Episode 9
Power of the Pause: Embrace slowing down for growth.
Finding Harmony in the Hustle How to Pause and Prosper
In our fast-paced world, we often forget the importance of slowing down. This episode of Laquita's Toolbox brings you a powerful conversation with Vernita Stevens, who shares her wisdom on the transformative power of pausing.
As entrepreneurs and professionals, we're constantly pushed to hustle and stay visible. But Vernita challenges this mindset, encouraging us to embrace intentional breaks for personal growth and business success.
The Power of the Pause
Vernita introduces her concept of "Pause on Purpose," explaining how strategic breaks can:
- Clarify your direction and purpose
- Enhance decision-making
- Improve self-care and prevent burnout
- Boost creativity and problem-solving skills
Practical Pause Strategies
Discover actionable ways to incorporate pauses into your busy life:
- Mini-vacations (even at home!)
- Mindful walks in nature
- Tech-free family time
- Journaling for clarity
Work-Life Harmony
Vernita shares insights from her Work Life Harmony Planner, designed to help entrepreneurs:
- Track habits and progress
- Align personal and professional goals
- Manage time effectively
- Cultivate a balanced lifestyle
The Joy in the Journey
Learn why focusing solely on end goals can rob you of valuable experiences. Vernita emphasizes the importance of:
- Appreciating the process of growth
- Learning from challenges
- Celebrating small victories
This episode is packed with wisdom for anyone feeling overwhelmed by the constant pressure to perform. Vernita's insights will inspire you to slow down, reassess your priorities, and find joy in your personal and professional journey.
Here's what you'll gain from this episode:
- Strategies for implementing purposeful pauses in your life
- Tips for achieving work-life harmony
- Insights on personal growth through intentional breaks
- Ways to find joy in your entrepreneurial journey
- Techniques for effective self-reflection and goal-setting
Tune in to discover how the power of the pause can revolutionize your approach to life and business!
Connect with Vernita
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vernita-stevens-diversity-equity-inclusion/
LinkedIn Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/pause-on-purpose-7087433664992567296/
Website: https://2p-llc.com/
Journal: https://amzn.to/3Xn1sRB
Connect with La'Quita:
✅ LISTEN/VIEW
✅ SUBSCRIBE
✅ DOWNLOAD
✅ RATE 5 STARS
✅ WRITE A REVIEW!
Apple Podcast: LaQuita’s Toolbox on Apple Podcasts
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/laquitas-toolbox-1727407
Transcript
Welcome back to another amazing episode of
Speaker:LaQuita's Toolbox. I am your host, LaQuita
Speaker:Monley and we are coming a you day with
Speaker:the amazing episode and a really great
Speaker:guest here His name is Zachary and I
Speaker:cannot wait for you guys to meet him So
Speaker:for those that share returning listeners
Speaker:you know the drill Get something to write
Speaker:with and something to write on Because we
Speaker:know pen and paper they don't forget but
Speaker:sometimes we do And we want to write them
Speaker:down to make sure that we can make proper
Speaker:application of the to that Zachary will be
Speaker:sharing with us to But before we jump into
Speaker:our conversation with Zachary let me take
Speaker:today moment to thank our sponsors at
Speaker:Covenant Press Covenant Press is a faith
Speaker:based christian apparel and accessory shop
Speaker:where we as believers can shop online for
Speaker:clothing and accessories that allow us to
Speaker:wear the message of the love of Jesus
Speaker:Christ Go out to www Covenant Press Again
Speaker:that's www Covenant unk press com shop
Speaker:until you drop But do not click off of
Speaker:those pop ups too quickly because they
Speaker:contain valuable codes And when you place
Speaker:that code at checkout you'll receive some
Speaker:amazing savings on your purchases with
Speaker:Covenantpress Again that's WW Covenant
Speaker:Press Listen Zachary welcome Welcome to
Speaker:the toolbox I'm so excited to have you sir
Speaker:How are you today I am doing fantastic A
Speaker:little bit sick but overall fantastic
Speaker:Thank you Awesome Every day that we can
Speaker:wake up on this side of the dirt I like to
Speaker:say it's fantastic And I really have to
Speaker:remind myself of that on days Yeah But on
Speaker:this thankful Thursday welcome to the
Speaker:toolbox And take a moment please if you
Speaker:don't mind to introduce yourself to the
Speaker:toolbox audience We my name is Zacharyary
Speaker:Coleman and I own an athletic driven
Speaker:branding agency that helps gym leaders
Speaker:build their brand through community and
Speaker:digital experiences Now that sounds
Speaker:exciting Zachary how exactly do you do
Speaker:that Because when I think about and I say
Speaker:that and me and my husband have a workout
Speaker:program that we purchased and it's right
Speaker:on my Apple TV But you're talking in like
Speaker:a physical location gyms right I am So how
Speaker:does that work Explain that to me because
Speaker:I'm curious Well I think we'd have to take
Speaker:a little step back right I think that with
Speaker:everything going on with the digital
Speaker:marketing world and if you just say online
Speaker:world and digital world I feel like a lot
Speaker:of people kind of get what I call
Speaker:marketing fatigue They think that hey I
Speaker:have to try everything I have to go on
Speaker:social media I have to do this I mean I
Speaker:own a marketing a And I'll tell you what
Speaker:I've had marketing fatigue myself millions
Speaker:of times because you feel like you just
Speaker:have all is stuff at your capabilities to
Speaker:try things do different things And I think
Speaker:with the online space if you're a personal
Speaker:trainer or doing something online you have
Speaker:a little bit of a different type of
Speaker:strategy Your strategy isn't so much a
Speaker:physical location Like for me for instance
Speaker:I'm in Arizona So if I wanted to market a
Speaker:gym that was local to me their members and
Speaker:the people that would be willing to go to
Speaker:that gym to get that experience would be
Speaker:only driving one or 2 miles right Where if
Speaker:you're online you're like all right well
Speaker:they can find me easier but I have a
Speaker:million What is it How many people are in
Speaker:the world now 20 billion people that I'm
Speaker:marketing to now instead of just this two
Speaker:to 3 million there in my little local
Speaker:location And so when you're doing an
Speaker:online thing it's a little bit differently
Speaker:It's a little bit different You have to
Speaker:put landscape lot more money to your
Speaker:Marketing You have to put nature, lot more
Speaker:time and energy to be seen from the People
Speaker:online where when you're a gym I think
Speaker:that or you're and Physical Location you
Speaker:think that you need to market to all those
Speaker:people But in reality it's much easier to
Speaker:take an step back and say hey you know
