client has, like, we give them that option, we say, hey, we can either use our Metricool, which will give you client access to, and you can see all your analytics in a live dashboard as well as, and that's been a godsend for me, to be honest, but they have access to everything. Or we can use your account, however, like if it doesn't have the capabilities that ours does, then, well.Alyssa Berry: [00:13:55] You just have to know that.Dakota Kidby: [00:13:57] Yeah, we'd recommend this software at this point, but yeah that kind of, yeah, like brings us to getting, we want you guys to get out your notebooks and pay attention because we're going to master the scenes of a successful marketing process from concept to execution. So, Alyssa, you want to kick it off with client onboarding?Alyssa Berry: [00:14:20] Onboarding. Yes.Dakota Kidby: [00:14:21] I feel like you're the best at this.Alyssa Berry: [00:14:24] It's, and it's taken a long time to get to this point, but again, as I said, through the trials and tribulations of me making mistakes and all of that stuff, but onboarding is really the most important step because the onboarding is the relationship. Not only the relationship that you're building personally with your client or, whether internal or external clients, because this relates to internal stakeholders from a business from a corporation perspective too if you're not running your own business, it helps set the parameters that help set the stage for what's going to happen. And ultimately, a successful onboarding process leads to a longer-term business relationship. And I have found in my time that the best onboarding processes that I've had with clients are the ones that ended up being, like clients that were like 3, 4 or 5 years long clients because they understood. And what that starts with is having clear objectives of what this relationship is for. Is this relationship for a social media channel refresh? Is this for a rebrand of my assets? Is this for the development of a communications plan? Is this for an internal communication strategy for your corporation? What is that clear thing that we are here to do?Dakota Kidby: [00:16:07] Like, why are you hiring me? Almost a reminder. Because sometimes clients like - and sorry to interrupt - but I find sometimes clients get really in their own heads, and they rush, I find, to find support. And then when it comes time to sign, it's that conversation of I didn't realize this is how much this cost. I didn't realize that that's what my perception of what I told you I needed, that's your perception. And so this is why that clear communication that Alyssa is talking about is so important, because you almost have to remind the client, like why they're getting into bed with you, so to speak.Alyssa Berry: [00:16:41] Right. And part of that is, is setting them and you up for success. And that means, as we were just sort of alluding to, getting them set up on all the tools that are required to complete this contractual obligation, and also ensuring that we have access to all accounts, information and personnel that we need access to at the beginning, and having those clear, that clear delineation right at the beginning, because that, and I've run into this many times with clients is like, they're like, they'll forget to give you their social media passwords or their Gmail accounts or all this stuff, and it's like, oh no, I'll get to that. You're going to get it today, you're going to get it today. And then like months have gone by and you haven't done any work because you can't access anything. And you, but that's also on me because I didn't set them up for that. In terms of creating, what I do with my clients is everyone gets their own Google file. So it'll be like XYZ Company, this is your Google file, here's the link, you have access to this, this is where all your assets are going to go. This is all your this is where your contracts going to live, this is where everything is going to go. And I will itemize everything, I'll make folders for contracts and documents and logos, whatever, but this is your domain, this is where everything is going to live.Alyssa Berry: [00:18:11] Nothing's going to live on your computer. Nothing's living on my computer. This is our space, and so you can't go and be like, oh, this isn't... So that's step one. Now I will say I don't use any like, Honeybook or any of those sort of like, what Dubsado or any of those sort of processing softwares, mainly because they're expensive and I've just never justified it. So I sort of set up my onboarding manually. Like, it's not a formal process, but like the first thing is they get a welcome package with a copy of the signed contract. And a little bit about me and who they're going to be working with. And this is the designer and this is, yeah, this is the writer that we have, and this is going to be the videographer working on your project, blah, blah, blah. Here's a little synopsis of who's who in the zoo here. So, and then I will then send a follow up email with like here are our key check in dates. So phase one check in date is this, and what's going to be discussed is the draft of this strategy check into is this with the first execution dates or I'll have key check in dates because this also sets the stage that they know they're not going to be emailing me 20 times a day.Dakota Kidby: [00:19:36] Yes, because that can be, that is always a problem.Alyssa Berry: [00:19:40] Right? It's like here's your key dates. Dakota Kidby: [00:19:40] But yeah. If you don't have those key dates, then, you know you fell short when you're getting five emails from the client or even just the question of where are you at right now? Where is this at? You don't want that question. You want to have yourself set up so tightly that the client doesn't have to ask. And that is top tier service.[00:20:00] Hey all, sorry for the interruption. Just wanting to remind you to please give us five stars and subscribe to our podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. Honestly guys, this is the way that we build our podcast. And if you're a supporter of Ladies Who Launch, we would really, really appreciate it if you could just give us those five stars and subscribe. Thanks, guys. Now back to the episode.Alyssa Berry: [00:20:19] And once that email with sort of those key dates and all that's in the calendar, then the email goes out about a strategy session or sort of a pre kind of get to know you, what's going on, getting a lay of the land with the client or manager or whoever you're working with. And that can be anything from a two hour session to a half day session to a full day session, depending on how many stakeholders need to be involved in that. Like I know some nonprofit organizations will have it as a full day because they'll want to bring some of their board members in, or some of their or even corporates might want to have some of their C-suite execs be a part of that to just get everyone on the same page before launching into the next phase of like, developing that strategy. So everybody's sort of been in the know of what the project is and what the key deliverables are and when those key deliverables will be delivered.Dakota Kidby: [00:21:17] Absolutely. And the other thing is, it's really funny, I have a girlfriend who works in change management, which is essentially when you come in and you are applying a process or a policy, or there's been a big change in an organization, so big, in fact, that you have to hire like a professional to come in and help manage all your stuff. And oftentimes, depending on the depth of the project, marketing can be very similar in that we have that, and same thing with being a lawyer. We have to almost open the business up and understand and diagnose what the gaps and the issues are before we can come up with proper solutions. And so that conversation that takes place prior to strategy or any sort of strategic planning is very crucial because without knowing what you need to know, like through whether it's a thorough questionnaire and conversation or what have you, it's very challenging to do your job properly.Alyssa Berry: [00:22:09] Agreed. The other thing I'm going to, the other thing I'm going to note before we sort of launch in is when to invoice for this. So I will send my first invoice before the discovery session or the strategy session or whatever you want to call it, because I've also run into issues where I have done work and then invoiced and then not gotten paid, where it's like I don't start work until I get paid for the first bit of work. So however you want to divide out your invoices, whether it's you paid 20%, 20%, whatever, or half and half or a percentage up front or whatever it is, however you want to lay out your invoicing strategy. But I would ensure that you get invoice, you invoice and get paid for any, especially at the beginning if you're out, like you're having to bring on external contractors or you've had to, like, upgrade a software system in order to be able to manage this client or whatever, that you're paid for that before you commence work.Dakota Kidby: [00:23:16] And I'm even going to take it, I'm going to take it a step further and say that we used to do work first and then get paid. And I just moved in January, January 1st, I moved into a new model. None of my clients had a problem with it at all. New clients haven't seemed to have a problem with it. When it comes to a strategy package that we are doing for a client, they must pay up front. And we will not book any sort of chat or conversation past our 30 minute like, client, you know, discovery call, like intro, yeah, we will not even book the discovery without the payment. In fact, I'm actually waiting on a client who sent the invoice to their accountant, which sometimes the accountants put you into a cycle, and I'm going to have to send a note on Monday being like, I'm sorry if you guys have a cycle, but like, this needs to be paid immediately. Otherwise I have to give up your date to someone else. And like, I just find when you have those boundaries, people respect you more and they are actually, like, more willing to work with you in some cases because it's like, oh, you value yourself and your time. You seem like you're in high demand. Cool. This is going to be worth my time. And so, and it just sets up that cadence and that expectation that, yes, I have very firm boundaries about my time and how I get paid. And even for our retainer clients, their invoices come out on the first of every month now, and we get paid before we do things. The other thing is, and actually, I will call out our wonderful producer, Alex, who does our podcast for teaching me this, like extra edits or late, things that come late, like for us, if we're doing, if we're cutting video for a client and they're sending us clips and we need them by a certain date to hit targets, getting really, really, really tough. And if they don't send things on time or they're, like, significantly stressing you out, then there's fees, right? Like, I've had to charge clients a few times for too many emails. It's like, I started literally billing for emails like lawyers do, because we had a client who'd send us 25 emails a week.Alyssa Berry: [00:25:16] Yeah, no. And I, and this is all learning too, that a lot of that can be alleviated during that onboarding phase that we talked about earlier, that those expectations are set up front, and that here's our check in dates, and other than that, I don't want to hear from you.Dakota Kidby: [00:25:35] Unless it's an emergency.Alyssa Berry: [00:25:36] Unless the house is on fire. Yeah.Dakota Kidby: [00:25:37] Or they have a question.Alyssa Berry: [00:25:39] Which is, yeah, why we're reiterating the importance of that onboarding process and those key dates and timelines of when things are going to happen because those dates and timelines are not just for you, they're for them as well, because as Dakota just alluded to, like, if they're late getting you things that you require to complete a deliverable, then you have the recourse to go back to them and a) either charge them for it or b) fire them or like let them go as clients, because that was clearly outlined in the onboarding process as to what the expectations are, both on me as the business owner and you as the client.Dakota Kidby: [00:26:22] Absolutely.Alyssa Berry: [00:26:22] And if either one of us reneges or or isn't able to.Dakota Kidby: [00:26:28] Fulfill our end of the bargain.Alyssa Berry: [00:26:29] Fulfill, then we both have the recourse to walk away.Dakota Kidby: [00:26:32] Absolutely. And so, yeah, I would say number one, as Alyssa has been saying, like your onboarding processes is everything. It really sets the stage for the respect, the boundaries and sort of the story of how things are going to go. The other thing I would highly recommend doing right off the bat, just so that it's out of the way, is getting the client into your invoicing software, making some notes or some sort of recourse around what you're doing for them, for your team, just like a client info document almost. And then during the onboarding, so we actually just overhauled our onboarding process and we're still working on massaging it. But what I do now is I pick one day a week and actually I do have a gal who helps with this, but when it's me doing it, I pick one day a week where I do admin, and actually Alyssa taught me this, and during that day it can be anything from filing to invoices to working on the business, whatever. I will say to a client, Kate, you have an onboarding session with us at 9 a.m. on Monday, this is what you need to have done for that onboarding session, get that welcome package together, send it to them ahead of time, and then you use that hour long session to get all their socials connected. Make sure everything's good in the back end, give them a bit of a warning that, hey, if your social media is, your connections are all screwy and someone's missing access and we have to do a bunch of like digging to fix stuff that does incur another fee.Dakota Kidby: [00:28:04] However, we're going to use this onboarding session to make sure you're all sorted and you kind of give them that foundational onboarding session, and then take that time as well to introduce them to the rest of the team. Just get them acquainted with how things are going to go. Get them acquainted with that timeline, give them their Google Link drive, make sure that they sign off on their contract, and make sure that that invoice is paid. And that's kind of what we're going to do moving forward with our clients. And they seem to really appreciate that. Because the other thing that I find that I run into and have run into in the past is the onboarding process can turn into a month long thing if you don't control it, similarly to what Alyssa had just said, right? So you want to try and get all that shit done right then and there. It should really be you have a 30 minute call with them, if they need more, they have to pay for an hour, right? Because sometimes clients just want some consultation time, they don't actually want to hire you. So that's how you alleviate that gap. And then from there, if they want more, then you book that onboarding call, you send them the documents, they make sure that they are committed pot committed to the to the process. And then from there you book things into your schedule. So Alyssa, how are you managing, like, I'm curious to understand how you, what your thoughts are on managing just like the relationship as it goes.Alyssa Berry: [00:29:29] What I found works the best is that I have one contact that I work with. There is one direct person that is assigned to me or whatever from your organization. I don't have the time or the inclination to deal with six people in your organization or in your business. And oh, but Sally does this and this. I don't care what Sally or Bobby or whatever do in your back end. You're going to make that, you're going to make sure that Sally and Bobby get Linda all the information, and Linda's the one that I'm going to, I'm going to deal with on a regular basis. Not that I don't love Sally and Bobby, but I, with multiple, multiple clients, I don't have time to, like, sift through your business Rolodex to figure out who I need to talk to to get something done. It's like no, one contact. And so me and Linda, we're going to be besties. And if Linda isn't getting what I need, then I'm going to be able to tell Linda. And I don't have to worry about informing Bobby and Sally, because I assume that Linda's going to inform Bobby and Sally or whoever needs to know. That's key one, is having a person or if you have to, two, like if they're married or something, whatever. But no more. I'm not working with your team of people. I do not care what they do. Don't. So that's step one. And the other thing to keep a relationship, or like whether it's an internal corporate relationship or an external business relationship, healthy is being very transparent. I have found that the minute as a business owner, if I've done something or I've missed something or whatever, and I've tried to like, figure it out and manage it on my end it just becomes...Dakota Kidby: [00:31:24] ... terrible. Hide it. No, I would just, but yeah, like you try to manage it yourself or, like, brush it under the rug. Absolutely not. You need to tell them immediately.Alyssa Berry: [00:31:32] Yeah. Transparency. And I expect that of them too. Like if Sally broke her leg and didn't get Linda the photos or whatever, cool. Just let me know. Like, we can work with that. I'm not, like, going to come down there and scream because Sally broke her leg. Like life happens, all that happens, we know that. And that's part of being in a good relationship, is being transparent to be like, hey, I messed up or oh crap, I missed this, I'm going to take care of it right now, blah, blah, blah. I mean, that happens in everyone's day to day life. Like, your husband forgot to go to the grocery store on the way home. Like you just, things happen, but you deal with it and you're transparent about it. So that's like sort of step two is being transparent about things that have happened and being transparent about great things too. Like being very quick to congratulate them on things or praise them on things or if they've got client of the month or, I don't know, like whatever stupid thing you can, stupid thing, but like, people like to also receive positive feedback. Like if every time that you're interacting with someone it's negative or it's to talk about something that went wrong, then that's also a bit of a detriment to a relationship. So make sure that you're like, I would do things like send Starbucks over to clients, like just or if I knew they were having a rough day, I'd like send them.Dakota Kidby: [00:33:01] A Skip the Dishes gift card.Alyssa Berry: [00:33:02] Or some DoorDash or Skip the Dishes or whatever. Because those...Dakota Kidby: [00:33:06] Like, celebrations. Like it's their birthday, like it's their company's birthday or...Alyssa Berry: [00:33:12] Yeah, anniversaries. Or like they just hired someone new, so send them some flowers, or someone's leaving and all those sorts of things matter. I would always keep notes of those kind of things in my calendar if I knew things were coming up or if clients I knew were going to a conference or they had a big presentation coming up or any of that kind of stuff, I would always like, put that in my calendar and send them a note or an email or like a text, be like, good luck, blah, blah, blah. So that's the other thing is that like always leading with the positive instead of the only time you're talking to them is if something went sideways. That's also the other thing. But in parallel to that, this is also a learning, is that your clients aren't your friends, just like your coworkers aren't your friends. You don't share personal information. You don't talk about your personal life. You don't talk about going on dates. Like there is a line, like this is still a professional relationship, and I don't care that they're the same age as you, or they're also single or whatever, it's professional because you don't know who they know, and the world is very small, and you don't ever want to be, like, bitching about a guy that you went on a date with but it turns out like that guy is like their cousin's best friend or something. Like, you have no idea who people know, right? So that's always a very clear line for me, is that you don't know anything about me. You know who I am. You know I do good work, you know, whatever. But you don't know what I do when we're not together, because it's none of your business. And I don't need to know anything about you either. And so that's sort of the number three too, is that be very, have very clear boundaries of client or even boss/staff or like internally, right. Like no one needs, no one wants to or should know about your personal issues.Dakota Kidby: [00:35:11] And if I could add like a what am I trying to say? You know what I mean. And yeah section to that, I would say enjoy your connections with people. Like, that's not to say that you can't have a conversation or something, but case in point, if somebody knows you too well, oftentimes meeting agendas will also get completely out of control. So and I'm...Alyssa Berry: [00:35:40] Totally off the rails.Dakota Kidby: [00:35:41] ... because I like to be friends with everybody. And I am a recovering people pleaser. So the other day, actually, I had the worst migraine of my life, I just like wasn't feeling great, but I, you know, I was at the meeting, showed up, it was all good. And my client and I well, she started talking about politics and...Alyssa Berry: [00:35:58] Oh, God, what is wrong with people?Dakota Kidby: [00:35:59] No, but we always, like, have conversations about politics. Like and we're buds and we, again, going against everything Alyssa said. But I do really love working with this client and like we do have a lot in common. So she and I do banter. But anyway, I literally had to say, I'm so sorry, but like, we only have an hour and I'm exhausted and I'm not feeling the greatest today. Do you think we can just get through this meeting? And then I have to go grab a coffee. Then we'll do our next thing that we have to do. And then I gotta go, like, and she was like, nope, no problem at all, all good, like so sorry. And I was like, no, no, it's fine. It's just that again, if you build that personal rapport with your clients, your objectives with getting work done are going to be more ineffective no matter how you swing it. It's the difference between coming in for an hour, meeting with your counselor, right, and then, like, going for wine with them and then having a meeting. So like, just differentiate those two things. If you want to go banter with your client because you find them interesting as a human being, separate it. Ask them to go for wine as a separate human being. Do you know what I mean? Or don't?Alyssa Berry: [00:36:59] See, I wouldn't even, I wouldn't even recommend that.Dakota Kidby: [00:37:02] But, I mean, I am friends with some of my clients, so like I have a different standpoint.Alyssa Berry: [00:37:05] But here's the thing, though. Like if that personal relationship goes south, what does that mean for your business relationship?Dakota Kidby: [00:37:12] I'm not close with them in that respect. I would say if the, like the personal relationship going south probably isn't a, I'm not like besties with any of my clients. I do have one client who I am pretty good friends with, that if she and I ever had a falling out and then like the contract, it wouldn't bother me because it'd be like, well, I don't really want to work with you anyway, but I will say I am, like, I do have a couple of other clients that like, I'll go, I would go and have a beer with them. But we have a very clear, like line in the sand that we both understand, if that makes sense. And they've just been with me for a really long time, so it's almost been impossible to not develop a friendship because we've been through more with each other than just the work. Like, I've seen them go through things and they've seen me go through things, we've had each other's backs, you know, that kind of stuff. And so sometimes it can be inevitable. But for the most part it, you really should look at it like a relationship with your psychologist. It's, you're there to get work done and you don't need to offer up any more of your time than that. And you're also not their therapist.Alyssa Berry: [00:38:18] No. And they're not your therapist.Dakota Kidby: [00:38:21] Absolutely.Alyssa Berry: [00:38:22] I'm going to caveat that politics talk for a second, because I think Dakota and I need to do an episode on this because when I said, oh, politics, what are you doing? Because, like, normally, like generally politics in a business meeting doesn't really come up. But I mean, and I've said this before in this podcast and like anybody could see, my political affiliations are fairly notable.Dakota Kidby: [00:38:48] Like, people know.Alyssa Berry: [00:38:48] People know my thoughts on things and people know.Dakota Kidby: [00:38:51] They know who you are.Alyssa Berry: [00:38:51] So I do have a caveat to the whole political thing because when people talk about like, oh, don't, don't ever share your politics or whatever online or like separate your personal and your business brand in that way, I'm like, no, because I have seen a lot of people on LinkedIn who I will know I'll never work with because of the shit that they post on LinkedIn of all places. Right? Like when did LinkedIn become Facebook? But that's a whole other conversation.Dakota Kidby: [00:39:21] It's true.Alyssa Berry: [00:39:22] Because, yeah, like they're raging Trumpers.Dakota Kidby: [00:39:26] And so are you saying it's a bad thing?Alyssa Berry: [00:39:28] White nationalists. No. I want to know. Now I know. So I, because I work with people who who align with my values, like I'm a person, no one should be separating their personal feelings or their values about things because of business. Like, and I've said this on this podcast before, but I'm a vegetarian, so I would never work with the like Canadian Beef Association and not because they're bad or that I, but I would have no idea what I would communicate about the Canadian Beef Association, because I don't eat it and I don't have any concept of it. So it's the same with like aligning myself with a Raging Trumper client. I would never do that because I have no interest in promoting whatever the heck you're doing or like you're Elon Muskness or whatever the hell. So I'm a big proponent of like, yeah, share your political leanings like as a personal person, personal person, online so I can know because it's a good way to weed out, and that maybe is an onboarding process too, is that I look at people's socials, I look and see like outside of their business. Because like if you're, if what you're representing on your business goes completely against who you are as a person and what you're promoting on your personal accounts, I also don't want to work with you.Alyssa Berry: [00:40:50] So, and people do that with me too, like, I mean, I'm sure there's people who are like, oh my God, you're like a raging leftist. I'm like, I'm not really a leftist, but I guess if you're like a Trumper, that would seem appropriate. But yeah, I don't want to work with you. Like, yeah, you can weed me out too, like, have at her. So that's the other thing is like, yeah, not being like all besties and like therapists with your clients, but also working with people who you align with and align with your values is really important, because if you're trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, like if you're like, can you imagine, like working with, like an anti-abortion organization?Dakota Kidby: [00:41:27] And even if I was like managing their like working on a strategy for call it like their flower shop, and I found out that they were like doing that on the weekend, I would just feel really uncomfortable and I wouldn't want to be aligned with it. That's the other thing. Yeah, like we've had a couple of clients over the years contact us to work with them. And just like the alignment wasn't there based off of a value standpoint. So, but yeah, I think like the final thing I would leave with you guys in terms of, or that we would leave with you guys in terms of like the processes, that your exit process is just as important as your onboarding. So clients are going to go. Everything ends eventually. So just having a really thorough exit process as well, like a nice questionnaire or conversation around like how was the work? Could we have done anything better? Can we get our testimonial, whether it's like a video testimonial or a quote or we're going to prepare a case study. You know, we're going to put that on our website. We'd love for you to, like, spread the word when we post about it on LinkedIn and tag you. So just taking that opportunity to to get that word, and then a referral, maybe offering them like, hey, if you know, things went so well with us, so if you refer to us, we will give you, you know, 10% off your next service or, you know, we would really love a referral. So that's your opportunity.Alyssa Berry: [00:42:48] Yeah. And that's also where that whole piece about here's all of the stuff we worked on, there's your Google Drive, and after this, like I'm not responsible, so don't like send me an email in seven months. Be like, whatever. Can I get a copy of that? Like, yeah.Dakota Kidby: [00:43:05] And it's the opportunity to get removed off their social channels too, which you absolutely should do, and tell them to change their passwords.Alyssa Berry: [00:43:10] You need to get removed.Dakota Kidby: [00:43:11] Yeah. That's right.Alyssa Berry: [00:43:12] Yes. So I mean it's sort of closing the loop and like sending a nice thank you. I've done that in the past, too, for clients is like sent them a bottle of wine to their office or whatever as like a thanks for working with each other and blah, blah, blah, like, always those things because even if it didn't entirely end on the best terms, like if something happened or if maybe the contract ended early for various different reasons, like it wasn't someone's fault, it's just timing or budget or whatever, always be the bigger person because again, you don't know who people know.Dakota Kidby: [00:43:46] Always be the bigger person and just be professional. Stay in your lane, keep your head down. You know, live in your lane.Alyssa Berry: [00:43:55] And that's how, like, Dakota and I have had clients for three, four, five, whatever years. Like you treat people well and do good work, and they will stick around because even if they threaten, like and I've had clients threaten from time to time to be like, well, I think we're going to RFP for this, and I'm like, cool.Dakota Kidby: [00:44:13] Yeah, if you need some fresh blood, I get it. One thing I will say, though, someone, an old boss of mine taught me this, and I think it is some of the best advice I've ever gotten. She said to me, help people in a way that you would never expect anything back. And so I think just from a community standpoint, and if a client has left your roster, but maybe they reach out just for like a quick piece of advice, highly recommend knowing when to differentiate from like, okay, this, I'm going to give you this my time or, you know, or like, oh, it's a big ask so I have to charge for it. Like, I, Alyssa and I are big on like, being there for people where it's appropriate. And of course, this community, Ladies Who Launch is all about that. It's about supporting people who don't have sounding boards and teams, and they need community to thrive. And I'll never forget, I asked a fellow provider for some advice one time, and she was like, well, I'm very busy and I have kids and like, my time is very precious to me, so I do have to charge you for this hour that we're going to chat. And at the time, I remember I was livid. I was like, what a, you know, like, I can't believe she would charge. What the heck? Then as time went on and people started to ask me for things, it was like, oh yeah, a five minute conversation or connection point, no problem. An introduction, no problem. Quick piece of advice, absolutely no worries. Even if it is an hour long conversation, as long as it feels good in my gut. But there are opportunities where, yeah, it's completely appropriate to charge for your time as you become a subject matter expert in something. And now looking back, I'm like, you go, girl, I really shouldn't have been offended. So just knowing when it's time to lend a hand and just be kind versus, you know, charging for your time.Alyssa Berry: [00:46:08] Yeah. Because that's the other thing you learn as grizzled veterans and running businesses is that your time is worth a lot.Dakota Kidby: [00:46:15] It's worth something. Absolutely.Alyssa Berry: [00:46:17] And you can give that time away to the things that you value to give your time to. But for every rando who wants to have to pick your brain for half an hour...Dakota Kidby: [00:46:29] If you're getting those requests like 20 times a week. That being said, too, I will admit, like, I've even caught myself asking for too much sometimes from friends and people that I have in my circle. And yeah, it's, you know, you think that it's okay, but you do have to be respectful of people's time and stuff like that. So with that, we hope that this has been helpful and we would love to hear more from you guys. If you want to know, if you've had any like process mishaps or blow ups, we would love to hear from you guys. So just DM us on Instagram at Ladies Who Launch Pod or send us an email at Ladies Who Launch Pod at gmail.com and we'll see you in two weeks.Alyssa Berry: [00:47:14] Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Ladies Who Launch.Dakota Kidby: [00:47:18] Don't forget to hit the subscribe button and give us five stars anywhere you listen to podcasts. Honestly guys, if you can do that for us, we would be so thankful. It's how we grow our podcast and the more subscriptions and the more five stars we get, the better. So thank you so much for supporting us and we'll see you next time on Ladies Who Launch.

