Leadership in Action
eoleadershipinaction
Subscribe
Presenting EO Boston‘s Leadership in Action! Host Mark Stiles talks to local entrepreneurs who are just starting out and those who have never stopped. Listen to their struggles and triumphs as leaders in their businesses and what advice they wish they could tell their younger selves!
Available episodes
Newest first
Oldest first
3 days ago
The Value Of Vulnerability - Melissa Clayton - Leadership in Action- Episode #59
Today’s guest on Leadership In Action is an experienced founder with a demonstrated history of working in the luxury goods and jewelry industry. She’s been on Shark Tank, was recently recognized as a Entreprenista 100 award winner, and had her business listed on the INC 5000 list for 2022. Joining us today is CEO and Founder of Tiny Tags, Melissa Clayton! Host Mark Stiles sits down with Melissa to dive deep into the background of who she is, and what motivated her to start Tiny Tags. In this episode we’ll cover why you don’t need to work 100 hours a week, the importance of being vulnerable, and what it takes to get on Shark Tank.
Takeaways:
* To be an entrepreneur, you do not need to work 100 hours a week. While starting a business is hard work, it is important to make sure you are not overworking, and that you still have time for friends, family, and hobbies.
* Tiny Tags was founded to provide mothers with personalized jewelry. Their lineup features pieces with your children's names, birthdate, and birth time on them. These allow you to keep the things that matter most to you close.
* If you want to connect with your customers, you need to be vulnerable, regardless of your business. For a brand like Tiny Tags whose business is celebrating motherhood, an inauthentic approach would turn customers away.
* While Melissa grew up in an entrepreneurial household, her main driver for Tiny Tags were the connections she made with other moms.
* As an entrepreneur, it’s ok to be protective of your brand. While outside influences or potential investors may want you to pivot or expand services, it’s ok to stay true to where your business currently lies.
* While keeping prices low to appeal to customers may be your initial strategy, you need to be conscious of the business’ needs as well. Your product may be incredibly affordable, but without enough profit to cover costs, you won't have a successful business.
* When running a business, you need to factor in how certain business decisions will affect your time. While growing to the next level means more business and better profits, it also means more work and less time at home.
Links:
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-clayton-817b568/
* Website: https://tinytags.com/
* Website: https://www.thematte.com/
* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinytags/
* Email: Melissa@tinytags.com
Quote of the Show
* “I'm not trying to be authentic. I'm just being me.” - Melissa
Ways to Tune In:
* Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-in-action/id1585042233
* Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2t4Ksk4TwmZ6MSfAHXGkJI
* Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/leadership-in-action
* Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGVhZGVyc2hpcGluYWN0aW9uLmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
* Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/4263fd02-8c9b-495e-bd31-2e5aef21ff6b/leadership-in-action
* YouTube - https://youtu.be/WdodKPcCSeA
Transcript:
Mark Stiles: Hey folks. Welcome back to Leadership In Action, your Boston Chapter of Entrepreneurs Organization podcast today's. We are very excited to have with us. She is an entrepreneur, inventor, and leader in the luxury goods and jewelry industry. She comes from an accounting background.
She's included on a list of Inc. 5,000 fastest growing companies this year. That's nationwide folks. She was a semi-finalist in the ERs and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2018. She is the founder of the, Matt has a patent and because of that was featured on NBC's Today Show and wait for it. Shark Tank in April of 2020.
She's the founder and c e o of Tiny Tags. You've probably heard of it. Meryl Streep wears it. Please welcome Melissa Clayton. Welcome to the show, Melissa.
Melissa Clayton: Thanks for having me. Happy to be here.
Mark Stiles: You ready to get right into it? Let's do it. All right. Like every episode, we start with the same question. What is a common misconception about leadership and or being an entrepreneur?
Melissa
Melissa Clayton: for me, my experience is that the misconception is that you have to work a hundred hours a week being an entrepreneur. And I think for leadership that you can't be vulnerable. I think that has changed a lot. When I think of my days in corporate America, there was definitely like a wall between leadership, it felt, and the team, and I feel like that is no longer the case.
And that's definitely more my.
style
Mark Stiles: So on the Instagram where the in influencers are grind, grind, grind, you gotta work a hundred hours a week. You gotta go, go, go. That's not necessarily true all the time.
Melissa Clayton: For me, and I think that speaks a lot to my value system. I think if you were to do a deep dive into my childhood and my father being an entrepreneur and working insane amount of hours, and I knew that was not the journey that I wanted.
So for me, and like everything, there's a give and take and there's a trade off. And for me that was, I wasn't gonna work a hundred hours of work, work a hundred hours a week because my value, I think, My time is more precious to me than anything else.
Mark Stiles: I love that. I love that. Tell me, tell me more about vulnerability.
I'm very curious, your thoughts on vulnerability.
Melissa Clayton: I think, you know, I've heard it's called the New Superpower. Umm a big fan of Brene Brown and. For me being vulnerable, you know, and it's also speaks to the business that I am in. Our whole entire business of Tiny Tags is centered around celebrating children.
Uh, every woman's unique journey of motherhood. And if you are not vulnerable there, you're just not gonna connect with your audience. And so much for tiny tags for me. And I think what has led to our. is my own personal journey. Very much what Tiny Tags is is a lot of my own personal story. And I think what me sharing that has allowed me to connect with our community and they're, you know, the word authentic is thrown around so much.
Um, and I'm authentic without trying to be, I'm not trying to be authentic. I'm just being me. And I think that's, Yeah. So I think that has, um, allowed me to connect with our audience and our community on a much deeper level.
Mark Stiles: I love it. I'm not trying to be authentic. I am authentic. I'm being authentic. By being authentic.
I'm just being me, . I love it. I love it because it's, it's what people connect with. Tell us about Tiny Tags, because I'm not truly familiar with the concept and the mission and values and all of.
Melissa Clayton: Sure. I'll give you the quick version cuz I've been around for a while. Um, as, as you said, I used to be a cpa. I was, um, I loved business.
I love accounting. I did not like crunching numbers all day. And I never thought I'd be a stay at-home mom. Never thought I'd quit my job. I grew up with my father. It was like, you don't depend on anyone, you take care of yourself. Um, and then I had our fir first son and I decided to quit my. and kind of always never being someone that sits still.
I wanted, I had my son and I really just was like this new mom beaming with pride and joy and wanting something to celebrate him and let everyone know that I was this new mom. So I had seen some moms wearing necklaces with their kids' names on it, and I was like, I can make those. So this is over 16 years ago.
Um, Google was not what it was, and I basically came up with this. I found a handset, started making them my own, and very organically for like five years I was ma I started making jewelry and there's a backstory I'll tell you later, but, um, so I started doing that. Then we were living on the west coast at the time, we moved back east.
Um, and lucky for me, Rhode Island and um, Southern Massachusetts has huge history of jewelry making and we started to outsource all our jewelry manufacturing and around probably seven years ago, after a series of listening to different…
playlist_add
Mar 7, 2023
All You Need Is An Idea - Jon Radoff - Leadership in Action- Episode #58
Today's guest on Leadership In Action is an entrepreneur, innovator, and leader in his industry who fights for the game makers of the world. As a game developer, he created one of the first commercial Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games. Joining the show today is an EO Boston member of 5 years, CEO of Beamable, Jon Radoff. Jon joins host Mark Stiles to talk about what it takes to get a business started, the value of customer feedback, and what visiting Everest base camp is like.
Takeaways:
* You don’t need to be special to be an entrepreneur. All you need is an idea and the drive to take it and run with it.
* It’s ok to pivot. Your original idea doesn’t need to be what your product looks like for the rest of the business. As you meet others, and bring on new perspectives, your idea will evolve and change.
* While those who criticize your new idea may seem demoralizing, their feedback can provide ways to improve. They might point out something technical that hasn’t been solved yet, or tell you about a customer type you weren't aware of.
* Entrepreneurship can be a perseverance game. Sometimes you will need to stick with your idea for a long time before the market is ready for it. While this will slow you down, it doesn’t mean game over.
* Sometimes the business needs to be built before the idea. If you have grand ideas of how your product will fit into the future, you need to start by selling the thing consumers will buy now.
* AI tools are something that every entrepreneur should keep an eye out for over the next few years. As new, more powerful tools emerge, they will empower you to try new ideas with lower costs and less risk.
* As AI becomes more prevalent, it will shift the types of skill sets that are needed to be successful. Instead of being a specialist on a given topic or process, establishing a well rounded skill set will line you up for success.
Links:
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonradoff/
* Twitter: https://twitter.com/jradoff
* Company website: https://beamable.com/
* Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Radoff
* Medium: https://jradoff.medium.com/
Quote of the Show
* “We're all in the business of serving customers.” - Jon Radoff
Ways to Tune In:
* Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-in-action/id1585042233
* Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2t4Ksk4TwmZ6MSfAHXGkJI
* Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/leadership-in-action
* Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGVhZGVyc2hpcGluYWN0aW9uLmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
* Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/4263fd02-8c9b-495e-bd31-2e5aef21ff6b/leadership-in-action
* YouTube - https://youtu.be/h4OCqARffMQ
Transcript:
Mark Stiles: Hey folks. Welcome back to Leadership and Action, your Boston Chapter of Entrepreneurs Organization podcast.
Today's guest. Is an entrepreneur or innovator and leader in his industry. He fights for the game makers of the world and is responsible for creating one of the first M O RPGs, massively multiplayer online role playing games is what that stands for. He's been an EO member for five years. He also publishes a blog called Building the Metaverse, c e O of Beam Able.
John Rador.
Jon Radoff: Welcome to the show. Hey Mark. How are you? Thanks for having me doing
Mark Stiles: well. Question number one, what is the common misconception about leadership running a business and or being an entrepreneur?
Jon Radoff: Go. To me, it's the idea that you have to be some kind of special person to be an entrepreneur. Let me zoom back the camera lens though, my purpose in life as far as business is concerned is just multiplying creativity through the world.
That's what I've done through some of the game businesses I've made, through the technology company I have through the website creation tech company that I started years ago. Everything was about just allowing people to be more creative and just get online, make stuff, express themselves, because I think that's just.
such At the core of what it is to be human entrepreneurship is creativity. It's about how to come up with ideas and business models and marketing methods and channels and just put it, together, try things and, make something new, right? Like entrepreneurship is fundamentally to me about like making something new, harnessing business and organizations of people to do that.
So, you know, I was very lucky in. Respect as a kid that I would have all these crazy ideas when I was like a teenager and I'd tell my parents what I want to do. Both my parents always encouraged me. They never said, oh, you can't do that. Like, bad idea. Go, go focus on like your math problem so you can end up, uh, getting into a decent college.
I did get into a decent college, which I've then subsequently dropped out of. But um, they always encouraged me just to, to go run with my ideas. So if you didn't hear that in your life so far, I guess my message to you is, You know, run with the idea. You can do it. Like if you want to try making a business, it doesn't require anything special beyond the idea that you've identified a problem that has to be solved in the world.
And if you can go help people solve that problem. , apply your creativity to it. It, it's a, it's a great life.
