Spotting gaps in the market is an amazing way to turn opportunities into a thriving business.

Today Ammie Michaels, Founder and CEO of Wolfpack HR joins Melissa to share her fascinating journey into the entrepreneurial world.  They’ll talk about everything from getting comfortable with AI to the importance of leadership skills. 

You won’t want to miss this if you're looking to set up a strong foundation for lasting success.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Founder & CEO
• human resources management
• AI
• radical action
• starting a business
• business owner
• online business
• corporate professional
• competitive advantage
• intellectual capital
• leadership
• entrepreneurship
• build a team
• business turnover
• LinkedIn™

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Alright, guys. This is such a fun, special episode. You guys are gonna be hearing over a series of episodes from our Elevate 360 mastermind members in my 2024 mastermind. Such a fun segment that I did today with Amy Michaels, who is the visionary behind Wolfpack HR. She's established a unique niche in the HR consulting industry by really specializing in AI integration for small businesses and scaling entrepreneurs, but she also, in this episode, not only does she talk about leveraging AI to get ahead of your competition, she also talks about the importance of leadership skills as an entrepreneur so that you can grow and thrive. You guys are not gonna wanna miss this episode today.

Need some effective tactical advice that actually helps you get results and makes a real difference in your life and business? You've come to the right place. If you're finding yourself here today, it means you're getting ready to gain serious traction in your business, rapidly multiply your income and impact, and you're ready to make it happen while living all out. Guys, I'm Melissa Hanault, your trustworthy corporate dropout turned 6 figure business burnout turned happy and healthy CEO of a multimillion dollar online business. And you're listening to the burnout to all out podcast. On this show, we're serving up innovative growth strategies, simple implementation methods to put them into practice, and action stimulating inspiration tailored specifically for the modern entrepreneur. Let's dive in.

Alright, guys. I am so excited for this episode today with Amy Michaels. Amy, this is like really special because this is the very first real in person, like, physically in person Burnout to All Out podcast that we've ever done, and you're my first guest.

And this is the first time I've ever done anything like this.

So this is gonna be so much fun. It's a first for both of us. Right? So I love this. So, Amy, I know that you are an HR expert, and I know that you are the founder and CEO of Wolfpack HR. And it wasn't too too long ago you were actually an employee in the HR realm. And you've broken out of that mold and started your own businesses. And I know you've got an incredible journey, and behind every entrepreneur is a story. A story of the transition from the w two, the 9 to 5, to what you're doing today.

So before we get into your zones of genius in the realm of HR and AI, which is really cool, Let's get to the backstory of what was that pivotal moment in your 9 to 5 w two when you realized that you needed to take radical responsibility to go out on your own, do your own thing, initiate your own business?

I think that's a few different things. I don't know if it was one particular moment. It was kinda culmination of different things. It's not uncommon in HR to be laid off. There are so many different avenues in HR. I have been a corporate recruiter. I've been in learning organizational development.

Mhmm.

But many organizations will go through changes.

Mhmm.

And when those changes happen, whether it be a merger and an acquisition, when those companies come together, sometimes the larger organization taking over the smaller organization already has their team in place. Mhmm. They don't need additional help.

Mhmm. I've

been laid off more than once as an HR professional. And going back even further, prior to becoming an HR professional and having my undergraduate and graduate degrees in human resources management, I used to be in medical transcription. So straight out of high school, I actually pursued that and got my associate's degree as a medical transcriptionist and did that for a number of years. But the advancements in technology really eliminated that as a long term opportunity for me. Mhmm. And, actually, this is my second go around as an entrepreneur because I had my own medical transcription firm when I was doing transcription.

Okay. So this isn't your first rodeo?

No. Yeah. But it is definitely different.

Yeah. Yeah. So how is it different?

It's different now because, well, a, that kind of fell into my lap. I would say I was an accidental entrepreneur the first time.

Okay.

The client that I ended up with to be my first client was actually the clinic that I was working for.

Mhmm.

And they were going through a change. Mhmm. And we're eliminating in house staff.

Mhmm.