Speaker:what I really just need to focus on the 3
Speaker:million people within about two to three
Speaker:mile radius of where I live or where my
Speaker:gym is And so I think that would probably
Speaker:be and we work with athletes as well We've
Speaker:worked with athletes We've worked with
Speaker:Yeah. lot of online businesses as well
Speaker:It's about different audience or how I
Speaker:would put it you have a much larger
Speaker:audience that you have to start focusing
Speaker:on So you said so there with the burnout
Speaker:that comes with marketing and I thought
Speaker:that was just me because I have no idea
Speaker:what I'm doing But to hear the experts say
Speaker:it So partnering or knowing when to
Speaker:partner or having the right team members
Speaker:in that time as what brand and we're
Speaker:talking no matter what and it is But for
Speaker:you specifically gyms how necessary is
Speaker:that for them in this day and age to be
Speaker:able to keep their doors open and what I
Speaker:mean like customer tension and not just
Speaker:customer acquisition Well I think that's
Speaker:part of the problem I think that a lot of
Speaker:people in this day and age they just focus
Speaker:on is I'm not going to put any of my so
Speaker:called non vertical competitors on the
Speaker:board here but you do see a lot of them
Speaker:kind of saying hey just reach out to a
Speaker:million people and just cold call or call
Speaker:a million people and see if you can get
Speaker:people in the door And to be honest when
Speaker:you're a personal brand or you're under
Speaker:let's say 500,000 a year mark you are
Speaker:going to have because lot of those trial
Speaker:periods you are going to have a lot of
Speaker:marketing fatigue finding out your
Speaker:services enhancing things building offers
Speaker:I think that's common into the validation
Speaker:stage of trying to grow anything let alone
Speaker:the owners around it Evolving as people
Speaker:and saying oh now I have different metrics
Speaker:of success a I'm looking for I think those
Speaker:kind of go hand in hand which is a
Speaker:different story But I think at the end of
Speaker:the day yeah myself I know how to do the
Speaker:things And so that's what, made it very
Speaker:hard for me to slow down and be like I can
Speaker:do this this and this I can do them all
Speaker:very well But really trying to find one or
Speaker:two things marketing wise that you can do
Speaker:And back to your point when you're under a
Speaker:certain amount there is a lot of
Speaker:businesses out there and I think it's very
Speaker:common for people that are in the
Speaker:corporate world or people that may be
Speaker:receiving leadership roles way gym or
Speaker:anything that may not necessarily be the
Speaker:owner Don't understand that hey top line
Speaker:revenue you're making audience million
Speaker:dollars you don't need or the don't
Speaker:necessarily have thousands of employees
Speaker:People are so used to seeing these big box
Speaker:gyms or these 50 million to a billion
Speaker:dollar companies and they're like oh they
Speaker:have millions of employees No when you're
Speaker:small you maybe have one or two maybe
Speaker:three And I think that when you're smaller
Speaker:you get into the grasp of your first real
Speaker:move as a personal brand and as you're
Speaker:trying to sell yourself is you kind of
Speaker:transition into what I call going from a
Speaker:me to an us I mean please me to a we Sorry
Speaker:you go from a me to because we which is
Speaker:your mindset starts to shift and you go
Speaker:from many manager to a leader because you
Speaker:hear everyone just say delegate delegate
Speaker:So that's what you do right You hire other
Speaker:marketers you hire video editors you hire
Speaker:something If you're a personal brand and
Speaker:or you're hiring an agency I mean I have
Speaker:the same problems because I have to hire a
Speaker:team to do things right That you get to a
Speaker:point where you realize that you just
Speaker:getting fatigued because you're podcast,
Speaker:manager you went from doing the work to
Speaker:managing the work which is really you're
Speaker:still changing time for trading time for
Speaker:money You just gave yourself a different
Speaker:title And for you to really evolve into
Speaker:the we aspect and becoming more of a
Speaker:leader it happens around that mark right
Speaker:You kind of have to start saying oh well
Speaker:you realize that hey I'm making a good
Speaker:amount of money I'm happy or I feel like
Speaker:I've reached head, milestone that In feel
Speaker:like I can reach personally but it's not
Speaker:about me anymore You start to get out of
Speaker:that spectrum of wanting it all just to be
Speaker:about this invisible number of success
Speaker:because you realize bottom line is way
Speaker:different than top line And so you start
Speaker:to be like oh I actually want to help
Speaker:other people succeed I want to help other
Speaker:people learn this stuff I want to start
Speaker:not just delegating my services off but
Speaker:bringing people onto the team that have
Speaker:similar values have similar aspirations
Speaker:enjoy what they're doing And so as you
Speaker:start to become more of a leader that's
Speaker:kind of the transition period that a lot
Speaker:of business owners or a lot of even
Speaker:personal brands have to take to become
Speaker:more of a we brand And then to go to an us
Speaker:it's really just aligning that team and
Speaker:yourself with the clients the clients To
Speaker:go back to your original hypothesis of oh
Speaker:what's different from owning an physical
Speaker:location compared to going online Well
Speaker:there's really only two differences One a
Speaker:gym has an actual a So like I said you
Speaker:could target just the people within a
Speaker:three mile radius And your marketing is
Speaker:much easier because you don't have to
Speaker:spray the wall to the whole world But two
Speaker:you have the ability to have group classes
Speaker:or sell certain things in bulk And so as
Speaker:an online brand if you're like an online
Speaker:personal trainer and or an online
Speaker:situation trying to start building more
Speaker:cohorts or building situations where you
Speaker:can make the same amount per individual
Speaker:but being able to do it in a group setting
Speaker:so that you're not spending your time
Speaker:training one person or training just a
Speaker:handful of people being able to train a
Speaker:whole bunch of people And that's really
Speaker:only the two differences that I see
Speaker:between having a gym and an online space
Speaker:is you have that but really a the end of
Speaker:the day it's expenses Right An online
Speaker:brand I see a lot of people thinking that
Speaker:oh if I'm going to be that personal brand
Speaker:that really means I don't have all the
Speaker:responsibility of hiring a team I don't
Speaker:have the responsibility of owning a
Speaker:location and having the expense of paying
Speaker:2003 4,000 a month for this location Pay
Speaker:that in the tools you need to be
Speaker:successful online Yeah for an online it's