Joël and thoughtbot colleague Sally Hall set out to find an answer to the question, what exactly are the differences between paper data structures and digitals ones? They compare the different ways humans store and access data, from rolodexs to the dewey decimal system, browsing a system vs searching it, and how the digital age has changed the way we assess and look at data stored in those systems. — Change your organisational workflow and get yourself a Rolodex! (https://www.rolodex.com/contact-management.html) Find out more about the Dewey Decimal System (https://esu.libguides.com/dewey). Your guest this week has been Sally Hall (linkedin.com/in/sallyannahall), and your host for this episode has been thoughtbot's own Joël Quenneville (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-quenneville-96b18b58/). If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page (https://github.com/sponsors/thoughtbot), or check out our website (https://bikeshed.thoughtbot.com). Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@bikeshed.fm This has been a thoughtbot (https://thoughtbot.com/) podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@thoughtbot/streams) - LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/150727/) - Mastodon (https://thoughtbot.social/@thoughtbot) - BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/thoughtbot.com) © 2025 thoughtbot, inc.

Episode 214: Big Dad Energy, Budget Battles & Bingo NightsThis week on the Top Dad Podcast, we're bringing the laughs and the life lessons. Ken and Matt share Big Daddy Parenting Tips, dive into St. Patrick's Day ☘️ shenanigans, and recap a wild game of Grandparents Bingo.We're talking real dad stuff: budgeting wins (and fails), dieting struggles, and all the ancient tech our kids just don't get—telephones, fax machines, and even the ol' Rolodex. Plus, a little early morning radio trivia with the kids before school.Parenting, nostalgia, and classic dad humor—just the way you like it.Thanks for listening to the Top Dad Podcast! Don't forget to subscribe for new episodes, leave a review, and share our podcast with other awesome dads or mediocre dads (seriously, they probably need us the most).... ☑️ Got a question or a topic you want us to cover? Email us at topdadpodcast@gmail.com or follow us on social media for updates and wonderfully crafted dad jokes by going to TopDadpod.com "Stay awesome, dads—because nobody rocks the dad bod on the #1 dad pod like the Top Dads

In this episode of Power Producers Shoptalk, David Carothers dives into a crucial topic that every agency principal and producer need to hear: Producer Compensation and Producer Equity. Joining him is Colby Allen, VP of Agency Consulting and Valuation for Agency Brokerage Consultants, who brings his expert insight into the complexities of agency compensation models, including how to attract and retain top-producing talent through the right mix of pay and equity. David shares his personal experiences transitioning from the retail industry into insurance, and how those early struggles shaped his approach to compensation and agency culture. Colby, on the other hand, provides an objective perspective based on working with hundreds of independent agencies, and discusses what truly drives success for producers in today's competitive market. Key Highlights: Producer Compensation Models David and Colby discuss the wide variation in compensation plans across agencies, emphasizing the need to align producer pay with long-term agency success. Setting Producers Up for Success Colby highlights the importance of systems and support to enable producers to thrive, rather than just offering a higher commission rate. The Role of Producers Beyond Sales David talks about the frustration of producers being given a Rolodex without adequate training or leadership, while Colby stresses the broader role producers play in maintaining relationships. The Impact of Agency Margins Colby explains how agency margins influence compensation. Agencies with more resources can offer lower commissions while still helping producers succeed. Equity as a Retention Tool Colby discusses how offering equity or ownership can help retain top talent, with clear agreements in place for buy-sell terms. The Entrepreneurial Producer Mindset David and Colby emphasize that good producers want more than a paycheck—they want the opportunity for growth and ownership. Connect with: David Carothers LinkedIn ·         Colby Allen LinkedIn Kyle Houck LinkedIn Visit Websites: Power Producer Base Camp Killing Commercial Agency Brokerage Crushing Content Power Producers Podcast Policytee The Dirty 130 The Extra 2 Minutes

Send us a textSimon and Lee don't talk about Adolescene (yet), spend way too long discussing Reacher (again), before discussing whether we become kinder with age. Things covered: Lee guesses Adolescence, finishing off the Reacher series (and just how bad it is), reading all the Reacher novels, trying to remember Duffy's name from Reacher, the Yankees and the Redsox, Stephen Tin Tin Duffy, founding member of Duran Duran (Lee reads out a bunch of stuff from wikipedia), not talking about Deliverance, becoming kinder with age (or not), a Rolodex, intransigence, Lee's parents getting kinder to Bob and the first time they met her, becoming more ourselves, being comfortable acknowledging our struggles, forgetting people's names, growing into ourselves, getting kinder to ourselves, watching people die, the sense of being connected and part of the human race, the desire to be happy. Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Rolodex. Late Night TV Shows.

This week, we take a magical journey into WVLO's production of Pippin! From dazzling choreography to standout performances, we break down what made this production shine. Plus, we reveal our final rating and, most importantly, Sarah adds a brand-new joke to her ever-growing Rolodex of comedy. Don't miss this one—it's got spectacle, laughs, and a little bit of existential crisis.

What started as one day of work turned into 16 seasons as the pianist, arranger, vocal coach, and Associate Musical Director for American Idol. Not only has Michael Orland had a hand in the success of the leading names from Idol, he has also worked with a Rolodex of names that includes Kristen Bell, Sabrina Carpenter, Lynda Carter, Kristin Chenoweth, Ariana Grande, Marilu Henner, Jennifer Holliday, Roslyn Kind, Barry Manilow, Maureen McGovern, Idina Menzel, Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Ann Miller, and the legendary Kaye Ballard, just to name a few. Even though he has been front and center on stage and on television, he remains humble, always in awe of the power of music. This month, he released his debut piano solo album, In My Life, a celebration of piano covers of songs that have played a key role in his life.In this episode, we talk about his early love for music, dropping out of school and heading to New York City, his early breaks in the business, getting onto American Idol, getting starstruck and working with the best, his open mic nights, his debut album In My Life, and so much more…check it out.  Hosted by Alexander Rodriguez @AlexanderisOnAirYou can check out our in-depth chat with him at GEDMag.com 

In this episode of Topline, we sit down with Ryan Burke, VP of Sales at CyberArk (former VP of Sales at Zilla Security), to dive deep into the $175 million acquisition of Zilla. Ryan shares what it's really like to navigate an exit in today's market—from the unexpected nature of M&A deals to the grueling due diligence process and the tough decisions that founders and executives face. We also explore the evolving cybersecurity landscape, why big platforms are scooping up smaller companies earlier, and how AI is both a threat and an opportunity in the industry. Plus, we discuss the power of trusted networks in sales, whether the "Rolodex hire" is making a comeback, and how partnerships are shaping go-to-market strategies.   Thanks for tuning in! Want more content from Pavilion?    New episodes of Topline drop every Sunday with new Topline Spotlight mini-episodes every Thursday. Subscribe to never miss an episode.   Stay ahead with the latest industry developments, emerging go-to-market trends, and valuable benchmarking data. Subscribe to Topline Newsletter for GTM insights from Asad Zaman every Thursday.   Tune into The Revenue Leadership Podcast with Kyle Norton every Wednesday. He dives deep into the strategies and tactics that drive success as a revenue leader, featuring real operators like Jason Lemkins of SaaStr, Stevie Case of Vanta, and Ron Gabrisko of Databricks.   Your're invited! Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders, share insights, and keep the conversation going beyond the podcast!   Key Chapters: (00:00) - The Exciting Exit of Zilla Security (07:40) - Navigating the Acquisition Process (16:19) - The Impact of Market Conditions on Startups (25:04) - Sales Team Dynamics During Transitions (32:32) - Trends in Cybersecurity and AI's Role (35:20) - Navigating Cybersecurity Challenges (38:38) - Mergers and Acquisitions in Cybersecurity (40:32) - The Impact of AI on Cybersecurity (43:14) - The Role of Trusted Networks in Sales (49:06) - Innovative Partnerships and Their Importance (01:00:01) - Effective Communication in Professional Settings  

Tom Luddy was a quiet titan of cinema. He presided over the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley for some 10 years, co-founded and directed The Telluride Film Festival for nearly 50 years, produced some 14 movies, match-made dozens of international love affairs, and foraged for the most beautiful, political, important, risky films and made sure there was a place for them to be seen in the world. And that the people making this powerful work were known and knew each other. Tom Luddy with his photographic memory, his infinite rolodex, his encyclopedic knowledge of global cinema and his catalytic ability to connect people, caused the most unusual of collaborations to come to be. Tom championed the French New Wave, the Czech New Wave, Brazilian cinema novo, dissident Soviet cinema, directors Francis Coppola, Jean-Luc Godard, Werner Herzog, Agnes Varda, Les Blank, Paul Schrader, Agnieszka Holland, Barry Jenkins, Laurie Anderson and countless others.Tom passed away on February 13, 2023. There's a giant hole in the screen without him here. But his DNA is in the hundreds of filmmakers, musicians, writers and activists he nurtured and inspired.The Tom Luddy Connection: The Man, The Movies, The Rolodex was produced by Evan Jacoby and The Kitchen Sisters (Davia Nelson & Nikki Silva) in collaboration with Brandi Howell and Nathan Dalton. Mixed by Jim McKee.

In this episode of the IC-DISC show, I speak with Tim Loney about his transition from airline industry professional to IT services entrepreneur. He shares his path from working at Continental Airlines through major mergers to establishing Solutions Information Systems, explaining how his experience with severance packages motivated his shift into entrepreneurship. We discuss the importance of business continuity planning, particularly for companies in hurricane-prone areas. Tim tells me about a Houston client whose facilities experienced severe flooding, highlighting how proper data recovery systems made a crucial difference in their ability to resume operations. Managing sensitive data is a key topic in our conversation, as Tim's company works with high-net-worth families, family office sectors, as well as companies in a variety of industries. He explains how word-of-mouth referrals have helped build trust with these clients who require careful handling of confidential information. The conversation turns to Tim's approach to business acquisition, where he focuses on purchasing IT firms from retiring owners. He describes his method of maintaining and growing these businesses post-purchase while sharing insights about how remote management tools have transformed IT services over the past 35 years.     SHOW HIGHLIGHTS I discussed Tim's career evolution from working in the airline industry with Continental Airlines and American Express to establishing his own IT services firm, Solutions Information Systems, in Houston, Texas. Tim shared insights on how his managed IT services company has established a national presence by utilizing robust remote management tools and enterprise-class processes. We explored the importance of business continuity and rapid data recovery, highlighted by a story of a Houston-based company that faced severe flooding and required effective disaster recovery solutions. Tim's firm specializes in managing sensitive data for high-income families in construction and family office sectors, emphasizing the importance of trust and credibility built through word-of-mouth referrals. We discussed Tim's strategy for acquiring small businesses from retiring owners, focusing on enhancing the value of these businesses post-acquisition to ensure continued growth. Tim reflected on his entrepreneurial journey from modest beginnings, emphasizing the significance of diversifying income sources and the evolving importance of data protection in the digital age. The episode concluded with an exploration of the evolution of office communication over the last 35 years, showcasing the technological advancements that have redefined the IT industry.   Contact Details LinkedIn- Tim Loney (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sis-tloney/) LINKSShow Notes Be a Guest About IC-DISC Alliance About Solutions Informations Systems GUEST Tim LoneyAbout Tim TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dave: Hey, good afternoon, Tim. Welcome to the podcast. Tim: Hi, Dave, good to see you. Dave: So where are you calling in from today? What part of the world are you in? Tim: I'm in Houston, Texas, just north of Houston, in the Tomball area. Dave: Okay. Tim: Up in our corporate headquarters for the company. Dave: Okay, and now are you a native Houstonian. Tim: I am not. I'm not a native Houstonian. I should be probably classified as a native Houstonian because I've been here for about 35 years or more. Dave: Okay. Tim: But my background is I migrated from Canada the day before my 21st birthday. Dave: Oh, you did. Tim: Yeah, I became a permanent resident here in the United States. And what caused you to want to do that? The economy was pretty bad in Canada at that time and I was working for a commercial airline that had gone through a severance package and they released me with my severance package and I said you know, maybe I should try another country, not just a job, but maybe another country. Dave: Okay, so when you came to Houston then did you stay in the airline? Tim: business I did. I worked for one of the large international airlines called Continental Airlines at the time, which has since been acquired by United Airlines. Dave: You know, to this day I can still tell a legacy Continental flight crew from a legacy United flight crew. Very different cultures, very different cultures, or, as I say, the Continental folks are nice and the United folks are not so nice. Tim: Correct, yeah, I was there during the heavy competition years between Continental Airlines and United. I was actually there in the process with Continental Airlines during a very large merger and acquisition of multiple carriers. We acquired Frontier, people Express and New York Air and put them all under the umbrella of Continental Airlines. So I was there during those years. Dave: Okay, so were you there in the late 90s. So were you there in the late 90s. Tim: I was there from 1985 to 1990. Dave: Okay, yeah, I was only asking because I'd worked at an executive search firm in the late 90s and we worked with Continental during their like, go forward initiative or move forward initiative. Tim: Yep the go forward plan with Gordon Blithoon. He was Yep. Dave: Yep, that was it. So then you left the airline business. What did you decide to go do then? Tim: So I left the airline business and I went to work for one of the largest credit card companies in the world called American Express. Dave: Okay, I think I've heard of them. Tim: Yep and because I had a lot of automation knowledge of how the airlines work. From an automation standpoint, American Express was interested in me and understanding the automation behind the airlines and travel agency systems and they brought me in to be a systems person for the airlines to help them in kind of standardizing a lot of procedures within American Express. Dave: Okay, well, that sounds like a fun opportunity. Tim: Yeah, very rewarding, very educational. I learned so much during my term at American Express. Dave: Okay, but you decided that at some point you wanted to unfurl your wings and see what you could do on your own. Is that right? Tim: unfurl your wings and see what you could do on your own. Is that right? Yeah, you know now that I look back at it. You know I was. I grew up in a family where you were encouraged to go work for a large organization and a big fortune 100 firm, and through your entire life, and leave with a gold Rolex watch and have a great retirement plan. Dave: Yeah. Tim: But as I followed that path, I found myself continuing to get severance packages over and in my experience with the Fortune 100s I received three or four severance packages and those packages kind of educated me on that. It was maybe not the right gig for me and, you know, I was smart enough to be able to exit out of the Fortune 100s and do something on my own, and that's when I decided to start my organization. Dave: Okay, and what's your company called? Tim: So my company is Solutions Information Systems Solutions IS to abbreviate it and we are a managed service provider of IT services across the United States, managing about 175 customers across the US oh wow. Dave: That's interesting. I would have thought you'd have your clients would all be in the Houston area. I guess this newfangled internet thing lets you serve clients remotely. Is that, I guess, how it works? Tim: Yeah, yeah, and we can talk a little bit about what makes us so successful, but the ability to manage and monitor and remediate issues remotely has come a long ways over the years that I've been in IT. Now it's pretty much if you can't do that, why are you in this industry, right? So yeah, and you know it's a lot of like the entire work from home program that the whole world has kind of moved to. We have that ability to do exactly all of that stuff, not only from our corporate headquarters, but remotely as well. If one of our employees needs to work from home, they can do remotely as well. If one of our employees needs to work from home, they can do that as well. So it requires a massive tool set, and I'll refer probably to our tool set a lot, because that's what makes us successful, right Is the tool set that I've been able to put together and build a toolbox full of tools to be able to manage, secure, maintain these infrastructures that we're responsible for. Dave: Well. Tim: I thought IT service firms were. Dave: I thought that was a commodity service. I thought they're all the same. Tim: Oh no, there's quite a bit of difference in how these managed service providers operate and I'll tell you, I would consider us probably in the top 100 nationally and probably the top three in our region of service providers, and the reason I kind of give us that grade and that's a grade that I've given us is that we've been at this for 25 years. I started this practice 25 years ago. I started this practice 25 years ago and over those 25 years I not only brought in enterprise class processes and procedures from my 10 years at American Express, but I've improved upon those processes and procedures over those 25 years. Dave: And we continue to improve on those processes. Okay. Well, what? Yeah, I'm guessing that you're. The clients tend to stay with you for a pretty long time. Is that like until they sell or go out of business or some significant event occurs? Absolutely. Tim: Yeah, and that and that's the type of client that we want to have in our portfolio, right? This is not a consumable product that you go and buy once and go away this is a partnership with our customers. Dave: It really is. Tim: You have to think about the IT infrastructure of any business out there. It's number one, a foundational piece of the business, and it is an instrumental piece in continuing to do business right. A lot of conversations I have are around data protection and security, and that's a lot of what we do right Is how do we protect the data that the customer has and how do we make sure that it remains secure and that nobody compromises that data or extracts that data or modifies that data that's on their infrastructure. Dave: Okay, and I'm guessing you're not trying to be the low-cost provider. Tim: We are not the low-cost provider. I wouldn't say we're the most expensive organization out there, but we are in the higher side, and the reason that we're the higher side is we bring a huge value to an organization. There is a lot of components within the IT support model that our lower competitors don't provide or don't understand, and those are the weaknesses within an organization that will cost them considerable damage to an organization if they get exposed right. Dave: Yeah. Tim: And then kind of go through those if you want to cover some of that stuff. Like let's just give an example of a business continuity plan right. If a company doesn't have a business continuity plan, that should be something that they should have in place, and they should have worked with their IT service provider or internal IT team to make sure that they've got a business continuity plan. If they don't, when an event happens, it's a total dumpster fire right, because they don't know what to do and they're very disorganized and it takes them an extremely long time to be able to recover, if they recover at all. So that's one example. Another example is compliance. There's a lot of compliance that's out there and that compliance is in place for a reason. Compliance is in there because somehow something got compromised and this is a compliance requirement that you now have to be in compliance with. It may be an access control compliance thing. It might be a reporting compliance to a legal agency. Dave: So talk to me about the first thing you refer to as the disaster recovery plan or the disaster recovery and business continuity. Okay, so my listeners love stories, so could you give me an example, like of one of your clients you know anonymously, that maybe went through a situation or maybe a company who was not a client but after they had an issue they hired. You guys give us a sense of like the elements of a really good you know continuity plan. Tim: Sure. So I'll give you an example. I had a neighbor that was in my neighborhood that you know. We would see each other at the neighborhood community pool. Our kids would play together, you know weren't real close to them. But you know you get into the conversation of having hey, what do you do by? The way, and you know, I told him I ran a managed service provider, an IT service firm, and we manage customer networks and we keep them secure. Dave: And he goes oh, okay, okay, Well, we got a guy. Tim: We got a guy he's good, he's been with me for five years. At that point, and you know, and wow, that's great. Well, if we need anything we'll call you, right, the conversation went away and that was about 15 years later. So the guy had been working for him for 20 years managing his stuff, managing his infrastructure, managing his backups, making sure again going back to data protection and security making sure that everything was safe and secure and we could recover it. Well, lo and behold, 20 years later he calls me up it. Well, lo and behold, 20 years later he calls me up, not him, but his wife calls me up, and his wife, you know, worked in the business for a period of time but it exited out. She called me up. She said by the way, I still have your cell phone number. I'm wondering if you're still doing IT, was their question. Dave: Okay. Tim: And I returned back and I said absolutely, I'm still doing IT. What's going on? She goes well. He was afraid to call you because he's embarrassed and we were in a very bad situation. This is a second generation builder supply company, probably doing annual revenue about $10 to $15 million in annual revenue. Dave: I said OK, what's going on? Tim: And she goes. Well, we've been ransomed and our data has been held for ransom and we don't know what to do. And our IT guy doesn't know what to do and he is really stressed out. And so the next step was is like well, I can jump in and I can help you. Let me know if you need my assistance. But these type of scenarios we've worked with before and we know how to be able to either negotiate with the criminals and negotiate the ransom to a point where you can actually pay it. If that's your only option, that's your worst option. But if we can recover your data from some sort of backup, we can go through the recovery process. Kind of summarize it we spent that particular client was not a client at the time and so they didn't have any of our backup or recovery procedures in place. They didn't have any kind of policy in place. They didn't have retention policies, they didn't have off-site backups. They had a lot of things. They didn't have offsite backups. They had a lot of things that were missing in that internal IT person's procedure. So what happened was is we came in and we immediately got on site and determined that they were using tape backup, and this is like way tape backup had expired like a long time ago. They had tape backup, they had ancient equipment, it was really. They obviously had put no money investment into their IT. Okay, the recovery for that client was about a week and a half and we were able to recover about 90% of their data. So it comes down to what we call RTO or recovery time objective. The recovery time objective is how long will it take us to recover your network based on our backup and recovery procedures? That particular customer we were able to get back up. Like I said, it was an extended period of time that they were out and they weren't able to do stuff. They were writing sales orders on paper and going back to a paper process. So they could continue their business, but we did get them back up and operational. We got them recovered and they became a customer and today we run very successful trials of the recovery system, as well as continue to make sure that their data is protected and secure. Dave: Did they end up paying the ransom they? Did not Because you got them close enough to 100%. Tim: We got them close enough where they had physical paper backup of the information that they were able to put back into the system. Dave: Okay, now help me understand the other end of that spectrum with somebody who was a current client that something like that happened to, and what was the difference as far as how long it took before you had them up and running? Tim: Well, you know, our current clients knock on wood have not experienced that. Dave: Because they've got a tighter IT infrastructure. Tim: Right, we've got the security and controls and again going back to the tool set to detect and have early detection of these type of events before they happen. So we have the security operations center that is constantly monitoring the security of the networks and the access to the networks and they look for anything that's kind of out of order. Dave: When something's out of order. Tim: then we identify it. We either isolate that system or we investigate it further and see is this a normal procedure that should be going or not? A normal procedure and a lot of this stuff is becoming part of AI now. Part of the AI capabilities is to be able to identify those things very early and stop them before they get any further into the network. So prevention is obviously a whole lot better than remediation. Right and that's what companies hire us to do is to prevent anything like that, a catastrophic event, from happening. Dave: Okay. Well, what about something that's more like a hurricane hits and wipes out their building? I assume you've had some kind of like natural disaster kind of thing where you've had to enact a continuity plan. Tim: Yep, yep, yep, absolutely so. Hurricanes here in the Gulf Coast of Texas, with the Gulf Coast of Texas being in a hurricane zone, we've had customers that their facilities have gone underwater. So one particular customer was on the south side of Houston and their facility went about five feet underwater. They, interestingly enough, had the server on a brick, thinking it was high enough. Well, it wasn't quite high enough, it was a foot off the ground, but it needed to be five feet off the ground. So that server went underwater and it was on when it went underwater. So it shorted out a lot of the components on the server, in which case, you know, they were like we don't know what to do In that scenario. We actually brought the hardware to our facility and we found out what component had failed and we replaced that component on the system and we were able to recover that system oh, wow, okay yeah, that's what we always want to do, is we want to try to use local recovery as much as possible just because of bandwidth or um, no, because of the time it takes to get the data transferred over from a replication process right. Gotcha If you're dealing with terabytes of data. You have to transfer that terabytes of data from either our data center facility or a cloud infrastructure, and that can be time consuming. That can be hours, if not days, depending upon the data. Okay, so some great stories. I mean, obviously we've had events happen. It's not uncommon for events to happen, but how we handle those events and how quickly we can recover from them is critical to a business to continue business for our customers and they can get back to business and be doing what they're doing selling things, manufacturing things, distributing things, whatever it is Okay. Dave: And are there any particular industries that you have, like you know, kind of particular expertise in where you know you would say that people in this industry might look out to you for yeah? Tim: There is. We're a very horizontal organization so we do have multiple industries that we play in. So we do play in the construction industry A lot of construction firms are in our portfolio, but also kind of an area where we've proven to have not only expertise in what we do but also the trust factor is in family offices. Dave: Oh, really Okay. Tim: Yeah, either high income families or ultra high income families. Obviously the privacy of those organizations, the privacy of the families, absolutely critical, and then the data that they're working with has high confidentiality. So, you know again, if that information was to leak out of the network or leak out of the system, then it would be a serious issue. So we've dealt with some of the highest wealth families in the world, oh interesting. Yep Obviously can't name them, but some brands that you would know, some organizations that you would know. It's amazing when I look at our portfolio, the amount of business like when I'm driving around town and I see companies around town and I'm like been in that building, worked in that customer, handled that particular customer, things like that. So yeah, you know, it's our high income or ultra high income. Families are probably a good percentage of our business. Okay, because they have multiple entities that we can support, consistent across all of those entities. So it's very standardized the way we do our business and very proceduralized so it makes it easy for them to understand. They get a quarterly report that provides them with the details and data that they know what we did for them previously and then we also forecast with a forecasting budget in the October November timeframe to provide them with a forecast so they can budget for their future IT needs and know what they're going to need replaced in the future. Dave: Okay, so was this just a case? You happened to stumble across, you know one of these family offices and then you know they run in the same circles and we're just got around that you guys were the go-to folks. Tim: I will say it has helped right In the. You know, in that particular market referrals are a huge thing. Our first family office we did stumble across. We didn't know we were working with an entity, one of their businesses, and then we, you know, they introduced us to another piece of their business and then they introduced us to the family office. You know we're having troubles with, you know, my buddy, my other firm over here, and we'd like you to kind of help in that area. So that expanded out quite a bit. And you know, again, there couldn't be. Our organization has to be the most trusted organization as a vendor that any company is going to hire, right? Sure, because you have to think about the access to the data that we have. We have access to absolutely everything. We're the administrator of your network, right? We have access to your email account. We have access to your email account. We have access to your employees' email accounts. We have access to your data, your financial data, your payroll data, your bonus data, all of the data that's out there on the network we have full access to. So you have to trust our team to the utmost in order to keep that information private, and I always approach a customer with. We're here responsible to secure and maintain that data. We're not here to look at what that data is. We don't know what that data is. Okay. Dave: Well, that's interesting here. I thought I figured you picked up that first client when you were on your mega yacht at the Cannes Film Festival. It didn't work that way. Tim: Huh, no it didn't work that way. No, it didn't work that way. I don't have a mega yacht and I wasn't at the festival, so okay, okay, yeah, not that I don't enjoy that stuff. I do have a house over at tpc, sawgrass and the players club and I do enjoy the country club life. You know I probably have the least expensive house in the neighborhood but I do enjoy the life. Dave: So nice, nice, I like it. So what do your clients tell you that makes your firm unique, like folks that have moved from another firm to yours, then they've been with you a while and I imagine you'll have a conversation hey, how's it going from your end? Are we meeting your expectations? I imagine you have conversations like that. What are they? What are? Are there any common themes? When they end up comparing you to the prior provider, they had, or how does that go? Tim: Yeah, there's a couple of scenarios there on why customers come to us and leave their current service provider right. One of the biggest things that I found with a customer that may be using a smaller service provider is they are really good at the tech stuff. They're not good at the business or the accounting side of the business, sure. So there's a delay in billing or an inaccuracy in billing and it's all of a sudden they get a stack of invoices three months later for work that was performed that they have no idea whether it got performed or what, and so there's a huge problem with the office operations of those particular service providers. So there's a pain point there and they're like I'm done, they come to me and they go, I'm done, this guy doesn't bill me. And then he bills me all at once, and then I got to try and back that information back into my financials and it totally screws up my forecast and my monthly reporting. So that's one reason that customers come to us. The other one is they don't get a response or the response is like unpredictable. So when they call in, they may get the guy right away, they may get the person like return their call the next day or three days later, so response time is really huge. I have a service desk here that is operated 24 hours a day, so our first level response is within minutes. So if you call my office, you'll get a response within minutes. If not on the first ring, it'll probably be the second or third ring. Dave: Oh, wow. Tim: Yeah, very rarely does any of our calls sit on hold or back up in the queue, so that's one way that customers come to us. The other way that customers come to us is that we have acquired eight other companies in the past 25 years. Dave: Oh, wow. Tim: Yeah, we completed our last acquisition in 2024. And we've gone out and found other service providers that may be struggling. They may not have the right business acumen to be able to run the business, so they're either marginally making money or they're losing money because they don't have the standard operating procedures that we have in place and the true business acumen to be able to run the service as a company. They've got customers, they're doing the work, they're getting paid, but they're not profitable. So we end up with firms like that that have come in through acquisitions. Dave: So yeah, I can see that and that's probably where your American Express background was helpful. Right Because you've had exposure to, you know, enterprise grade operations billing HR. Right operations billing HR right To where? Because American Express strikes me as just a well-run, well-oiled machine? Tim: Absolutely yeah, and I will say yeah, I will give them credit for that. You know it was a great run over there for 10 years and I learned not only about you know my job role and continuing to build on my experience in my job role, but how a company operates from a branding perspective, in branding your organization and keeping that brand consistent, but also in standard operating procedures and standardized deployment of systems. Right. I always refer back to not only my American Express days but the Southwest Airline days of standardization. If you can standardize the particular piece of your business that you're running, then it makes it so much easier. So we have standard software applications that we put out from a security tool set. We have standard equipment that we sell out to our customers, all on the Dell platform. My team is trained on the Dell hardware. They're trained on the tools that we use. The security tools, the management tools and all of those things integrate together to make a successful business. Dave: And again it goes back to enterprise level policies and procedures and way things that are, you know, repeating things that are successful you know, repeating things that are successful, okay Well, it sounds like like the first two parts of your success just seem mind blowing to me how you thought of this. But answer the phone when clients call and invoice timely Wow, I mean that's, that's quite a that's quite as. I mean I can't believe, to be honest, that you shared that secret sauce with me. I mean, my goodness, I mean that's. If you're not careful, there'll be other companies will start answering the phone and invoicing timely with that, you know inside knowledge. Tim: Yeah, I hope that we can improve the rest of the service providers out there, right. Dave: Sure. Tim: Competition is good. I like competition. It keeps us going. It gives us something to work towards as well. Dave: Yeah, so you talked a bit about some of the acquisitions and it sounds like you're kind of in a place where you're always open to the right acquisition. What are kind of the ideal characteristics of like the ideal acquisition? I'm guessing you're not going to try to acquire like E&Y's consulting group. I'm guessing you're looking for smaller operations than that. Tim: Yeah for sure you know. So an organization, the organizations we have acquired, have been anywhere from a half a million dollars to two million dollars in revenue. Those organizations the owners may be getting older, they may be getting ready to retire and they're not sure what they want to do with their business. What they do know is that they don't want to continue to run it Right and that it's marginally. They're making the same amount of money or less than if they had a corporate job Right. So it's sad to see, because they love what they do right and they want to place their customers in with a firm that has a similar culture, that takes care of their customers and really make sure that they're doing the right thing for their customers. So a firm that might be in a half million dollars to two million dollars in annual revenue, or the firm might be a five employee firm or smaller, and that they're getting to that point where they're kind of tired of running the organization and they'd like to transfer. They've taken care of their customers over the years and they've made relationships with those customers over the years and they like to put them with an organization that will take care of those customers and make it a seamless transition for the customer base sure, and I bet, I bet these sellers would probably be shocked if they were able to come in and look at the finances of their business like two years after you've acquired it. Dave: Right, because I'm guessing? Tim: Historically, yes, I will tell you, in probably at least half of those transactions that we've done in the either 12-month or 24-month payout period, they've made more money in that 12-month or 24-month period than they've made in the last three to four years. Dave: Oh, because that earn out ends up being a function of how much you bill over those 12 to 20. And you dramatically increase the revenues, so they're automatically getting participation in that. Absolutely. If they'd known that they would have sold to you 20 years earlier. They just wanted to work for you had their payout and then just become an employee. Right, they want to come out way ahead. Exactly, yeah. Tim: Yeah, now it's really good to see that. I mean, you know, that's one of the things that my competitors don't do. They try to come in and offer this ridiculous number for a business and then the earn out. They beat them up on the earn out and end up with anything. They end up with an initial payment and then maybe they'll get an earn out, maybe they they'll get an earn out, maybe they won't get an earn out, but they're going to tell them how horrible their organization was and how bad the customer base was and how it's not profitable and you know, it's just not how I do business. Dave: Yeah, and I'm having done. Did you say eight acquisitions? Correct, yeah, I'm guessing you've done enough now. That now you have the ability Correct? Yeah, I'm guessing you've done enough now that now you have the ability, the same way that I understand you know when Berkshire Hathaway acquires a at that same point. Now You've got enough success stories that you can point to those as another differentiator, right? Tim: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. We're not at the Berkshire Hathaway point, but we got a couple under our belt and a couple of examples that we can refer back to and have some validation around our acquisition process. Dave: Yeah, because I'm just like, as I'm just playing through some hypothetical numbers, like you know, if a company had, say and you don't have to confirm these, but say a company was doing half a million in revenue, the profit is say you know 50 grand and you buy them, is say you know 50 grand and you buy them, and it wouldn't surprise me if, like, two years later, you know that revenue number doubled and the profitability number like quintupled probably, and or you just you know dramatic increase. Just because you know I mean, quite frankly, you just have a better run business model but they had you're able to plug them in and so that's absolutely our goal. Tim: Yeah, and so your win isn't so much we like to see play out right. Dave: Yeah, and so your win isn't like other folks where you promise the moon and then you figure out all of these ways to not pay them. It sounds like your process is just like hey, because in your mind, being a strategic buyer, that business is worth way more to you. You know two years later, once you've done your magic to it, that business is worth way more and so you're okay paying them on an earn out, on a growing revenue number that maybe they didn't even contribute to, because at the end you know, as a I mean like on the front end you might pay, say you know, one times revenue, let's say just to pull a number out but by the time you get to the end of it, if the business is doubled and the profitability is quadrupled, you really ended up paying only one third or one half revenue. And so all of a sudden, whether you know found a way to squeeze them to where the imputed value you paid was one third annual billings or it was half of annual billings really doesn't matter, because the real value for you is like, year three after the earn out. You've got this great profitable book of business that you know you didn't pay much for in comparison to what it's worth two, three years later in your enterprise. Is that right that's? correct, yep, absolutely but the reason you didn't pay much, though, in in all honesty, was because the business wasn't very valuable. Tim: And it really wasn't right. Dave: Yeah, I mean they had owner value. Tim: Street value had a zero valuation on it right. Dave: Yeah, they had probably owner concentration risk. They may have had customer concentration risk, poor processes systems. You know the type of company that you know. There weren't people beating their door down to buy their because, effectively, you're just buying a job. If you bought that business, all right. How much do you pay for a job? Most people don't want to pay very much for a job. Now, what do you look for in an employee, just like you know the most techie person you can find. Is that really all that matters? Tim: No, it's not necessarily you know the most skilled technical guy out there, right? So one of the strategies that we have and maybe I shouldn't share that because my competitors may hear it, but we are a strong supporter of our veterans, so we have veterans that work in our organization. We're probably a 75 percent veteran organization. Dave: Oh, wow, ok yeah. Tim: Yeah, and we enjoy that. They come to us with technical skills and abilities but we build upon those we really do Right and we develop those particular individuals to be much better at what they do. But having our veterans on our team has been hugely successful from a reliability standpoint, as well as a dedication standpoint and the understanding to be able to follow orders as given, right Okay. So that's how we've been able to do that and our retention rate is extremely high. I would say that our culture is very good. We're very family oriented. We're very you know when work has to get done, work has to get done. But we also realize that the family comes first and there's family things that come in the way that need to be addressed. Right. You can't. Your kid gets sick. You have to go take care of your kid, you can't be at your job, right? Those kinds of things and being able to balance that. That was one of my challenges at American Express. I was a new father in my ninth year at American Express and I realized that, even though it was written in the book and preached on the values of the company, when it came time to actually exercise that it wasn't as flexible as I had hoped I was like you know. This is another reason I kind of need to get out. I need to raise my daughter and I need to, you know, and I plan to have other children. So family values and longevity of employees, it makes a huge difference you have to think about. If you have an IT guy in your organization and they're only there for a year or two years, they've gained a little bit of knowledge about your business and how it operates and what computer systems are, what systems and software you're using in your business. They get intellectual knowledge right that walks out the door when that employee leaves or you release that employee. Dave: Yeah. Tim: With maintaining our staffing. I've got people on my team that have been with us 15 plus years and they have a history of our customers that is like you can't buy that right. Sure, you've got that knowledge of that network, of when it was built, like we've built some of these companies, so we know it from day one and what we've done to different applications and how we've modified them over the years. So just having that knowledge be maintained with your service provider is huge, so, and we can go back and look at you know, oh, here's a ticket from 15 years ago that I worked, that I resolved this issue, wow. Dave: And how do you know? You know, cause it sounds like the company has been growing both organically and through acquisition. How do you know when it's time to hire? Do you wait till? Like people are working a hundred hours a week in complaining and quitting. Tim: Is that? Dave: the point you say oh geez, we probably should get somebody hired and we should probably hire in a hurry. The first person we come across Is that your growth strategy? Tim: for your people? No, definitely not, definitely not. So we have a lot of KPIs in the business that we can measure the performance of our organization, and mainly that's around resource utilization. Okay, so we have a lot of tools in our toolbox that give us an indication of when an employee is overloaded or when they have too much on their plate, so we can shuffle that within the business and be able to see who's got the workload and who doesn't have the workload, be able to move things around within the organization. But then we can also look at our utilization levels and, number one, make sure that we're profitable with those utilization levels but also staff appropriately to those utilization levels and know when it's time right. It's like okay, we acquired a company with five big customers and we didn't get any employees with it. Do we have the bandwidth or do we need to increase our staffing? So we really have a lot of KPIs around measuring that to make sure that we don't stress our existing resources and we balance it out that our people are profitable but they're not overworked. Dave: Yeah, no, that makes sense. And then how do your new employees come to you? Is it referrals from other employees mostly, or no, we do have. Tim: I sit on the board for one of the technical colleges and I use that technical college as our you know more or less recruiting platform. We find the best of the students. You know the kids that are shining. You know they kids that are shining. You know they're showing up on time for their classes, they're interested in developing their skills and they're really, you know, the top students in the tracks right Okay. Yeah, and then we recruit them out of there. We recruit them in at our first level, our entry level, on our service desk team and we build them up in our organization over a period of time, so lots of opportunity for them to grow once they come into our organization. Dave: Yeah, that sounds like a great way to bring new folks on. You can train them the way you want trained with your processes and systems. Tim: And then keep them right. Keep them you can give them a growth path and keep them so that they can be. They can get better at what they do, get a higher compensation, be successful in life. There's nothing makes me happier as an owner than to see an employee grow from where they came in the day they started with us to being successful in life. Buying a home buying a car, having a family, all of those kinds of things right, those are really important for me. They're kind of like energy for me to see a person develop over the course of their career with our organization. Dave: Some of my guests. When I ask them, like what's the most satisfying or gratifying part of the job, it seems to fall into two categories. It's either the satisfaction they get from serving the customer or the satisfaction they get from watching their team grow. It sounds like you're probably more on that watching the team grow and that and then they. I think it was Herb Keller that had the idea of take care of your employees, and your employees will take care of your customers Absolutely. Is that right, that your satisfaction comes more from taking care of the employees, and then the happy customers are just an expected outcome? Tim: Yeah, that is a result, right, absolutely. So you know, when I started started this organization, I started in the spare bedroom of my house. Oh okay, I had two analog phone lines. One was for my phone and the other one was a backup phone line, but it was also used for my dial-up internet to be able to help, oh wow, remote into into customers. Right, and looking back, I walk in now to our operations center and we have a pretty impressive organization and a pretty impressive facility that we own. And walking in now I'm like, holy crap, what the heck did I build? Dave: right that's awesome. That's super satisfying right, super yeah I can imagine well I cannot believe how the time is flying by. I always tell my guests it's like the fastest hour of their life is being on the podcast. Tim: How are we going to fill that hour, Dave? Dave: Yeah, I know. So I've got just two questions just to wrap up. If you had a time machine and could go back and give some advice to like your 25 or 30 year old self, what advice might you give yourself? Tim: Ooh, that's a good question. I don't know. I don't know the answer to that. What do I give myself? I probably would have started my organization sooner. Dave: Bingo. That's the answer that 90% of the people have. Tim: Yeah, I would have started my organization sooner. I needed that enterprise expertise, but I would have started it sooner. Dave: Sure, yeah, it's yeah, because the funny thing when you're an employee and if you follow the career path that your family suggested is actually they think it's a low risk, safe career path. But it's actually a high risk path because you have a customer concentration issue, meaning you have one customer, your employer and, as you learned three or four times that if they decide they don't need you anymore, you basically lose 100% of your income. They don't need you anymore, you basically lose 100% of your income. So it's actually less risky to have you know, even if you're just doing like consulting and all yours, just like a contract employee working 10 hours a week for four different companies, doing whatever. I find that that's far less risky, because if one of the companies doesn't need you, then you know you've only lost a quarter of your revenue. Tim: Yeah, I call it a scenario of I get hired multiple times a month. I hope I never get fired, but occasionally I get fired. But it should have an impact. I like it Well. Dave: so here's my last question. So you're a naturalized Houstonian, like I, am Tex-Mex or barbecue. Tim: Ooh, I like both really well. But yeah, tex-mex thing. If I don't have Mexican at least once a week, I'm going through withdrawals okay, so Tex-Mex? Dave: yeah, now, one person answered that question. I borrowed this from somebody else. One person answered it. They told me about a Mexican restaurant that has great brisket and they make like brisket enchiladas and brisket tacos and brisket quesadillas and he said that was like the best of both worlds there. And I thought, boy, that sounds like it. Tim: Yeah, there's nothing better than a brisket taco, for sure. Dave: That is awesome, I make some of those myself. That is great. Well, hey, as we wrap up, is there anything? I did not ask you that you wish I had Tim. Tim: No, I'd like to close by saying I shared with my team today and I'm always trying to come up with something that I share with my team every day and today I came up with solutions as a defense system designed to protect the most critical assets of your business the data. I like to just kind of close with solutions I as a defense system designed to protect your most critical assets your data, think about think about if your business lost access to its data, regardless of the circumstance. If they lost access to the data, what would that do to your organization? That's what we protect from. That's what we protect from. That's what we protect from happening. Dave: Yeah, Charlie Munger talks about the number one key to recognizing a great business opportunity is finding a company who's riding a wave that's only going to grow and increase over time, Because really all they have to do is just stay on the wave. Well, that certainly has applied to you, right? Because 25 years ago you probably had some companies that said ah our data is not that important. You know, I've got a Rolodex with all my clients' phone number and email, and you know, so the importance of data has only increased during that time, right? Tim: Oh yeah, it's dramatically increased yeah. Dave: Well, it's also. Tim: Everybody trusts that data will be there when they're ready to use it. Dave: Yeah, well, and also the other fact is digitization right 25 years ago, most of their data may not have been digital, it may have been analog or paper or whatever, but now virtually everything is digitized, which makes the data even more important. Tim: I go back 35 years in this industry and when I go back and look at it, I replaced the inner office envelope. Oh yeah, people would type up a memo on a typewriter, put it in an inner office envelope and put whoever was going to and put it in their outbox and the mail guy would come by and pick it up. I replaced that guy. That's true? Dave: Well, that is awesome. Well, Tim, I really appreciate your time. This has really been fun and you've really given me kind of an insight into what makes a really well-run IT services firm operate. So I really appreciate your time. Tim: Yeah, I appreciate your time as well, Dave. Always good to chat with you and good to catch up and appreciate your time today as well. Thanks so much. Dave: All, right, yeah, you too. Special Guest: Tim Loney.