Mark Stiles: You know, so many thoughts are firing through my head right now with what you're saying there. Uh, with respect to, you know, who can be and who thinks they can be. But talking about your parents, I think is such a vital, vital component to it because how many people in that creative stage of their life get muzzled down and they say, no, no, no.
get into a good school, get a good job, get a pension, retire and die .
Jon Radoff: Wow. This, this talk just took a, a damn path. But, um,
yeah, I, I think everybody needs, uh, set of cheerleaders in your life. Yeah. So for me growing up, it was my parents, um, . I had a circle of friends that were really into what I was doing, so they were too. And then I did stuff that was completely insane. I dropped outta college, I started an online games business.
Like talk about something that, like in the nineties must have sounded like completely absurd idea, but I knew. that there was a group of people who would really be into what I was gonna make and they weren't happy with the kinds of alternatives that they could play, and I knew that I was capable of doing it.
So there was, that said a huge number of things. I didn't know I was 19 when I did this. I didn't know. A lot about the world, about people, about business, but you know, bus business is something where you can learn as you go too, especially when you're an entrepreneur. So I would just say go for it. Like it.
The key thing is knowing what you want to do, knowing that there's some problem that you're gonna go try to solve. That's within the scope of the kinds of problems that you can solve, and then you can build a business around it. But, but
isn't
Mark Stiles: it interesting where you saw the problem, like, this was a problem for you, therefore it must be a problem for other people and I'm gonna solve it for everybody.
Jon Radoff: Well, so here's, here's the, even the other story around how this business was created. So I met my future wife in an online game, so Oh, cool. We were playing this game together while I was. Actually the summer before I even went to college, and then I was in college, so I met her. We were playing it together and we came up with a lot of ideas just playing that game.
Having played it together and played with other people, Hey, we could build a better version of the thing that we're playing, and we knew everyone was playing the game. We knew what a better game would look like. So then we had this crazy idea that I'd drop outta college, we'd move in together, we'd start working on this thing, and six months later we had a game.
Then people started playing…
playlist_add
Feb 21, 2023
Staying Grounded - Evan Welch - Leadership in Action- Episode #57
On this episode of Leadership in Action, we are joined by a financial mastermind and member of almost 10 years. He has 25 years of experience as an investment fiduciary and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, Bloomberg, and more. Starring on the show this week is Partner, Chief Investment Officer at Antaeus Wealth Advisors, LLC, Evan Welch. Mark and Evan take this opportunity to discuss what it means to be an effective leader, some of the challenges of being a wealth advisor, and how to get started coaching youth hockey.
Takeaways:
* A common misconception about entrepreneurs is that they are selfish. A good leader puts their team and employees first.
* Making your employees feel appreciated is a key component of retaining your employees. Sustainable employee practices establish long term employee retention.
* How you treat your employees affects how customers enjoy the experience at your business. Your customers can often subconsciously pick up on if your employees are enjoying their job, and that association will affect your customers enjoyment.
* Many investment professionals have moved into the RIA space. RIA’s don’t work on commission, and are held to a legal liability. The combination of those factors make your clients feel more comfortable.
* Technical skills are not enough to run a business alone. Joining a network like EO can help teach you business skills to augment your current knowledge.
* A good leader needs to help their employees understand the why behind the business. Knowing the why will motivate your employees, and provide them with a better sense of direction.
Links:
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanpwelch1/
* Website: http://www.antaeuswealth.com/
Quote of the Show
* “An entrepreneur can not do a good job if they don't have a good team behind them because you can't build a business all by yourself.” - Evan Welch
Ways to Tune In:
* Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-in-action/id1585042233
* Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2t4Ksk4TwmZ6MSfAHXGkJI
* Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/leadership-in-action
* Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGVhZGVyc2hpcGluYWN0aW9uLmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
* Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/4263fd02-8c9b-495e-bd31-2e5aef21ff6b/leadership-in-action
* YouTube - https://youtu.be/MUtQY_l1aL4
Transcript:
Mark Stiles: Hey folks. Welcome back to Leadership In Action, your Boston chapter of EOS podcast. Today's guest, a financial mastermind. He has 25 years experience as an investment fiduciary. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal Investors Business Daily and Bloomberg, just to name a. Partner, chief Investment Officer at NTAs Wealth Advisors L L C.
Please meet Evan Welch.
Evan Welch: Hi everybody. How you Ben? I'm great. I'm great. Well, I'm excited for 2023.
Mark Stiles: Awesome. You ready for the question? I'm ready. What is a common misconception about leadership running a business and or being an entrepreneur? Go
Evan Welch: so. I think a common misconception about leadership and business owners and entrepreneurs is that they are selfish.
Um, particularly among those who are not business owners or entrepreneurs. Um, I think that, you know, a good leader puts their team first, puts their employees first, and those are the firms that that really thrive because frankly, a good leader and a good business owner and an entrepreneur, Do a good job if they don't have a, a, a good team behind them because you can't build a business all by yourself.
It's pretty hard. And, you know, I think a good leader is curious and they help their employees understand the why behind the business. I know we've all heard about that with Apple and some other companies, not just, you know, here's what we do, but, you know, why do we do this? Like, what's the, what's the North Star?
Uh, and, and I think frankly, you know, the. The media is easy to beat up, but when you look at the larger companies out there, maybe you know, entrepreneur 2.0, you know, a lot of CEOs, right, are, are put in, are seen in the media as selfish, you know, stock options, their stock, their compensation as opposed to the company.
And you know, obviously a hundred thousand employee companies. A little bit different than most entrepreneurial businesses, but I think that that is a common misconception. Um, a lot of rank and file. Um, Feel or or believe, and I think it's, it's often incorrect.
Mark Stiles: Often incorrect, but it is correct in a lot of situations still here in the 2023.
Evan Welch: Yes. I mean, but I think there are, I think there are selfish people of all jobs. Right? Right. And, and there are certainly, you know, most entrepreneurs. Pretty motivated people or else they wouldn't take the risk. Um, they're, you know, they're going to be pretty self-motivated typically, and, and maybe a little bit self-focused.
Um, but the entrepreneurs that I've met through many, many years who are successful, are in amazing people. And, and, you know, yes, they're leaders and go get it. And, you know, they, they're, they're self-starters, if you will, but they're not selfish.
Mark Stiles: It, it's a really interesting conversation cuz it gets so deep.
Right? So, you know, we can go down the path of culture and the evolution of business and where people were in the 1980s and nineties. Where, where, what, what was the motivation? You know, what was the perception? What were you striving for as a business owner, right? Like there was a certain perception that you had to carry with.
the suit, the really expensive suit and shoes and expensive watch and you know, that perception was part of the job. It's, it's interesting when you see that gap kind of closing in a little bit too, right? Between ownership and contributors. Somebody on this podcast actually referred to as contributors and I was, I loved it.
You know, cuz I al I always hate that, you know, when someone's like, oh, he is my boss, or I work for, it's like, no, no, no. , we're in this together. You, we work with right. We work together for a common purpose and goal. But, um, but it wasn't that long ago that that was something that was almost being taught.
Right.
Evan Welch: Absolutely. Um, and, and, and I think, you know, part of that is probably the pandemic. You know, that's part of it. And, and as you mentioned, I mean, things seem to be. Slightly less formal, I guess. Um, and you know, I think, I think with what's happened also in the last couple years with the pandemic, I think a lot of business owners have realized how key their employees are.
Mm-hmm. not just having them on, you know, as a part of the team and, and, and participating and engaged, but, but actually having them. , right? When, when, obviously a lot of businesses are run predominantly virtual and online. Um, but I also think it's, it's, it's rec, it's helped people understand how important those interactions are with their team and how much their team really brings to the table.
Um, and of course then we have the, you know, the, the more. I guess global, national changes that we've seen with, you know, labor getting more involved and more active and, um, all of that as well. And, you know, I I, one of the things I heard that was great when we were, you know, I was talking, this was, this is totally from a financial background, I think I was talking to some of one of the big investment houses or BIT or banks and they said, well, COVID was a, was a turning point where the minimum wage worker who was doing 70 hours a week at Applebee's or.
you know, job like that said, I'm not doing this anymore. It's just not worth
Mark Stiles: it. It's not worth it and I'm not being appreciated enough. I went into a coffee shop, um, right around the holidays and, you know, everybody's in that spirit of giving and, and, and this, this coffee…
playlist_add
Feb 7, 2023
The Future Of Franchising - Ben Crosbie - Leadership in Action- Episode #56
On this episode of Leadership In Action, we are joined by a franchising force to be reckoned with. He’s a new EO member who leverages his experience and knowledge of franchising, real estate, fitness, and business to create game changing businesses. Welcome to the show, CEO of The DRIPBaR Ben Crosbie. Host extraordinaire Mark Stiles sits down with Ben to learn about his experience as an entrepreneur, the future of franchising, and how Ben is taking The DRIPBaR to the next level.
Takeaways:
* One of the biggest misconceptions about being an entrepreneur is that it is inherently easy, and that you can become an overnight success.
* While success doesn’t happen overnight, franchising is a great way to increase the speed and scale of a business much faster than you normally would.
* As a franchisor, identifying personal overlap with non competing franchises can provide insight into areas for potential markets. Areas with a high concentration of those franchises likely have a high concentration of your target demographic.
* Dripbar has taken a “semi-absentee” approach rather than a traditional owner operator approach. While you will still need to spend a few hours a week at a drip bar, much of the work is set up to be done remotely for owners.
* A franchise doesn’t need to be a stand alone physical location. In Dripbar’s case, they have found success inside or adjacent to a health and fitness club, physical therapy office, or multi unit developments.
* One challenge with franchising is the different legislation of different areas. International markets, and even different states can have different legal requirements of your franchise. With multiple locations, it is important to dot your i’s and cross your t’s
* The use of AI and automation has allowed Dripbar to revamp their franchisee lead process. By automating the early touch points they are able to filter through potential clients more easily, and reduce needed person hours.
Links:
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-crosbie-85a59a7/
* Website: https://www.thedripbar.com/
Quote of the Show
* “Replication is key” - Ben Crosbie
Ways to Tune In:
* Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-in-action/id1585042233
* Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2t4Ksk4TwmZ6MSfAHXGkJI
* Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/leadership-in-action
* Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGVhZGVyc2hpcGluYWN0aW9uLmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
* Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/4263fd02-8c9b-495e-bd31-2e5aef21ff6b/leadership-in-action
* YouTube - https://youtu.be/UW7fsOqOOO0
Transcript:
Mark Stiles: folks. Welcome back to another episode of Leadership in Action, your Boston Chapter of Entrepreneurs Organization podcast. Today's guest is an entrepreneurial powerhouse, a franchise veteran, an entrepreneur who leverages his experience and knowledge of franchising real estate, fitness, and business to create game changing businesses.
He's a brand new member of EO Boston Chapter. And he is the c e o of Drip bar. Please meet Ben Crosby. Welcome to the show, Ben.
Ben Crosbie: Perfect. Thank you very much. Mark,
Mark Stiles: you ready to be here? Here comes question number one. All right. What is the common misconception about leadership running a business and or being an entrepreneur?
Go?
Ben Crosbie: Sure. That's a great question. Um, really to me, the, biggest misconception is that, you're an overnight success in that. It's easy. very few people can, truly recognize, unless you're an entrepreneur and you've done it, how much time and energy it takes for you to, just make your first dollar and then continue to grow the business until it becomes, what everybody hopes that it becomes profitable and successful.