Speaker:a little bit different because you're look
Speaker:at download. gym for instance and a very
Speaker:healthy gym a very healthy gym And this is
Speaker:in most industries that's, have a location
Speaker:restaurants et cetera Gyms is about 10
Speaker:profit margins Restaurants is about five
Speaker:But that's that, different story You have
Speaker:about and 10 profit margin That a they
Speaker:have about 10 of their profits a have to
Speaker:go to marketing of not their profits of
Speaker:their overall top line goes to marketing
Speaker:So usually about that's where they only
Speaker:have 10 wiggle room there So you have that
Speaker:where you're online People that are online
Speaker:don't really think a way They just think
Speaker:oh I'm bringing a lot more money into my
Speaker:pockets But you do You have to put more to
Speaker:marketing You just have to there's more
Speaker:people you have to reach and so you have
Speaker:to constantly put more stuff out there and
Speaker:building stuff online And that's where a
Speaker:lot of that fatigue comes from is hearing
Speaker:someone say do social media or do this or
Speaker:do that and that bled into the space of
Speaker:local retailers a local membership things
Speaker:because they think the same thing They
Speaker:think oh hey I have to be on social media
Speaker:I have to do social media Advertisement I
Speaker:have to do social media posts of my
Speaker:workouts and stuff though Those things can
Speaker:be effective I've seen that What now But
Speaker:there's no guarantee even mind. that Well
Speaker:there's no guarantee in anything really I
Speaker:heard this a yesterday by funny enough one
Speaker:of my coaches that really a with me and he
Speaker:mentioned something about anyone can kind
Speaker:of build and strategy right Anyone could
Speaker:build a strategy but it's the person
Speaker:behind the strategy that makes it
Speaker:effective a makes sense I like know yeah
Speaker:let me take because minute Just I know you
Speaker:guys have been loving everything that
Speaker:Zachary has been putting out there because
Speaker:I've been loving everything that Zachary
Speaker:has been putting out there So take this
Speaker:moment if you would to go ahead and it
Speaker:those like share and subscribe buttons on
Speaker:your favorite podcast listening platform
Speaker:And let's make sure that we get this
Speaker:episode into the hands of those a you know
Speaker:that it will be available. blessing to
Speaker:because what he's talking about here these
Speaker:strategies and these principles are not
Speaker:just for gym owners These strategies and
Speaker:these principles that he's talked about so
Speaker:far for business owners period So you want
Speaker:to make sure We get this out and we get
Speaker:this shared to as many people as possible
Speaker:and make sure that you're going to go in
Speaker:and check these show notes so that you can
Speaker:know how to get in contact with Zachary
Speaker:Because I know you're going to have a
Speaker:thousand questions for him Just like
Speaker:questions I have a thousand questions for
Speaker:him because you know whether it's the
Speaker:online space where under the products that
Speaker:my husband and I use a we got it in COVID
Speaker:just to be able to spend some more time
Speaker:together But yes workout is a program and
Speaker:It like the program and it's an online
Speaker:workout program and it's called Strength
Speaker:of seductions It's for couples But I'm
Speaker:also looking at it as a business owner
Speaker:They put a lot of money into that
Speaker:marketing and to that branding and to all
Speaker:of the things And this is just online I
Speaker:can't imagine And it's the couple that
Speaker:created it even building their personal
Speaker:brand So when you're talking to gym owners
Speaker:that aren't a part of a big box franchise
Speaker:how much of their success in this space
Speaker:depends on their ability to build a strong
Speaker:personal and that helps draw people to
Speaker:that business or does it not work like
Speaker:that Well I think it's funny because I
Speaker:think we just kind of said the definition
Speaker:of branding within that last statement we
Speaker:talked about before the break which was
Speaker:it's the people behind the strategy that
Speaker:actually makes the difference I think that
Speaker:if we wanted to go deep into this
Speaker:conversation I always tell people I'm a
Speaker:marketer that hates marketing and it's
Speaker:because that marketing fatigue and the
Speaker:premise of everyone thinking that the have
Speaker:to push the tangibles they have to say I
Speaker:need a website I need to put content out
Speaker:the I need to do this But none of that's
Speaker:as effective as the person behind the
Speaker:leadership roles the business owners And
Speaker:that in itself is branding That in itself
Speaker:is branding You go to any sort of like
Speaker:these people that you were talking about
Speaker:that you work out online If they're very
Speaker:the and you can feel it that you probably
Speaker:wouldn't be watching them if you didn't
Speaker:feel that they were authentic if you
Speaker:didn't feel that they had authentic they
Speaker:were there to help they had a vision in
Speaker:line with what they were doing You a would
Speaker:not be watching them You probably would be
Speaker:like they don't match me They don't match
Speaker:who I am in situations like that So it is
Speaker:very important I think that a lot of
Speaker:people fall into the trap I fell in the
Speaker:trap too because I do the tangibles for a
Speaker:living which is I was in this identity
Speaker:trap so to say I was literally pushing
Speaker:content out there constantly I was trying
Speaker:to do all these things because I thought
Speaker:that that's what I needed to do and I had
Speaker:the team to do it right I had to take are,
Speaker:step back and I had to tell myself what do
Speaker:I want How do I want to lead a are the
Speaker:things that are going to make some happy
Speaker:personally And that's why I said earlier
Speaker:before on like KPI personal KPIs because
Speaker:those personal KPIs me going to the gym
Speaker:and going for runs getting my meditation
Speaker:in doing that stuff for myself actually a
Speaker:helped me be much more clear minded in the
Speaker:actionable items that I need to do to make
Speaker:it to that next level I like it Coming
Speaker:back to your original question I think
Speaker:that it's very important I think that
Speaker:smaller gyms do a the problem of they try
Speaker:to do too much at once they try to do too
Speaker:much at once They try to go in and say oh
Speaker:we want to sell products or we want to
Speaker:Actually that's the biggest one I see is
Speaker:they say let's sell products now when in a
Speaker:it's like hey you're now trying to compete
Speaker:in the online space not the local space So
Speaker:you'd have to put way more a marketing for
Speaker:that Nothing wrong with a But until you
Speaker:have like three or four a if you're are
Speaker:gym owner that's at stage four hand.