Hosted by Dr. Sarah Hensley, Specialized Social Psychologist, Attachment Theory Expert, and Founder & CEO of The Dating Decoder with Co-host Raina Butcher, Owner/CEO of Joyful Consulting, LLC. Welcome to "The Love Doc Podcast" where Host Dr. Sarah Hensley and her co-host Raina Butcher dive deep into the intricacies of love, attraction, attachment, relationships, and self-awareness. Dr. Hensley brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to help listeners navigate the complexities of modern romance. In each episode, Dr. Hensley tackles burning questions about love, relationships, and the mind's complexities, drawing from her psychological research, real-life experiences, and her own individual expertise, to provide insightful perspectives and practical advice.Episode 41: Friendship in Your Forties Friendship, like any other relationship, can be complex to navigate—especially as you grow, heal, and move toward attachment security. In this episode of The Love Doc Podcast, Dr. Sarah Hensley and co-host Raina Butcher take a deep dive into how friendships evolve once you've reached emotional security, why some friendships don't survive, and what true friendship really looks like.While the title suggests a focus on friendships in your 40s, this episode is relevant for anyone, regardless of age, because friendship dynamics shift as we mature, heal, and redefine our boundaries.How Friendships Change with Attachment SecurityDr. Hensley explains that once you achieve attachment security, your standards for friendship change. You become more intentional about the relationships you maintain, prioritizing mutual respect, peace, and personal growth. She breaks down what you will and won't stand for in friendships once you've reached this level of emotional health, including:• Setting Boundaries – You no longer tolerate one-sided friendships, lack of reciprocity, or emotional drain.• A No-Drama Policy – You disengage from gossip, toxicity, and unnecessary conflict.• Caring Less About What Others Think – You prioritize your inner peace over external validation.• Protecting Your Peace at All Costs – You release friendships that feel heavy, draining, or unsupportive.Personal Experiences & People-Pleasing in FriendshipsBoth Dr. Hensley and Raina open up about friendships they've lost after achieving attachment security. Raina shares that she's still struggling with people-pleasing tendencies in her friendships, and Dr. Hensley helps her unpack the root cause—attachment wounds that make it hard to say no or risk losing connection.Dr. Hensley emphasizes that true friendship isn't about sacrificing your well-being to keep others happy. Instead, secure friendships allow for honesty, mutual respect, and space for each person to grow.The Evolution of Their Own FriendshipDr. Hensley and Raina reflect on how their own friendship has deepened as they've both grown in emotional security. What started as a friendship built on common interests has transformed into something much deeper—rooted in trust, honesty, and emotional safety.Dr. Hensley shares how, before reaching attachment security, she relied on a “Rolodex” of friends to vent to or help soothe her emotions. Now, using the self-regulation tools she teaches in her coaching practice, she no longer seeks friendships as a form of emotional outsourcing. Instead, she views friendship as a space for mutual support and respect, rather than an emotional dumping ground.Why Friendships End When One Person Becomes SecureOne of the most eye-opening parts of the conversation is how friendships can mirror romantic relationships. Dr. Hensley explains that just like in romantic relationships, friendships often break down when one person becomes attachment secure and the other remains stuck in insecurity.She and Raina discuss a hard truth:• Some friendships don't end because of conflict; they end because one person grows and the other doesn't.• Not all friends want to see you succeed. True friendship isn't just about supporting someone in hard times; it's also about celebrating their wins without jealousy or resentment.Friendship Among Men & Friendships Lost in DivorceDr. Hensley also touches on the unique struggles men face in maintaining friendships later in life. She explains that:• Men often struggle with emotional depth in friendships compared to women.• Many male friendships are activity-based, making it harder to find deep, emotionally secure friendships.• Divorce often leads to friendship losses, as mutual friends take sides or the shifting dynamic makes maintaining friendships more complicated.God's Role in Friendship & Letting GoAs always, Dr. Hensley brings faith into the conversation, sharing how God's friendship has shaped her life. She acknowledges that God has both brought friendships into her life and removed others for her greater good.In the end, she encourages listeners to embrace the seasons of friendship—some friends are meant for a chapter, while others are meant for a lifetime. By letting go of friendships that no longer serve you, you create space for those that bring true peace, connection, and joy.Final TakeawayFriendships will evolve as you do. If you're healing, growing, and becoming more secure, it's natural for some friendships to shift, fade, or even end. But the friendships that remain—the ones built on mutual respect, trust, and joy—are the ones worth keeping.This episode is a must-listen for anyone navigating friendship changes at any stage of life. Whether you're redefining your boundaries, struggling with people-pleasing, or learning how to cultivate secure, meaningful friendships, Dr. Hensley and Raina's insights will help you approach friendship with clarity, confidence, and peace.Tune in to "The Love Doc Podcast" every Tuesday morning for candid conversations, expert guidance, and a deeper understanding of love and relationships in the modern world. To see all of Dr. Hensley's services please visit the links below and follow her on social media. PROMO CODE FOR OUR LISTNERS: Use LOVEDOC27 to receive 27% off any of Dr. Hensley's courses or her Hybrid Group Coaching Program. Dr. Hensley's Hybrid Group Coaching: https://www.thedatingdecoder.com/group-coaching/Book one on one with Dr. Hensley or one of her certified coaches: https://www.thedatingdecoder.com/book-appointment/Purchase Dr. Hensley's online course: https://dating-decoder.mykajabi.com/offers/PpEPKnsM/checkoutTik-Tok: @drsarahhensleyInstagram: @the_dating_decoderFacebook: The Dating DecoderYoutube: @Dr.SarahHensleyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-love-doc-podcast--6390558/support.

Jean Dahlquist joins us for a powerhouse conversation about networking, career pivots, and finding your place in affordable housing. From securing pigs at the Wisconsin State Fair to law enforcement in the Coast Guard to managing LIHTC deals across the West Coast—Jean's journey proves that curiosity, confidence, and connections can open unexpected doors.  Hear how she turned informational interviews into a career breakthrough, why she still uses a Rolodex (yes, really!), and her best networking hacks for anyone looking to grow in this industry.

When I think of an artist that lives and breathes positively out into the world I immediately think of Kristi (@soul_positive). Kristi's passion for connection and community comes through in everything she does. During this episode Kristi and I talk about showing up imperfectly and redefining what creativity means within our lives.  Kristi talks about her Rolodex project in this episode. This is another project where Kristi thinks beyond her practice. She thinks globally. SHe thinks of connection. She thinks of spreading positivity. If you would like to participate in this project please contact Kristi. She would love to send you a card, wherever you are in the world. - Show up gently. We'll help you with a community of others showing up in the messy middle.