And so at that point, I explored it and I saw that there's an opportunity to be able to continue doing the same thing and actually sign them as a client. Mhmm. It decreased their overhead not having the in house staff. And then most of the team that was working, for the company ended up coming to work for me. Wow. And it was good for us because that was the beginning of being able to work remotely. Mhmm. So we got to continue doing what we were doing Mhmm.

From home.

Mhmm.

But it wasn't too long after that that those advancements in voice recognition Mhmm. And electronic medical records Yeah. Really kind of changed the entire landscape for medical transcription.

It's really interesting. So that's a story of seeing the opportunity and building a business around the opportunity. And I know that Sam, my spiritual mentor, and I know you've worked with her some too in our mastermind, talks about businesses that are built on certain energies, and that was an energy of excitement and opportunity, for sure. But it's really interesting because knowing that technology is what kinda cannibalized that business for you, now you're embracing AI and actually getting ahead of opportunity. So many times, I talk about how, when things are taken away from us or when we feel like things are falling apart in our business, they're actually happening for us. So it really sounds like this experience is preparing you or has prepared you to be more forward thinking in what you're doing today. Would you agree? Oh, absolutely. And sometimes it is a really long time span between those and you

don't realize at that point what it's preparing you for and Right. How long it will be before you realize why you went through that lesson. Yes. So that was like more than 10 years ago that I went through that lesson. Yes. And yeah. Absolutely. It has paved the way for me to embrace it.

That's so good.

Advancements in technology. Yeah. Yeah. Well, before we

get into AI and your zone of genius, because I love to really get your expertise and bring it to our audience and how they can apply it to their daily lives and business. But when you look back on your journey thus far in entrepreneurship, I know that there's highs, there's lows, there's opportunity, there's personal growth. What do you think has been one of the biggest lessons to date that you have learned in your journey as a small business owner?

Oh, gosh. There's so many. And I think the thing is having that knowledge of being a business owner previously, knowing that there are those foundational pieces to being a business owner that will apply to every business, but every industry and every business is different.

Mhmm.

And so what worked in the past is not always gonna work for you in this particular business. Mhmm. And things were a little bit different when I was in business before. I was thinking really small.

Mhmm. That's

just focused on the city that I lived in and having just a handful of clients.

Mhmm.

This go around, I'm taking a different approach. And the online business world is a completely different world.

Yes. It is. Isn't it?

So that has been my biggest learning curve. Everything that comes along with being an online business owner

Mhmm.

And with how much noise is out there in social media, how do you set yourself apart and really be able to break through all that noise Yeah. To reach your ideal clients?

Yeah. It's so true. It's a double edged sword. There's a lot of noise, but there's also a lot of opportunity. I know I've seen many folks come into our coaching programs who had, like, a bricks and mortar, and then learning how to build an online brand, they've been able to go literally global with their products and services, but you have to be strategic and niche down to your audience and to your offerings and all those things, which brings me to your niche. One of the things I know that you've really honed in on with your background and expertise is in the AI realm. And so what do listeners need to know today about AI coming from someone who, a decade ago, built a business that got cannibalized by advances in technology and basically AI. Mhmm.

What do you have to say to our listeners today about AI and the importance of it?

What I would have to say is whether you are a corporate professional or an entrepreneur, small business owner, or even a larger business owner, you need to learn it. And it doesn't have to be you that learns it particularly, but if you are not taking advantage of those tools

Mhmm.

You will lose out in the industry you're in Mhmm. Your competitors are already exploring it or thinking about it. Mhmm. If you have a team, you need to be having conversations around what you want to be able to accomplish with AI. Mhmm. And then you need to make sure that all of your team members are appropriately trained.

Mhmm.

I'm coming at this from my experience in learning and organizational development working for, the largest health care facility in Western South Dakota, I've seen where the gaps are when it comes to training.

Mhmm.

AI, I'm seeing it at multiple levels. Mhmm. From a corporate level, it's gonna be utilized completely different Mhmm. Than if you're a solopreneur. And so it's kind of a complex thing to talk about Mhmm. With your wide array of audience, but it is going to affect every position in one way or another. That doesn't mean it's going to eliminate the position, but in any chance you have Mhmm. To learn how to incorporate AI into your role

Mhmm.

It's just gonna put you at an advantage at this point. Yeah. And is it going to become the standard of interest?