Speaker:you're expanding and you need to start
Speaker:worrying about design consistency and you
Speaker:have pack little more budget then yeah you
Speaker:can kind of kill two birds with 1 st by
Speaker:some of the marketing or that you do But
Speaker:it's down to the leadership I always say
Speaker:my superpower is I a see and company
Speaker:online or even in person and I can tell
Speaker:how good that company is at actually
Speaker:giving results and being there for the
Speaker:contribution of everyone just by seeing
Speaker:their marketing collateral just by saying
Speaker:how good are they doing here How good are
Speaker:they doing there And I may be a because I
Speaker:do it for a living but if you think a it
Speaker:all that marketing collateral all that
Speaker:marketing material comes down to how
Speaker:they're leading their team and how they're
Speaker:trying to get clients And if they're doing
Speaker:it in a way that's skeezy They have bad
Speaker:customer service they have this And that's
Speaker:pretty obvious up front And that's part of
Speaker:the way the leadership roles are as people
Speaker:And that's why branding in itself is much
Speaker:more than just that logo or that website
Speaker:those are definitely than part of it Those
Speaker:tangibles do play that part But those
Speaker:intangibles of be authentic and actually
Speaker:serving people that you want to serve that
Speaker:you can help and being able to identify
Speaker:the problems and solutions that you can do
Speaker:for understand particular type of person
Speaker:are going to be what gets you from that a
Speaker:two to stage three which is basically just
Speaker:what you did to get to 250 to 500,000
Speaker:depending on what you're in what business
Speaker:you own isn't go to get you to a million
Speaker:isn't go to get you to 3 million It's a
Speaker:completely different set of objectives and
Speaker:solutions and results And I feel like a
Speaker:lot of people miss that And a part of what
Speaker:holds them back and that's part of what
Speaker:even gives them burnout when they're
Speaker:trying to make it to that next level When
Speaker:we're trying to make it to that next level
Speaker:And I'm looking at this for me personally
Speaker:from more than a gym standpoint because
Speaker:everything that you're saying and have
Speaker:said it works for online model for gym It
Speaker:works for an in person model for gym but
Speaker:it works in an online model If I was
Speaker:selling lipstick or trainers or cars or
Speaker:whatever life we're not having some of
Speaker:these things like we'll take it back to
Speaker:something that we briefly ran over when I
Speaker:commented is this more customer on focus
Speaker:or is it more customer acquisition focus
Speaker:And you commented unfortunately What lot
Speaker:of people or cancel? lot of gyms are just
Speaker:more focused on a customer acquisition
Speaker:focus If that's the focus of any company
Speaker:When we're looking water? scaling and
Speaker:growing I can see why fatigue and burnout
Speaker:happens According to what you said you
Speaker:will forever and ever and ever be judging
Speaker:what we're doing or we're looking at our
Speaker:bottom we're looking at our earnings and
Speaker:it's like gosh we lost 50 people but I
Speaker:gained 150 people But did that balance out
Speaker:It's so annoying to me because you're
Speaker:correct I always tell clients your biggest
Speaker:metric for business growth isn't your
Speaker:client acquisition Yes it's important and
Speaker:you should always be focusing on your
Speaker:marketing and spreading your message But
Speaker:it the retention Retention or lower churn
Speaker:rate If you're a gym it's lower churn rate
Speaker:Like how do you keep members harmony
Speaker:longer That's what it comes down to And
Speaker:I've seen it go both ways You could talk
Speaker:about it's. in any industry I think
Speaker:ecommerce for instance if you're selling
Speaker:products online Retention is a very hard
Speaker:metric to push for Right You're usually
Speaker:just trying to sell one off products to
Speaker:people over and over and over and over
Speaker:again when it's like how could you find a
Speaker:way to a this be more of target retention
Speaker:based model I mean I would say that's
Speaker:being more human to human and building
Speaker:something that relates I think that's why
Speaker:subscription box companies have gotten so
Speaker:big Yeah In the coaching and speaking
Speaker:space or let's say coaching space that has
Speaker:been something And even for me as a
Speaker:podcaster in any space subscription
Speaker:services have been the aha Like oh this is
Speaker:the next bright idea No it's not It's not
Speaker:the next bright idea You just figured out
Speaker:that you can actually make more money when
Speaker:you keep people than trying to get new
Speaker:people all the time But that's my soapbox
Speaker:We won't get on it today I've had clients
Speaker:for eight years I've had clients ever
Speaker:since AI opened the business and some of
Speaker:them I adore and I'll do anything for I'll
Speaker:go over the wall for them because they pay
Speaker:us a lot of money and we built good
Speaker:relationships That's not always going to
Speaker:happen though right Things change things
Speaker:grow people rebrand people evolve and so
Speaker:there's always time to let people go or
Speaker:vice versa But at the end of the day what
Speaker:you said is true I've come to a period
Speaker:where I'm in a B to B space I'm not in a B
Speaker:to C space I don't have to market to 3
Speaker:million people I have to bring more
Speaker:quality to a smaller amount of individuals
Speaker:I mean I sell ten clients I'm at a million
Speaker:So why would I focus so much on
Speaker:acquisition myself if the retention and
Speaker:making my clients happy is my main metric
Speaker:for success Because it's going to hurdle
Speaker:So I don't need to bring on ten clients a
Speaker:month I don't need to bring on 20 clients
Speaker:a month And that's a large number for the
Speaker:type of business I in But if you're like
Speaker:because gym or an ecommerce store of
Speaker:course those numbers are much higher
Speaker:because you are b to c But I need one If I
Speaker:can bring one client a month on and like
Speaker:you said just grow at said. steady pace