I met Daniel Andrews through someone who has been monitoring Unstoppable Mindset and who told me that Daniel would be an interesting guest. How true it was. Daniel is a South Carolina guy born and bred. He makes his home in Columbia South Carolina. While in college he took a summer job with Cutco Cutlery after his sophomore year. I guess he liked the position because he stayed with Cutco for 15 years in sales positions.   While at Cutco his mentors introduced him to the concept of personal development. As you will see, he is widely read on the subject and he also learned to put his book learning to good use.   In 2013 he made the move to becoming his own boss and developed a true entrepreneurial spirit that still drives him today. He helps clients grow their businesses by seeking real quality contacts. He tells us that his goal is to introduce clients to 72 or 120 clients per year. As Daniel points out, a network of thousands of people is not nearly as effective as a smaller network of persons with whom you develop real credible relationships.   Daniel offers many wonderful and relevant tips on relationship and network building that I believe you will find useful. And, if you want more, Daniel provides his phone number at the end of this episode so you can reach out to him.       About the Guest:   Daniel grew up in Columbia, South Carolina after his dad moved from active duty USAF to reservice duty, in 1976. He attended college in Atlanta Georgia, where he took a summer job with Cutco Cutlery after his sophomore year, in 1988. His mentors, Ray Arrona, Ken Schmidt (RIP), Earl Small, and Don Freda introduced him to the concept of personal development, and his early career (the “summer job” lasted 15 years) was influenced by the writings of Zig Ziglar, Og Mandino, and Dale Carnegie.   He moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 2003 with his first wife, and switched careers. In his second career, a mix of B2B and B2C, he was influenced by  the writings of John Addison, Harland Stonecipher, and Jeff Olsen, encouraged by his mentor Frank Aucoin.   After his move to Houston, Texas, in 2013, he decided to become a true entrepreneur, and not just an independent contractor. The E-Myth Revisited, by Michael Gerber, Quench Your Own Thirst, by Jim Koch, and Profit First by  Mike Michalowicz were instrumental in making this jump, and he's currently engrossed in Super Connector by Scott Gerber and Give & Take by Adam Grant, as he builds a business based around showing people how to identify, find, meet, and grow relationships with a handful of key referral partners, to make sure there is a steady pipeline of 72-120 warm introductions to ideal client prospects every year.   He's been married to Adina Maynard since July 5th, 2019, after he returned to his hometown in the fall of 2016.     Ways to connect with Daniel:   Other handles: DanielPAndrews@outlook.com Pinterest link: https://www.pinterest.com/danielpandrews/   Daniel Andrews' personal FB link: https://facebook.com/danthemanwiththeplan1967   Daniel Andrews LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niasoutheast/   FB link - business page https://facebook.com/danandrewsnia   My video platform https://events.revnt.io/cutting-edge-business-coaching-llc   About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/   https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.     Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well and hello everyone. This is Michael Hingson, your host for unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're with us today, and really glad to have the opportunity once again to be with you and talk about all sorts of different sorts different kinds of things, as we do every week. That's why we call it an unstoppable mindset, where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet, because unexpected is much more fun. Keeps us all on our toes. Our guest today is Daniel, and would like to welcome you to unstoppable mindset, and we really appreciate you being here. Yeah,   Daniel Andrews ** 01:58 it's good to be here. Happy to participate. And really, I'm honored by the fact that you invited me to be here. So thank you for that. Well, we   Michael Hingson ** 02:05 made it. It's It's been fun, and we, we got introduced through Noah, who, I guess, does publicity for you.   Daniel Andrews ** 02:19 He and I have talked about that at some point. I'm trying to remember the entire chain that got me to you. You know, the person introduced me to him, to her, to him, to her, to him, to her, to you, right? I need a family tree of an introductory tree on my wall over here. I just keep up with all the connections. Yeah?   Michael Hingson ** 02:38 Keeps you alert and keeps you alert, you know, yeah, for sure. Well, I really am glad that you're here. And Daniel has a, I think, a great story to tell. He lives in Columbia, South Carolina, which he's really mostly called home, although he was born elsewhere, but sort of since roughly a fair, well, a fairly short time, he moved to Columbia and has been there. So I won't go into all those details. We don't need to worry about him, unless he wants to tell them, but Columbia has been home most all of his life. He did live a little ways, a little while away from Columbia, and on that, I'm sure we're going to talk about, but nevertheless, Columbia is home. I've been to Columbia and enjoy it, and I miss South Carolina sausage biscuits. So I don't know what to say, but nevertheless, one of these days, I'm sure I'll get back down there, and the people I know will make some more. But meanwhile, meanwhile, here we are. So why don't you start by telling us a little bit about kind of the early Daniel, growing up and, you know, all that, just to give people little flavor for you, sure,   Daniel Andrews ** 03:46 older brother two years older than me, exactly. I mean, within a couple days of two years, we're the only two no other siblings. Dad was an Air Force fighter pilot, and people think that must be pretty cool, and at some level, it is. But to help frame it better and give you a better detail of the experience of being the son of a fighter pilot, I encourage people that I talk to to remember the movie Top Gun. Not the second one where everybody was a good guy, they were older and more mature and, you know, but in the first one where there was the good guy that was a jerk and the bad guy that was a jerk, but they were, they were both jerks. And you know, it's a weird environment to grow up in when the biggest compliment one man can pay another is you don't suck that bad, right? That's literally the biggest compliment they're allowed to pay each other. So I grew up always thinking like I was coming up short, which has got some positive and some negative attributes. My clients love it because I tend to over deliver for what I charge them, but it kills my coach because he thinks I'm not I'm not fairly pricing myself in the marketplace, but I it made me want to be an entrepreneur, because the benchmarks are clear, right? You? In a sales environment, you know whether you're ahead or behind. You know what you got to do to catch the number one guy or gal if you're trying to beat the competition, you know how big your paycheck is going to be if you're working on, you know, commission or base, plus commission and and I really enjoyed the environment of being, I don't want to say competitive, but knowing that, you know, I was competing with myself. So many of my friends are employed by academia or small companies or big corporations, and even when they benchmark really good results, the pay, the compensation, the time off, the rewards, the advancements aren't necessarily there. So I really like the idea of having a very specific set of objectives. If I do this, then that happens. If I work this hard, I get this much money. If I achieve these results, I get, you know, moved up into into more authority and more responsibility, and that really made a world of difference for me, so that that has a lot to do with it. And as a result of that, I've opted for the self employment   Michael Hingson ** 05:54 certainly gives you lots of life experiences, doesn't it?   Daniel Andrews ** 05:58 It does. And I think, I think that people that work for other people is certainly learn, learn a lot as well. Meaning, I've not had to have extended co worker relationships or manage those over time. My first wife was fond of saying that Daniel's good in small doses, right?   Michael Hingson ** 06:15 So here we are, Ayan, so you're, you're telling us a little bit about you and growing up,   Daniel Andrews ** 06:22 sure it just you know, father is fighter pilot, right? And always pushing me to do more, be more. And that led me to choose a route of self employment, usually as a in the early parts of my career, independent contractor for other people. So I still had a structure to work in, but I knew what my objectives were. I knew how much money I would earn if I produced X result. I knew what it meant to get more responsibility, and that worked well for me. And then about eight years ago now, I decided to become a full fledged entrepreneur and really do my own thing and create some fun stuff. And it's been a fun ride in that regard, but I do love the freedom that comes from setting my own objectives on a daily basis. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 07:07 there's a lot to be said for that, and then not everyone can do that, because it does take a lot of discipline to be an entrepreneur, to do the things that you need to do, and know that you need to be structured to do the things that that have to be done at the same time. You do need to be able to take time off when that becomes relevant. But still, it does take a lot of discipline to be an entrepreneur and make it work successfully,   Daniel Andrews ** 07:35 right? And I don't know that I've mastered the discipline for it, but at least I'm working on my objectives and not somebody else's. The only person I'm letting down is me. You know, when I, when I, when I miss a deadline or don't execute, so that feels better to me than having the weight of somebody else's expectations on me   Michael Hingson ** 07:52 counts for something, doesn't it? I think so well. So you, you grew up in Columbia, but then you went off to college. Where'd you go to college?   Daniel Andrews ** 08:02 Down in Atlanta, Georgia, small school there. But I had a choice of three places, and each of them had offered me scholarship funds that equaled the same cost to me. IE, the packages were different, but the net cost to me in each case was going to be about the same. So rather than pick based on the financial aid or the scholarships are being offered, I picked on which city it was in. And I figured being a college kid in Atlanta, Georgia was a good move. And it turned out it was a good move. There was lots to see and do in Atlanta, Georgia, only about four hours from home. And it just it worked out to be pretty good that my other choices were Athens, Georgia, which is strictly a college town. And you know, when the summer rolls around, the place is empty. It goes down, and the other was a school and Farmville, Virginia, excuse me, the closest town is Farmville, Virginia, where the 711 closed at six. And I'm not exaggerating when I say that, yeah, not too sure. I want to be that far out in the sticks right as a 19 year old away from home for the first time, I wanted. I wanted. I wanted to have something to do with my freedom, meaning, if I was free to do what I wanted to do, I wanted to have something to do with that so and not not sit around Farmville, Virginia, wonder what was going to happen next. Yeah. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 09:19 so what did you major in in college?   Daniel Andrews ** 09:23 That question always comes up, and I'm always hesitant to answer that, because people think it has something to do with what I do today, and it does not in any way shape or stretch. I got a BS in psychology, which I tell people was heavy on the BS and light on the psychology, but at   Michael Hingson ** 09:38 the same time. And so my master's degree is in physics, although I ended up not going into physics, although I did a little bit of science work. But do you would you say, though, that even though you got a BS in psychology and you went off and you're clearly doing other things, did you learn stuff, or did that degree benefit you? And do you still. I have skills and things that you learned from that that you use today. I   Daniel Andrews ** 10:04 used to tell people that I had three facts that I used in college, that I learned in college, that I used on a daily basis, and for the longest time, I could recite all three. But nobody asked me what they were for the longest time, and I'm sure I still use all three of them, but I can only recall one, so the answer is, for the most part, no. But I think I went to college for a piece of paper. Someone else was paying for it. In this case, the school, not my parents. It was a scholarship, and I went to school not to learn anything. I went to school to get a piece of paper. I started off as a physics major, by the way, and when I got to the semester where they were trying to teach me that light is both a particle and a wave, I'm like, Yeah, we're going to need a different major, because I did not get my head around that at all. And and the degree that was had the least hurdles to get to switch majors and finish at that moment in time with psychology. So that's the route I took. I was just there for the piece of paper.   Michael Hingson ** 11:05 Physics wasn't what you wanted to do, huh?   Daniel Andrews ** 11:08 I did. But if the textbook had said light has attributes of both a particle and a wave, I might have been able to grasp it a little bit quicker. But it said light is both a particle and a wave, and it was the week of finals, and I was struggling with the intro in chapter one for the textbook, and I'm like, yep, might be time for different major at this point,   Michael Hingson ** 11:29 my master, my master's is in physics, and you mentioned and I enjoyed it, and I and I still have memories and concepts that I learned, that I use today, probably the biggest one is paying attention to detail and physics. It isn't enough to get the numeric right answer, you got to make the units work as well, which is more of a detail issue than just getting the numbers, because you can use a calculator and get numbers, but that doesn't get you the units. And so I found that skill to be extremely important and valuable as I worked through physics and went through and I actually got a master's and also a secondary teaching credential, and I thought I was going to teach, but life did take different directions, and so that's okay.   Daniel Andrews ** 12:18 Well, when you frame it that way, I will say that there is something that I learned that I that I use, maybe not in my work, but in my field of vision, and that's this, you know, lab and experimental methods taught me to ask the question, how did they ask the questions? Right? What was the structure of the test, the experiment, the the data collection right? Because you can do an awful lot of things. For example, they have found that if a doctor says to a patient, we have a chance to do surgery, there's a 10% chance of success, meaning that you'll live, they get a better up to uptake than if they say there's a 90% chance that you'll die. Yeah, it's the same information, but you always have to look at the way the questions are framed. Polls are notorious for this right data collection from my days in Cutco, I read a study and I put quotes around it right? A study that said that wooden cutting boards retain less bacteria than plastic cutting boards or polypropylene polyurethane, which is clearly blatantly wrong if you're treating your cutting boards correctly. And I looked into it, and they simply wiped the surface and then waited a day and measured bacteria count? Well, if you don't put it what you can dishwasher a plastic cutting board and sterilize it, right? Why would you simply wipe the surface? In the case of the wood, the bacteria was no longer at the surface. It had sunk into the woods. So there's not as much on the surface. I'm like, oh, but it's still there. It's just down in the wood. You have to literally look at the way these tests are done. And I guess the wooden cutting board industry paid for that study, because I can't imagine anybody else that would would a care and B make the argument that a wooden cutting board was better than a plastic one for sanitation reasons,   Michael Hingson ** 14:13 because it's clearly all it's all sales. And of course, that brings up the fact that you get that kind of knowledge honestly, because when you were a sophomore, you got a summer job with Cutco.   Daniel Andrews ** 14:24 I did, yeah, and I remember 3030, what is that? 36 years ago, now having to explain what Cutco was, but Cutco has been around for so long in America that most American households have at least some Cutco on them at this point. So I find most people already know and understand, but it was a direct sales job. It was not structured the way an MLM or a network marketing company has, but my job is to literally take, you know, a kit full of samples, right? Some some regular, normal, standard products that we would use and sell, and take them into people's homes and sit at the kitchen table and demonstrate. Right? The usefulness. Go over the guarantee, go over the pricing options, and you know what choices they could pick stuff out, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. Turned out to be more lucrative than most people imagine. I don't want to brag too much about how much reps make doing that, because then customers get upset we're being overpaid, but yeah, that's not true either. But it was a blast to to do that and the learning environment, right? What I learned about setting my own goals, discipline, awareness of the way communication landed on other people. I don't the psychology of communication, being around people, helping them understand what I knew to be true, finding ways to address concerns, issues, objections, without making them feel wrong or awkward. You know, it was a good environment, and that's why I stayed for 15 years. For   Michael Hingson ** 15:52 me, after college, I went to work with an organization that had developed a relationship with Dr Ray Kurzweil, the futurist and who now talks a lot about the singularity. And at that time, he had developed a machine that would read print out loud. Well, it would read print, and he chose, for the first application of that machine to be a machine that would read print out loud so that blind people could read print in books, because his technology didn't care about what type styles or print fonts were on the page anyway. After the job was over, I went to work for Ray, and after about eight or nine months, I was confronted with a situation where I was called into the office of the VP of Marketing, who said, your work is great. We love what you do, but you're not doing anything that produces revenue for us, because I was doing Human Factors work helping to enhance the machine, and so we're going to have to lay you off, he said. And I said, lay me off. And he said, again, your work is great, but we don't have enough revenue producers. We're, like a lot of startup engineering companies, we've hired way too many non revenue producers. So we got to let people go, and that includes you, unless you'll go into sales. And not only go into sales, but not selling the reading machine for the blind, but there's a commercial version that had just come out. So I ended up doing that, and took a Dale Carnegie sales course, a 10 week course, which I enjoyed very much. Learned a lot, and have been selling professionally ever since, of course, my story of being in the World Trade Center and escaping on September 11 after that, I still continue to sell. What I tell people is I love to view my life as now selling life and philosophy. Rather than selling computer hardware and managing a hardware team, it really is about selling life and philosophy and getting people to understand. You can learn to control fear. You can learn to function in environments that you don't expect, and you can go out of your comfort zone. And there's nothing wrong with that, you know. So that's it's been a lot of fun for the last 23 years to do that.   Daniel Andrews ** 18:00 Okay? Now you got me curious. What's the commercial application of a machine that will take a printed book and read it out loud? What I can clearly see why people with various and sundry?   Michael Hingson ** 18:12 Well, for people who are blind and low vision, well, so let's, let's deal with it. The commercial application for that particular machine is that people will buy it and use it. Of course, today it's an app on a smartphone, so it's a whole lot different than it was as a $50,000 machine back in 1978 1979 but the idea behind the machine was that libraries or agencies or organizations could purchase them, have them centrally located, so people who never could read print out loud before could actually go get a book, put it on the machine and read it.   Daniel Andrews ** 18:46 Okay? So this would make sense libraries and institutions of public knowledge, okay. But then, as I could see, where someone would want one in their home if they had need of it. But I was just curious about the commercial application well.   Michael Hingson ** 18:57 But then over time, as the technology advanced. As more were produced, the price went down. And it went from $50,000 down to $20,000 and you started to see some in people's homes. And then, of course, it got less and less and less and eventually, before it became almost a free app on a smartphone today, it used the Symbian operating system and Nokia phones, and the the technology, in total, was about $1,800 and then, of course, it became an app on a smartphone, and a lot of OCR today is free, but the other side of it was the machine I sold was a version that banks would use, lawyers would use, other people would use to be able to take printed documents and get them into computer readable form, because people saw pretty early on that was an important thing to be able to do so they could peruse databases and so on and so the bottom line is that it was very relevant to do. Yeah, and so there was commercial value, but now OCR has gotten to be such a regular mainstay of society. You know, we think of it differently than we did then, very   Daniel Andrews ** 20:10 much. But yeah, we still have one that can read my handwriting   Michael Hingson ** 20:15 that is coming. You know, they're my handwriting. I wanted to be a doctor, and I passed the handwriting course, but that's as far as I got. But, and as I love to tell people, the problem was I didn't have any patients, but, you know, oh boy. But the the bottom line is that there were applications for it, and and it worked, and it was great technology. So it taught me a lot to be able to be involved in taking the Dale Carnegie sales course, and I know he's one of the people that influenced you in various ways. Very much, very important to recognize for me that good sales people are really teachers and advisors and counselors. Absolutely you can. You can probably talk people into buying stuff, which may or may not be a good thing to do, but if we've really got something that they need, they'll figure it out and they'll want to buy   Daniel Andrews ** 21:11 it. Yeah, the way it was summarized to me, and this particularly relates around, you know, the Cutco product or another tangible you know, selling is just a transference of enthusiasm, meaning, if they knew and understood it the way I did, it would make perfect sense. So the question was, how do I find a way to convey my enthusiasm for what I knew about the product? And as simple, I don't wanna say simple, it sounds condescending in as few words as possible, in ways that made it easy for them to digest, right? Because some people are, are tactile, and they want to hold it, look at it. Others are, you know, knowledge oriented. They want to read the testimonials and a guarantee and, you know, things like that. So just, how do you, how do you kind of figure out who's looking for what? Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 21:56 and the reality is, everybody is a little bit different in that arena. And as you said, conveying enthusiasm, you'll either be able to do it or you'll find that what you have isn't really what's going to make them enthusiastic, which can be okay too. Yep, the important thing is to know that and to use that information. And when necessary, you move on and you don't worry about it, correct? We have cut CO knives. We're we, we're happy. But anyway, I think the the issue is that we all have to grow, and we all have to learn to to do those things that we find are relevant. And if we we put our minds to it, we can be very productive people. And as you pointed out, it's all about transmitting enthusiasm, and that's the way it really ought to be.   22:54 Yeah, I think so.   Michael Hingson ** 22:55 So you talk about, well, so let's, let's go back. So you went to work for Cutco, and you did that for 15 years. What would you say the most important thing you learned as a as a salesperson, in working at Cutco really came down to,   Daniel Andrews ** 23:16 there's so many fundamental lessons in the direct sales industry, right? It's why, you know, so many people got their start with Encyclopedia Britannica or Southwestern books or Cutco knives, right? There's a, there's a, I mean, in the 90s, CentOS, the uniform people and sprint when cell phones were new and actually had to actively be sold because people had to be talked into it, yeah. You know, they ran whole recruiting ads that said, Did you used to sell knives, entry level work, starting at base, you know, salary plus commission, right? Because it was so foundational. So it's hard to say the most important thing, but I would say the ability to take control of my own schedule, and therefore my own actions, right, was a huge part of it. But then the ability to really know what, understand the people that I was working with as customers. As my time at ketco matured, and even after I left working with them full time, I still had a database of customers that wanted to deal strictly with me and the fact that they were happy to see me right? That when I was again, after I'd moved away, if I came back to town, that my customers would be like, Oh, I heard you're in town when you come to our house and have dinner, right? And just the way, I was able to move from business relationship into one where I really connected with them. And you know that many years, seeing that many customers give me some really cool stories too, which I'm not going to eat up most of this, but I've just got some fun stories of the way people responded to my pleasant persistence, follow through, follow up, knowing that I could run into any one of them anywhere at any moment in time. And not feel that I had oversold them, or I had been pushy, right, that they would be happy and what they bought. And as a matter of fact, I've only ever had one customer tell me that they bought too much Cutco. And she said that to me when I was there sharpening her Cutco and selling her more. And she said she had bought more than she needed for her kitchen. Initially, I'm selling her more for a gift, let me be clear. And I paused, and I said, Do you remember how the this is like five or six years later? I said, you remember how the conversation went? Because I use the story of that demo when I'm talking to other people and to other reps. She said, Oh yeah, no, no. She goes, I will 100% own that I chose to buy more than I needed. She goes, I was not trying to pin that on you. I was just trying to tell you that that's what I did. I said, Oh, okay, because I wanted to be clear, I remember very clearly that I offered you the small set, and you chose the big set. And she goes, that is exactly what happened. I made the choice to over buy, and that's on me, and that level of confidence of knowing I could go through time and space, that I could meet my customers here, you know, when I came back to town, or now that I moved back to town, and I don't have to flinch, right? But I'm not that I did it in a way that left them and me feeling good about the way I sold them. That's pretty it's pretty important,   Michael Hingson ** 26:15 and it is important, and it's, it's vital to do that. You know, a lot of people in sales talk all about networking and so on. You, don't you? You really do talk about what I believe is the most important part about sales, and that's relationship building, correct?   Daniel Andrews ** 26:34 I took, took my theme from The subtitle of a book called Super connector, and the subtitle is, stop networking and start building relationships that matter. And I'm, I'm comfortable using that, by the way, there's another book titled networking isn't working, and it's really hitting the same theme, which is, whatever people are calling networking is, is not really, truly building a network and relationships that make a difference. It's social selling. I call it sometimes. It's being practiced as speed prospecting, right? Or marketing by hand. There's, there's, there's a bunch of ways that I can articulate why it's not literally not networking. It's simply meeting people and treating them very one dimensionally. Will you buy my thing? Or do you know somebody That'll buy my thing right? And those are very short sighted questions that have limited value and keeps people on a treadmill of thinking they need to do more networking or meet the right people. I get this all the time, if I can just find the right people, or if I could just be in the right rooms, right at the right events, and I'm like, or you could just be the person that knows how to build the right relationships, no matter what room you're in. Now, having said that, are there some events, some rooms, some communities, that have a higher likelihood of high value? Sure, I don't want to discourage people from being intentional about where they go, but that's only probably 10 to 20% of the equation. 80 to 90% of the equation is, do you know what to do with the people that you meet when you meet them? Because anybody that's the wrong person, and I simply mean that in the context of they're not a prospect. Knows people that could be a prospect, but you can't just go, Oh, you're not going to buy my thing. Michael Hinkson, do you know, anybody that's going to buy my thing that's no good, because you're not going to put your reputation on the line and refer me somewhere, right until you have some trust in me, whatever that looks like.   Michael Hingson ** 28:30 And that's the real issue, right? It's all about trust right down the line. You know, network is meeting more people, meeting more people. That's great. I love to meet people, but I personally like to establish relationships. I like to get to know people, and have probably longer and more conversations than some of my bosses would have liked. But the result and the success of establishing the relationships can't be ignored   Daniel Andrews ** 29:05 correct. And I think that you kind of threw in a word there that I think some people will internalize, or it will reinforce some of their preconceptions. And I think it's worth addressing. And I'll just give you a quick example. Six, six weeks ago, four weeks ago, I had a conversation with somebody I was introduced to. His name happens to be Michael as well. Michael, Mike Whitmore. He was impressed with the quality of our first well, it went 45 it was scheduled for 25 and I went 45 because we really gelled. And he invited me to come to a cocktail party that was being hosted by a company he was affiliated with three hour event, and we spoke again later to make sure you know everything was in order, because it involved me flying to Salt Lake City for a cocktail party I did. He was there. We spoke briefly. We both mingled with other. People. I had breakfast with him the next day. This is yesterday that I had breakfast with him. And as we're talking, he's like, Okay, I have 80 people that need what you've got. He's, he's basically, after a few conversations, gonna refer about $400,000 for the business to me, right? And I'm like, Okay, and so what people miss is that you can build that relationship quickly if you're intentional about building the relationship. And where I see the mistake most people make. And God bless Dale Carnegie, and Dale's Carnegie sales training course, right? But that that the model, what I call the cocktail party model, or the How to Win Friends and Influence People, model of getting to know somebody you know. How about that ball team? You know? Did your sports club win? Right? How's the weather up there? Did you hear about the you know, how's your mom, right? When's the last time you were camping with the fam? All legitimate questions, but none of them moved the business conversation forward. And so the ability to build a productive business relationship faster by focusing on the mutual shared value that you have between each other and the business aspects, and including the personal as the icing on the cake is a much better way to do it, and that's why I was very particular about the fact that, you know, when I was talking about my experience with ketco, that it was over time that the personal aspects, that the friendship looking aspects, evolved On top of the business relationship, because it is way easier to mix the ingredients, to put the icing or friendship on the cake of business than it is to establish a friendship and then go, by the way, it's time for us to talk business, right? You need to our client, or you need to let me sell what I'm offering that can get become jarring to people, and it can call into question the whole reason you got to know them to start with, right? So I much prefer the other route. And just one other brief example, speaking with a woman in a in what I, you know, a first paired interview, Quick Connect, 25 minutes long, and she's like, understand, you know, relationships, it's the, you know, it's the way to do it, right? It's the long play, but it pays off over time. And you know, as long as you stay at it, and I'm like, Why do you keep saying it's the long play? Well, because relationships take time. And I'm like, You say so. And we started to run long and realized we had more value, so we booked it. Ended up being about four or five weeks later, because my calendar stays pretty full, and she's so we've been in 125 minute phone call. We start the second zoom with her, with Peggy asking me who's your target market again. And I gave her the description for a $25,000 client. And she said, I have three people that I can refer you to in that space that might might want to be clients. And then she started to try and tell me how relationships are the long play? Again, I'm like, thank you. Hold up. We spent 25 minutes together a month ago, and you started this conversation by referring $75,000 worth of revenue to me. What makes you think relationships are the long play? I think you can make them last if you want them to last, but it doesn't take a long time to build those I said I knew what I was doing with those first 25 minutes. That's why, at this stage of the game, you're looking to refer business to me. Yeah, right, yeah. And so I don't think it's a long you're not establishing a marriage relationship, right? You're not deciding who your new best friend is going to be, right? You're trying to establish a mutually beneficial business relationship and see what it takes you right with the right set of questions, it goes so much faster   Michael Hingson ** 33:49 and and that's really a key. And for me, one of the things that I learned in sales, that I really value a lot is never answer or ask close ended questions. I hate yes and no questions, because I learned a long time ago. I don't learn much if I just ask somebody. Oh, so you, you tell me you need a tape library, right? Yes, and you, you ask other questions, but you don't ask the questions like, What do you want to use it for? Why do you really need a tape library today? What? What is it that you you value or that you want to see increased in your world, or whatever the case happens to be, right? But I hate closed ended questions. I love to engage in conversations, and I have lots of stories where my sales teams. When I manage teams, at first, didn't understand that, and they asked the wrong questions. But when I would ask questions, I would get people talking. And I was I went into a room of Solomon brothers one day back in like, 2000 or so, or 2000 early 2001 and I was with. My best sales guy who understood a lot of this, but at the same time, he wanted me to come along, because they wanted to meet a sales manager, and he said, I didn't tell him you were blind, because we're going to really hit him with that. And that was fine. I understood what he what he meant, but also he knew that my style was different and that I liked to get more information. And so when we went in and I started trying to talk to the people, I turned to one guy and I said, tell me what's your name. And it took me three times to get him to say his name, and finally I had to say I heard you as I walked by. You know, I know you're there, what's your name? And then we started talking, and by the time all was said and done. I got everyone in that room talking, which is great, because they understood that I was really interested in knowing what they were all about, which is important,   Daniel Andrews ** 35:53 correct? And I mean part of it right, particularly if you're problem solving, right? If you're there with a solution, a sales environment, open ended questions, predominantly the way to go. There's always going to have to be some closed ended right? What's the budget for this? Who are the decision makers in the process? But, and I certainly think a lot of the same ones apply in decision making. Meaning, it's probably an 8020 split. 80% of the questions should be open ended. 20% you know, you know, you just need some data from the other person, right? Because, as I'm meeting people, I need to decide who to refer them to, right? I know I can think off the top of my head of three different resume coaches, right? People that help people get the resume, their cover letter and their interview skills together. And one charges, you know, four to 5000 for the effort, right, depending on the package, right? One charges between 2030 500 depending on one guy charges, you know, his Deluxe is 1200 bucks, right? And the deliverable is roughly the same. Meaning, I've never looked for a job using these people, because I've been self employed forever, but I would imagine the deliverable is probably not three times as or four times as good at 5k at 1200 Right, right? But I need to know the answer, what you charge, because the rooms I will put people in are going to differentiate, right? I actually said it to the guy that was charging 1200 I said, Where'd you get the number? And he told me. And I said, Do you realize that you're losing business because you're not charging enough, right? And he said, Yes, some prospects have told me that. And I said, I'm sorry. Plural. I said, How many? How many are going to tell you before I before you raise your rates? And I said, here's the thing, there's communities, networks that I can introduce you to at that price point, but the networks that I run in won't take you seriously if you're not quoting 5000 for the job. Yeah? And he just couldn't get his head around it. And I'm like, Okay, well, then you're stuck there until you figure out that you need to triple or quadruple your price to hang out in the rooms I hang out in to be taken seriously.   Michael Hingson ** 37:57 Yeah? And it is tough for a lot of people, by the way, with that Solomon story, by the time I was done, and we had planned on doing a PowerPoint show describing our products, which I did, but even before we did that, I knew our product wasn't going to do what they needed. But went through the presentation, and then I said, and as you can see, what we have won't work. Here's why, but here's what will work. And after it was all said and done, one of the people from near the back of the room came up and he said, we're mad at you. And I said, why? He said, Oh, your presentation was great. You You gave us an interesting presentation. We didn't get bored at all. The problem was, we forgot you were blind, and we didn't dare fall asleep, because you'd see us. And I said, well, well, the bottom line is, my dog was down here taking notes, and we would have got you anyway, but, but, you know, he was he we had a lot of fun with that. Two weeks later, we got a proposal request from them, and they said, just tell us what we're what we're going to have to pay. We got another project, and we're going to do it with you. And that was   Daniel Andrews ** 39:02 it, yeah, and because the credibility that you'd established credibility,   Michael Hingson ** 39:07 and that is a great thing,   Daniel Andrews ** 39:09 that was part of the discussion I have with some of my clients today when I hold a weekly office hours to see what comes up. And I said, it's just important to be able to refer people to resources or vendors, as it is to refer them to a prospect, right? If you don't have the solution, or if your solution isn't the best fit for them, the level of credibility you gain to go, you know what you need to do? You need to go hang out over there. Yeah, right. You need to talk to that guy or gal about what they have to offer. And the credibility goes through the roof. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 39:39 we've been talking about networking, and I think that's everything we've talked about. I think really makes a lot of sense, but at the same time, it doesn't mean that you don't build a network. It's just that networking and building a network are really two different sorts of things. What are some of the most important things that you've learned about building. That   Daniel Andrews ** 40:00 works. Sure, there's several, and some of them come as a bit of a shock to people. And I always say it's okay if it's a shock to you, because it was a shock to me. But I don't take I don't have opinions. I have positions based on data. Right? You know that from your from your days as a scientist, what you think ought to be true absolutely irrelevant in the face of what the data tells us is true. But I think one of the important things is that it's possible to give wrong. Adam Grant says in the first chapter of his book, give and take. That if you look at people's networking styles, and I'll use the common vernacular networking styles, you have givers, people that tend to give more than they, you know, receive takers, people whose objective is to always be on the plus side of the equation. And then matchers, people that practice the degree of reciprocity. And I would even argue that that reciprocity and matching is a bad mentality, just so you know. But if you look at the lifetime of success, a career is worth of success. In the top levels of success, you find more givers than takers and matchers, which makes a lot of sense. In the lowest levels of success, you find more givers than takers and matchers. They're giving wrong. They tend to polarize. They tend to either be high achieving or very low achieving, because they're giving wrong. And so I and Michael, let me use his name. We had breakfast yesterday morning after the happy hour, and I said, Mike, are you open for coaching? And he said, You know I am. He said, I didn't have you flat here in Salt Lake City, because I don't respect you. What do you got for me? I said, Josh kept thanking you yesterday for the things you've done for him in his world lately, you know, over the last several years. And he kept saying, What can I do for you? And you said, Oh, no, I just love giving. I love giving, right? You know, it's not a problem. You know, I'm in a great position. I don't need to have a lot of need of resources. And I said, and you're missing the fact that he was explicitly telling you this relationship feels uneven. I said it takes longer to kill it, but you will kill a relationship just as quickly by consistently over giving as you will by taking too much. And it's a little more subconscious, although in Josh's case, it was very conscious. He was actively trying to get Mike to tell him, what can I do for you so I don't feel like I'm powerless in this relationship. And Mike was like, Oh my gosh, I never thought of that. Said, Look, I said, I don't know how your kids are. He said, well, two of them are married. And I said, my grown daughter argues with me over who's going to buy dinner. But I get it because I used to argue with my dad, who was going to buy dinner. Yeah, dinner together, right? It feels weird for someone, even somebody, that loves you, right? And, of course, the only way I can do it with my daughter is to explain, it's her money anyway. I'm just spending her inheritance on her now, it's the only way she'll let me buy dinner every time we meet, and she still insists that she pays the debt, because over giving will get in the way of what we're trying to accomplish, right? That's fair, yeah. And so people miss that, right? I get this law of reciprocity. If I just give and give and give to the world, it'll all come back to me. No, ma'am. We have 6000 years of recorded history that says that's not   Michael Hingson ** 43:18 how it works. There's there's something to be said forgiving, but there's also receiving. And in a sense, receiving can be a gift too. So you're mentioning Michael and Josh. Josh would have loved, as you're pointing out, Michael to tell him some things that he could do for Michael, and that would have been a great gift. So the reality is, it's how people view giving, which is oftentimes such a problem. I know, for me as a public speaker, I love dealing with organizations that are willing to pay a decent wage to bring a speaker in, because they understand it, and they know they're going to get their money's worth out of it. And I've gone and spoken at some places where they say, well, we can't pay you a lot of money. We're going to have to pay just this little, tiny amount. And invariably, they're the organizations that take the most work, because they're the ones that are demanding the most, even though they're not giving nearly as much in return. And and for me, I will always tell anyone, especially when we're clearly establishing a good relationship, I'm here as your guest. I want to do whatever you need me to do, so please tell me how best I can help you, but I know I'm going to add value, and we explore that together, and it's all about communication.   Daniel Andrews ** 44:48 I think so well. And in the case, you know, just go back to the mike and Josh story real quick, right? There's, there's number one, there's a sense of fairness. And I don't like the word reciprocity or magic, right? I like the word. Mutuality, but there's a sense of fairness. Number one. Number two, it's a little bit belittling to Josh, for Mike to act like Josh doesn't have anything to offer him, right? It's a little bit condescending, or it could be, Mike doesn't mean it that way, right? No, what he means is my relationship with you, Josh is not predicated on us keeping a scoreboard on the wall and that we make sure we come out even at the end of every quarter, right? But, but. And then the third part is, you know, I said, Mike, think of how good you feel when you give. He says, I love it. It's great. That's why I said, so you're robbing Josh of the feeling of giving when you don't give him a chance to give. I said, you're telling him that your joy is more important than his joy, and he's like I never thought of over giving or not asking as robbing people of joy. I said, You need to give the gift to Josh and the people around you to feel the joy that comes from being of use, of being helpful, of having and I said, even if you have to make something up or overstate the value of a of a task that he could do for you, I said, if you literally don't need anything in your world, Mike, find some job Hunter that's looking for work. And say, Josh, as a courtesy to me, would you meet with Billy Bob and see if you can help him find work somehow give Josh the sense that he's contributing to the betterment of your world, even   Michael Hingson ** 46:26 if it may not work out that this person, Billy Bob would would get a job, but it's still you're you're helping to further the relationship between the two of you, correct, right? You're   Daniel Andrews ** 46:38 helping him feel like he's an equal in that relationship. And that's an important part of it. It really is. It's now I do an important part. I do believe we absolutely should tithe. We should give of our time. We should be at the homeless shelter on Thanksgiving. If that's what we're called to do, we should be, you know, you know, aid to the poor, you know, mentoring junior people who don't have a lot to offer us. I absolutely believe that's true. So when I say give strategically or given a sense of mutuality, but we need clear delineations on you know what we're doing, because if we give indiscriminately, then we find out that we're like the people in chapter one of Adam Grant's book that are in the lower quartile of success, even though we're quote, doing all the right things. And the best way to make you know, the example I give on that, and I'll articulate this little bit, I'm holding my hands apart and moving them closer together in stages, just because the visual will help you here too. But I tell people, right? I hold my hands apart and I say, you know, we're going to spend this much time on the planet alive, right? And this much time on the planet awake, right, and this much time on the planet at work. And then I'll pause and go, these are approximations right, because clearly they are right, and this much time on the planet dealing with other people. So if, if it's true that we only have a limited or finite resource of time to spend building a network with other people, then why wouldn't we choose people whose message is worth amplifying and who we're well positioned to amplify and vice versa? And to make that even more clear for people, if you're a real estate agent, you could find a lot of people that would refer business to you, but you could find a few people that would refer a lot   Michael Hingson ** 48:25 of business, a lot of business. Yeah,   Daniel Andrews ** 48:27 you could find a mortgage lender, a divorce attorney, a moving company, a funeral home director, a nursing home director, right? And and if you're going to spend time building relationships with people, why wouldn't you find the people who are positioned to touch more people that you need to touch, particularly if there is some mutuality, meaning, as a real estate agent, I would be just as likely to be able to help a mortgage lender, a moving company, a funeral loan director, etc, etc, etc, right? All those things can come into play. And you know, the John gates, the salary negotiation coach, right? And Amanda Val bear, the resume writing coach, anybody can refer business to Amanda, but John's going to refer a lot more business to Amanda. Anybody can refer business to John, but Amanda's going to refer a lot more business to John. And and, you know, given that we've only got a finite number of conversations we're able to hold in our lifetime, why wouldn't Amanda and John be spending time with each other rather than spending time with me, who might occasionally meet somebody who needs them, but not on a daily basis the way Amanda meets John's clients? John meets Amanda's potential clients.   Michael Hingson ** 49:32 So here's the other way to spin. May not be the right word, but I'll use it. Frame it. Frame it. So you've got somebody who you're not giving a lot of, let's say a real estate agent. You're not giving that person a lot, but you're giving Elmo Schwartz, the real estate agent down the street, a lot more referrals and so on. Then the real estate agent who you're not referring a lot of people to, comes along and says, You. You know, I know you're really working with this other guy, but you know you and I have have had some conversations, and so how come I can't take advantage of the many opportunities that you're that you're offering? And I, for me, I always rejoice when I hear somebody ask that question, because at least they're opening up and they're saying, What do I need to do? At least, that's what I assume they're asking,   Daniel Andrews ** 50:24 yes, yeah, and that's a question that I teach people to ask, under what conditions would you feel comfortable referring business to me, right? Right? And you know, they may go, well, we don't share the same last name, but all my referrals go to, you know, Billy Bob, because he's my brother in law, and Thanksgiving gets weird, right? If he realizes I've been given leads to you, right? You know, it may never happen. Now, in my case, I believe in having multiple referral partners in every industry, right? Yeah, I don't just pick one, because personality plays part of it, right? I mean, and we can go back to real estate just because you say you're a real estate agent, I'm a real estate agent. I mean, we're calling on the same market. Same market at all, right, right? You could be a buyer's agent. I could be a seller's agent. You could be calling on, you know, what's a probate and estate issues? I could be dealing with first time homebuyers and young people, right? And therefore, and a lot of times it's personality, meaning, I personally, is not even the right word approach to business, meaning, there's some people that I would send to Ann Thomason, and there's some people I would send to Kim Lawson, and there's some people I would send to Elaine Gillespie, and some people I'd send to Taco Beals, right? Because I know what each of their strengths are, and I also know what sort of person they want to work with, right? Right? That's 1/3 person would appreciate them.   Michael Hingson ** 51:42 And that's the important part that that when somebody comes along and says, How come such and such, you can answer that, and you can do it in a way that helps them understand where they can truly fit into what you're offering, and that you can find a way to make it work, and that's really important. I've always maintained the best salespeople or teachers, pure and simple, in almost everything, and preachers, but but listening preachers. So it is, it is important to, yeah, well,   Daniel Andrews ** 52:16 and I bring this up in the context because we have a Bible college here in our town. So when I was a manager for Cutco, right? We get the college kids, right? Some of these seminary students, you know, looking for summer work and right? And they're like, you know, how does sales relate to, you know, being in the ministry later, I said, man. I said, Are you kidding? You kidding? I said, it's the purest. I said, you've got the hardest sales down on the roll. You ask people to pay the price now, and the payoff is at the end of their life. That's not sales. I don't know what is. At least, when people give me money, I give them something for it within a couple of days, you know, I said, I said, You better be good at sales if you're going to be your preacher eventually. Because you the, you know, the payment, the cost comes now, and the payoff, the reward comes later. I said, Man, those are the same but teachers the same way, right? You've got to invest the kids, the kids or the student, no matter how you know and what they're learning and why it's going to be relevant down the   Michael Hingson ** 53:06 road, right? Yeah, well, you You clearly have, have accepted all of this. When did you realize that maybe you were doing it wrong and that you re evaluated what you do?   Daniel Andrews ** 53:17 That's a great story, and there was a light bulb moment for me, right? I think the kids these days call it the origin story, right? You know. And and to tell the story correctly, but I have to give labels to the other two people involved, because their names are so similar that when I tell the story, I managed to confuse myself who was who. So I was in St Louis, Missouri, which, for reasons I won't go into for this podcast, is a weird town to be involved in B to B business in. They literally would prefer to do business with somebody they went to high school with. It's just a It's strange, but true. And I can go into the background of why it's true. It just is. It's accepted by people that have sold in towns other than St Louis. It's they know that St Louis is weird. Okay, so I'm having trouble not getting the traction I want. Who's in my industry, he agrees that we're going to partner and we're going to have a revenue share. I don't believe in finder's fees, but if you're going to co create the value with me, that's a different thing altogether, right? Writing a name on a piece of paper, I'm not paying for that. But if you're going to go with me on the appointment and help me get the job done. Yeah. Okay, back to the point. So my wingman, right? My partner, I call him wingman for the version this story, local, been around forever, prospect, business owner, right? We've got a B to B offered that's going to be fairly lucrative, because he's part of a family that owns a family businesses quite, quite a large there in St Louis. And we had met with the CFO because that was the real touch point on the business. As far as the value proposition over lunch, the four of us have been there prospect wingman CFO, of the prospect of myself, and it went reasonably well. Out they wanted to follow up to make the decision, which is not, not atypical. So we're back there standing in the parking lot of the prospects business, and the prospect points at me and says, Who is this guy? And my partner says, he's my guy. And the prospect points at me and goes, but I don't know this guy, and my partner says, but I know this guy, and the prospect points me and says, Well, what happens if something happens to this guy? And my partner says, I'll find another guy. And that was the purest, simplest form of what's truly happening when you're building a network. See, my days at Cutco were predicated on some of the same things. I go to Michael's house. I asked the name of your neighbors, your best friends, your pastor, your doctor, whoever you think, and then I would call them Hey, your buddy Michael insen said you'd help me out. So I'm borrowing a little bit of credibility, but the sale was made in the product, right? I'm only asking for a moment of your time, but I expected to show up, meaning I was only borrowing someone else's credibility to get a moment of your time. But I expected to show up and let the product and my Sterling personalities, I like to think of it, shine through and make the sale. There you go. And I realized, because when the prospect pointed me and said, Who is this guy, I thought my partner would say, he's my guy. Daniel, here's your chance to rise and shine, bring it, do that song and dance that you do, right? And he didn't. He kept the focus on the real point, which was that the prospect had credibility with my partner, and my partner had credibility with me. Yeah, right. And, and, and in that moment where he refused to put the spotlight on me, my partner kept it on himself, and he said, Mr. Prospect, don't worry about him. I'm not asking you to trust him. I'm asking you to trust me. And that was the light bulb where I said, Oh, what we're building is not introductions. We're building endorsements. When I get to the prospects door. I have the all the credibility that came from Bert, who referred me right, whatever credibility my partner, Bert, had with the prospect Butch. I show up on Butch is doorstep with that credibility. And when Butch starts to question it, the prospect starts to question it, my partner goes, What do you question? You're going to question him. We're not talking about him. We're talking about you and me, and we've known each other 30 years. What are you doing here? And I'm like, oh, that's why we're doing this. That's the point. I'm not asking to borrow your Rolodex. I'm asking to borrow your credibility.   Michael Hingson ** 57:38 And the other part of that question that comes to mind is, did the credibility that Bert and Butch have with each other ever get to the point where it transferred to you, at least in part? Oh, yeah,   Daniel Andrews ** 57:55 yeah, we got the sale. Yeah. I mean, that was the conversation where he's like, All right, we're going to do this. I'm like, because it was a big deal. It was a very large deal. And, yeah, but in   Michael Hingson ** 58:04 general, you know, I hear what you're saying, and in general, somewhere along the line, the prospect has to say, has to hopefully recognize this other guy really is part of the process and has value, and so I'm going to like him too, correct,   Daniel Andrews ** 58:23 and you can drop the ball. It's possible to screw it up, but I'm starting at a level 10 in the case of this particular pair of people, and it's mine to lose, as opposed to starting from zero and trying to get up to five or six or eight or whatever it takes to make the sale, and that's the biggest difference, right? It will, it will transfer to me, but then it's up to me to drop the ball and lose it, meaning, if I don't do anything stupid, it's going to stay there. And you know what was great about my partner was he didn't even not that I would have but he didn't give me any room to say anything stupid. He's like, he's like, let's not even talk. Put the spotlight on Daniel. Let's keep the spotlight on the two of us, and the fact that I've never let you down in 30 years. Why would you think this is going to be a bad introduction   Michael Hingson ** 59:09