So the overnight success, the, long hours, the focus, the unrecognition Along the way, the path and the journey. A lot of times it's the best part of it, most stressful part of it, and least recognized I'd say.
Mark Stiles: Rolling up your sleeves for 10 years and, uh, disappearing from the entire world and then showing up as a success.
That's not overnight. ,
Ben Crosbie: that was the some of the first advice that I got from my first C F O who said, you know, in five years from now, don't be upset. When somebody asks you how you became an overnight success, you'll become the most obnoxious question you'll ever be asked. And, uh, he was right. He was 100%.
Mark Stiles: Well, how do you fast track that success? So, I mean, it's obviously not gonna be overnight, but is there other ways of fast tracking it?
Ben Crosbie: Uh, once you start getting experience or being part of a group and getting mentors to really, uh, get over the initial hurdles? Um, it's just dedication, really understanding your business, uh, if you're bootstrapping and doing it on your own.
I mean, it could take a little longer, but being able to, to have capital, hiring the right people, getting the staff in place. Um, but one thing that I've found is franchising is a great way to, uh, Increased speed and scale of a business, uh, a lot sooner than you normally would. Sometimes you could franchise businesses when there's just one location, short proof of concept.
It's really developing the, the, the business opportunity to be able to bring it to market.
Mark Stiles: Well, let's dig into that a little bit, you know, cuz I was hoping that we would go there with this and I was kind of leading you that way with the fast track, right? But, . So one concept that works, why recreate the wheel?
Right? Why go back and try to figure out what that person did? Why not collaborate with that person? Right? Yeah,
Ben Crosbie: absolutely. If, if the person, the operating partner, typically spent a lot of time in energy really developing the, the standards, uh, the operational manuals, the speed to market. The tech, the technique of franchising, it can bring in a whole level of experience, uh, and, and systems.
That can simply be replicated in order to bring the business to scale that much faster. Replication is key. Replication just through education, finding the right franchisees, uh, giving them the playbook to execute on it, but then having a franchisor that's constantly looking on ways to improve from a wider.
A lot of times franchisees are in the mud, they're in their location. They're really, really hyper-focused on the performance of their one location. The benefit of having a franchisor is somebody that's taken a step back and being able to look ahead at whatever might be coming down the pipe. It might be legal, it might be rules, regulations in an industry.
Uh, it could be, uh, new marketing advertising strategies. Uh, A bunch of new technologies that could create a more efficient process. Uh, so really this, that, that's the best way, in my opinion, to really efficiently grow a business and hit success earlier. .
Mark Stiles: Well, there you go. Right. So overnight success, a lot of people may never find success because they have these, these, uh, blind spots, right?
Maybe it's marketing. Mm-hmm. , maybe it's process, maybe it's customer service. Help me understand. Alright, so let's talk about Drip bar for an example. So, sure. How does, how does that,
Ben Crosbie: How does Drip bar work? So, drip Bar is a brick and mortar location. It's a thousand to 1500 square feet. That's our traditional, uh, box.
They're in markets wherever you see a Starbucks Massage Envy, orange Theory. Uh, we do IV supplements, IV nutrition. Uh, people look at it as an emerging brand. An emerging industry. However, the industry has been around for 25 plus years. Just been very highly fragmented, full of mom and pop shops. Overnight success.
Overnight success. Exactly, exactly. So I've been able to take a lot of that, um, historical data that's available to, to, uh, Really learn the industry and identify where it's where it's headed. Um,…
playlist_add
Jan 24, 2023
Education And A Good Sense Of Humor - Sandra Batakis - Leadership in Action- Episode #55
Welcome back to another episode of Leadership In Action! Joining the show this week is an IT visionary who started her journey into Information Technology over 20 years ago.
Providing both consulting and training, she has over 200 video based courses available for purchase worldwide. Please welcome to the show, Founder and CEO of Sandra Network, Sandra Batakis. Host Mark Stiles sits down with Sandra to learn about the importance of having an easily communicable name, using education and humor to handle conversations with clients, and Sandra’s gardening setup in Maine.
Takeaways:
* Many people are drawn to being an entrepreneur because you “get to make your own schedule”. You do get to make your own schedule, but that schedule revolves around running a business.
* A lot of people view being an entrepreneur as not having a boss. While you don’t have a traditional manager, both your customers and employees end up being your boss as you have to meet their needs.
* It is important to make sure your company name is easily communicable, and that people can spell it and find it easily.
* When you face business challenges, it is tempting to first go to your spouse or friends for advice. While they may be great listeners, and incredibly caring, if they don’t run businesses their advice may fall a little short.
* Imposter syndrome is more common than you may think. Those same feelings of inability can provide a powerful tool to help you identify areas to learn more about.
* Despite strides made to improve the gender gap, networking IT still remains a heavily male dominated field.
* Having recorded educational content provides value in multiple ways. That content can be used as a marketing tool, but it can also be used as an onboarding tool when implementing new processes at a client of yours.
Links:
* Twitter: https://twitter.com/SandraNetwork
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandranetwork/
* Website: https://sandranetwork.com/
Quote of the Show
* “Anyone who thinks they are permanently on top, is wrong.” - Sandra Batakis
Ways to Tune In:
* Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-in-action/id1585042233
* Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2t4Ksk4TwmZ6MSfAHXGkJI
* Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/leadership-in-action
* Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGVhZGVyc2hpcGluYWN0aW9uLmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
* Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/4263fd02-8c9b-495e-bd31-2e5aef21ff6b/leadership-in-action
* YouTube - https://youtu.be/9UhnUYBv8ew
Transcript:
Mark Stiles: hey folks. Welcome back to Leadership in Action. This is your Boston chapter of EOS podcast. Today's. Is an IT visionary.
She started her journey into information technology over 28 years ago, providing both consulting and training. She has 200 video-based courses available for purchase worldwide. In 1999, she started her own company with the goal to combine great IT support with user functionality. She's been neo member for under one year. She's the founder and c e O of Sandra Network. Please meet Sandra Patak. Welcome to the show, Sandra.
Sandra Batakis: Thanks, mark. Glad to be here.
Mark Stiles: Cool. You ready to get right into it? Sure. Let's go. What is a common misconception about leader? Running a business and or being an entrepreneur to you?
Sandra Batakis: Ah, that's easy. Uh, that it is easy, actually. I guess that is a misconception, , um, that I get to make my own schedule and I seem to have endless vacation time ,
Mark Stiles: so it's easy at the top.
Look at me at the top, I'm at the top. I'm doing it all.
Sandra Batakis: Absolutely. I stroll in and out what I want, you know, there's, there's no one above me to tell me what to. And, uh, I guess that's pretty wrong, right? Well, so
Mark Stiles: tell me the reality of it. .
Sandra Batakis: Well, you know, the reality is I might not make it in the office till, you know, 10, but I've been up since five hitting it, you know, and, and sometimes I'm hitting it cuz I'm on the treadmill trying to clear my head and sometimes I've cranking out emails at, you know, 5:15 AM and um, there's, there's a lot to it.
And you know, when you're an entrepreneur they think it's great cuz you don't have a boss. But, uh, I have more bosses than. Right. All my customers are bosses. I consider my employees bosses. You know, I have to account for them. I have to provide them a good working environment. You know, I can, I can fire them, but they can fire me by deciding to go somewhere else.
So I think the, the concept of I have no bosses the furthest from the reality, uh, in this world, that's
Mark Stiles: a really interesting concept as having. , the employees. Your team members are your boss too. I, I like that. I like that a lot. So tell us about your company a little bit. The name of it is interesting.
Sandra Network. How did you come up with such a
Sandra Batakis: creative name? Yeah. Well, you know, when I first started, I didn't really know what I wanted to be when I grew up, so I became s JB Enterprises. Yeah. Well, s JB Enterprises is nothing about what we do, and I spent my entire life going. S s as in Sam. B as in boy, J like S like no one could get the letters.
And ekkos at s jb was an impossibility. Um, so I decided to rename my company literally over my email address because it just wasn't flowing. It just didn't position us. Um, and after a lot of soul searching, one day I looked down and realized that we do security. and administration and networking and data and remote assistance.
And as an acronym, that's spelled Sandra. So Sandra is what we do. It happens to also be my name, but it's what we do.
Mark Stiles: I love it. I love it. I love, love, love that. So tell us, and for
Sandra Batakis: the record, my email address, sandra@sandrawork.com. I never have to spell it anymore. I don't have to sound out letters. People remember.
it worked ,
Mark Stiles: and there's real meaning behind it, which is really, really cool. Tell us about Sandra Network. Like what do you all do at the Sandra Network?
Sandra Batakis: Well, we, uh, we fixed things. How's that? So I like it. I try to be a very white glove IT support, you know, there's a lot of IT companies out there. Um, there's a place for all of us.
You know, you get the little guys that do the home computers. You get the big guys that do the Fortune 500, 5,000 node. You know, there, there's really a lot of play space. But what I consider white glove IT support is. , a lot of security, a lot of handholding. We do virtually everything for our clients from their hardware and software to networking, um, all the things, right?
But because of the client base, we also, you know, really have to look at the whole thing because our companies can be anywhere from 10 till, let's say 200. and that means they don't have a full-time IT person like we are the only people that understand. So it's, it's really our responsibility to not just reset passwords, but to really give them a foundational IT support experience so they know that they just can log in and can work and they don't have to worry about, what am I forgetting?
Um, and that's really what we're all about. You know, I mean, granted we do the, uh, the standard desktop support, right? And that's what the users see. They have a problem. They call us, they need a password reset, they call us, but behind the scenes we're doing a whole lot more.
Mark Stiles: So you're an outsourced department for that company basically?
Exactly. . So you're giving them guidance. What are we looking at over the next 24 months? We're right here at the beginning of 2023. What are the, what, what should companies of that size be thinking about security?
Sandra Batakis: Yeah, I mean, it's so bad out there. Um, I always say running an IT company. My little analogy, right, um, is like having 2000 children in New York.
with money…
playlist_add
Jan 10, 2023
Beyond The Views - Sam Ryan - Leadership in Action- Episode #54
It’s no secret that there are many influencers who promote entrepreneurship on social media, but are they promoting an accurate picture? Today’s guest would disagree. He’s an entrepreneur with a strong technical background in web development who founded a brand to help make building a creative team easier. Welcome to the show CEO of Flocksy, Sam Ryan. In this episode, Sam clears up misconceptions about entrepreneurship, shares his background, and tells us where he likes to travel when he isn’t busy running a business.
Takeaways:
* Many people have the misconception that being an entrepreneur is inherently fun and glorious work that will have you driving ferraris and sitting on the beach. In reality, it takes time and effort, and is often slower paced than most expect.
* Influencers on TikTok or Instagram tend to advertise strategies that are about making money quickly, rather than ones that establish strong business foundations.
* Flocksy was created to consolidate outsourced creative work. Instead of needing to utilize different sourcing sites and having difficulty finding creatives, Flocksy provides a one stop shop for finding vetted quality creatives.