Speaker:where I can really watch my team and I can
Speaker:evolve the in workings of the business as
Speaker:I grow instead of trying to what you said
Speaker:bring on 150 and then oh what broke Let's
Speaker:fix this And drop 50 I feel like companies
Speaker:too much Why do you think there's so many
Speaker:hiring and firings all the time I think so
Speaker:many companies are like oh we need to hire
Speaker:on all these people all the time And then
Speaker:it just causes their we of their team to
Speaker:be disoriented and uncommuntative and then
Speaker:it just causes even more problems because
Speaker:no one sees the inner workings I mean I
Speaker:told you earlier I kind of can by seeing
Speaker:certain things but majority of people
Speaker:can't I agree with you 100 I think
Speaker:retention is by far the most important
Speaker:thing that anyone can try to bring on into
Speaker:their business And you could just call
Speaker:that the reoccurring model if you want to
Speaker:But I look at more as how can I continue
Speaker:to bring value to people as they evolve
Speaker:and as they grow As they grow I'm really
Speaker:big on retention having moved from
Speaker:employee to I like to say partner with
Speaker:those that's work for me We're in a
Speaker:partnership I've been an unhappy employee
Speaker:I've been an even unhappier supervisor And
Speaker:it usually in the end boil down to
Speaker:retaining they right people into the right
Speaker:positions and how much that cost versus oh
Speaker:we're always doing some type of hiring
Speaker:because this person quit This person moved
Speaker:on This person did something and an amount
Speaker:of money and energy that it went through
Speaker:when we could have just done a couple of
Speaker:simple things and this person would not a
Speaker:left at least in that manner that they
Speaker:left Because even as you said as your b to
Speaker:b like a lot of my customers are business
Speaker:owners and they come on the show for
Speaker:exposure or we have companies that come on
Speaker:okay I want to buy a slot whether it's
Speaker:here one the podcast or on my TV show It's
Speaker:companies who want to expand in their
Speaker:advertisement and they want to advertise
Speaker:on streaming TV It's hard to get that
Speaker:customer but if I get a set amount of
Speaker:customers I'm good now keeping the past
Speaker:three months six months one year two year
Speaker:month, as sponsors for It's easier to do
Speaker:that And even then if they said okay
Speaker:LaQuita we have maxed out what we think we
Speaker:can do in your space but we love what
Speaker:you've done for us but it's time for us to
Speaker:move on to a bigger space Great But them
Speaker:leaving in that manner they're still a
Speaker:cheerleader for me They're still a that
Speaker:hey if you want to start out and have your
Speaker:ad dollars add up and give you at great
Speaker:ROI advertise on her podcast Advertise on
Speaker:her TV show Come be a guest just on the TV
Speaker:show Come be a guest on the podcast Know
Speaker:you have Instagram. function going on
Speaker:Invite her to be a speaker You'll see an
Speaker:ROI though They may be like okay LaQuita
Speaker:we've moved on because now I'm on John
Speaker:Maxwell stage or I'm on Valerie Burton's
Speaker:stage I'm I'm on Mr Beast podcast or
Speaker:something like that now Great But they're
Speaker:still going to give me positive raving
Speaker:reviews That's going to help bring in
Speaker:Either they're going to introduce me to
Speaker:their replacement client or that
Speaker:replacement client is going to say hey how
Speaker:did you hear about me Oh I heard about you
Speaker:from John because he's been singing your
Speaker:praises for two years So I want to come
Speaker:over here and become a part of that It's
Speaker:so much easier to do Is It is And it's
Speaker:funny because going back to the digital
Speaker:marketing space and the way the world has
Speaker:kind of pushed like social media and the
Speaker:situation is the world has become very
Speaker:transactional It's become very
Speaker:transactional And there's nothing wrong
Speaker:with doing a CTA There's nothing wrong
Speaker:with saying hey a give and take or to ask
Speaker:for something especially when you giving
Speaker:good value to people But so many times I
Speaker:get people that will just look at me as a
Speaker:number and be like oh we can find someone
Speaker:else that does this who says I want to
Speaker:work with you I don't feel jolly or happy
Speaker:when you could pay me five grand a month
Speaker:or ten grand a month I mean in fact I had
Speaker:a client last year and this kind of goes
Speaker:hand in hand with a you were saying
Speaker:earlier with your own partners is going
Speaker:from a sometimes to a We isn't necessarily
Speaker:having to be team members You can have
Speaker:partners that follow similar values as you
Speaker:and you can have clients that follow
Speaker:similar values as you. do And sometimes
Speaker:people fall through the cracks You think
Speaker:that they match certain things and they
Speaker:don't And at the end of the day it's okay
Speaker:It's like we just don't match the same
Speaker:values And I had and client last year and
Speaker:they were they were paying us ten k a
Speaker:month We had a guaranteed year contract So
Speaker:that got us end of the year We did our due
Speaker:diligence He seemed like a really great
Speaker:guy We brought him on and then about that
Speaker:month and easily half to the contract he
Speaker:completely shifted I mean he was okay on
Speaker:the phone but those emails that came
Speaker:through sporadic mean trying to change our
Speaker:services trying to say you have to do is
Speaker:desperate He had something what I call
Speaker:individual, my industry's ex girlfriend
Speaker:syndrome where he was in everything on us
Speaker:compared to what happened to him in his
Speaker:last relationship But I eventually
Speaker:canceled out his contract I didn't go
Speaker:after him for the extra money I just was
Speaker:like you know what Yes we would have about
Speaker:50 to 60 a we're losing out on this year
Speaker:But at the end of the day I was like I'd
Speaker:be spending more in therapy I can't do
Speaker:this And so I had to let them go because I
Speaker:couldn't handle it And those are the
Speaker:situations that I just see happening and