  Want to know how to attract and retain top sales talent? I've got the solution to help you build a killer sales team. It's time to reveal the unexpected! What if I told you that the key to attracting top sales talent lies in creating a welcome box for their family? Imagine the impact of a virtual welcome receiving line or a 30-minute presentation where new hires get to teach you something they're passionate about. But here's the twist: the onboarding starts before they're even hired. Intrigued? Stay tuned to find out how these creative onboarding strategies can transform your hiring process and keep those top salespeople engaged. Conquer Sales Challenges To conquer sales challenges, leaders must adopt a disruptive mindset when hiring sales talent. Challenging candidates during the interview process and thinking critically can help in identifying top performers. Avoiding common hiring mistakes, such as not showcasing value or focusing solely on industry experience, is crucial in overcoming sales challenges and attracting the right talent. This is Walter Crosby' story, this week's special guest: Walter Crosby's journey into the world of sales began with a pivotal encounter in high school, where his guidance counselor doubted his ability to apply to the University of Michigan. This moment ignited a fierce determination within him, propelling him to defy expectations and pursue his aspirations. With over four decades of experience in sales, Walter's passion for elevating sales professionals stems from his own journey of resilience and growth. His unique perspective on hiring salespeople emphasizes the significance of assessing a candidate's selling prowess over their industry experience. Walter's story serves as a powerful reminder that motivation and tenacity are crucial in both sales and the hiring process, and that the art of selling transcends specific industries and markets. "Hiring salespeople is similar to how we go out and sell, go sell to our customers. We need to qualify these people. We need to make sure they're the right people that we should be talking to." - Walter Crosby Walter Crosby, the CEO of Helix Sales Development, boasts an extensive four-decade career in sales leadership and management. With a background deeply rooted in hands-on sales roles and leading sales teams, Walter's expertise is honed in elevating the performance of sales professionals, managers, and leaders. His significant decision to venture into entrepreneurship with Helix Sales Development underscores his strategic vision and entrepreneurial spirit. Hosting the Sales and Cigars Podcast, Walter's insights and industry acumen make him a compelling guest, offering a fresh perspective on the essential strategies for sourcing top-tier sales talent. In this episode, you will be able to: Master the Art of Hiring Top Sales Talent: Learn Winning Strategies. Revolutionize Your Sales Team Onboarding for Unprecedented Results. Conquer Sales Challenges with Proven Tactics and Expert Guidance. Cultivate a Phenomenal Sales Culture and Watch Your Team Flourish. Ignite Your Sales Team's Motivation for Unparalleled Performance.   The key moments in this episode are: 00:00:00 - The Drive to Succeed 00:01:28 - Background and Passion 00:09:29 - Challenges in Sales Hiring 00:13:10 - The Trap of Industry Experience 00:13:49 - Hiring for Industry Experience 00:14:44 - Buyer Level Experience 00:16:54 - Industry Experience Trap 00:19:04 - Selling Skills Over Product Knowledge 00:22:27 - Mistakes in Hiring Salespeople 00:27:38 - Dealing with Employee Feedback 00:28:13 - The Hiring Process 00:30:44 - Social Media Presence 00:31:30 - Panel Interview Process 00:37:54 - Mindset Shift in Hiring 00:41:12 - Importance of Onboarding Process 00:43:17 - Pre-Onboarding and Engagement 00:44:48 - Retention through Onboarding 00:46:39 - Virtual Onboarding Creativity 00:50:18 - Personal Favorite Movie Timestamped summary of this episode: 00:00:00 - The Drive to Succeed Walter Crosby shares his passion for helping sales professionals elevate their game and talks about his motivation to start his own business. 00:01:28 - Background and Passion Mario Martinez Jr. and Walter Crosby discuss their backgrounds in sales and the passion they have for helping salespeople succeed. 00:09:29 - Challenges in Sales Hiring Walter Crosby talks about the unique challenges of hiring salespeople and how they are wired differently, requiring a different approach to hiring. 00:13:10 - The Trap of Industry Experience Walter Crosby and Mario Martinez Jr. discuss the trap of hiring based solely on industry experience and emphasize the importance of focusing on other qualities when hiring salespeople. 00:13:49 - Hiring for Industry Experience Walter discusses the common mistake of hiring based on industry experience. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the buyer and their problems rather than just industry knowledge. 00:14:44 - Buyer Level Experience The conversation shifts to the significance of buyer level experience. It's highlighted that having a Rolodex full of relevant contacts and understanding the buyer's mindset is more critical than industry experience. 00:16:54 - Industry Experience Trap Walter warns about the industry experience trap, noting that top performers with industry experience are usually expensive and hard to recruit. He suggests looking for individuals with buyer level experience and a drive to prove themselves. 00:19:04 - Selling Skills Over Product Knowledge The focus shifts to the importance of selling skills over product knowledge. It's emphasized that the ability to sell and understand the sales process is essential, and product knowledge can be taught. 00:22:27 - Mistakes in Hiring Salespeople Mario asks Walter about common hiring mistakes. Walter points out the lack of clarity in job descriptions, poor job postings, and the premature selling of the company and job role as key errors. He also emphasizes the importance of online reputation on platforms like Glassdoor. 00:27:38 - Dealing with Employee Feedback Walter discusses the importance of correcting, dealing with, or removing feedback from disgruntled employees. He emphasizes the need to address this issue in the workplace. 00:28:13 - The Hiring Process Walter highlights the importance of understanding that candidates are also evaluating the company during the hiring process. He emphasizes the need to showcase value, promotional opportunities, and focus on candidates in the hiring process. 00:30:44 - Social Media Presence The discussion focuses on the significance of a sales leader's social media presence, including LinkedIn profile, in showcasing their ability to help their team grow and progress. The importance of recognizing the two-way street in the hiring process is emphasized. 00:31:30 - Panel Interview Process The panel interview process is introduced as a way to allow candidates to present themselves and demonstrate their skills in a simulated sales scenario. The process includes a 30-minute presentation and allows candidates to showcase their abilities. 00:37:54 - Mindset Shift in Hiring The conversation shifts to the mindset of hiring managers, emphasizing the need to challenge and push back on candidates to truly evaluate their fit for the role. The focus is on digging into candidates' achievements and quantifiable outcomes in sales. 00:41:12 - Importance of Onboarding Process Walter discusses the challenges of onboarding new salespeople and shares his experience of a lackluster onboarding process at a previous company. He emphasizes the need for a well-planned onboarding process that focuses on messaging, differentiation, and techniques for success. 00:43:17 - Pre-Onboarding and Engagement Walter emphasizes the importance of pre-onboarding engagement, such as sending a welcome package to the new hire and involving their family. He stresses the need for a structured onboarding plan that maps out the first two weeks and helps the new hire understand the company's expectations. 00:44:48 - Retention through Onboarding Walter discusses the critical role of onboarding in retaining top sales talent. He shares his personal experience of almost leaving a company due to a poor onboarding process. He emphasizes the need for ongoing career development and mentorship to support the new hire's growth. 00:46:39 - Virtual Onboarding Creativity The conversation shifts to creative onboarding strategies in a virtual environment. Walter shares the idea of a virtual welcome receiving line and emphasizes the importance of creating a positive culture through innovative onboarding practices. 00:50:18 - Personal Favorite Movie The conversation ends with a lighthearted question about Walter's all-time favorite movie, "A Bronx Tale." Walter shares his enthusiasm for the film and highlights its compelling storyline set in the 1950s with a mob influence. Maximize Sales Team Success In order to maximize sales team success, it is vital to focus on hiring the right salespeople with the necessary skills and mindset for the role. Creating clear job descriptions and conducting thorough qualifications can help in attracting top sales talent. By emphasizing value, growth opportunities, and showcasing a positive company culture, leaders can ensure long-term success for their sales teams. Elevate Sales Performance Elevating sales performance begins with a strategic onboarding process that goes beyond just product knowledge. Providing new salespeople with messaging, differentiation, and questioning techniques can help improve their performance from day one. Additionally, creating a welcoming and supportive environment, whether in person or virtually, can boost morale and drive sales success. The resources mentioned in this episode are: Connect with Walter Crosby on LinkedIn to learn more about his expertise and insights in sales and leadership. Visit Walter Crosby's website to explore more resources and connect with him directly for personalized advice and guidance. Download FlyMSG for free to save time and increase productivity with a text expander and writing assistant. Watch A Bronx Tale to experience a coming-of-age movie set in the 50s with a compelling mob influence and a great storyline. Subscribe to the Modern Selling Podcast and leave a 5-star rating and review on iTunes to support the show and stay updated on the latest episodes.