* When you’re an entrepreneur, outsiders won’t fully understand the nuances of running your own business. Having a network of entrepreneurs to rely on for guidance and feedback is a valuable tool for those who are new to the space.
* When you first start being an entrepreneur, growth is much slower than expected. You may be balancing a day job, which would require you to work on your business in your free time.
* While getting a business from 0 to a million is difficult, scaling it presents an even larger challenge. Figuring out how to be a leader, hiring team members, and establishing the necessary functions of a company all present unique challenges.
Links:
* Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/actuallysamryan
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samrjyan/
* Website: https://flocksy.com/
Quote of the Show
* “I want to create things that help other people.” - Sam Ryan
Ways to Tune In:
* Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-in-action/id1585042233
* Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2t4Ksk4TwmZ6MSfAHXGkJI
* Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/leadership-in-action
* Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGVhZGVyc2hpcGluYWN0aW9uLmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
* Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/4263fd02-8c9b-495e-bd31-2e5aef21ff6b/leadership-in-action
* YouTube - https://youtu.be/9BHV0PN0hro
Transcript:
Mark Stiles: Hey folks. Today's guest is a traveler. He's an investor, a developer, and a blockchain enthusiast. He's an entrepreneur with a strong technical background in web.
He founded a brand to help make building a creative team easier, He's the c e O at Foxy. Please welcome Sam Ryan. Sam, welcome to the show,
Sam Ryan: man. Thank you, mark for having me. I am excited.
Mark Stiles: Cool. Well, let's get right into it. What is a common misconception about leadership running a business and or being an entrepreneur?
That was a
Sam Ryan: great question. So I would have to say, um, I think that a lot of people think that it's a really fun and glorious job. Something that you get a lot of attention. Um, they know it's hard work, but you see people driving around in Lamborghini, so Porsche and they have big houses. And especially with like the whole crypto, uh, faith that happened.
A lot of those people fell into the entrepreneur area. Um, you can think FTX stuff like that, just money going all over the place and people are like, oh, these people are sitting in The Bahamas making a lot of, uh, money doing nothing. Um, that does happen for a few people and I think they're the lucky people, especially when crypto is involved.
But for the majority of entre entrepreneurs and leaders, uh, leaders, , when you talk to them, they're probably not gonna explain exactly what's going on, but you are working on a lot. Um, so when I first started, uh, flui, um, yeah, I had a bunch of friends and they were all in the, they were professionals work nine to five.
Um, and I was the working my full-time job. And then I was also working at nights coding marketing, doing a whole bunch of different jobs and. , you have to learn stuff constantly and a lot of times if you're working a regular job, um, it's you. , do that again and again. And you slowly advance your career. You are changing every 20 minutes.
What? Like something you're learning something new. Um, so I think that's step one. And then step two is scaling up a company. It's way more difficult than most people, uh, can imagine. Like getting the company from zero to a million. It's really difficult. But actually scaling it up, getting a team in place, making it so you get to the next.
That is incredibly hard. Um, so that is where you learn a whole bunch of new things, especially leadership, I would think. I think the, uh, entrepreneur is the first step, um, where you are working by yourself with a small group of people. Then that switches over to where you are leading a whole company and people are looking up to you to make those decisions.
Um, you have to pick the right people to work directly with you. You have to make sure they're picking the right people. So again, you're learning everything over. So, uh, yeah, to sum it up, I think it's a lot more work and a lot more difficult than most people think. And you do have those pluses. You do sometimes make a lot of money.
You have your own schedule. But yeah, it's different than most people would think.
Mark Stiles: So Instagram influencer, taking a picture with a Ferrari, you know, no one is, is in that uh, room with the paper stacked up coding, taking pictures. Look at me, I'm an
Sam Ryan: entrepreneur. Yes, ex. Exactly. And especially when you're trying to grow a company that is scalable, it's really easy to start, I wouldn't say easy, but it's different to start a company and.
make Some bucks right away, make some money, but actually making a foundation that can hold like firm as it grows. That isn't gonna be on Instagram, that's not gonna be on TikTok. That's a whole different set of skills than a lot of stuff you see on Instagram. and I would go as far to say that a lot of people you do see, um, if you think of like the king of Instagram, um, liver King, all different people that over social media, right?
um, they're working way harder than you think. it looks like they're just walking around taking a ten second video. That ten second video probably took them all day planning it out. So I do think that even those influencers are putting in a lot more effort and trying to make it look easy, because that's part of the persona, but putting a lot more effort than you realize.
Mark Stiles: Yeah. And I always find that interesting, the whole influencer, uh, space, because, you know, I understand that it's, it's a marketing platform, but you know what, what is it really? I mean, they're, they're, they're showing ease of process. They're showing ease. They're really, they're just splashing marketing, right?
I mean, that's all they're doing. That's not, I mean, they're an entrepreneur because they're a marketing entrepreneur, right? Mm-hmm. , but you know, they're not. Entrepreneur in the sense of building, and, uh, I guess they are. I guess they are. Mm-hmm. , let me, uh, let me backpedal that one. But making it look easy is, uh, is something that always kinda bothered me.
It's like, let's, let's have some influencers posting. Look at, look at us at Flaxie, and we're coding into the night, you know? And. You know, be real about it because I think it puts a lot of, uh, misconceptions in people's heads, like you said, um, where, you know, all I have to do is, is go down to the town hall and, and file a doing business as, and boom.
Mm-hmm. , I'm gonna make millions of dollars.…
playlist_add
Dec 27, 2022
Growth By Acquisition - James Evans - Leadership in Action- Episode #53
Today’s guest is a local entrepreneur who comes from a financing and consulting background. He’s a landscaping legend, and the kind of leader that rolls up his sleeves and gets it done. James Evans is the CEO of Jim’s Landscaping, and Principal at Gladstone Capital LLC. Host extraordinaire Mark Stiles interviews James to learn more about his background, hear James’s tips for entrepreneurs, and explore the challenges of running a successful landscaping company.
Takeaways:
* You don’t need to quit your day job to start a business. Having a steady source of income removes risk, and can make financing your business easier.
* When you take on a side project while still holding a job, it is important to be transparent with your employer. Establish boundaries, and communicate clearly what your plans are.
* As an entrepreneur, you need to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Things go wrong, and it’s important to be able to adapt.
* Landscaping companies offer a unique opportunity for acquisition. Many owners are looking to retire, but there are not many people looking to take up the mantle. These situations offer an easy way to acquire a business that is already running smoothly.
* The ability to prioritize is important when you run your own business. You will be tasked with overseeing all aspects of the company but you will only have so much time to devote.
* When starting a new landscaping company, growth can be slow and costly. Each employee will require tools and transportation, which can add up quickly.
* When James acquired his landscaping company, he put a high focus on elevating customer service. He makes sure that a human always picks up the phone, that emails are responded to quickly, and has updated payment processes allowing customers to pay with credit cards.
Links:
* Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jimslandscapingma/
* Twitter: https://twitter.com/glad_cap
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-r-evans/
* Website: https://jimslandscaping.com/
* Website: https://gladcap.com/
Quote of the Show
* “What's dangerous is never taking a shot at something.” - James Evans
Book Recommendation:
* Jim Koch - Quench Your Own Thirst
Ways to Tune In:
* Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-in-action/id1585042233
* Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2t4Ksk4TwmZ6MSfAHXGkJI
* Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/leadership-in-action
* Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGVhZGVyc2hpcGluYWN0aW9uLmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
* Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/4263fd02-8c9b-495e-bd31-2e5aef21ff6b/leadership-in-action
* YouTube - https://youtu.be/PX2QwErbhq8
playlist_add
Dec 13, 2022
Entrepreneurial Elegance - Pedro Nuñez - Leadership in Action - Episode #52
He’s an entrepreneur and business owner who uses his experiences to drive solutions for his customers. His company was featured in Inc. Magazine’s Inc 5000 for 2020 and 2021, and was named a member of the MSP 501 in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Pedro Nuñez is President & CEO at IT Management Solutions, and this week’s guest. Join host Mark Stiles on this episode of Leadership In Action as he interviews Pedro to learn about his background, the IT landscape, and the importance of visualizing your goals.
Takeaways:
* Anyone can be an entrepreneur, but not everyone can be a leader. Anyone can open a business, but it requires a specific set of skills to convince people to follow your directions.
* Everyone needs an end goal. If you don’t know what you are working towards, getting there is going to be a lot more difficult.
* As a leader, your tone sets the ceiling for the rest of the organization. If you set your own goals low, you limit the capacity of your employees.
* While tracking all the small details can be time consuming, it allows you to provide highly detailed and accurate offerings to customers.
* The biggest threat to small businesses right now is cyber security.
* While recessions are worrying, the best plan a business can have is to set clear goals and push towards them.
* While many IT companies are solely focused on what they can fix for clients, the most successful ones are those that want to help clients increase revenue, mitigate risk, and help their clients achieve their goals.
Links:
* Twitter: https://twitter.com/itmsolutions
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pedronunez13/
* Website: https://www.itsupportboston.us/
Quote of the Show
* “You don’t need to be talented, you need to be consistent and disciplined.” - Pedro Nuñez
Ways to Tune In:
* Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-in-action/id1585042233
* Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2t4Ksk4TwmZ6MSfAHXGkJI
* Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/leadership-in-action
* Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGVhZGVyc2hpcGluYWN0aW9uLmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
* Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/4263fd02-8c9b-495e-bd31-2e5aef21ff6b/leadership-in-action
* YouTube - https://youtu.be/p_xCEqiwcf8
playlist_add
Nov 22, 2022
Winter Is Coming - Jonathan Crandall - Leadership in Action- Episode #51
He’s an entrepreneur and visionary who has been working in the landscape and snow and ice management field for over 20 years. He's a leader, a longtime member of EO Boston previously serving as president. Please welcome Founder and Chief Visionary of JC Grounds Management Jonathan Crandall to the show. Mark Stiles interviews Jonathan to learn more about the reality of entrepreneurship, the importance of hiring for core values, and how to hike all of NH’s 4000 footers.
Takeaways:
* People think that being an entrepreneur means you are your own boss. While you may not have a manager, you are still held accountable by your customers and your employees.
* Success can come after starting a business. It is important to not be dissuaded when it isn’t immediate.
* While growing a business is not without its pains, growth creates opportunities to refine your processes and bring in outside perspectives.
* As an entrepreneur it may be intimidating to talk to others in your industry. While they might seem like competition, many of them are willing to lend a helping hand or provide advice.
* Your passion for your work matters less than how much you get along with your coworkers. At the end of the day it isn’t what you are doing, it’s who you are doing it with.
* You have a responsibility to take care of your business, but you also have a responsibility to take care of yourself! Don’t let your business negatively affect your health.
* One of the most important skills you can have in your professional and personal life is the ability to communicate and understand others perspectives.