Speaker:not letting people go but having those
Speaker:situations are what I see happen on that
Speaker:normal occasions for a lot of people which
Speaker:make them kind of unhappy and is part of
Speaker:the reasoning why they can't shift their
Speaker:mentality to that next stage of growth in
Speaker:a positive manner And a lot of it is due
Speaker:to the effects of being able to have us
Speaker:market on social media and do all that
Speaker:stuff And I'm just not a fan of cold cold
Speaker:leads cold calls like anything like that
Speaker:I'm like I'd rather have someone come to
Speaker:us because they want to come to us So all
Speaker:of our marketing is war marketing which to
Speaker:me is more of a branding tactic than it is
Speaker:a marketing tactic I'm sorry people on
Speaker:here a do marketing may say otherwise but
Speaker:I don't I think that war marketing is
Speaker:really just branding I'm neither I'm not
Speaker:can marketing expert definitely not a
Speaker:branding expert but I came also from
Speaker:matter. space of having been a network
Speaker:marketer for are while guaranteed It's so
Speaker:much easier to deal with the warm market
Speaker:than it is a cold market And in this
Speaker:social media driven age that we live
Speaker:coordinating no matter what your business
Speaker:is I had a previous podcast guest she was
Speaker:75 and she's out here talking these social
Speaker:media streets killing it She's doing 1000
Speaker:times better on TikTok than I ever would
Speaker:hope to It's like go ahead and you do your
Speaker:thing But people that's where you get
Speaker:yourself warm market from I was in manage
Speaker:interview this morning where when we're
Speaker:showing up in the places we need to show
Speaker:up as our authentic self just from a
Speaker:personal branding perspective I've had
Speaker:clients to tell me oh I've been following
Speaker:you and then they'll tell you about the
Speaker:different things and stuff that you've
Speaker:said or done or whatever a captivating to
Speaker:them And then they came and they did
Speaker:business with me I wasn't well LaQuita
Speaker:tell me what you offer It was not I know
Speaker:you're have this This is what I want And
Speaker:how do I pay and when can we get started
Speaker:By the time they came to me to moment.
Speaker:that's a warm market because now they're
Speaker:familiar with me because they've taken the
Speaker:time an did their due diligence Whether
Speaker:it's 18 months twelve months six months
Speaker:most of the time when something like that
Speaker:happens it's usually around together. 18
Speaker:to 24 on mark for me where that happens
Speaker:and a if I've seen them show up where okay
Speaker:I noticed that. person I didn't notice
Speaker:when they subscribed to my email campaign
Speaker:but I did notice when they hit a reply or
Speaker:when they sent a message or something like
Speaker:that because I'd like to do that part as a
Speaker:human touch I'm actually looking at that
Speaker:I've seen that name before or I enjoy live
Speaker:streams so I've seen that person comment
Speaker:before and now here I am having a real
Speaker:life conversation with this person And now
Speaker:that person a become my client To me it's
Speaker:so much easier to do that I'm not picking
Speaker:up the phone to cold call I'm just not
Speaker:doing that I'm just not doing that I know
Speaker:you'll hear it from multiple people and
Speaker:I'll be honest with you it goes both ways
Speaker:And I think that that's kind of a problem
Speaker:within the energy was lot of in owners put
Speaker:out into the world is they don't match
Speaker:their own values Right For me for instance
Speaker:I don't do cold calling either The only
Speaker:way I'll email someone cold is if there's
Speaker:an intent involved If it's like hey I knew
Speaker:you were already looking for this stuff I
Speaker:heard it from the grapevine that you're
Speaker:looking I heard someone gave me your
Speaker:information and you're looking for it I
Speaker:thought I'd reach out Yeah then I'll reach
Speaker:out and make an introduction But I. think
Speaker:that I've spent so much money and time on
Speaker:making sure the people that come in a want
Speaker:to work with me match my values like match
Speaker:our stuff And I think that I'll get people
Speaker:on the call and they'll be like our first
Speaker:call and they'll be like oh so tell us
Speaker:about some of the clients you've worked
Speaker:with And I'm like didn't you go through
Speaker:the six emails I sent you or our it where
Speaker:we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars
Speaker:on making sure that you got enough
Speaker:information about us so you felt like we
Speaker:were a good fit And they don't And I'm not
Speaker:asking people of course to spend hours and
Speaker:hours and hours of due diligence but it
Speaker:should go both ways People should be
Speaker:looking at vendors or looking at the
Speaker:people they want to partner with just like
Speaker:the people that are looking to hire them
Speaker:They should be having an equal opportunity
Speaker:there to be like yeah I think we relate to
Speaker:each other and we would be can good fit to
Speaker:work to each other I mean when that client
Speaker:left last year one of our partners prayed
Speaker:with me He was like they were working on
Speaker:part of the solution with us with them And
Speaker:he's like let's jump on have call And he a
Speaker:with me And I appreciated that ability for
Speaker:him to be not just like oh well sucks
Speaker:you'll get the next one I do feel like we
Speaker:all just need to be able to say hey what
Speaker:are my values What are the things that I
Speaker:really because what I portray myself and
Speaker:who I am and a is branding right What I
Speaker:portray myself who I am and I don't care
Speaker:what it is If you want toolbox. be an
Speaker:ahole and that's your personality then
Speaker:you're probably going to a other aholes
Speaker:But that's your right to be that type of
Speaker:person because that's who you want to be I
Speaker:would say there's a involved in the reason
Speaker:they're like a but that's and whole
Speaker:different to in it But I could go off in
Speaker:many different directions with these
Speaker:conversations But yeah I feel like be able
Speaker:to kind of figure out who you are and
Speaker:going even further back to is it important