Discover the art of developing self-awareness and confronting the illusions we create both personally and professionally. Join Anne and Lau as they tackle the challenge of overcoming self-doubt, emphasizing resilience over inherent talent. By embracing our realities and addressing the falsehoods we tell ourselves, you'll learn how profound self-awareness can shape our lives. The BOSSES discuss how trusted companions and self-reflection can shine a light on our paths, leading to greater authenticity and success. Explore practical techniques to turn setbacks into opportunities for growth. We discuss the delicate balance between trusting external advice and listening to personal intuition. 00:00 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) You know your voice has the power to move, to persuade, to inspire. Imagine taking that power to its fullest potential. With guidance and expert production, I can help elevate your voice to new heights, making every voice script resonate with your audience. Let's empower your voice together, one session at a time. Find out more at anneganguzza.com.  00:26 - Intro (Announcement) It's time to take your business to the next level, the boss level. These are the premier business owner strategies and successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a boss a VO boss. Now let's welcome your host, anganguza. A VO Boss. Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza.  00:45 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Hey everyone, welcome to the VO Boss podcast and the Boss Superpower Series. I'm your host, Anne Ganguzza, and I'm here with my amazing, wonderful friend and co-host, ms Lau Lapides.  00:59 - Lau Lapides (Guest) Thank, you so much, I'm already getting verklempt. Incredible to be here, as always, love it Law.  01:06 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I love chatting with you and I have a very interesting topic, I think, today.  01:12 Because, I love me some Peloton.  01:14 So when I'm not Pilate-ing, I am Peloton-ing, or I am pre-coring, but I'm Peloton-ing a lot and I have a favorite instructor. I have a couple of favorite instructors, but one of them for those Peloton people who know, cody I love Cody. I was spinning away and Cody said you know, my therapist asked me how do you know when you're lying to yourself, or do you know that you're lying to yourself? And I thought, wow, what a great question. First of all because it really makes you kind of stop in your tracks and think Honestly, laura, throughout my life there are many times that you kind of know, right, you kind of know when you're lying to yourself. Maybe you're in some form of denial, but you're lying to yourself. And I think that we need to delve deep into this Lau today and ask our bosses do you know when you're lying to yourself and what are the stakes in that and how can you get past that? Because I think that to be productive and to really be successful in this business, you need to stop lying to yourself.  02:20 - Lau Lapides (Guest) Yeah, and I think that there has to be at least a brief bullet hit list of how do you deal with that, Like, how do you even know? How do you start to know what are some of the dead giveaways that you may be lying to yourself? The first one that comes to my mind is do you have or are you aware of? I think you have it, but are you aware of your inner voice? Are you aware of it, do you?  02:43 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) hear it? Oh, I hear mine all the time. That's a very interesting question, because I actually thought everybody hears their inner voice.  02:51 - Intro (Announcement) No.  02:51 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) But I actually have read that scientific studies say that not everybody has an inner voice. My inner voice talks to me all the time. Oh my gosh, all the time. What about?  02:59 - Lau Lapides (Guest) you. Yeah, mine is very strong and very loud and I already know all the justifications and lies I tell myself when I hear the voice in order to do something. And that's the next question I have is once you spot that inner voice, what are the common hyperbolic statements or lies, or fibs? That you're coming up with that. Feel really good to you to say in order to void out that voice.  03:27 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Well, first of all, what if you're someone who doesn't have an inner voice? Is that something that you can assess? Can you make an inner voice come out? Maybe people don't define it as an inner voice. Maybe they define it as a belief system, right? Maybe?  03:40 - Lau Lapides (Guest) they hide it, Maybe they bury it, Maybe they've been shamed to listen to it. There's a lot of reasons why I think people don't discover or find their inner voice. I think one of the things that I've always done I always chalked it up to just being a creative ensemble type of person but I think it is helpful in a sounding board of understanding what is the objective truth for you and your circumstance if you can't discover it on your own through your inner voice.  04:08 One of the things that I find helpful is surrounding yourself with really incredible people, brilliant people that you know and trust and feel good about sharing certain things with that you can soundboard with and see is it matching what you may be saying internally or not? Because there is a community truth about how people see you, hear you and, especially if they know you, they know your thought process right so they can sort of catch you when you're going off track.  04:37 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, yeah, it depends on life situations, right, I'm going to say the first inner voice is the truth, right? The inner voice, really, I think, is your truth, and do you listen to your inner voice, meaning, do you know when you're lying, do you know when you're lying to yourself, that kind of thing? So I think that's when you're denying that inner voice from having any say in kind of the truth, or you're in a denial of the truth, or you're in a denial of acknowledging that the truth is going. We're getting really deep here, but you're acknowledging.  05:08 - Lau Lapides (Guest) Go right there, I'm right with you.  05:10 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) You're acknowledging that you're not ready for the truth right now. Right, you're not ready for it, because to get through that truth or to listen to that truth may require an effort that is like gargantuan and superhuman to get beyond that truth. And this could be anything. It could be personal, professional. I mean, of course, personal affects professional. But I'm going to kind of focus on the professional, having had an inner voice that I denied through personal issues because I wasn't ready to face them. And so for me it's kind of like you get really good at telling yourself lies, you get really good at justifying why you're not listening to that inner voice. Yes, because it keeps you safe. Right, it keeps you safe in a lot of ways, or it keeps you from I don't know why. Is it that you don't want to look or do the work that's required to get through the truth and to align with the truth?  06:03 - Lau Lapides (Guest) Well, there could be I mean for psychological reasons, lots of reasons, but I think one deeply psychological common reason that I see in a lot of actors, artists, voiceovers and women is the sabotaging effect of arguing with yourself that you cannot be good enough.  06:22 It's not possible for you to get this successfully done because of X, y, z, you're not worthy, right, you're not worthy. So therein lies your inner voice. But is the inner voice being honest and truthful, or is the inner voice a sabotage voice? Yeah, yeah, absolutely that. You've created as like an alter ego to help you disqualify, get out of situations you know, qualify things and get you off the hook. I think artists do that. An awful lot is to say all the reasons why they cannot do something versus why they can do something, and after a while of telling yourself those lies, you actually believe them.  07:00 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah yeah, I'm not getting work because, right yeah, talk professionally, right Okay, I'm not'm not getting work because, right, you'll talk professionally, right Okay.  07:05 I'm not a successful voice actor because right, no one's going to hire me because, right, I'm not talented enough, my voice is not good enough, I don't have the right equipment, right, and so therefore, does that allow you to? I've spent all this money and I've gotten nowhere, right? So are you going to quit? Because you're listening right to those lies that you're telling yourself, or the inner voices, your inner self is you right? So we're talking to ourselves. So inner self is you, and inner self could be telling lies that you fabricated.  07:40 - Lau Lapides (Guest) Or it's the voices that have been with you over your lifetime that are the cacophony of voices that are not accurate or true. Yeah, that you've believed. You've gone down that road and sort of believed that that's who.  07:53 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) That's the role that you are. They've turned into your inner voice, right.  07:59 - Lau Lapides (Guest) And they've turned into your inner voice, where you pick up the things that you believe that people think or feel about you maybe from your home life or your friendship life or whatever that aren't necessarily an objective truth in the larger world, in the larger context of things, and that, I think, is very, very common Also, especially with women. I think just wanting to please, just being a pleaser, is a big driving force in not listening to your inner voice.  08:27 Yeah, You're saying, oh I'll just, yeah, they want me to do it this way, I'll just do it this way. Or they're asking me for this, I'll just give it to them and putting your common sense, putting that to the side for the higher purpose of pleasing, yeah, absolutely.  08:43 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I mean, that is so, so tough, and I'll tell you what, and I'm not getting into a political discussion, but I will say that external factors also play a part in that inner voice, right.  08:56 I feel like the nation is tired. Female right and we've had discussions on being a female in this industry or being a female in male-dominated industries. I'm tired. I've been fighting for a long time. I've been fighting for a long time and the inner voice wants to say, right, I fight because I believe certain things to be true and that is my truth. Right, but then the other people feeding into the inner voice you're not good enough or you know what? We're never going to make a difference. Now do I feel like? Am I going back to step zero? And what is it that I need to resolve internally, with my internal voice? That's going to help me to deal right with the external factors that are flying at me in every second of the day, and that's important.  09:45 - Lau Lapides (Guest) That's an important factor. It is every second of the day and that's important. That's an important factor because when you think about either your parents or whoever raised you when you were young, you're like a little recorder. You're like a sponge. You're picking up language and sound and cadence and everything. You're picking that up from the people around you and that's implanted in you. It's very hard to get that out and stop thinking that and doing that. So it's really again compartmentalizing. Okay, what my lived and learned experience was and still is good, bad and ugly, which everyone experiences. And then where am I as a professional in what I'm choosing to experience and who I'm creating?  10:24 Someone was telling an anecdote about this and I thought it was brilliant and he said I get annoyed. He's like in his 40s. He's a professional, whatever it was, like a psychiatrist or something. He said I go home and my parents treat me exactly like I'm 12 again, they talk to me as if I'm 12. Mine do Right and you got to love that right. But it annoys him to death because he says I have a family, I have children, I have a successful career. It's like they haven't graduated to that level. But that's where I'm saying you have to compartmentalize all these players in your life that speak to you in a certain way, sure, that code that linguistically code shift right, that say it's okay, they knew me at different times in my life good times, bad times, young, older. Now I have to amalgamate. What does that all mean in my voice? In my voice as to who I am and what I want to be? That's hard. That's the next step. Yeah, that's the next step.  11:21 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I mean it's interesting because, as we are talking about the inner voice, is the inner voice really what you think or is it what others think, right? Or is it a combination of both of them? And also, is your inner voice something that you're doing to escape responsibility or escape owning up to a fact that maybe you haven't done everything you can to be successful in voice acting? And then, if that's the case, right, you have to try to ask yourself why, right, why am I afraid of success? And that's a big thing, I mean, look, you can be just as afraid of success, if not more, as a failure, right? Are you afraid to fail? Are you afraid of success? And I'll tell you what. Are you afraid of hard work? Yeah, and once you're there, whatever you've deemed to be your success, right. What's stopping you from growing more than that? Or are you complacent?  12:09 For me, my personality is I cannot be stagnant. I cannot. I need to continue to grow my business. I need to continually evolve. If I don't, I feel like I'm failing, and for me, that's the motivation I need to push myself. Now, am I afraid of hard work? Me, no, I am not.  12:25 But some people might be, some people might think, well, I just want, I just I'm tired, I've got a lot of other things happening and voice acting should not have been this hard for me, right In the beginning. I'm the first person to admit voice acting was hard for me, and it was one of those things where I said to myself God, like, maybe I shouldn't be doing it. If it's this hard, right, shouldn't it just come naturally? Shouldn't I just have a God-given talent? Shouldn't this just flow for me? And over years of continually saying, well, I'm not used to failing For me myself. My personality is like to just keep going until I don't fail, figuring out as I go, I ultimately decided, yeah, damn it, it's hard, voice acting is hard. I think it's very rare that you have anybody that has just an innate talent for reading words off a page and making them like sound amazing.  13:09 - Lau Lapides (Guest) I got to be honest. I don't think anyone in any of our entertainment profession has it easy.  13:15 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I don't. I don't either. I really don't. Just because you and I have been in the industry for many, many, many years right and we've been deemed successful, doesn't mean that we feel successful all the time right, doesn't mean that we feel successful all the time right or that we consider ourselves successful at any given moment.  13:29 - Lau Lapides (Guest) No, that's like an illusion that people want to think is a truism, is a truth. When it's not a human truth, it's not a human thing. Maybe it's a robot thing, but it's not a human thing Because we're always going through situations in our life that we're reacting to, as well as human beings in the world that we're reacting to as well as human beings in the world that we're reacting to as well.  13:50 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And things change.  13:51 - Lau Lapides (Guest) And things change. But I always say, like, what's the difference? What's the main difference between someone who's young and amateur early stage and someone who is a vetted professional? What's the main difference? And it's not talent, it's the fact that we all get down. We all fall down. We all's not talent, it's the fact that we all get down, we all fall down, we all get in trouble, but we're able to get up, brush ourself off and move on.  14:12 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Get back on the horse and make use of that.  14:13 - Lau Lapides (Guest) Yeah, really make use of that, whereas many are not able to do that. It's holding them down, it's holding them back. There's that stone right on top of them that they're not able to move. So that voice is like as heavy as any equipment that could be out there. It's heavier. It can be either a burden or it can be enlightenment.  14:33 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) It's up to you. I love what you're saying about the failure Again, like if you failed and you've allowed that inner voice to say I am a failure, right, without taking benefit from the fail, I'd say get back up on the horse, turn the fail around and spin that into positive things. What positive things can you take from that right?  14:53 So, if there is the dialogue happening where I'm not good enough right, I failed, I didn't get that gig right, I was not chosen right, they didn't pick my voice, I didn't nail the audition. Take that failure and I need you to reframe it right and restructure it so that it becomes a learning moment that can be turned into success. I mean, I think that's really like how do you know when you're lying to yourself? Acknowledge it first. I think that's first and foremost.  15:19 Once you acknowledge it right. You then have the power to take that truth and take that knowledge and reframe it, and then reframe it to successful.  15:30 - Lau Lapides (Guest) Reframe it and how do you use, how do you utilize that reframing to be helpful in your life and in others' lives? So it becomes wisdom. It doesn't just sit in a place where it's a bad experience or it's an experience that was a great experience. It becomes a nugget of wisdom for you.  15:49 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) That becomes your proverb of how you live your life and how you utilize that in your life and we're speaking, so I think, so ethereal, and I want to kind of bring this down to like okay, I might have a student who's come to me and said well, I spent thousands and thousands of dollars on this demo and now everybody tells me it's a piece of garbage and I guess I just didn't know or I failed or that's it, that's why I'm not successful. So I always try to tell people look, life is a learning journey, right, and what sort of energy is positive or helpful? If you're going to sit there and berate yourself for getting a demo that maybe some people don't like, right, or that you don't like or doesn't serve you, that energy is wasted on yourself, like nobody else really cares. To, be quite honest, right, turn that, reframe it around, say I've made an investment, I have now learned and know that maybe I wasn't ready to make that demo.  16:38 - Lau Lapides (Guest) Maybe it's learning money for you. Maybe you had to learn that Exactly that's your investment money for your business.  16:43 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Absolutely. So you turn that around and you learn, right, you go get yourself a different coach. You learn until you feel because I believe, right, I believe we all know and then say, well, I trusted my coach. Well, I think there's also that inner voice, right, that says I may be not ready, but I'm going to put my trust in my coach and I get it. Guys, I get it. But also I think there's an inner voice in you that says maybe I wasn't ready for that right, but my coach says I am. And so you didn't listen to that voice? Right, you don't know that you're lying to yourself, right, when you're saying something doesn't feel, right, I don't feel ready.  17:17 - Lau Lapides (Guest) That's the lie comes in, that's the pleasing, because you want to please your coach, you want to please your whoever, and say are you happy with me, are you proud of me? Did I do what you wanted me to do? Yeah, right. And that's where you have to start saying okay, they're my trusted advisor. I pay them for that, absolutely. But I can't put them all in one basket?  17:38 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yes, exactly, instead of being completely angry and saying it's all their fault, right, In reality. Right, you need to listen to that voice that, hopefully, I mean maybe you did completely put all your trust in them, but then again, now that you've learned right, now that you've learned from it, now you know, maybe I won't put all my trust in my coaches and I will take that little voice in my head that said maybe you're not ready. Right, they said I was, but I don't feel ready and I didn't tell them about it so that they could reason with me and say no, really you are, or maybe you're not right. That's just the demo readiness. Right, like, what about the audition? What about the person that auditioned and didn't get the gig?  18:21 - Lau Lapides (Guest) There's so many lies that we can tell ourselves about this right. Oh, we somehow always believe that voice.  18:24 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) We always listen to that voice and believe that voice, Right? Oh well, all right.  18:31 - Intro (Announcement) I voice. We always listen to that voice and believe that voice, right?  18:31 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Oh well, all right, I did the audition and I must have sucked, right, I sucked, so I didn't get the job. There's the lie. There's the lie that you tell yourself Now. You don't know, right, you don't know that you sucked.  18:34 I mean, maybe you do, maybe internally, you kind of know, oh, I haven't really coached a lot, maybe I should get somebody else's opinion to see, because I haven't developed an ear yet. So maybe it's something that somebody else can help me with. Maybe I don't suck, maybe I just need somebody else to give me some tips, or I need some additional coaching, right, or I nailed it, and then I heard the commercial and God, I can't believe they got hired Right. So there's the lie. How did they get hired? You know what I mean, and so how are you resolving that?  19:06 - Lau Lapides (Guest) Right, Right, I think the discipline to say, okay, I want to always pay attention to the inner voice inside. But a very famous neurosurgeon said this and I thought it was so brilliant I believe it was David Amen, he's like on the speaking circuit as a neurosurgeon. He said believe it or not, you don't have to believe everything you think. And I was like whoa, astonishing, Because we somehow think if we think it then it must be true. Yeah, agreed, but we're forgetting all the immense biases, experiences, sort of mental slurs that we go through in our life that help formulate those thoughts. So that's not to say that you don't understand an inner truth or have an inner voice that can't lead you in the right direction. It's just to say you don't have to believe everything you're thinking.  19:57 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, you can manifest. I'm a big believer in manif. Yeah, you can manifest. I'm a big believer in manifesting. You can create. You can create with your thoughts. You can re-envision, you can reinvent, you can redirect. I absolutely believe that, with your thoughts Right, like they are so, so powerful, and of course, that audition that you didn't get right, and then you're like, oh, I must be no good, don't believe that. Right, you're telling yourself aloud and think here are all the possibilities that Ann and Lau have said a hundred times in an audition demolition. There's many, many reasons why people get the job or don't get the job right, and not all of them are directly under your control. I mean absolutely. So maybe you didn't suck, you are good and that's okay, and it's okay that you didn't get the job right. So you audition, you forget it, right, and ultimately you don't believe the lie, that you're telling yourself that you're not good enough for it and whatever you do, you must discipline yourself to not shed and forecast everything you're thinking.  20:55 - Lau Lapides (Guest) They call it oversharing, but it really is forecasting what exactly is in your mind and you're doing that to purge yourself of guilt. Oh yeah, oh, let's collect 500 for this hour. I'm telling you, this is like good stuff. Don't purge on other people. Don't go through that catharsis. That's a private journey for you, Because guess what the casting director or the business person in front of you is thinking why did you just say that? I don't see that at all. What's happening? Are you okay? Like literally they're thinking, are you okay? Because you're forecasting something onto me that I don't even know what you're talking about Right Now? You and I are coaches. We catch that stuff and we try to remedy that. But you do it on the wrong people. You can never go back and make that impression again on them because they'll always. I remember Barbara Corcoran. I look up to her a lot as a mentor in business and she's a more mature woman.  21:51 on Shark Tank if you ever watch Shark Tank, yeah absolutely she says I always Rolodex in my mind, whether you agree with this or not. I just thought it was very interesting the way she put this. Whenever someone, especially a woman, breaks down crying in front of me when they're pitching their product, I always kind of roll a dex that in my mind that that's not someone I can work with. Now, that's not to say that you can't cry. It's not to say you can't feel emotion. You should feel real emotion and not hide that. However, when you forecast and overshare those emotions with people you don't have relationships with yet, they Rolodex you, they compartmentalize you in a place where they say I don't know what they're telling themselves.  22:30 I don't know what they're thinking and feeling, but it's not my experience of them, so from a business standpoint it can be very harmful.  22:37 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Well, that translates right into social media Just saying right your responses, right Whether people respond like share or not, right your response. Is somebody's going to Rolodex that response in their brain and say I don't think I can work with that person based upon what they just said. Happens every day, every moment of the day.  22:58 - Intro (Announcement) Yeah, all the time, all the time.  22:59 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And so understand that as well. Right, and so if you are oversharing, right Again, in a professional setting, especially, like you said, I think the key is with people that you do not have relationships with yet, right, People that do not know do not know your perspective where that's coming from, right. And even if they do know where that's coming from, where that's coming from right, and even if they do know where that's coming from, they may Rolodex it and say I don't think I can work with that person. Right, and I get that, and we get that too as coaches oh yeah, oh, I can't work with that person.  23:28 - Lau Lapides (Guest) No, I can't work with that. And that's like you trying to find the jury. That's the jury, that's the audience, that's the of people that will agree with you on what you're saying. That's not the place to do it Right, and it's not even an objective truth in any way. It's just a whole bunch of people who may be agreeing with you on whatever you're saying. So you have to be careful. You have to like be careful in who you trust with your inner voice and with your inner self.  23:56 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So I'm going to make this educated guess that when I ask the question, how do you know when you're lying to yourself? Right, I think you have to start with. How do you know when you're lying to yourself, when something is not necessarily going the way that you want it to right? I think that's one telltale way to start really looking inward and asking okay, so why are things not happening? Why am I not getting the gig? Why am I not getting the gig? Why am I not getting any business? Why am I not successful? Or why do I feel like I'm not successful? Asking yourself those questions and just sitting quiet in the moment and really thinking about what are the steps to achieve success? Why are you not getting that gig?  24:33 Well, to get the gig, certain factors have to take place. You have to have talent right, but not always right. You have to have talent right, but not always right. You have to have talent, you have to be in the right demographic, you have to be in the head of the casting director, which none of us are. So there's certain factors that are beyond our control. And when that happens, we have to also put in our head that there are certain factors beyond our control. So maybe we didn't get the gig because we have no control.  24:55 The daughter of a close friend. They gave the job to her, versus they changed directions and went with a male instead of female, or whatever. It is right. Understand that there are things beyond your control and that's okay, rather than I am not good enough, right, right, and taking things. Why am I not getting more work, right? Why am I not getting more work?  25:14 Well, sit down and take a look at. How much coaching have you had, right? How much training have you had? Are you as skilled as you can be? Are you marketing yourself as much as you can be? Why, if not, are you not marketing yourself, right? Well, you don't have the know-how, you don't have the money to invest in a marketer. You don't have the money, right. Why are these things happening? And really sit down and just I would say, write it down. Right, write it down. What are the things that you're not achieving, that you want to achieve, and what are the steps that you need to get there, or what are the conditions in which, when they're met, you will have success in that or not success? And then really sit down and ask yourself to be truthful right. How much of this is under your control? How much of this is other people saying this is the way it is and influencing your inner voice, or how much of it is your own self-sabotage?  26:04 - Lau Lapides (Guest) Yeah, and what you're really talking about here, which is, I think, the nugget here. The bottom line takeaway is hold yourself accountable to finding your voice, listening to it and understanding it right. So, for instance, if there's danger for you, if there's an instinctive acknowledgement that you're making, don't just ignore it and do it anyway. Don't just ignore it and overlook it anyway. You oftentimes will go wrong when you do that right, or when someone gives you feedback and you have to actively listen and absorb that feedback, and they say 5, 6, 10, 15 times. I don't know why you just said that. To me. It's not true or accurate. You should stop doing that. Stop doing it Like you've got to stop the behaviors.  26:50 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yes, now you go to external sources. Right, when you've listened to your inner voice and your inner voice is not helpful, right, that's when you turn to your accountability buddies, your trusted colleagues.  27:01 - Intro (Announcement) Or sabotaging.  27:02 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) yes, Right, your trusted colleagues, and you bounce that off of them, and then that is what's going to help, hopefully, reframe right. You're lying to yourself, right, and your inner voice that can be lying to you or sabotaging you, whatever that is, wow. That was deep. By the way, vaughn and I are not we are not in the business of mental health, however. This is just based on our own experiences, so, please, take what we say with a grain of salt.  27:28 We're sharing our experiences to hopefully help you with yours, because we are not therapists, so please keep that in mind, and we're just here to share.  27:39 - Lau Lapides (Guest) It's very true. And I have to say, if you're in business and studying this kind of work over years and years and years, you'll find that the more quality the script, the more quality the copy, the more they have something in common with great writers, great thinkers, great philosophers, great psychologists right? So we don't need to be like a clinical psychologist to understand the analysis of a line from Shakespeare. Like we can figure that out at a certain point and say how does that connect to my life, my lived experience, how does that connect to me uniquely as a person? Is that part of my voice and I mean my inner voice and my mechanical voice as well? Yeah Right, and that's what we call finding our voice. Voice and my mechanical voice as well? Yeah Right, and that's what we call finding our voice. Like finding your authentic voice means like doing that work, doing that homework.  28:25 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Good stuff. Oh my gosh, Woo Woo. I'm tired now. My inner voice needs a break. We need a latte after that, or something I know. All right. Well, before my latte, I'm going to give a great big shout out to our sponsor, IPDTL. You too can connect and network like bosses. Find out more at IPDTLcom Lau. I love you. It's been amazing.  28:46 - Lau Lapides (Guest) I love you.  28:47 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And my inner voice says I love Lau, I love Annie and I love Lau and I love myself and I love my inner voice, even when it misbehaves.  28:56 - Lau Lapides (Guest) And we love all of you listening, and that's why we share these inner thoughts.  28:59 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yes, Thank you guys. You have an amazing week and we will see you next week. Bye.  29:06 - Intro (Announcement) Join us next week for another edition of VO Boss with your host, Anne Ganguza, and take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at vobosscom and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies and new ways to rock your business like a boss. Redistribution with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via IPDTL.   

In this episode, I'm sharing an insight from my recent "What Are You Creating?" podcast interview with Charlie Birney, founder of Podville, a successful podcast media production company. This conversation with Charlie was inspired by my work with two coaching clients interested in starting podcast production businesses. When helping people in the early stages of a business dream, I introduce role modeling—finding successful people already doing what you want to do and studying them closely. By learning about their business models, marketing strategies, and offerings, you gain priceless insights and inspiration for your own path.. During our conversation, Charlie shared a compelling story about a former employee who asked how long he planed to stay in contact with those who had declined his company's services. Charlie's response was simple but profound: he never removes people from his Rolodex because he believes in nurturing relationships for the long term. After listening to this episode, I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on your relationships. Think about those friends from school or past clients you've lost touch with over the years. Make a list of 10–15 names and reach out to 1–4 of them for a 30-minute catch-up call. Remember, the goal isn't to sell anything—it's simply to reconnect and keep those relationships alive. Additionally, consider implementing a system, like a CRM or relationship manager, to help you stay on top of your connections and schedule regular follow-ups. Maintaining relationships should be a core part of your personal and professional success strategy.

Your phone isn't just a phone—it's your modern-day Rolodex, filled with valuable connections. Instead of always chasing new leads, why not nurture the relationships you already have? The other day, I set a 15-minute timer and texted old contacts—just a quick “Hey, how's it going?” The responses rolled in, leading to calls, meetups, and even business opportunities. So let's do the same. Take 10 minutes, scroll through your contacts, and send a simple check-in. No expectations—just genuine connection. Because in business and life, relationships are everything. Ready? Let's go. Elevate Your Business and Creativity - Spend the next year with me, and I'll help elevate your business and creativity to unprecedented levels. Join the Majik Mind today at https://MajikMedia.com/Majik-Mind. Master Your Marketing - Learn the simplest, most effective marketing strategy from my 20 years as an entrepreneur. Develop and tour your Signature Workshop at https://majikmedia.com/signature-workshop. Thrive Without Social Media - Discover how to succeed in business without social media. Start thriving today at https://MajikMedia.com/Biz-Without-Social. Creative and Business Coaching - Let me guide you as your business and creative coach. Explore coaching opportunities at https://MajikMedia.com/Coaching. Discover Play Chi Ball - Experience the fast, fun, and flow-inducing game of Play Chi Ball. Start playing today at https://PlayChiBall.com. Majik Kids Audio Entertainment - Searching for outstanding audio entertainment for your children? Download the Majik Kids App now at https://MajikKids.com/app.

Joris Demmink is one of the most notorious politicians in the history of The Netherlands. Even though he has denied for decades that he was being served young boys on a silver platter in the 1980's & 1990's, the proof says otherwise. People have been killed to protect the truth from coming out about this affair, but today, we expose it all, raw and unfiltered. You're listening to THE CONSPIRACY FILES!-SUBSCRIBE TO "THE CONSPIRACY FILES" on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@UCsYWvjBZc6nhVspRKh9BppQ-LISTEN TO "THE CONSPIRACY FILES" WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS!:-Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5IY9nWD2MYDzlSYP48nRPl-Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/id1752719844-Amazon/Audible - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/ab1ade99-740c-46ae-8028-b2cf41eabf58/the-conspiracy-files-Pandora - https://www.pandora.com/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/PC:1001089101-iHeart - https://iheart.com/podcast/186907423/-PocketCast - https://pca.st/dpdyrcca-CastBox - https://castbox.fm/channel/id6193084?country=us-"THE CONSPIRACY FILES" is the most DANGEROUS show on the internet. Join host COLIN BROWEN (of "The Paranormal Files" and "Murder In America") as he dives deep into some of the world's most dangerous and disturbing conspiracy theories. From Epstein Island to the North Fox ring and the murder of Marilyn Monroe, NO STORY is off limits and NO DETAILS or INFORMATION will be left out. If you like conspiracies, mysteries and true crime, then THIS SHOW is for you. Get ready to have your mind blown.-SUBSCRIBE to "The Paranormal Files" (my ghost hunting channel!): https://www.youtube.com/theparanormalfilesofficialchannel?sub_confirmation=1-LISTEN TO MURDER IN AMERICA (my podcast)!SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/episode/204fV6xstY3a5atxoHOhz8?si=H1einpJoR42jnfmEjqk5qwAPPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/murder-in-america/id1547409175SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/tkz56KWDmYAyVNAZA-Connect with me on social media!