Links:
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-crandall/
* Website: https://www.jcgrounds.com/
Quote of the Show
* “I realized it wasn’t what I was doing here, it was the people I was with.” - Jonathan Crandall
Book Recommendation:
* The E-Myth Revisited - Michael Gerber
Ways to Tune In:
* Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-in-action/id1585042233
* Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2t4Ksk4TwmZ6MSfAHXGkJI
* Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/leadership-in-action
* Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGVhZGVyc2hpcGluYWN0aW9uLmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
* Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/4263fd02-8c9b-495e-bd31-2e5aef21ff6b/leadership-in-action
* YouTube - https://youtu.be/xgFHRLAX1EY
playlist_add
Nov 8, 2022
Fixing Your Finances - Cal Wilder - Leadership in Action- Episode #50
On this episode of Leadership In Action, we talk to a financial mastermind who is an expert at effectively balancing accounting needs, reporting priorities, operational requirements, and budget constraints. Cal Wilder has been an EO Member for 9 years, is the author of the book “The Financial Operating System”, and is the Founder and CEO at SmartBooks. Cal joins Host Mark Stiles to chat about the challenges of entrepreneurship, how to focus on the financial metrics that matter most, and Cal’s tips for Triathalons.
Takeaways:
* Bigger isn’t always better. As an entrepreneur, don’t endlessly chase growth despite the costs.
* As a business owner, finances can be stressful. The first step in taking control of your finances is to identify why you own and run a business.
* When thinking about financial metrics, keep it simple. While it can be tempting to track everything at once, managing a scorecard with 25 different metrics will quickly become overwhelming.
* As an entrepreneur, it's natural to want to work on and improve every aspect of your business. Focus on the things that are most important to you, and prioritize your efforts.
* Small businesses have the advantage of being able to adapt and change more quickly than larger businesses.
* You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. There are many frameworks on how to run a business, find one that works for you, and follow it.
* Entrepreneurs and business owners tend to have slightly different financial outlooks. Entrepreneurs follow where their progress takes them, business owners have a clearer picture of financial goals.
Links:
* Twitter: https://twitter.com/smartbookscorp
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calvinwilder/
* Website: https://smartbooks.com/
* Book Link: https://www.amazon.com/Financial-Operating-System-Empowering-Business/dp/B086Y4TLGG/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+financial+operating+system&qid=1587085586&sr=8-1
Quote of the Show
* “We think that to be successful means scaling a business exponentially.” - Cal Wilder
Ways to Tune In:
* Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-in-action/id1585042233
* Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2t4Ksk4TwmZ6MSfAHXGkJI
* Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/leadership-in-action
* Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGVhZGVyc2hpcGluYWN0aW9uLmxpdmUvZmVlZC54bWw
* Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/4263fd02-8c9b-495e-bd31-2e5aef21ff6b/leadership-in-action
* YouTube - https://youtu.be/0XmJKpuaIFs
playlist_add
Oct 25, 2022
The Cost Of Opportunity - Ryan Sullivan - Leadership in Action - Episode #49
This week’s guest is a new member of EO who is passionate about data and using it to help organizations improve their performance. Ryan Sullivan is Principal at Collectiv, and the guest on this week’s episode of Leadership In Action. Ryan joins Mark to discuss the value of data integration, Ryan’s tips for starting a business, and his experiences skydiving.
Takeaways:
* As an entrepreneur, you don’t need to have every step of the next 5 years planned out before you get started.
* Great is the enemy of good. Don’t let the pursuit of perfection stop you from getting started with solutions that are good.
* Automated data reporting is a lower-effort way to use technology that will still result in a significant amount of hours freed up in your schedule.
* To be a successful consultant requires more than technical skill alone. Effective communication of the technology to all skill levels goes hand in hand with your ability to implement those skills.
* It’s essential t…
playlist_add
Oct 13, 2022
Open Doors and Open Communication - Christian Magel - Leadership in Action- Episode #48
Today’s guest is an entrepreneurial change agent who has co-founded and founded several startups resulting in three successful exits. He’s been a member of EO Boston since 2016. Christian Magel is the Managing Partner and Co-Founder Of Venture Lane Studio. Christian and Mark chat about the best way to find your employee’s strengths and weaknesses, how to create a culture of openness, and where to find a good oyster.
Takeaways:
* As an entrepreneur, it’s not all about yourself. Showing vulnerability opens many gates to great leadership.
* While you may feel like you need to lead, and everything is on your shoulders, teamwork will always create a more successful environment.
* Each employee will have different strengths and weaknesses and likes and dislikes. By promoting open communication, employees can find areas in which they can assist others with their dislikes.
* As an entrepreneur, you should be looking to hire people to “put yourself out of work”. Instead of…
playlist_add
Sep 27, 2022
Starting With People - MB Gustitus - Leadership in Action- Episode #47
Today's guest is a leadership legend. She has three decades of experience in leadership, sales management, coaching, speaking, and training. She led her real estate team to achieve over half a billion dollars in annual sales volume. MaryBeth Gustitus is the founder, president, and CEO of MILE 1 Performance Coaching. MB sits down with host Mark Stiles this week to help entrepreneurs understand how to find their blindspots, and discuss tips to ensure the right fit for employees.
Takeaways:
* Many entrepreneurs get caught up in a self-imposed restriction that they are the only ones who can do what they are doing. Thinking this way can prevent you from utilizing outside experience and viewpoints.
* The first step in transitioning to a role with more administrative responsibility is to have awareness of your inclination to want to hold on to the work you are doing.
* Most entrepreneurs get into their business for freedom, but can quickly find themselves in a situation where they are…
playlist_add
Sep 14, 2022
Engaging With Your Employees - Jeff Plakans - Leadership in Action- Episode # 46
Today’s guest is someone who is going to be an integral part of this podcast. He’s the MarComm Chair for EO Boston. He has deep industry knowledge of all things payroll and is an expert in running very successful service bureaus. Jeff Plakans is the Founder and President of Commonwealth Payroll & HR. Jeff joins host Mark Stiles to discuss some misconceptions about entrepreneurship, why employee retention should be a main focus for businesses, and how the covid pandemic shifted the world of payroll and hr.
Takeaways:
* People assume entrepreneurs go into business knowing everything they need to. In reality, many find themselves faced with challenges they have never encountered before.
* While many people use the phrase “fake it til you make it”, open communication and honesty are a much better strategy when dealing with new problems.
* Many entrepreneurs find direction for their company from the product or service they want to offer. As a business grows, leaders must als…
playlist_add
Aug 19, 2022
Creating Customer Connections - Casey Cheshire - Leadership in Action- Episode #45
Today's guest is a member of EO who has spent time on the board. He's a speaker, a thought leader, a marketeer, and an unbelievable human being. He hosts the “Hard Corps Marketing Show” podcast, and is the now previous host of EO Boston’s podcast “Leadership In Action”. Casey Cheshire, Founder and CEO of Ringmaster Conversational Marketing, joins new host Mark Stiles to hand Mark the torch of Podcast Host. Casey talks with Mark about why talking to your customers is so important, how podcasting can serve as a valuable tool for CEOs to connect with their customers, and how growing companies may end up more isolated from their customers’ needs.
Takeaways:
* Leadership Myth: “You don’t need to talk to your customers”. You need to talk to your customers to truly understand their needs and intentions.
* As your business scales and you become more insulated from the customer interactions, it becomes harder to hear what your customer is actually saying.
* The CEO sho…
playlist_add
Aug 9, 2022
Doing The Math On Digital Marketing - David Reske - Leadership in Action- Episode # 44
Today’s guest is an entrepreneur, marketing strategist, author, thought leader, and podcaster. His marketing experience spreads across SEO, PPC, social media, and digital marketing at its core. David Reske is the former President of EO Boston and Founder and President of Nowspeed Marketing. David joins host Casey Cheshire on this week’s episode to teach you how to make sense of the overwhelming amount of information generated from digital marketing.
Takeaways:
* Digital marketing is more than just an automated AI-driven process. There is a significant amount of work that you need to be willing to put in to see results.
* There is an abundance of data in digital marketing and it can be easy to get overwhelmed if you don’t know what you are doing.
* The best way to make sense of all the data is to simplify, connect the dots, and make sure you are focused on the right personas.
* While it can be tempting to try a variety of different channels with a variety of products, st…
playlist_add
Aug 2, 2022
Climbing to the Top - Tony Martignetti - Leadership in Action - Episode #43
When it comes to your life and the direction it takes you, what will you do to have that life of experience you desire? Everyone in life has the opportunity to climb to the top of a business and host of the Virtual Campfire, Tony Martignetti, will talk with host Casey Cheshire just how to achieve the top position. Tony is founder and chief inspiration officer of inspired purpose coaching and author of Climbing the Right Mountain.
Takeaways:
* There are no fast passes in the road to creating a business or to doing anything–there must be a willingness to work.
* If you’re just checking the boxes of what needs to be done, how do you inspire your employees to do the work?
* No deep connection to what you’re doing you might lose your energy to keep going.
* When people are feeling lost they need someone who can wake them up for the next part of their journey.
* Narrowing your focus on one thing or direction doesn’t mean that you’ve bottled yourself up to just that one…
playlist_add
Jul 5, 2022
Interweaving Work & Life - Royi Metser - Leadership in Action - Episode # 042
The long-term success of your business is directly tied to your long-term health and if you aren’t running at 100%, your business won’t be operating at 100%. Royi Metser is the Director of Business Development at Inside Tracker and is extremely passionate about both business and health. This episode covers what goes into not just living additional years, but living higher-quality years.
Takeaways:
* For entrepreneurs to build a successful business, their work and life have to be interwoven. Because creating a company is so all-consuming, you can’t have a clear separation between the two parts of your life.
* Building a company is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to take care of yourself and give yourself the brakes that you need to recharge. Doing this will help you not only survive but thrive.
* Because of the lack of clear boundaries between life and work, you can take advantage of doing things that get you energized, happy, and healthy outside of the traditional sche…
playlist_add
Jun 28, 2022
Learning To Trust Your Gut - Seth Earley - Leadership in Action- Episode #41
Today's guest is an entrepreneur, a speaker, a writer, and an influencer. He’s problem solved for companies like IBM, IRS, GE, and 3M. Seth Earley is the CEO of Earley Information Science and the host of the Earley AI podcast. Seth joins Casey to explore how to best give feedback, deal with bad performance, and learn to trust your gut.
Takeaways:
* There is a fine line between being outside of your comfort zone and going against your gut instinct.
* When bringing in outside help, look for someone who understands the nuances of running a small entrepreneurial company as well as someone with the right expertise and skills.
* It is important to be trusting, but not naive. Don’t take unnecessary risks.
* When mistakes happen, don't make excuses, take responsibility.
* There's no losing, there's winning or learning. But you can only learn if you acknowledge the issue.
* When you need to call things out to an employee, do it in a way that is sincere and kind and they will b…
playlist_add
Jun 21, 2022
Building up to a Breakthrough - Charles Conigliaro - Leadership in Action - Episode # 40
For many starting a business, there are moments of struggle where it seems like your next success is far off. Charles Conigliaro, the founder, and owner of Small Haul, is an entrepreneur and an investor with focuses in transportation, logistics, technology, distribution, and regenerative farming. He talks with Casey about tips for success when starting a business, and how to find the motivation to turn the struggles into successes.
Takeaways:
* Rather than trying to force growth, it's better to have a business that can grow organically.
* The grind takes about 3 years to get through, and building a fully successful company can take 7-10 years.
* Set your team up for success by giving people the freedom to find areas to grow and expand their involvement.
* Learn from your mistakes and be conscious to not repeat them.