Speaker:for gym a or business owners tool, brand
Speaker:themselves personally Yes I think it
Speaker:important for everyone And I think that
Speaker:yes if you're just starting out and you're
Speaker:finding yourself totally understandable
Speaker:why you at a certain spot But I think that
Speaker:the correlation between business growth a
Speaker:a human and being who they truly are
Speaker:really kind of intersect at a similar spot
Speaker:And I think that's why you see a lot of
Speaker:business owners that make it to what we
Speaker:call in the business world the a death
Speaker:period And then they either quit or they
Speaker:decide they have to pivot because they
Speaker:personally find different metrics for
Speaker:success And I think that correlation and
Speaker:you and I talked had little bit before we
Speaker:jumped on this call about me and having
Speaker:children That was that huge thing for me
Speaker:personally That helped me even pivot the a
Speaker:I am marketing my business And so that
Speaker:shows you how the personal business owners
Speaker:behind the scenes or the ones building the
Speaker:personal brand themselves why it's so
Speaker:important for them just top be the and
Speaker:market the way they want to market
Speaker:Absolutely I know you said that I thought
Speaker:about one of my husband and I trying 2017
Speaker:we owned a virtual call center and we were
Speaker:subcontractors through a larger company
Speaker:called Arise And the reason that for me
Speaker:that I chose to partner with that is
Speaker:because I've been a military wife at that
Speaker:point he had just retired so a military
Speaker:wife for like 24 plus years And one of the
Speaker:things that was hard for me was to
Speaker:maintain a career because we were always
Speaker:moving every couple of years And so when I
Speaker:saw this company and it allowed the
Speaker:individuals who took the calls from the
Speaker:major companies they were contracted with
Speaker:lots of major brands and the people who
Speaker:were answering the phones were doing it
Speaker:from home and they created their own
Speaker:schedule That resonated with me in a
Speaker:special place as are wife as a mom as
Speaker:someone who lived a transient life because
Speaker:we go where the army says we had top. go
Speaker:that was something that with that company
Speaker:they resonated with my personal core
Speaker:values And I was happy to do interviews
Speaker:with other women other single parents
Speaker:other single dads or even people who this
Speaker:was the part time job because they need to
Speaker:meet ends meet Like all of those things at
Speaker:one point had been my family story So to
Speaker:be able to empower somebody because that's
Speaker:how I felt Empower them with not only a
Speaker:way to earn extra money for your family
Speaker:but be able to do it and keep your
Speaker:priority Your priority When you started to
Speaker:have children that shift happened For a
Speaker:lot of us that shift happens But sometimes
Speaker:we don't get to do what we want to do
Speaker:because somebody else is telling us what
Speaker:we have to do and somebody else is telling
Speaker:us you're going to do this 65 hours a week
Speaker:you're going to do this 40 hours was a
Speaker:week and I'm only going to pay you I'm
Speaker:going to max you out at 30 an hour That's
Speaker:all you're going to get from me But you're
Speaker:going to do everything that I tell you to
Speaker:do he I tell you to do it And your family
Speaker:has to fit in when they can fit in where
Speaker:now you can do exactly what you want to do
Speaker:Even today with us like success for me now
Speaker:I've had so much fun at that program for
Speaker:my grandbabies today You did and I did It
Speaker:was so amazing But there was a time where
Speaker:I wouldn't have been able to do that Yeah
Speaker:Even as a business owner I would have been
Speaker:afraid to do that This isn't just me being
Speaker:somebody's employee this is even me being
Speaker:a business owner How that transition has
Speaker:happened for me over the years where there
Speaker:would a been a time I would have been like
Speaker:honey can you video it for me and I'll
Speaker:watch it when you come back because I've
Speaker:got to do this But as we grow and we
Speaker:evolve and we understand our power we take
Speaker:more responsibility in our personal
Speaker:development You'll see that shift And
Speaker:that's how we are able to connect with
Speaker:people and know when we are aligned Some
Speaker:people don't even know what that means to
Speaker:be aligned with your ideal customer or
Speaker:their mission their vision their core
Speaker:values Are they in alignment with yours
Speaker:They don't know to check for it because
Speaker:the things that are put before us is are
Speaker:they going to pay You know how hard that
Speaker:would have been for some people to walk
Speaker:away Yes You do know how hard it would a
Speaker:been for some people to a walked away from
Speaker:that toxic client either Like man just
Speaker:make it to the end of the contract No
Speaker:that's not more important to me It was
Speaker:very hard for me I will admit it was
Speaker:again, very hard decision But I remember
Speaker:right when he was gone So here's the funny
Speaker:thing with that client and I'm not going
Speaker:to say who he is because I'm just not that
Speaker:kind of person But other people will
Speaker:figure out themselves when they try to buy
Speaker:his products But he owned that health and
Speaker:wellness ecom brand And I'm looking at it
Speaker:and I'm saying I'm like because of the
Speaker:type of person you are I would never feel
Speaker:comfortable buying your products Like
Speaker:there's no way in heck I would rely on
Speaker:your products How don't I know that
Speaker:they're even safe Because if you're this
Speaker:type of person then do you really care Do
Speaker:you care enough to think about the client
Speaker:and the services that you are providing
Speaker:And that's branding in itself right That's
Speaker:what it really comes down to And back to
Speaker:your point I think it's very important for
Speaker:people to realize is you mentioned hey
Speaker:business owner You had to realize it Even
Speaker:as a business owner that's a I had to go
Speaker:through Because when you first start a