2025 is the year to become "acronimble" by familiarizing yourself with one of the most important acronyms in the industry: CRM, which stands for Customer Relationship Management. The BOSSES discuss how the right CRM tool can streamline how you engage with clients, leading to better organization, and more business opportunities. Learn how to maintain meaningful connections without constantly reinventing the wheel, and discover the strategies that help you organize client interactions to promote continued work. Through personal stories and practical advice, The BOSSES highlight the evolution from old-school Rolodexes to cutting-edge digital solutions, empowering you to manage your client interactions like a BOSS. 00:01 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Hey, amazing voiceover talents. Do you ever wish boss marketing was as fun as it was being behind the mic? Well, check out my VO Boss Blast. It's designed to automate and make your marketing simpler. You'll benefit from your very own target marketed list, tailored to meet your goals and your brand. The VoBoss Blast Find out more at V. The VO Boss Blast Find out more at voboss.com.  00:27 - Intro (Announcement) It's time to take your business to the next level, the boss level. These are the premier business owner strategies and successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a boss, a VO Boss. Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza.  00:46 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Hey everyone, welcome to the VO Boss Podcast and the Real Bosses series. I'm your host, Anne Ganguzza, and I am the BOSS with the VOS. That's the voiceover strategist, Mr Tom Dheere. Hello.  00:59 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Tom Hello. So that's boss VOS.  01:02 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Boss, VOS.  01:03 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) The BOSS VOSS, boss VOSS.  01:04 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) The BOSS BOSS with the V-O-S.  01:06 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) BOSS with the V-O-S.  01:08 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And you know, tom, let's continue the acronym party, shall we? Yes, please, Because I'll tell you what it's the beginning of the year, I'm going to manifest multiple new contacts and you know what I need to be able to keep track of those contacts in a BOSS CRM.  01:26 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Whoa, whoa Boss, boss CRM. What do you?  01:29 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) think Boss, boss CRM I like that. And you know, people ask me about what CRM do I use? What CRM do I use? And so let's talk about 2025 CRM.  01:40 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Fantastic idea, anne. First off, just to make sure everybody knows what we're talking about, CRM is Customer Relationship Manager. It is a fancy way of saying some form of system where you store your client information potential clients, current clients, past clients' information which you can use as a home base for your marketing strategies. So you use the CRM to develop relationships with customers. So just make sure everybody's on the same page.  02:13 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Then you could be CRM BOSS, you could be a CRM boss.  02:17 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) You could be a crim boss. No, we'll stick with CRM.  02:22 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) But CRM reminds me of crumble cookies. Oh wait, now I'm going off.  02:28 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) I diverge into a tangent of cookies. I was thinking crumb, like the god that Conan the Barbarian worships. All right, we're really getting off the rails here.  02:34 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I can see where my brain is versus yours.  02:36 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) You must be hungrier than I am.  02:40 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I love cookies, me too. So, speaking of CRMs, so, tom, let's talk about why, first of all, is it good to have a CRM? Why do we need one? For a boss business?  02:51 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) It is critical for voice actors to have a CRM, because I tell my students that my definition of marketing is the art and science of developing meaningful relationships. That's what it is. You want meaningful relationships with clients. Now, we all know why you want meaningful relationships with clients. Now we all know why we want meaningful relationships with clients and they know too is because we want them to give us money to talk Like. We understand that, they understand that. And at the same time, it's complicated and there's a lot of moving parts to all of this stuff.  03:24 Having a CRM well, why you want to have it is because you don't want to have to reinvent the wheel every time. You want to get voiceover work. Also, it's a relationship manager, since you are trying to develop relationships. Relationships have beginnings. They start in a certain way Hi, my name is so-and-so Nice to meet you Handshake, firm handshake and all that stuff. And then it's the getting to know you stuff develop an understanding of each other, what you can offer each other, what you both need from each other, and developing trust. Trust is one of the most important components of any relationship, be it personal or professional. So why have a CRM? You do it to develop trust and nurture relationships with clients.  04:15 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) And Tom, can I just say I love that. Can I just say, as a girl with about a million and a half and I kid you not a million and a half unread emails in my Gmail, if I don't have a place that I can go to see where are my customers, right, if I'm not doing something to organize that, basically emails just fly through my inbox and so I might forget that I was in contact with my client maybe a month ago and I needed to follow up with them for a particular reason. Maybe they were saying let me get back to you on this and I need to follow up. And so if I just relied on my trusty email system which, by the way, has a million and a half unread email messages and guys in my defense, right, I got a Gmail account in 1990-something Okay, how many years is that? Thirty-some-odd years, a long time.  05:04 When it began, I was one of the first like few hundred people that had a Gmail account and, because Google is a search engine, I just never deleted anything. So I have records, by the way, from my clients, if I want to. I have records going back to like 1992 or 96. I can't remember which year but yeah, that's amazing.  05:21 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) I know it's crazy.  05:22 That's amazing, but fun stuff Another thing to keep in mind is that, for a moment, take out the word relationship and replace it with the term sales funnel. Yeah, a good CRM helps get voice seekers into the sales funnel and pushes them through the sales funnel. There's different permutations and levels for different people, but for me, my sales funnel terms are brand awareness, consideration, decision, advocacy. Brand awareness you send the cold email Hi, so-and-so explainer video company. My name's Tom Dheere. I'm an explainer video narrator.  05:57 Now they know that you exist, which means if they open the email, clicked on the link to your website, listened to your demos, downloaded them and replied hey, thanks for sending this, we'll keep you in mind for future consideration. They are now keeping you hopefully top of mind the next time a voiceover gig comes along that you're right for. So that's part of using the CRM to keep moving them through the consideration part of the sales funnel to the decision where they actually have a voiceover that you'd be right for and they remember you and they have your demos and they have your contact information and they actually reply to you. Hey, we think we've got something for you. Could you please read this script and let us know how much you'd charge for this? You do that and then you get the booking and then it goes into the advocacy part of the sales funnel where you did such a great job that they will remember you the next time a project comes along, because you did such a great job on the last project that you worked on.  07:01 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I love how you just explained the sales funnel because I was going to say, like most voice actors are not necessarily aware, you went through the technical aspects of a traditional, like marketing sales funnel. Here I always have to go to my lipstick.  07:13 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Okay, let's go to your lipstick.  07:14 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) It's not in Ganguzza, unless I got my—okay. First of all, I have to have a need. I have to have a need, right, and so I may or may not be aware of different brands of lipstick, right, but because I've used this lipstick before, I'm going to start with my Chanel. Right, I have my Chanel lipstick and they're top of mind because literally they sit right here on my desk, because when I do my podcast video, I've got to make sure I have my matching lipstick.  07:40 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Oh, your lipstick matches your headphones.  07:43 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, brand awareness. That's one thing. What's the next step in the funnel there, Tom?  07:47 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Consideration.  07:48 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Consideration. Now, what are the factors that are going to have me consider? Now, just equate this to your voiceover business guys. Basically, this is the layman's terms of like okay, so what is it? The considerations of? Why am I going to buy this brand? Right?  08:01 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Yeah, what are the advertising and marketing techniques that that company is going to use to remind you how awesome their lipstick is?  08:09 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Right, exactly. And also, what is my experience with the lipstick? Right? So I'm on their mailing list, right? And does Chanel go on sale? Well, no, but that's also brand awareness too. So we know that certain things don't go on sale. Chanel doesn't usually go on sale, but anyways, I keep up with them with their mailings and that's how they keep top of mind with me, but pretty much I also use it all the time and it sits there, so I visually see it. So it's either in my inbox or it's sitting here in my desk, right? What's the next step after consideration?  08:37 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Decision.  08:38 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Decision Okay, do I have the money at this time? Do I have the need? Do I have the money to buy this? Right. And I make that decision. I click on the email Right Because they say, oh, new colors are out and I'm like, oh, I could use a new color red Right. So I make that decision. I click, go to the website and then what's after?  08:57 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) the decision I buy it, right. Advocacy, you buy it and then advocacy.  08:59 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So if I buy it and I love the color, oh my God, oh guys, have you seen? All right, all my friends, I'm going to say did you see this color? Isn't this color amazing? Right, and I might even throw up like a social media. You know, like, ooh, branding awareness. Anne Ganguzza Voice Talent, right, branding awareness. I love this new color red, because you got to feel confident in the booth so that you can voice confidently. And so there we go, I'm going to advocate for the brand. So not only am I advocating for my brand, but I'm advocating for this brand as well. So that kind of just took you through the sales funnel with, like, just a traditional lipstick. Sorry, tom, you could maybe use a flannel shirt as an example.  09:35 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Well, I'm a Maybelline man myself.  09:37 Oh, okay, there you go, so I want to take exactly what you said and now let's look at it from the lipstick maker company's perspective.  09:46 They've got people that they want to buy their lipstick and they want them to love their lipstick and come back for more. So they have their own CRM and through their television advertising, through their radio advertising, through their digital and streaming advertising, through their print advertising on the side of a bus or in a magazine of some sort, they are trying to get people to be aware of them, brand awareness, and keep them top of mind, which is why there's always kinds of print and digital and other forms of advertising. And if they get you on that mailing list, they can send out emails at regular intervals based on people who haven't bought their lipstick yet and people who possibly have bought their lipstick yet. They also look at did they open this email, Did they use a promo code to try the lipstick or get a discount, even though they don't do discounts, which is very interesting because a lot of brands position themselves we are so valuable and we are so coveted, we don't need to discount. We don't need to do that.  10:50 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I did that for many years. It's very interesting for Chanel to do that. It's an interesting psychology behind it.  10:55 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) There is a psychology.  10:56 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) There are a lot of times where, if something is so cheap, I'll be like oh, I'm not so sure about the quality of that. I'd actually rather pay a little bit more money because I feel like I'm getting better quality. And that's the whole like. Know your worth, guys. Right, what should you be charging? Charge what you're worth versus going cheap, right.  11:12 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) More expensive equals superior from a branding and psychological point of view. So Chanel, chanel, right. Chanel sees all of us, potential customers, brand awareness, consideration, actual customers, decision and advocacy, and they use CRMs to get lipstick buyers into the sales funnel and push them through. Exactly Translating that to voice actors. We want to do the same exact thing, right, and a good, robust, interactive CRM can help us get voice seekers into the sales funnel and push them through.  11:45 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Absolutely, and you'll be able to know at what point in the funnel they are at Exactly. A good CRM will tell you exactly where they are in the sales funnel so you'll know what to do for the next steps. Maybe they need an additional email, maybe they need a phone call, maybe you'll put out some more social media advertisements, that sort of a thing. So really depending on where they are in the CRM is when you make that determination and decision on what to do. So now, tom, the question is we know why we need a CRM right and we understand the sales funnel and all voice actors need to understand that sales funnel, because we are selling our products, we're selling our voices.  12:17 Let's talk about actual CRMs. I mean, there's many of them out there. I know people constantly ask me which ones I use and I think the answer may surprise you unless you've listened to a podcast of mine before but I don't use any one. I use a multitude of CRMs in combination with one another because myself personally, I don't find one that does everything for me that I need. What about you, tom?  12:38 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Yes, different CRMs fulfill different needs. Now, what we are talking about, and what most voice actors ask us about, is the software or app.  12:57 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) If you have a Rolodex from the 70s or 80s or 90s.  12:58 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) That's a CRM. Yep, yep, yep, A spreadsheet, A spreadsheet. Exactly that was the very next thing I was going to say A spreadsheet is a form of CRM.  13:04 Yeah, I had an index card box. So in 1995, when I got my first voiceover demo and my coach told me to cold call because that's back then pre-social media, pre-pay-to-play, free home recording that was pretty much the only thing you could do. I would use a CRM of index cards and I had those little you know with the little tabs that would separate them into production companies, recording studios, advertising agencies, so on and so forth. That was a CRM and then that evolved into spreadsheets. I do still use spreadsheets regularly, but I also use an actual software app CRM.  13:43 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Myself as well.  13:44 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Now, neither Anne nor I are getting paid to sponsor or affiliate or promote any particular CRM, so we are going to be talking to you about this purely through what our experience has been without hawking, and then we get a little kickback.  14:00 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) So I'm going to tell you, my first CRM well before voiceover was a Rolodex, and then, ultimately, it turned into a spreadsheet so that I could keep track of my customers, and that was based off of. You know, I started doing all my accounting online right through my accounting software, and so it was my customer base, right, that was thrown into a spreadsheet and then I would track things that way. So, you guys, crms don't have to be expensive. They can be very simple and it can be whatever you're most comfortable with, and that's what I started with. And then it ended up being my Gmail, right? My Gmail, where I would separate things into folders for different clients and then keep track of them that way, and then a couple of plugins for the Chrome browser that worked within Gmail to help me keep top of mind with them, and then, tom, I'm sure we'll get into the other ones that we use. What?  14:48 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) about you.  14:49 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) You started as a spreadsheet right.  14:50 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) My start is the index card box, which then turned into spreadsheets, and then 2003,. I started using Act. You remember Act by Sage? I used that one for almost 10 years, so yeah, around 2013. And I think it either got discontinued or something weird happened with it, or I didn't like the features, or they started charging too much. I don't remember what it was. Then I did move to Gmail as well.  15:17 I'd been using Gmail as an email account for a while, but then I started to use it as an actual CRM. One thing that's nice is that you can use what? Is it G-Sync or Google Sync? So I synchronize my Gmail with my Outlook folders, so I have Outlook which is how I manage all my email.  15:38 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Oh, I have Gmail folders.  15:40 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Right, and this is the great thing about it. I have Gmail folders, but they automatically sync with Outlook every time. So if you look at Gmail, and you look at the Outlook folders. The folders are exactly the same. So if I move one to one thing in one, it moves it to the one thing in the other, which means if I'm at my desktop, on my laptop, on my tablet or on my phone.  16:01 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Outlook is amazing.  16:02 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Outlook is amazing. Anything I do with Gmail or Outlook, it automatically synchronizes with all of my devices.  16:08 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) In my defense, I would have Outlook as my most favorite email client ever and when I was working in the corporate world I had an Outlook account. And when I left the corporate world to go into voiceover full-time, I no longer had an Outlook server right to go to and Gmail at the time wasn't syncing up with Outlook nicely, or Outlook wasn't syncing up with Gmail nicely, so I literally got used to using just Gmail. Okay, but it's funny because my husband does use Gmail with Outlook and he just filters everything into his Outlook because Outlook is just wonderful visually, it's just a nice way to organize things in folders. But I've gotten so used to my Gmail in folders that I'm really used to and filtering. I have automatic filtering and that sort of thing, but I totally love Outlook.  16:51 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Right, I'm looking at the bottom of my desktop. For me it's Google Workplace Sync, because I have a paid Google Workspace account. And Google Workspace is great.  16:59 It does all kinds of fun things.  17:00 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I can do it now.  17:02 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Yeah, and I never even thought about Gmail as a CRM that I'm using now because I have a folder for every client in Gmail, because every time I have any kind of correspondence with any client, once the correspondence is over, I drag that email into that client folder. Now do I use that specifically to market out of? No, but it is a robust, legit CRM because, like, for example I'll give you a perfect example 2019, a potential client reached out to me and said hey, I'm developing this app, I'm getting a grant, I've got the level one grant for it, so I've got enough money to pay you to do this with the app and then, once we get that done, then we're going to apply for a level two grant. So I did the work in 2019 and 2020. We had an email exchange in 2021. And then a few weeks ago, three years later, the client said hey.  17:53 I got the level two grant. We're ready to keep going.  17:55 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yep love that. And at first I'm like who?  17:57 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) the hell is this? Because it's been three years? But then I'm like. I looked at the email and then I'm like but you can go back. I went back and I looked in Gmail slash Outlook and I saw the folder with that client and all of our correspondences dating back to 2019 were there.  18:10 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I know it's wonderful. This is also really good, and files, yeah, and everything.  18:17 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) What's also good is often like I'll have a client and years will go by just like that and they'll say hey, I've got another explainer for you Charge same as last time. And I'll be like I don't remember, but my CRM does, because I look in, I see the email and last time we charged this, and then I can make a decision yeah, that's good.  18:38 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Or it's been a few years. So now I search engine and again, I'm an authority on that because I have a million and a half unread email messages. And, by the way, they're unread because what I do is I subscribe. Just for those people that are wondering, I subscribe to every corporate list, every corporate list, because I want to learn as much about how companies that I want to voice for market to their customers, and so I sign up for a lot of mailing lists and I just let it filter through so I can see how they market. And that's honestly how I learned marketing Tom really through just everybody else and looking at everybody else. So I don't have a problem with not having an empty inbox I know some people do but again, I must have probably, I want to say, a good 300 folders within my Gmail.  19:17 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Oh yeah, Me too I have hundreds.  19:19 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, at least, and I have rules that filter emails coming in.  19:24 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Absolutely. Looking at my inbox, right now I have 14 emails in my professional inbox the Tom and Tom Dheere inbox.  19:31 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) I have more than that and that's cool.  19:32 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) But, like I said, when I'm done with the conversation I drag it into the client's folder and I've got this archive. For what did we do? How much did we charge, like all this stuff. But I think, anne, people want to know which app software-y type CRMs do we recommend. So what do you use these days?  19:49 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Okay. So in addition to my Gmail, I use multiple because it depends on what I'm working with. So right now I have a Wix website and I have the VO Peeps website. I have the VO Boss website. Obviously, I've got Anne Ganguzza.  20:00 So I've got three main brands where I have websites, and so for each of those I have the Wix CRM. So I have people who subscribe to Anne Ganguzza, people who subscribe to VO Peeps, people that subscribe to VO Boss. Each one of them on the Wix website has its CRM utilized by Wix. Because people subscribe, they get placed in the CRM there, which is great because then I can send emails to those lists. I can also check and see if I've sent an email out to a list, I can see how many people have opened it, who've clicked on it and who've actually purchased, and it really has a nice series of accounts for that. And also I can just work from my contact list to send emails and categorize them as clients, categorize them as, let's say, coaching students or however I want to do it. So Wix is my first.  20:48 I have three really for each domain and then I also use ActiveCampaign because I use the VO Boss Blast that I sell as well to direct market to companies. I have a list of over 90,000 creative companies, advertising agencies, rosters, production companies, and so that is part of that marketing package. And so I have ActiveCampaign that I use to house the contacts. Now, most software and you'll agree, tom will charge based on how many contacts you have in there. So, at least for ActiveCampaign, I have like 200,000 contacts in ActiveCampaign and so I pay a hefty price for that and they charge per contact. But I'm doing that because I've got a list of 90,000 and I've splitting that list up and doing marketing for other VO bosses and so I spend a lot of money on that product. So between the two Wix, well, three on that product. So between the two Wix, well three, gmail, wix and ActiveCampaign. I've got three CRMs that I'm utilizing for different needs Cool.  21:48 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Like we've already established, I use Gmail and I do use spreadsheets for very niche-y genres like political, because I like to see in one space who they are, what their contact is, when did I reach out? Did they open the email, did they reply, did I get on their roster, did I book? And then that stuff eventually makes its way into my CRM. Like Anne, tomdeercom and VOStrategistcom are both Wix-based sites, so I have two separate CRMs. The TomDeer CRM is obviously for voiceover clients, the VO Strategist CRM is for students and I have different tactics and strategies and I have different sales funnels and workflows for each of those and they both work great. For many years I also I remembered I used to use MailChimp and before that I used Vertical Response and they were both great they were both great.  22:41 But the one Vertical Response and they were both great. They were both great, but the one the CRM that I was using religiously before I fully migrated to Wix was Cloze. C-l-o-z-e.  22:51 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) This is a fantastic CRM. I know the name.  22:52 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Just vision this you wake up in the morning, you get an email in your inbox saying, hey, these are the people you haven't reached out to in three months, and then you can click on that name and then it takes you to cloze and it'll say oh, would you like to use one of the email templates that you created? You click on the template and you look at based on what genre of voiceover they cast, where they are in the sales funnel, and it already it populates it with their name. You can obviously do a little extra personalization as you see fit. Click send. Then you'll get a notification if they open the email. You'll get a notification if they clicked on any links in the email and it has a project manager. So if you, for example, narrate long-form e-learning or an audio book, you can set up benchmarks for like audio book record and deliver the first 15 minutes, get approval for the first 15 minutes, record chapter one, record chapter two, record chapter 20, send them an invoice, do corrections, market that this book is now on sale, and so on and so forth. It's fantastic. It's only like 200 something a month.  23:56 And and did not know this before I say it is I just realized that you can rent my video Clothes for Voice Actors at voestrategistcom. Right now it's a rentable video, so you can stream it for $5 for 72 hours. You can just rent it. Most of my videos are 20 bucks, but that's one of the videos that I'm promoting for five bucks and Ann didn't even know that and I didn't even think about that when we were like what are we going to talk about this month? So when we were like what are we going to talk about this month? So yeah, so if you go to veostrategistcom, go to the video section, you can rent it for $5.  24:24 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Now one thing I just want to say, tom, is like, no matter what CRM you use, it does take some time to set up. I mean, there is some work involved in setting up a CRM and getting your contacts in there. I had tried Nimble for a while, but Nim based their pricing on the size of your mailbox and, of course, with over 1 million unread emails, it was prohibitively expensive. Now you said, tom, for the low price of only $200 a month, which may or may not be something that people have in their budget. But I will say that that's really nice. That Cloze will say hey, look, you haven't contacted these people in three months. I think that's wonderful.  24:57 Right now I have like a boomerang app that's on my Chrome browser and, I think, gmail. Now you can schedule emails and if you need to respond, you'll notice it'll come back, say, hey, you haven't responded to this person in five days. So there's kind of that built into it. But just know that a CRM, no matter what you do, if you get one, that you're going to pay a monthly fee. I think Nimble was like 20 bucks and then they're like no, with your blah, blah, blah, it's going to cost you a hundred and I'm like I'm not going to pay a hundred dollars, I've already got most of what I need anyways.  25:26 You really need to just assess what your needs are and then figure out what works for you, because you don't have to pay anything. I don't pay anything right now. Well, I do. I should say that I pay for Wix and I pay for ActiveCampaign, but depending on what is comfortable for you and what will help you to stay top of mind and keep yourself top of mind, because sometimes I'll forget. Oh gosh, I should have responded, or I should reach out to this client, because gosh knows you could be losing work if you forget to. I've got clients who say, yes, I'm going to buy this, or I want to come back to this, and then, if you follow up, sometimes it's just that little nudge that is top of mind, reminding that we'll get you that sale.  26:00 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) Yep, and one thing I will say clothes is about 200 something dollars a month, but if you think about it, if you use that CRM and you book one explainer video for $300, you made your money back and everything else after that is profit.  26:14 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, absolutely, absolutely Good conversation, guys. I don't know if we'll ever like get the question stopping about the CRMs, but you know what guys Do, what comes naturally to you, what's comfortable for you. As far as Tom and I making recommendations, I mean, we have a combination of CRMs that work for us and we've named a few of them. But really do your research, guys, and know that it will take you some work to set it up. But I think if you've got a CRM that's running, I mean I'll tell you what that CRM saves my butt every month, and more than that, by being able to communicate easily with people that are subscribed to me and people that I want to reach out to. So it's absolutely worthy investment for bosses. So thanks again, tom, for your words of wisdom.  26:59 - Tom Dheere (Co-host) You're amazing. Thank you, as always, for having me.  27:01 - Anne Ganguzza (Host) Yeah, bosses. Big shout out to our sponsor, ipdtl. You too can connect and network like bosses, like Tom and myself, real bosses. Find out more at IPDTLcom. Guys, have an amazing week and we'll see you next week. Bye.  27:15 - Intro (Announcement) Join us next week for another edition of VO Boss with your host, anne Ganguzza, and take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at vobosscom and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies and new ways to rock your business like a boss. Redistribution with permission. Coast-to-coast connectivity via IPDTL.   

This week we chat with Nihal Mehta! At Eniac, they call Nihal the human Rolodex, thanks to the thousands of connections he has made with some of the world's top companies and brands. He developed many of these connections (and scar tissue!) over the past 20+ years while founding five startups: Philly2nite -> UrbanGroove -> Chapter 7 bankruptcy; ipsh! -> acquired by Omnicom (NYSE: OMC); buzzd -> LocalResponse -> acquired by BlueCava.Early in his career, Nihal honed his ability to spot top entrepreneurial talent by investing in Admob (acquired by Google), Swiftkey (acquired by Microsoft), Tapad (acquired by Telenor), Tala, and Uber, to name a few. Nihal and his wife are now angel investors and LPs in almost 100 underrepresented founders and fund managers.Nihal is a co-founder of the non-profit “Project Ahimsa,” providing scholarships to disadvantaged youth in India, where his parents immigrated from in the early 1970s. Nihal also recently co-founded initiatives like Help Main Street to help restaurants survive the pandemic, and The 100k Pledge, a social justice tracker of economic empowerment to Black communities. You might catch him running down the Hudson River weekday mornings with founders and his #pitchandrun crew.Outside of the office Nihal loves to spend time with his wife Reshma and is a big supporter of her non-profit Girls Who Code and her initiative “Moms First.” Around town, you will usually see him with his sons Shaan and Sai and beagle-bulldog Stanley. Nihal is the life of the party, which is why he always spearheads Eniac events.Nihal graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Philosophy and a BSE in Computer Science.Follow us!Nihal Mehta: @nihalmehtaEniac Ventures: @EniacVCErica Wenger: @erica_wengerDear Twentysomething: @deartwentysomething

We're just a week into the year but Dan says he has already had his most embarrassing moment of the year involving a Christmas gift that Izzy gave him. What is the lazier way to celebrate the holidays: a Merry Christmas text or a Christmas card sent via text? Do people use stamps anymore? Does Jeremy know what a fax machine is? What about a Rolodex? Then, it's time to get back into the Jimmy Butler discussion as the fallout from his trade request continues in Miami after the Miami Heat dropped a game to the Sacramento Kings last night. Has Pat Riley earned the arrogance that has put the Heat in this position? Plus, we have a classic sound of Stugotz ripping Pat Riley that has not exactly aged with grace. Today's Cast: Dan, Stugotz, Chris, Billy, Mike, Jeremy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of The Ground Investigation Podcast, Michael Taylor sits down with Hannah Thomas, a geotechnical engineer with a passion for exploration, both in the field and in professional growth. From her first helicopter drilling project in Oregon to her belief in the power of LinkedIn as the modern Rolodex, Hannah shares her unique experiences and actionable advice for geotechnical and geological professionals. What You'll Learn in This Episode: Memorable Projects: Hannah recounts her most challenging and rewarding project—a helicopter drilling expedition that pushed her out of her comfort zone and taught her invaluable field skills. The Role of Social Media: How platforms like LinkedIn can act as a digital Rolodex to grow your network, open career opportunities, and even attract clients. Career Advice: Insights for students and early-career engineers on trying new roles, building connections, and staying adaptable in a constantly evolving industry. Demystifying Geotechnical Engineering: Hannah explains the field in simple terms, from understanding the soil beneath a building to ensuring stability for dams and hillsides. Mentorship and Growth: The value of mentors in shaping your skills and how stepping out of your comfort zone can lead to tremendous personal and professional growth. Highlights: Helicopter drilling and safety lessons learned in Oregon. Why every engineer should start building their LinkedIn network early. Practical tips for explaining geotechnical engineering to non-professionals. How to find inspiration and knowledge by following industry leaders. Who Should Listen: This episode is perfect for: Geotechnical and geological engineers at all career stages. Students exploring engineering career paths. Professionals interested in networking and personal branding. Anyone curious about the adventures and challenges of fieldwork. Resources and Mentions: Connect with Hannah Thomas on LinkedIn Woman in Mining Follow Shelby Yee of Rockmass for inspiration. Subscribe to the show to join our host, Michael Taylor, as he continues to explore the intricacies of running a business in the ground investigation industry, bringing geological experts to share their wisdom, insights, and plans for the future, and shedding light on what they believe will enhance the ground investigation industry moving forward. Don't forget to stay connected by visiting https://girec.co.uk/.