* It’s important to get to the root cause of mistakes. People often get caught up in attacking the symptom of the problem rather than the cause.
Links:
*…
playlist_add
Jun 14, 2022
Putting Profit First - Kasey Anton - Leadership in Action - Episode #39
Today's guest is a serial entrepreneur, a financial management expert, and a bookkeeping bad-ass. Kasey Anton, the owner of Spark Business Consulting, joins the Leadership in Action show this week. Casey and Kasey sit down to answer one of the biggest questions every business owner has asked, “how can I make my business more profitable”?
Takeaways:
* Profit is used for so many necessary things in a business. Profit is needed to pay debts, invest in assets, and help grow the business.
* Businesses need to put profit first. Change the equation from sales - expenses = profit to sales - profit = expenses.
* “Give every Dollar a Job”. Have a plan for every dollar of your company's revenue.
* Break down where the money you get from a client goes.
* While Kasey or others can provide you with the steps you need to take to be successful, it’s up to you to take those steps
* Understand and know what values are important to you, and live true to those.
* Looking for effi…
playlist_add
Jun 7, 2022
Leading with Compassion - Joel Livingston - Leadership in Action- Episode # 038
A serial entrepreneur, adventurer, sports fanatic, and thought leader in the textiles industry. Joel Livingston is the owner and executive vice president of Emtex Inc and brings over 30 years of business, and life experience to the table. Tune in to hear Casey Cheshire talk with Joel about his favorite kind of leadership. One that's not only collaborative but also caring. In this episode, you’ll learn about leadership skills, Joel’s background, and some of his business experiences.
Takeaways:
* A lot of people would think that it's lonely at the top. But it doesn't have to be! Having a more collaborative workspace is a great way to interact with employees.
* Leaders need to rely on the experiences of those around them to make better leadership decisions.
* Mistakes happen, and it's important not to burn employees who make mistakes. Instead, figure out why they made that decision and where they were coming from.
* Spend the energy on fixing the problem rather than who caus…
playlist_add
May 31, 2022
Reflecting For Your Future - Jay Bacrania - Leadership in Action- Episode # 037
Take a deliberate look at where your life and your business are going and make sure that they’re on the path to reaching your goals for them. This can sound easier said than done, but entrepreneur and coach Jay Bacrania explains how you can be intentional about the direction of your life. Through this episode, you’ll learn how to avoid the dangers of getting too tangled up in your business, when to transfer your energy from one journey to another, and the importance of aligning your goals for both your business and your life.
Takeaways:
* Your business is not your life! Entrepreneurs can get so tangled up in their businesses that they become the reason their business is not growing. Think about the rest of your being and where you want the other parts of your life to be as your business grows.
* What a business requires from an entrepreneur changes based on the stage of the business. Early on a singular person needs to push, but once the wheels have started to spin, other peo…
playlist_add
May 24, 2022
The Secret Sauce of Self-Funding - Andrew Roberts - Leadership in Action- Episode # 036
Employers are being taken for a massive and costly ride by both insurance brokers and the health insurance companies at large. Andrew Roberts is showing smaller employers that there is a way to avoid the ever-increasing rates offered by the health insurance companies. Enter self-funded insurance plans. You’ll learn why your company is being upcharged every year by your broker, how going self-funded can benefit the well-being of your employees, and what the ingredients of the self-funding secret sauce are.
Takeaways
* Although many entrepreneurs and business leaders accept that health insurance costs going up are a foregone conclusion, this is not the case. They assume the increase will occur because they have been conditioned to, however, there are opportunities to save.
* Healthcare makes up 20% of the US economy, 50% of which is paid for by employers. The healthcare system is rigged against employers and will stay that way until employers do something to take control back.…
playlist_add
May 17, 2022
What Makes a Good Leader vs a Good Entrepreneur- Satish Patel - Leadership in Action- Episode # 035
Are all great entrepreneurs great leaders? What do great entrepreneurs have in common? What tools do great leaders possess? These are the questions that Satish Patel answers in this episode, based on his long and prosperous entrepreneurial journey. You’ll learn about what you can be doing to better listen to your team, the differences and similarities between leadership and entrepreneurship, and how to ensure you have a successful career.
Takeaways
* Leadership and entrepreneurship are not the same concepts. Entrepreneurship is about seeing problems as opportunities and changing the world. Leadership is about guiding a group towards a common goal.
* There are some shared traits between leaders and entrepreneurs, such as vision. However, someone may be a great entrepreneur but a terrible leader and vice versa.
* Some of the shared traits among successful entrepreneurs include risk-taking, passion, and resilience.
* Some of the shared traits among good leaders include good so…
playlist_add
May 3, 2022
Leadership In Action Live! (Special) - Leadership in Action - Episode #034
This episode was recorded live with members of the Boston Chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization at the chapter’s Podcast MANIA event in February 2022. This special episode features multiple members of the chapter including Mark Worster, Clemencia Herrera, Roger St. Onge, Kerri Garbis, Matt Rudnick, Wendy Pease, and Ryan Villanueva.
Takeaways:
* “I can drop into almost any place in the world and find another EO member, that if I haven't met, will become a dear dear friend in a matter of minutes, it's just an amazing organization” - Mark Worster
* “EO has opened a space for us to be able to share again, in a nonjudgmental and also a very private way, the inner goings of our business, even if sometimes they're great and sometimes not so great, and sometimes you just need to work on things” - Clemencia Herrera
* “Business success comes on the back of massive personal development” - Roger St. Onge
* “It is a bold, smart move to surround yourself with people…
playlist_add
Apr 26, 2022
Escalating Challenges in Business - Mike Moran - Leadership in Action- Episode # 033
If you think that everything's going to be easier once your business gets off the ground, then you really need to listen to Mike Moran on this episode. Mike explores the changing nature of the challenges that business leaders face as their business grows and the attitude they need to work through them. You’ll hear about how to start ramping up off of the plateau, how to present your emotions as a leader, and how to keep going after making the wrong decision.
Takeaways:
* Just because your company grows out of the startup phase, that doesn’t mean the going gets any easier. In fact, it gets harder, just in new and different ways.
* The journey of every business follows a pattern of “S-curves”. Things start out slowly, then ramp up quickly, and when everything plateaus, you need to make adjustments to get into ramping up.
* Find a way to calm down that works for you. This can be as easy as taking a deep breath, but discover what’s best for you. This can help you handle s…
playlist_add
Apr 19, 2022
Creating a Community - Melissa Clayton - Leadership in Action- Episode #032
As surprising as this may seem to learn, you don’t have to give every last ounce of energy that you have to your business in order to be successful! Melissa Clayton has found a great balance between growing her company and enjoying time with her family and friends, and now she is letting you know how you can too. You’ll hear about limiting the number of hours you work, building a great team around you, and cultivating a culture.
Takeaways:
* You don’t need to be the proverbial CEO that’s working 100 hours a week in order for your business to be a success. You should enjoy the process of building your business without sacrificing your life for it.
* If you worked more hours per week, your business would probably experience faster growth. However, by intentionally limiting the number of hours you spend working, you can still see your business grow while also experiencing everything else in life.
* Remember why you got into your business! If you went in looking for financi…
playlist_add
Apr 12, 2022
Educating Your Employees - Ryan Bennett - Leadership in Action- Episode #031
While some people may think that to be a successful entrepreneur you need a college degree or an MBA, this simply isn’t the case! Ryan Bennett has found great success in the trades with his business and now he’s sharing some great advice for how to interact with your employees and grow your company. You’ll learn all about finding what your employees are best at, why you need to communicate the opportunities for advancement within your company, and how to find more time for you to work on the business.
Takeaways:
* You don’t need an MBA or even a college degree to be an entrepreneur and be successful! There are many great opportunities in trades and they have openings in the many vertical layers that support the entire business.
* As an owner, you need to find what your employees are best at doing and utilize them in ways that personally and professionally benefit the employees while also benefiting the business.
* Your employees need to know that there are more opportun…
playlist_add
Apr 5, 2022
No-one’s a Natural Born Leader - Clemencia Herrera - Leadership in Action- Episode #030
There has been a massive myth built up around the ‘natural born leader’ and what specific traits define someone as one. Clemencia Herrera is breaking down that myth and giving everyone some great advice on how to think about themselves and their teams. You’ll learn what you need to do to become a better leader, what leadership really means, and the importance of being willing to learn, no matter what your title is.
Takeaways:
* Anyone can become a great leader, regardless of personality, it just requires lots of practice. There is no such thing as a natural leader.
* It’s important to be open to trying new things, without the fear of failing because regardless if you succeed or not, you will learn something from the experience.
* Being a good leader is about being able to motivate people to accomplish the team’s goal and getting others to buy into that goal.
* Becoming a great leader requires a lot of self awareness and a great willingness to not only learn about yo…
playlist_add
Mar 22, 2022
Focusing on the Followers - Bill Flynn - Leadership in Action- Episode #029
Everyone is always trying to sell you their simple tricks, tips, or habits that leaders must have to be great, but there is no one perfect process for leadership. Bill Flynn breaks down the myths around leadership while drawing on his immense experience to provide you with what really matters in reaching your vision, that being the followers. Learn how to increase buy-in, where to turn to for solutions, and what to look for when hiring for your team.
Takeaways:
* Leadership is not a repeatable concept. There is not a concrete set of principles that someone can follow and be defined as a good leader. You cannot claim leadership, it must be bestowed upon you by your followers.
* To become a leader, you must create something compelling and have courage. People want to follow something that is compelling, this could be a vision, personality, etc. Leaders need the courage to push the vision despite the strong headwinds.
* Leaders also need the courage to give up some amount of contr…
playlist_add
Mar 18, 2022
Putting Your Team First - Tim Barrett - Leadership in Action- Episode #028
While conventional business wisdom has resorted to the tired adage of “the customer is always right”, this can actually cause serious harm to your business. Instead, Tim Barrett suggests placing the business’s focus on wowing the employees. You’ll learn about how this framework impacts customer relationships, engages your team, and the incredible opportunity business leaders have to impact the lives of others.
Takeaways:
* If you put the needs of your customers ahead of the needs of your employees, you are actually doing a disservice to your company.
* A Wow Pyramid consists of three levels and indicates which section delivers value to the others. The largest, foundational level is the employees, the middle section is the customers, and the topmost level is the company.
* The company focuses on giving value to the employees, which translates into the employees providing value to the customers. Then, the customers, having received all that value, give value to the compan…
playlist_add
Mar 8, 2022
Customer Service vs Customer Compliance - Ted Palashis - Leadership in Action- Episode #027
Does your company do business the way your client would like to do business, or do you force the client to comply with the way your company does business? Ted Palashis breaks down the nuances of how you interact and think of your client and what message you send to the client and prospects alike. Prepare to learn about the importance of great training, what to look for when hiring, and which clients to seek out once you can be selective.
Takeaways:
* Most employees want to provide good service to the customer but when they fail in doing so, it can often be attributed to training. When your employees are empathetic to your customers and their needs, they can’t help but provide them great service.
* All of the little things your employees do send a message to your client. This could be as simple as the way you train your employees to answer the phones.