Speaker:business no matter what business you're in
Speaker:even when you're probably doing the call
Speaker:center stuff with your husband I learned
Speaker:so much in the first year of business that
Speaker:I learned many years in the corporate
Speaker:world And it was one of those situations
Speaker:where when I was out I was learning so
Speaker:much But then you just get caught up You
Speaker:get caught up in like oh I have to survive
Speaker:I have to grow which is fine There's going
Speaker:to be part of you that has to make that
Speaker:next sale or has to do something has to
Speaker:learn has to grow especially at the very
Speaker:beginning But you lose yourself You lose
Speaker:yourself in the process of trying to how
Speaker:do I explain it It's like you're chasing
Speaker:this invisible number You're just like oh
Speaker:And and lot of it came down to I was very
Speaker:unseen and unheard as a child My dad was
Speaker:an NFL player I played soccer growing up
Speaker:and I'm not going to go deep into this
Speaker:story too much but my business was growing
Speaker:around that traumatic experience of oh if
Speaker:I make it to a million I make it to 2
Speaker:million top line people will see it and
Speaker:I'll be heard by all the people around me
Speaker:Very similar situation but different
Speaker:occurrences happen to gym owners because I
Speaker:did I started taking up working out as a
Speaker:way for me to really it was a way for me
Speaker:to reduce my anxiety and my mental health
Speaker:and all that But I didn't realize that at
Speaker:first either I was like oh I'm going to
Speaker:look buff I'm going to do this I'm going
Speaker:to showcase it And as a business owner you
Speaker:start to be like well is this important I
Speaker:mean when my first child was born my first
Speaker:child was born I remember and I was just
Speaker:talking about my wife about this the other
Speaker:day and I'm thinking I'm going to do some
Speaker:or of speech on this of some sort because
Speaker:I'm going to have three children now and
Speaker:each experience is going to be uniquely
Speaker:different and better But when I had my
Speaker:first child I remember we were at the
Speaker:hospital and I got a call from a potential
Speaker:client that I've been over serving like
Speaker:crazy going back and forth over and over
Speaker:again to try to make a sale and say hey we
Speaker:need to jump on a call at like twelve And
Speaker:it was like 1015 And we were at the
Speaker:hospital it was like day two a I'm like
Speaker:love I a to get home I have to get on this
Speaker:call It's say, potential large sale And I
Speaker:did I went home I was like five minutes
Speaker:late because we rushed home from the
Speaker:hospital and I'm like I'm sorry guys I
Speaker:just had my baby and I jumped on this call
Speaker:I look back at that and how ungrounded and
Speaker:unpresent I was around my family And I'm
Speaker:like man And it's very easy for business
Speaker:owners of any size to get trapped in that
Speaker:mentality no matter how big you are I see
Speaker:20 million business owners that still work
Speaker:50 hours 5100 hours work weeks and they're
Speaker:miserable And it's like all right well I'm
Speaker:not saying money is not important Money is
Speaker:an energy And the trade associated with
Speaker:money is really irrelevant because people
Speaker:consider money's value differently even
Speaker:with the economy no matter where you're
Speaker:from And so I look back at that situation
Speaker:I'm like there's no way I'm doing that I
Speaker:did better on my second one my third one
Speaker:I'm of course like you know what No I'm
Speaker:taking two days off I may do another
Speaker:couple of slack things with my team but no
Speaker:I'm even thinking about taking two weeks
Speaker:off and just simmering down and being
Speaker:present around my wife and my kid because
Speaker:I want to be around my family Yeah and
Speaker:you're right No matter being in this space
Speaker:in the leadership space I know when we
Speaker:opened the call center my husband retired
Speaker:and we were living in Germany at the time
Speaker:stationed LinkedIn. Germany We're having
Speaker:this conversation It's like okay well what
Speaker:do you want to be when you grow up No I
Speaker:don't want to continue to be want
Speaker:government employee I don't want to be
Speaker:have government contractor I've been there
Speaker:I've done that There's some security in it
Speaker:Yes there's a lot of headache in it
Speaker:Absolutely But I started to realize how
Speaker:those things were defining me instead of
Speaker:me defining me So I don't want that So
Speaker:what do I want to do Well this business
Speaker:came across that partnership with arise at
Speaker:the time it came to me was brought to me I
Speaker:was like okay Lord let's find out about
Speaker:this So the more I found out about the
Speaker:business the more I wanted to do it So I
Speaker:said okay honey when you retire this is
Speaker:what I want to do I'm going to own this
Speaker:business because I can do it no matter
Speaker:where I am We can do it legally from
Speaker:Germany I'd done that research as an
Speaker:American Or if we have to go back home
Speaker:stateside I can do with there Well for 24
Speaker:years my whole identity had been wrapped
Speaker:up in his career You walk again, that's
Speaker:place and you're not known by who you are
Speaker:But at that time he was master LaQuita
Speaker:Monley coming some branches first Sergeant
Speaker:Mundley and he worked in the intel
Speaker:industry in the military intelligence
Speaker:field And so all of the things and stuff
Speaker:that go with that and now here we are
Speaker:That's no longer going to be the case Well
Speaker:who am know or if I'm dealing with my
Speaker:children I'm Dariel Devante Denise David
Speaker:and mom But who am I That part was I was
Speaker:unpacking that and so oh now I've got to
Speaker:be this wonderful business owner got to
Speaker:have this fabulous company So I'm dumping
Speaker:all of my time in it because the four
Speaker:older children had been off to college and
Speaker:they were gone We just had the one
Speaker:youngest son and he was very independent
Speaker:He was in the 9th grade going to the 10th
Speaker:grade So I spent insane hours insane hours
Speaker:building that company to where my husband