VP S4 Ep256: craft supply into a Craft Storage Rolodex! Flashback video! Thanks so much for being here :) Sincerely, Pam and Fam :) MY PODCAST!: The Paper Outpost Podcast! The Joy of Junk Journals! Free to Listen Anytime! Every Tuesday & Thursday! New audio material! Junk Journals, Paper Crafting, life of a crafter, answering crafty questions! Come have a listen on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast or go to https://anchor.fm/the-paper-outpost You can make your own Podcast! It's easy at Anchor: Here is how!: anch.co/outpost Grab a FUNDLE! Now available in my Etsy Shop!: 100 pieces! A mix of antique/vintage ledger pages, hand-dyed papers, old postcards, tea cards, handwritten paper, awesome book pages and so much more! Wonderful to use in your junk journal creations! Free Priority Shipping in the USA! :) Limited supply! :) Want to see a Fundle? Video!: https://youtu.be/KJnWd9RSpOQ Want to Buy a Fundle? Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1007331616/antique-vintage-ephemera-paper?ref=shop_home_active_6&frs=1&crt=1 NEW! PRINT & MAIL Option for Vintage Digikits! :) I heard your call :) No Printer? No Problem! :) I will print & mail 10 Digikits to you! Free Priority Shipping in the USA! :) 1. Select 10 names of digikits, & send me the list via Etsy message or email to pam@thepaperoutpost.com or simply say "Surprise me!" :) 2. Then buy the Print & Mail Digikit option in my Etsy shop! :) Direct Link here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1071078687/printed-mailed-digikits-no-printer?ref=shop_home_active_1&frs=1&crt=1 That's 50 Pages total on lightweight cardstock! See All My Digikits! https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThePaperOutpost Sincerely, Pam at The Paper Outpost :)!! I am currently buried in paper and covered in glue ;) And I am in heaven! :) Remember that Fun Can Be Simple! Go Forth and Create with Reckless Abandon! :) VINTAGE DIGIKITS! Amazing images to download & print out at home on your printer!: Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThePaperOutpost MY AMAZON STORE!: My Personal Favorite Products & Tools!: Click here to see all my items in one click with pictures in my Amazon Store! https://www.amazon.com/shop/thepaperoutpost NEWSLETTER!: Free Monthly Emailed Newsletter from The Paper Outpost! Sign Up here: https://bit.ly/paperoutpostnewsletter - Free Monthly Digital Printable! - Free Checklist of Junk Journal Supplies! - Free The Note From The Book Maker explaining what a junk journal is and how to use it! - Junk Journal Tips & Updates from Pam at The Paper Outpost! MY PODCAST!: The Paper Outpost Podcast! The Joy of Junk Journals! Free to Listen Anytime! Every Tuesday & Thursday! New audio material! Junk Journals, Paper Crafting, life of a crafter, answering crafty questions! Come have a listen on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast or go to https://anchor.fm/the-paper-outpost You can make your own Podcast! It's easy at Anchor: Here is how!: anch.co/outpost COME FIND ME AT :) ETSY Shop: https://www.thepaperoutpost.com INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/thepaperoutpost FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/ThePaperOutpost The Paper Outpost Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/ThePaperOutpost/ The Paper Outpost Podcast!: https://anchor.fm/the-paper-outpost AMAZON STORE: https://www.amazon.com/shop/thepaperoutpost PINTEREST: https://www.pinterest.com/thepaperoutpost TWITTER: https://twitter.com/thepaperoutpost YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/ThePaperOutpost #thepaperoutpost #paperoutpost #thepaperoutpost #digikits #junkjournal #junkjournals #howtomakeajunkjournal #junkjournalpodcast #thepaperoutpostpodcast #thejoyofjunkjournals #fundle --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-paper-outpost/support

While we're all obsessing over Wicked rn, let's take you back to the time when Joel got out his Rolodex of contacts and brought out Melbourne's own Elphaba from the Wicked musical, Zoe Coppinger to play Joel Jivin'! She did an epic rendition of Defying Gravity that only a true Elphaba can do! The guys are back live January 28. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonnie Liedtke has represented everybody in Hollywood. Umm, EVERYBODY. Her clients include Zac Efron, Denise Richards, Hilary Swank, Leonardo DiCaprio, Four of the kids in High School Musical 2. She has handled so many child superstars, she's sometimes known as the Swifty Lazar of the Kids. Bonnie has been in the entertainment business for over 20 years and she brings a whole Rolodex of stories to this week's episode of 90who10.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/90who10/donations

In this episode, I discuss the Rolodex of hurts we hold onto as women and how forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves, our husbands, and our marriages. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apply For a Free Course Consultation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Me Here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rumble⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Timestamps: (00:00) Podcast Intro (01:41) Topic Introduction (05:04) What is Hurt? (06:32) How Good Men Feel Hurt (09:58) The Rolodex of Hurts (21:48) Letting Go of Hurt (30:35) The Little Soul and the Sun Disclaimer: The views and perspectives on relationships that are expressed in my podcast and courses are meant for women married to good men and good men who are experiencing relationship issues within a range of behaviors that are common and usual – what you might reasonably expect your neighbors or friends to be going through behind closed doors. My message is not for abusive, violent, or compulsive behaviors in a marriage or relationship that are threatening or dangerous. If you are experiencing such behaviors and physical abuse, you should seek a licensed mental health professional who is trained in dealing with domestic abuse. Karyn Seitz and The Happy Wife School are not engaged in the practice of psychotherapy, clinical counseling, or any medical practice. You should not interpret any part of my podcast as traditional psychological, medical, or emotional therapy. Karyn Seitz is not a licensed health professional. You should seek help for any specific psychological, medical, or emotional problems with a mental health professional or qualified physician.

These children of showbiz legends are ensuring that their fathers' memories and legacies live on. We speak with James Tormé and Melissa Tormé-March about their Velvet Fog of a dad, Mel Tormé, as we approach the 80th anniversary of his incomparable contribution to the holiday music canon, 'The Christmas Song'. Then Joel Brokaw joins us. His new book 'Driving Marilyn: The Life and Times of Legendary Hollywood Agent Norman Brokaw' chronicles the history of William Morris star-maker, Norman Brokaw, known to Joel as Dad.Melissa and James share their enthusiasm for Oy! To the World Christmas with a Twist, a new musical playing this month at North Hollywood's El Portal Theatre, which features their father's music alongside a hit list of Christmas classics composed by Jewish-American songwriters. James and Melissa take us back to the sweltering July day in 1945 when their Dad and Bob Wells attempted to beat the heat with wintery lyrics and remained sweaty but created magic by conjuring “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…”They rushed the song over to Nat King Cole who was in at a few bars and proudly led a parade of 80,064 recorded covers, including James' own version! The Torme kids share their Torme Christmas memories which include their dad and contraband Christmas movies!Then Joel shares his family's history as a Ukrainian vaudeville acrobatic act that segued into the agency business when his Uncle, Johnny Hyde became VP of William Morris, discovered Marilyn Monroe and took on his young nephew, Norman to drive and accompany Marilyn to events.Starting in the mailroom, Norman worked his way up to CEO.  We hear about his working relationships with Marilyn Monroe, Kim Novak, Colonel Tom Parker, Dick Van Dyke, Gerald Ford, Mark Spitz, Barry Gordy and so many other greats.Joel talks about his complicated history with a father whose clients received his primary caregiving. Joel grew up with TV stars spending weekends by his pool, monopolizing his Dad's attention.But what were the qualities that made Norman so affective as a talent mentor? We learn the magic ingredients and hear how Norman took the new fangled TV department and made history with Loretta Young, Barbara Stanwyck, Dick Van Dyke and Andy Griffith.  Joel also talks about Norman's relationship with Bill Cosby and how his father's dementia buffered him from the horrors of Cosby's crimes. And, finally, what was the fate of Norman's sacred, secret keeping Rolodex?Plus, this week Weezy recommends Nutcrackers on Hulu and Fritz is all about Thelma, now in theaters and on streaming platforms.Path Points of Interest:Oy! To The WorldJames Tormé James Tormé on YouTubeJames Tormé  on XThe Christmas Song by James Tormé James Tormé at Kookaburra on 12/21Joel BrokawDriving Marilyn by Joel BrokawNorman Brokaw on WikiNutcrackers on HuluThelma - Streaming in Most Places  

In the latest episode of Charles Kelly Money Tips Podcast, we dive into the Labour Budget, interest cut, mortgage rate, US election, Trump and the £25 million man who will show you how transform your financial future and help you build wealth faster. Watch video version - https://youtu.be/cMsYjNcQ5xA For more tips on managing your money and building wealth, subscribe to the Charles Kelly Money Tips Podcast on YouTube!   Learn how to make money online from a British multi-millionaire I've discovered a book I think you've really got to read. It shows you of how ANYONE can make millions online. It's all in this one book by Simon Coulson: Interpreneur: The Secrets of my Journey to becoming an Internet Millionaire.  Simon Coulson is a really down to earth sort of guy. He's also the real deal – he's made £25 Million+ from his 5 different Internet Business. Each business doing 7-figures by itself. GOOD NEWS – I have a LIMITED STOCK of this book for JUST £1.95 [down from £12.95] To Get Your Copy - Click Here After falling down an escalator due to fatigue, Simon knew it was time for a change of lifestyle.  Now Simon lives on a 35-acre country estate, has bought his dream Ferrari and is able to enjoy holidays on a private island and network with Richard Branson. What would YOU like to do? - Pay off some of the mortgage? - End a boring career and start a business on something you're passionate about? - Spend as much time with your kids? - Create an additional income for your retirement? In Simon's book, you can discover his money-making strategies through his personal anecdotes. You'll also get to see 20 success stories he has chosen from the THOUSANDS that have studied with him. You will see for yourself how ANYONE can achieve success online, just by repeating the PROVEN STRATEGIES he uses himself. This book is for everyone from start-ups to owners of existing businesses. This book is a GREAT WAY to learn the unique opportunities present on the Internet through ‘real-life stories' of people who started from zero and went on to have staggering successes.  Simon is also GIVING ALL THESE BONUSES FREE with the book: -  A 27-page Rolodex of Simon's supplier links and contacts -  A FULL AUDIO VERSION of the Interpreneur - Internet Marketing Strategies: 3 Step Success System LIVE in Brighton [1hr 43min] - Internet Marketing Profits Training Manual #1: Choosing a Hungry Market' - Internet Marketing Profits Training Manual #2: 'How To Explode Your Profits'  CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR COPY of The Interpreneur: FOR JUST £1.95 P.S. There are only a LIMITED NUMBER of Simon's books for JUST £1.95.  I expect they will go quickly. To order your copy + The Bonuses TODAY - Click HERE P.P.S. You have NO RISK - Simon is offering a 30-day money back guarantee. Further information… #simoncoulson #finance #moneytraining #moneymanagement #wealth #money #marketing #sales #debt #leverage #property #investment #Homeownership #financialplanning #moneymanagement #financialfreedom #section24tax #financialindependenceretireearly #BuyToLet #LandlordLife #UKPropertyMarket #TenantsRights #RentalProperty #PropertyInvestment #LandlordChallenges #RentControl #PropertyStandards #inflation #Fixedratemortgage #PayYourselfFirst #FinancialFreedom #WealthBuilding #MoneyManagement #CharlesKellyMoneyTips #PersonalFinance #InvestingTips #makemoneyonline#WealthBuilding #MoneyManagement #CharlesKellyMoneyTips #PersonalFinance #InvestingTips #CharlesKellyMoneyTips #Podcast #USDollar #Investing 

There's tough losses. There's realllllly tough losses. And then there's what just happened in the Bahamas Vs Baylor. Just when think you've seen it all… Move over Nova up 16 in the BET. Step aside Michael Stephens and Seton Hall. Time to add another memory to the Rolodex of doom. 

In this podcast episode, Ayesha discusses the importance of relationships and connection. Sharing her journey from Canada to LA without any resources, she highlights how she built a vast network that has benefited both her business and personal life.  Ayesha further presented five key principles for cultivating meaningful relationships: 1. Always be connecting; meet new people in diverse situations. 2. Be genuine and sincere in all interactions. 3. Add value in every engagement. 4. Use social media and personal branding to enhance relationship building. 5. Act as a connector by introducing people to one another. She also emphasizes the need to balance event attendance and self-care while maintaining authentic connections. The episode concludes with a recap of her principles and an encouragement for listeners to apply these strategies to strengthen their own networks. In this episode, we've touched on various key points:  00:05 Building relationships and the art of connecting 03:17 Ayesha's personal journey and building a network 06:55 Five principles of building relationships 18:13 Genuine and authentic approach 18:55 Leveraging social media for relationship building 22:05 Being a connector and fulfilling relationships Share the love & let me know your thoughts over on Instagram,⁠  @coffeeandagoodvibe  | @ayeshasehra⁠ WATCH THE FULL VIDEO INTERVIEWS ON YOUTUBE ➟ Watch & subscribe to our channel here ➟ ⁠Coffee & A Good Vibe Video Interviews ⁠ To connect with Ayesha Sehra ➟ click⁠ HERE⁠ Check out our podcast Insta ➟ click ⁠HERE⁠  To learn about my PR Agency Grow The Social ➟ click ⁠HERE ⁠ 

Your Rolodex is NOT your CRM. I'm probably dating my self when I use the word Rolodex. Back in the day we used our rolodex to keep track of our contacts, customers, and potential customers. No we have software to help us. Join Jason Kramer, the founder of Cultivize, a CRM consulting firm that empowers companies to identify, nurture, and transform leads into real revenue. Jason gives you easy ways to track and transform leads into sales. Free P&L Statement and Balance Sheet https://tinyurl.com/2rjd6wxu Ruth King Twitter - @RuthKing LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthking1/   Podcast Produced by Nick Uttam https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-uttam-4b33a1147

On this week's episode of the ShopNotes Podcast, Phil, Logan, and John are discussing meat organization, Swedish stoves, and maybe a little woodworking too. Thank you to our show sponsor Epilog Laser, quickly and easily customize your projects for added beauty and value. Learn more at: EpilogLaser.com Subscribe to Woodsmith to receive tips, plans, projects, and techniques both in print, and in video. It's all at www.woodsmith.com. Follow us at https://www.facebook.com/woodsmithmagazine/ https://www.woodsmith.com

Back again from Spotify, Owen Blackhurst, Seb White, Tommy ‘Friend of the Stars' Stewart, and Matt O'Connor-Simpson discuss Hall Owen, Halloween, Mischief Night, Goose Night, Banter Night, Theresa May, Garrincha's Goat, E.T., Keith Laird, yellow cards, Matt the Referee, mental career decisions, speeding tickets, the relegation zone, knock-door run, Sebby on the Spot, skeletons, Scream masks, Francesco Totti, Borat, Raging Bull, Sacha Baron Cohen, Oscars for banter, 24, Prison Break, Alejandro Garnacho, Reece James, bad tattoos, Johnny Marr, The Smiths, Steve Wright, Kwik Save, Ian Wright, Burnley, Jimmy Anderson, Mattchin, Felix White, Greg James, Roy Keane, Stan Ternent, Tony Livesey, Tommy's Rolodex, Trevor McDonald, Nasser Hussain, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Yeovil, England, Steph Houghton, The Woke League, cysts, surgeons, Bupa, Poopa, Park FC, Privet Eye, Tayler Wilson, Pass-A-Ball project, Alan Carr, Life's a Beach, Mark Lawrenson, Hull, Sam Davy, Peter O'Toole, SpongeBob ShitHead, segregation at non-league, Gosport Town, the Wealdstone Raider, the Hampton Fridge Raider, Vinnie Jones, FC United, Scott McTominay, McFred, McRib, Napoli, Blackbeard, Sir Alex Ferguson, Seb's sick day, Antonio Conte, Big Sexy, Star-Spangled Yanners, Peter Carey, Jack Maggs, Shell Island, Sud Light, Stephen Merchant, 4G, 5G, Germany, L/XL/XXL, Jacamo, Rik Waller, Mr Wu in Chinatown, on the day pull outs, three week bans, and so much more.Get the latest issue of MUNDIAL Mag hereFollow MUNDIAL on Twitter - @mundialmagFollow MUNDIAL on Instagram - @mundialmag Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pls sub to the PPM Patreon to support our ongoing struggle against the Diddler trafficking nexus and to access the recently declassified "Dossier #6.A": patreon.com/ParaPowerMapping This is an emergency broadcast in light of recent developments. Diddy Declassified class is back in session. Dossier #4 has been bifurcated. This first part, now unlocked for your listening pleasure & edification, is a solo segue back into the series, contending w/ some of the recent developments in the downfall of the House of Diddy: Dossier #4.A - Includes coverage of some of the recent developments in the Diddler's downfall, such as the grand jury indictment & a slew of additional lawsuit complaints that have been filed in recent weeks by plaintiffs like Thalia Graves & Michigan convict Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, as well as Alfredo P. Gonzalez, an incarcerated Sinaloan cartel member that had his lawsuit demanding $666k (sus) in damages as compensation for the biz he lost after allegedly getting blacklisted in the streets of NYC once he refused to traffick "boys / girls" for the Diddler dismissed by the presiding judge (sadly)... Fellow convict Cardello-Smith was much luckier (himself in prison on sex crime & unrelated kidnapping charges), as he received an initial $100 mil default judgment in his favor as Diddy failed to show up for the court proceedings or file a responsive motion. In the solo intro, we also go pretty deep on illustrating the interlocking ties between Z i o n i s t powerbroking families the Lauders (Estée Lauder) and the Bronfmans (Seagrams & otherwise) which brings the Diddler's close proximity to the Epstein-affiliated Mega Group into full view... As well as Harvey Weinstein. Illustrating how all of these entries in Diddy's Rolodex intersect both in the corporeal sense at his lavish, salacious Sean John x Estée Lauder fragrance launch parties, but also on a shared ideological Z i o n i s t level. And then we also examine Diddy's appointment of defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo (past clients include sexual monsters like NXIVM leader Keith Raniere, Harvey Weinstein, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, & Martin Shkreli, among many others) from this perspective of his shared social circle that numbers many Lauders & Bronfmans, and which brings Diddy buddy Edgar Bronfman Jr.'s family's close ties to the human potential sex cult into the mix, and which seems like a very foreboding bellwether for the Diddler's legal prospects, as pretty much all of Agnifilo's high profile defenses of sexual criminals & otherwise have failed utterly. We also get some of Edgar Bronfman Jr's music industry career details on the board, including his stint as CEO of Warner Music Group, which led to Bad Boy becoming an imprint for about 4 years, before he sold the major to fellow Z i o n i s t Len Blavatnik (not to mention buddy of cinema sex pests Harvey Weinstein & Brett Ratner). We talk the Diddler's apparent distro of illicit rape tapes, which takes his filming & blackmail tendencies to new noided heights... This is explored via the Thalia Graves lawsuit and Diddy's relationship w/ Rhymes & Dimes porno publisher & former celebrity bodyguard Big Joe Sherman. We talk about the corruption & bribery scandal in NY, Mayor Adams indictment, & a seemingly unrelated Hudson Valley case that resulted in a Judge putting his gun in his mouth & pulling the trigger while in the midst of a firefight w/ feds... And then there's a ton more besides. The art for this series, the Diddler nexus parapower map, was expertly rendered by noided pod design mastermind & friend of the show Robert Voyvodic (@rvoy__ on Twitter). Bring him your art & design needs and say Klonny sent you! Clips & Music (For 4.A & 4.B): | Thalia Graves & Gloria Allred lawsuit presser | | Mobb Deep - "Rare Species" (Instrumental) | | News clip re Diddy's apprehension | | Jeru the Damaja - "One Day" | | Trevor Moore - "Help Me" (Drunk Texts to Myself) | | Scarface ft Ice Cube - "Hand of the Dead Body" |

Summary Senior Crisis Manager John Liuzzi shares his experience in crisis management as the global director of crisis management and business continuity for a large wine and spirits distributor. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the business and being a business partner rather than focusing solely on compliance. John discusses the logistics of the distribution business, including domestic and international transportation, and the significance of business survivability. He also shares examples of crises he has managed, such as simultaneous hurricanes, the COVID-19 pandemic, and civil unrest. In this conversation, John discusses the various crises and disasters that his organization, Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, has faced and how they have managed them. He highlights the importance of having strong partnerships with external partners and a robust support network outside of the organization. John and Steve discuss the concept of Rolodex management and the value of building relationships in emergency management. John emphasizes the need for extensive training and exercises to develop muscle memory and ensure organizational survivability. He also talks about the duty of care to the organization, employees, facilities, and brand reputation. Contact Information https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-liuzzi-559378/

Try this fun exercise in today's show with your bezzie. It's a real relationship-affirmer. Kristi answers twenty questions from Alissa. We discover she wants to sing like Whitney Houston, her lips are real, she is happiest in Kwandwe, South Africa, and she considers her non-profit K9s4COPS her greatest achievement. K9s4COPS deploys canines and their handlers across the U.S., providing protection for thousands of schoolchildren every day, hunting down narcotics and dealers, and combating crime.STORIES00:00 Start00:55 Why she's the "Media Queen"01:53 What is her "perfect happiness"?02:23 Her greatest fear02:50 The living person she most admires03:34 The personal trait she most deplores04:22 Her greatest extravagance04:56 What she dislikes most about her appearance05:33 What living person does she most despise? 06:31 When and where was she most happy?07:08 What talent would she like to have 07:25 Her greatest achievement07:56 If she could change one thing, what would it be?08:55 What if she could change one thing about her family?09:51 If not what she's currently doing, What would she be doing for a living?11:32 Her favorite writers12:41 What's her motto?13:18 If she could have dinner with anyone dead or alive, who would it be?14:52 What question does she wish people would ask her?16:18 Something she loves about herself 18:51 The hardest decision she's ever made 19:37 A talent she has that nobody knows about https://www.k9s4cops.org

Today, Nancy Grace and Sheryl McCollum dive into legal strategies, courtroom stories, and the upcoming trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs. They draw comparisons between Combs' case and the unresolved Ghislaine Maxwell situation, highlighting the potential involvement of powerful figures. Nancy and Sheryl also reflect on a resurfaced moment when Mike Tyson confronted Combs, and the revelation of an 11th accuser speaking out against him. Show Notes: (0:00) Welcome! Nancy and Sheryl introduce this week's crime roundup    (0:20) Nancy's flashback to court mornings (3:30) The Rolodex revelation  (7:00) Comparison of Combs' trial to the unresolved Ghislaine Maxwell case  (10:00) ‘Reportedly' by Kim Porter (12:30) Victims coming forward in case   (14:00) Gloria Allred's speaks out  (18:00) Combs laywers legal strategy   (23:00) Legal strategies with mental health  --- Nancy Grace is an outspoken, tireless advocate for victims' rights and one of television's most respected legal analysts. Nancy Grace had a perfect conviction record during her decade as a prosecutor. She is the founder and publisher of CrimeOnline.com, a crime- fighting digital platform that investigates breaking crime news, spreads awareness of missing people and shines a light on cold cases.  In addition, Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, a daily show hosted by Grace, airs on SIRIUS XM's Triumph Channel 111 and is downloadable as a podcast on all audio platforms - https://www.crimeonline.com/ Connect with Nancy:  X: @nancygrace Instagram: @thenancygrace Facebook: @nancygrace Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award-winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice.  Connect with Sheryl: Email: coldcase2004@gmail.com X: @ColdCaseTips Facebook: @sheryl.mccollumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we chose to step outside our traditional realm of under-the-radar films to talk a bit about one of Hollywood's buzziest new A-listers. With a short, but lucrative box office resume, a Rolodex that boasts Tom Cruise, J. J. Abrams, Sylvester Stallone, Steven Spielberg, Peyton Manning, and Richard Linklater, and classic leading man good looks, we have to ask… is this the year of Glen Powell?Check us out on...Twitter @TSMoviePodFacebook: Time SensitiveInstagram: @timesensitivepodcastGrab some Merch at TeePublicBig Heads Media 

Evan Cohen & Hembo, in for Greeny, react to Brian Flores' comments about his time coaching Tua and discuss why they think the Dolphins future all rests on the 2024 season. Cam and Hembo show their age by not knowing how one's contacts used to work and Anthony Edwards did a similar thing in a completely different way. We play Sneaky Hembo Trivia and dive into a team not named the Jets that just needs average QB play to get by in 2024. Hembo is FED UP with one player on the Yankees performance last night. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the saying goes, your network is always directly correlated to your net worth. I have always invested much time, energy, and effort into building the best online Rolodex of connections, especially on LinkedIn. In this episode, I explain how one connection led to an epic collaboration of like-minded individuals looking to up-level themselves, their relationships, and their businesses. Don't forget to sign up for my FREE LinkedIn workshop that begins today at 1 pm EST: https://networkacademy.kartra.com/page/amateurtoexpertlinkedin