* When a client calls, don’t tell them that someone’s in a meeting, say you’ll try and catch them, and if you can’t, sa…
playlist_add
Mar 1, 2022
The CEO’s Support Teams - Mark Mascia - Leadership in Action- Episode #026
CEOs put additional pressure on themselves by attempting to be invincible, omnipotent leaders for their employees to look to for the perfect answer to every question. However, this simply isn’t realistic nor is it sustainable. Mark Mascia knows a few things about leadership and running a company which you’ll hear all about this episode. Get ready to learn about constructing support teams around yourself, when to listen to the experts and when not to, and what to do when you’re not the smartest person in the room.
Takeaways:
* The mythic “lone-leader” CEO who knows all and does everything does not actually exist. They are putting up an unsustainable facade of invulnerability and omnipotence.
* For CEOs, finding peer group support from other CEOs in organizations like EO or an industry-specific group allows them to have a space where they can be comfortable sharing their vulnerabilities.
* Instead of giving everyone around you the answers, allow them to find their own c…
playlist_add
Feb 22, 2022
Developing Through Delegation - Tony Fields - Leadership in Action - Episode #025
Delegation is a misunderstood concept which is thrown around in business circle without any thought as to how to implement it or why it’s important. Tony Fields is here to set the record straight on delegation. You’ll learn different levels of delegation and the escalating expectations that come from them and how they can help with clear communication. Discover how to develop, understand, and increase buy in within your team.
Takeaways:
* Delegation is not just on or off. There are different levels of delegation which convey different messages as to the proper feedback that is expected. Each level has a higher amount of authority and requires a higher amount of trust.
* There are six levels to delegation: 1. Do as I say; 2. Look into this for me; 3. Give me your advice, but I’ll decide; 4. Explore, decide, but check before submitting; 5. Explore, decide, commit if within limits; 6. Just get it done.
* You can help your team develop if you start defaulting to level 3 deleg…
playlist_add
Feb 15, 2022
No, Money Down - Mark Stiles - Leadership in Action- Episode #024
Get ready to take a peek behind the scenes into the legal world through the eyes of an attorney and entrepreneur who has seen the mistakes most entrepreneurs are bound to make. Mark Stiles is bringing you the advice you need when to find an attorney, how to look for one, and how many attorneys are too many attorneys for you. You will also hear about the different ways to get into the real estate business, what your expectations should be when you buy a property, and the best ways to maximize your portfolio’s value.
Takeaways:
* Not all attorneys are jerks. Choose an attorney who matches your personality type because you could be working with them for a long time. Get a referral from someone who was or is, in a similar position to you. Interview and connect with them.
* All attorneys are specialized in their own niches, so make sure to find one that can help you with what your business actually needs. Oftentimes, the attorney who helps you start your company is not the attorney…
playlist_add
Feb 8, 2022
Dominating by Delegating - Matt Chiaradonna - Leadership in Action- Episode #023
Why do 80% of new businesses fail in the first five years? In large part, this is due to the business owners and entrepreneurs trying to do and control everything themselves. Matt Chiaradonna is going to teach you about how trying to do everything yourself places limits on you and your business, why it’s critical to have a plan to manage potential growth, and how to actually and responsibly let go of the reins in order to find greater success.
Takeaways:
* Business leaders do not need to be closely involved with every single task or situation that may arise in their business. That over-involved/micro-managing leader will burn themselves out and limit the growth of their company.
* A single person only has so much capacity to learn and if they are attempting to do everything in the business, this places real limitations on their ability to grow and scale.
* Contrary to popular belief, you can find people that you can teach, trust, and delegate to. Write out criteria for the id…
playlist_add
Feb 1, 2022
From Client to Advocate - Varun Bihani - Leadership in Action - Episode #022
Far too often, companies place the quality of service over the customer experience and lose out on future work with those clients and the referrals they could provide. Varun Bihani is working to flip that around and use a focus on customer experience to grow companies. You’ll learn how to set the right expectations with your clients, the importance of upfront and transparent communication, and why the trust that you establish far outweighs the quality of your services.
Takeaways:
* In most cases, especially in service industries, your customer experience is more important than the quality of the service that you provide.
* The Customer Experience begins from day one with how your company communicates with the customer and how the expectations have been set with the customer.
* By having a great customer experience, you keep your customers happy and they become more likely to refer you to other potential customers.
* Even though the quality of the work you provide a client i…
playlist_add
Jan 25, 2022
Unplugging to Recharge - Kristin Chambers - Leadership in Action- Episode #021
So many people believe the key to their company’s success is to wake up at 5, strap into the grind, and burn all the midnight oil they can find. But this is a flawed perspective and by actually getting space from your business you can be more effective when you are working on it. Entrepreneur, CEO, and Travel Designer, Kristin Chambers is letting everyone know the keys to work on themselves before they work on their businesses. Learn about how to unplug, the importance of committing to fully unplug, and what the copious benefits of unplugging are. One of Kristin’s favorite ways to unplug is to travel and you’ll hear many more great ways too.
Takeaways:
* It’s no longer cool to be the CEO that’s working 24/7 and is completely burnt out. You can actually be more efficient if you are more meaningful and intentional with your time and connecting with others outside of the business world.
* Before you put even more work into your company, you have to work on yourself! Get yo…
playlist_add
Jan 18, 2022
Driven by the Data - Chris Borduas - Leadership in Action- Episode #020
For so many people today, anything to do with data management or analysis is seen as something for IT to do or very math intensive. However, Chris Borduas, the Owner of Tillerman, LLC., knows a much more accurate and vibrant side of data management which he is here to share. Learn about how the creative elements and the data analysis mix to make more informed decisions, the importance of understanding your end-users, and how to avoid some of the all too common traps in analyzing data.
Takeaways:
* Data management is much more than just a function of IT, at its core data management is about understanding a need, figuring out how to serve that need, and how to get the information that you need. It’s really a creative exercise more than anything.
* There are three components of data management: 1. Where do you get the data; 2. What do you do with the data; 3. How do you make it into something you can use to help run your business.
* In data management, you should really be tryin…
playlist_add
Jan 11, 2022
No More Silver Bullets - Dale Bertrand - Leadership in Action - Episode #019
Businesses new and old are all looking to digital marketing to provide the one cure-all solution to all of the company’s challenges. Here to shatter this wistful illusion is Dale Bertrand, the founder and president of Fire&Spark, who has a lifetime of experience with digital marketing. Learn how to assess and approach digital marketing for businesses of all sizes, why you always need to be talking with your customers, and how to experiment with and implement digital marketing tactics
Takeaways:
* It may not be what you want to hear, but there is not a single silver bullet digital marketing tactic that will fix all of your business woes. If digital marketing is even right for you the approach you take is entirely dependent on your company’s unique situation.
* For young companies, it’s more important and valuable to focus on finding where the first customer is going to come from than where the millionth customer comes from. Try to think about just one customer and what you c…
playlist_add
Jan 4, 2022
Building to Scale - Eric Crews - Leadership in Action- Episode #018
To many, running a successful business is scaling their business, but these two ideas are not the same. Eric Crews, the president and founder of Crews Consulting Group, has a lifetime of experience with not only running successful companies but also scaling those companies. Eric shares the three keys to building a successful company and a checklist of five things to make your business scalable.
Takeaways:
* To actually scale a business, there is much more than just having good operations. Running a successful, profitable business is different than making a business that can scale. While it’s good to make sure the business runs well, it’s not the key to scaling.
* There are three keys to scaling a company: 1) Your customers must love what you offer and they must love doing business with you; 2) Your employees must absolutely love working with you; 3) You have to make money while doing it.
* Customers love business regardless of how well they are run, they really just need to…
playlist_add
Dec 28, 2021
Leaders Creating Leaders - Lisa Vitale - Leadership in Action- Episode #017
Everyone points to the most famous or most controversial people when discussing ‘great leaders’ but most entrepreneurs can’t and/or shouldn’t apply what those ‘leaders’ do. The President-Elect of EO Boston, Lisa Vitale, is here to set the record straight on leadership. You’ll learn about developing leaders in your team, what the true essence of leadership is and how to involve your team when planning for the future. Start revitalizing how you think about leadership and create more leaders.
Takeaways:
* At its core, leadership should not focus on the leader. The focus of leadership should be on empowering others and being courageous. Don’t get caught up in the celebrity that some leaders achieve.
* Much is said of the visionaries who are very hard and very negative to their employees, which for some, can lead to results. Most entrepreneurs and small business owners don’t have this luxury.
* Have a defined process for debriefing with your team that outlines what…
playlist_add
Dec 21, 2021
Transparent Teamwork - Doug McDuff - Leadership in Action- Episode #016
As a business owner, do you want more engagement from your employees? Well, if you’re not sharing the financials of the business with your employees, you’re going to be banging your head against the wall. Doug McDuff, President of Landscape America, is here to share Open Book Management and how its four simple steps can reap great rewards. Learn how to get employees more engaged and focused on a goal, not getting hung up on the negatives and how to use transparency as a powerful tool in your business. Takeaways: Although it may seem scary, there a many benefits that come from sharing the financials of the business with your employees. Chief among those is getting more engagement from employees and communicating that business is team sport. Open Book Management is a great concept that promotes transparency and maximizes engagement. There are 4 steps to reaching Open Book: 1. Define Winning; 2. Create a Scoreboard; 3. Make a Bonus Plan; 4. Forecast and Drive Results. To define winnin…
playlist_add
Dec 14, 2021
Embracing The Blur - Cheryl Jones - Leadership in Action- Episode #015
So many people are stuck on trying to create clearly marked dividers between their work life and home life, but the world is changing and the two have become more blurred than ever. Instead of trying to disentangle the two, Cheryl Jones encourages us to embrace the blurred lines of life. She goes through a simple mindfulness exercise that you can follow along with and use in your everyday life. Learn how to be present in the moment, restructure your schedules to be less stressful, and promote more positive conversation and interactions with others.
Takeaways:
* In real life, the idea of compartmentalization is a myth, we are whole people and it’s not possible or feasible for us to split ourselves up into smaller chunks, with parts only for work, or family.
* We now experience a “blur” of work life, home life, etc. regardless of the actual setting. This has been exacerbated by the pandemic, with the loss of separation between the different arenas of life, such as the commute…
playlist_add
Dec 7, 2021
Doing the Dirty Work - Sarah Grossman - Leadership in Action- Episode #014
The idea of selling your business or buying a new business can seem like an impossibly daunting task, but there are ways to make the process simpler. Sarah Grossman, a brilliant business broker is here to fill you in on all of the tricks of the trade. Learn better ways to approach owning a business, when to start planning to sell your business, and some of the steps involved with selling your business.
Takeaways:
* It is essential as a business owner to not only work on your business but also to work in your business. Working in your business provides you with many benefits, such as creating better connections with employees and learning the company’s processes.
* The biggest concern of a business owner should be the health and wellbeing of their employees. If the employees know that you care about them and you are invested in the company, they will want to show up and work hard.
* Although it can be hard to do, you should sell your company when it’s doing well, instead of…
playlist_add
Nov 30, 2021
The Iterations of Innovation - Steve Rovithis - Leadership in Action- Episode #013
So many people are terrified of making even the smallest mistake in their business and they are missing out on the opportunity to innovate. This awesome conversation with Steve Rovithis, CEO of Rovi Homes, revolves around embracing your failures, finding what works from other industries, and how best to integrate changes and innovations. Stick around for all that and even some great tips for making the perfect pancakes!
Takeaways:
* Entrepreneurs must be ok with making mistakes. The only way to innovate is to iterate. There will be failures every step of the way, but that’s how you will learn best, so be more comfortable with making mistakes and then learn from them!
* As entrepreneurs, you have a great opportunity to really focus on one aspect of your business and go on a learning deep dive into that area. Once your business is in a good place overall, try immersing yourself in everything you can find about one part of your company, such as culture, leadership, marketing, etc.…
playlist_add
Nov 23, 2021
Don’t Skip The Training Wheels - Kristen Sweeney - Leadership in Action- Episode #012
Entrepreneurs are always trying to get their business out of its training wheels as fast as possible while experiencing the fewest growing pains possible. A successful entrepreneur in her own right, Kristen Sweeney, owner of Kristen Sweeney Consulting and copywriting extraordinaire, is this episode’s special guest. Learn about solving problems at every level of business, how to set expectations for growing your business, and the importance of going through those growing pains with your business and learning from them.
Takeaways:
* Even with as much as you may learn about how to run a business in a classroom, you can’t skip past your business’ training wheels. The growing pains are an essential part of developing both your business and yourself.
* If your company is truly operating really well, there’s nothing that will jump out at you and catch you off guard.
* Just because your company is growing doesn’t mean that you can outgrow your problems. As your company grows,…
playlist_add
Nov 16, 2021
Humility in Business - Dan St. John - Leadership in Action- Episode # 011
Oftentimes in life, it is the mindset of a person that is the difference between success and failure. Entrepreneur and photographer Dan St. John joins the show to discuss some of the mental mouse traps that entrepreneurs can fall into and some of the ways to get yourself out of them alive and well. Dan proposes ways to challenge yourself, be more comfortable with yourself and your product, and how best to approach challenges from a mental perspective.
Takeaways:
* Don’t let good be the enemy of perfect. You can spend five minutes getting something to 95% and another five years trying to get at that last 5%.
* It’s important to realize that you are not the only one struggling with a certain problem. In a business sense, seek out other entrepreneurs and listen to their stories, you’ll likely find many have been dealt a similar scenario and found ways to overcome it.
* No man is an island! You shouldn’t feel bad for asking for help, that shows your humility and an eagernes…
playlist_add
Nov 9, 2021
Superior Speaking Skills - Kerri Garbis - Leadership in Action- Episode #010
Public speaking is a massive hurdle for so many today. Overcoming the nervousness, the filler words, and the dread of being in front of other people is something a lot of people feel they can’t do. Kerri Garbis, the founder and CEO of Ovation and a long-time speaking coach, joins host Casey Cheshire to provide effective and practical ways to overcome stage fright, remove filler words, and deliver better and more impactful presentations.
Takeaways
* Picturing people naked does not actually help with stage fright or nervousness, it’s just something perpetuated by an episode of The Brady Bunch.
* To combat nervousness effectively, you must reset your thinking to something that is more rational than emotional, such as, “what is your goal for the presentation?”
* The first way to “get of your head” is to use physically targeted thoughts. Try standing or sitting in a neutral position with equal weight on both feet and your arms by your sides. One trick is to put a coin in…
playlist_add
Nov 2, 2021
Creating a Visible Brand - Emily Brackett - Leadership in Action- Episode #009
You know great branding when you see it, but it’s not always easy to explain why it works, let alone create your own. Branding master Emily Brackett is the owner of Visible Logic, a premier branding consultancy, and she is here to end your branding woes. Emily discusses the three main steps to creating a successful brand, where many people get lost along the way to creating a brand, and the larger scope of what a brand entails. Learn how to approach creating a brand and what your brand should reflect to make the most lasting impact.
Takeaways:
* An outside branding company will not be able to come in and tell your company what its brand is. The leader of the company must take ownership of what the company’s brand is but can seek outside help to shift the brand’s perception.
* The idea of the brand should connect the company’s ideal customer and the traits of the company’s products and/or services. Competent business leaders will be able to comfortably discuss both of th…
playlist_add
Oct 26, 2021
Well Positioned Acquisitions - Josh Medow - Leadership in Action - Episode #008
Waiting for the perfect idea to come to you isn’t the only way to be an entrepreneur, acquiring a small business is a great way to become a business owner! Josh Medow did just that when he acquired his company after going through a thorough buying process which he explains in this episode. Learn how to find the right business to buy, how to approach the transition of ownership, and the positives and negatives of buying a business as opposed to starting one.
Takeaways:
* If you are an entrepreneur, you don’t have to wait around for the “perfect” idea to come to you, buying a business is a great way to get started.
* There are 4 main benefits to buying a business rather than starting your own:
*
* Pre Existing Market Fit
* Existing Team in Place
* Current Customer Base
* Income & Financial Stability
* You have to do your due diligence and really learn about the business you are buying and the person you are buying from. Ideally buy from someone who is loo…
playlist_add
Oct 19, 2021
Playing to Win - Herb Cogliano - Leadership in Action- Episode #007
There are millions of companies in the United States but less than 1% of them ever grow past 10 million in revenue per year. This week’s guest Herb Cogliano, an International Business Growth Advisor and Certified Scaling Up Coach, shares his expertise on how business owners can prepare to scale up, hire the right people, and better prepare for their future!
Myth Smash:
* “A lot of people think it's hard to start a company, but I think what's even harder is to scale up your existing company”
Takeaways:
* Only ½ of 1% of our companies (28 million in the United States) ever scale to 10 million or more in revenue in a single year. Only 4% of companies ever make it over 1 million or more in top line revenue.
* The three barriers that most leaders have to encounter are having enough leadership, scalable infrastructure, and market dynamics.
* Most people think scaling up is about growing your company, but what it really is about growing leaders that grow your company.
* A…
playlist_add
Oct 12, 2021
Fighting for Control - Kathy Doyle - Leadership in Action- Episode #006
You start a business, put the fancy name tag on your desk, and now you’re ready to make the big decisions right? This week’s guest Kathy Doyle, CEO of FireFlower Alternative Energy, SMASHES the misconception that being in charge may not mean that you are actually in charge. External factors can influence operations, employees, and sales. Tune in and learn the importance of maintaining flexibility and how to expect the unexpected.
Takeaways:
* Myth SMASH: “One of the common misconceptions is that you're in charge when in fact it feels a lot of the time, like everybody else is in charge.”
* When you're pleasing one person, you could also be disappointing another.
* Things can be unpredictable. Learn to get comfortable with that aspect of business and life!
* Have a vision. It’s okay if this changes over time. Make sure to debrief and adjust as you grow and learn.
* Acceptance is a part of becoming a good leader and becoming a good business person.
* There's value…
playlist_add
Oct 5, 2021
Going Global - Wendy Pease - Leadership in Action - Episode #005
The United States makes up such a smaller percentage of the world’s population. So why are we limiting our company sales to just a national market? This week’s guest, Wendy Pease, is an expert in global marketing. She walks through the proper steps and resources available to small or medium-sized business owners and how to make connections with customers from all over the globe!
Takeaways:
* MYTH SMASH: “My company is too small to go global”.
* Less than 1% of US companies export and of those 98% are small and midsize companies. The number one export that we have as a country is services.
* Those that export have higher profits, higher revenues, higher salaries, higher valuations, and they're more stable companies.
* State and federal governments offer free support to help small and mid-sized businesses. We import so much more than we export that the US is always trying to encourage companies to export.
* The first step that you need to take is to understand what yo…
playlist_add
Sep 28, 2021
The Earnout Myth - Glenn Grant - Leadership in Action - Episode #004
Selling your business may not result in a large amount of money delivered to you on a golden platter. This week’s special guest and fellow member, Glenn Grant, crushes the myth that an earnout should be the sole reason to sell your company. He shares personal experiences in the matter, current/past business ventures, and how he believes there has been a recent increase in the entrepreneurial spirit!
Takeaways:
* When selling your business, you don’t have to do an “earnout” as part of the agreement. You should aim to be happy with the initial amount offered to you on the day of the sale. Everything else should be considered bonus earnings or the “gravy”.
* “Earnouts” can be difficult to have control over when there is a new owner taking control of the big decisions.
* Build a strong, dedicated leadership team that will allow you to step back from the day to day tasks and think big picture. You will also want to make sure that they stay with the company before and…
playlist_add
Sep 21, 2021
Innovating Social Impact - Ryan Villanueva - Leadership in Action - Episode #003
Is your company making a positive impact? Ryan Villanueva, Co-Founder of Best Delegate Model United Nations and Growth Consultant at Crews Consulting Group, shares with us how to align the economic and social impacts of your company in order to have shared value. He outlines the importance of establishing a vision for your business, by answering the 6 W’s, so that the rest of the entrepreneurial process comes at ease.
Takeaways:
* Entrepreneurship doesn’t just include startups that are venture-backed, tech, SaaS, etc. It is much broader than that and includes anyone who wants to make a positive change.
* Our social impact should be aligned with our economic impact. Creating economic and social value simultaneously makes shared value. It allows us to make new markets that generate revenue.
* Creating shared value is unlimited to the extent that the market can grow, and is making a social impact as well, thus making a scalable impact.
* By creating profitability and jobs, y…
playlist_add
Sep 14, 2021
The Process Behind Success - Luis Cortes - Leadership in Action - Episode #002
Starting a business may appear to be anarchy and chaos. However, there is a process and plan behind entrepreneurship that drives success. President of EO Boston and Co-founder of Bcombinator, Luis Cortes, discusses the steps to becoming a successful entrepreneur through passion, persistence, and the proper problem-solution fit.
Takeaways:
~ Entrepreneurship may look like anarchy, with endless moving parts and possibilities. However, there is a process behind success.
~ In order to start a successful business, you need to have a vision of what customer needs you want to satisfy, and how you’re going to do so.
~ Working with a team allows you to expand your knowledge by being around people who have different skills than you.
~ It is important to identify the proper problem-solution fit. This means figuring out if your product correctly solves the solution for the type of customers you are looking for. Focus on the problem, solution, and benefit of your product.
~ Start with a sma…
playlist_add
Sep 8, 2021
Executing a Good Business Idea - Dave Will - Leadership in Action - Episode #001
Many entrepreneurs believe that good ideas are the bulk of the work when starting a business. Dave Will, CEO & Co-Founder at Propfuel, reveals that execution and dedication are what make good ideas successful. He discusses how the best ideas are evolved into even better ideas by finding the right product-market fit for your business.
Check out Will’s inspiring story of changing his lifelong career path to start his own company and all of the hard work and challenges he overcame to become a successful entrepreneur!
Takeaways:
~Ideas are not the bulk of the work. Everybody has good ideas, but the hard part is the execution and commitment to the idea.
~The greatest ideas are those that we set free to evolve by allowing input and making adjustments. Most original business plans develop over time into better plans.
~It is important to find the right product-market fit for your company. This means having a constant mindset of what is working, what needs to be changed, and how to be op…
playlist_add