Yeah. So let's talk about that. Let's talk about advantages, but then let's also talk about conflict of interest, because I think these are 2 really important discussions. I know you and I discussed this the other day, and I just wanna bring this forward in this podcast because I found it really relevant and I thought about you. And when you talked about competitive advantage, I know that one of my fellow mastermind members that I'm in a mastermind with runs an agency in the tech space. And I know you and I were talking about how his number one technician produces almost 10 x the activity of his fellow counterparts. Every single day when they run reports, he's completed 10 x the projects of anyone else. And he's actually built what he calls a copilot in AI that is exponentially impacting his pace at which he can produce.

And, obviously, that's very fascinating to a lot of business owners and how can I, especially in the technical space, and it doesn't have to be technical, but how can we be leveraging this technology to get ahead of our competitors and be more productive? Where I wanna bring forth the conflict of interest, I'm curious from your HR perspective, because my husband was really curious about this. And his engineers really honing in on this as software engineers for instrumentation, for technology, and control equipment. And here's his challenge, and I'm curious in your thoughts around this. They're a small business partner for a larger production, Emerson, which sells the instrumentation and actually owns the rights to all the software. So then what you run into is, okay, there is this competitive advantage opportunity to build this AI, but the software we're working with has legal rights and we don't want our competitors to be able to get a hold of this from the AI technology that we're using. So what are your thoughts on that and what type of, I don't know what you call it, like, firewall or, like, I think of how can you protect the custom maybe AI that you build within your company that literally intellectual capital doesn't get pirated for competitive advantage against you. Do you see my question?

So that would come into play if somebody's trying to utilize open source AI tools Mhmm. And try to put in prompts that would have that information.

Mhmm.

I think that's where you're gonna start to see more customized AI tools built for organizations. Gotcha. And obviously, it's very complex and new and nobody knows what's gonna happen. Mhmm. And, yeah, there are situations where lawsuits have come about because it's come out so fast that there haven't been able to be any regulation, around it yet.

And I think that's where some of the fear lies with these companies is this is intellectual property that we don't want to create risk Yeah. Of access. But at the same time, we're gonna get behind our competitors if we don't embrace this. So it's an interesting catch 22.

And I've noticed myself, like, I've built myself a custom chat GPT bot that I utilize, and there's certain blocks that have been put in place now. Like, if they think that something that you've put in is intellectual property, I've had an error code come back, which is interesting because the prompt I had, it was not anything that was intellectual property. But it it appears that they're starting to put safeguards in place for the open AI tools at this point. But it's just, I believe, just going to push people in a direction to start exploring how they can have those custom tools built for their organization Yeah. So they can protect it.

Yeah. That's awesome. That's incredible. Well, let's get into kind of your grassroots in from an HR perspective of leadership. I know that's one of your zones of genius is leadership and entrepreneurship. I see in my business, I feel fortunate as much as I'm grateful I'm out of corporate. I feel fortunate that I had over a decade of Fortune 500 leadership training, and I think that it has really helped me propel my business. And it's interesting, I see in the entrepreneurial world, a lot of people getting started that have a great idea, they have a great product or service, the business starts to take off.

So then they hire 1 contractor and then they hire another, and all of a sudden they look around and there's 8 people, 8 contractors reporting to them, and they have zero leadership experience. And I see some really great businesses collapse because of the lack of leadership that the entrepreneur just wasn't born with, didn't seek expertise for. I think sometimes we get so busy wanting to know the latest and greatest in AI or social media or build this top of funnel and we get so wrapped around the axle with all these other things in business and forget the glue that holds the business together is the people. And I don't see many entrepreneurs spending time focusing on up leveling their leadership skills in creating culture. And so can you speak to that a little bit for our listeners and the relevance and the importance as an entrepreneur to really hone in on their leadership skills.

Absolutely. And I myself, throughout this last year, experienced that. Like, teaching leadership to leaders in an organization is completely different than stepping into your own leadership. Yes. It is. And so this last year, I've put myself through additional leadership training Oh, really? Recognizing where I've had some gaps myself because I haven't had to lead at this level.

Mhmm.

And every level you're gonna have different challenges.

Mhmm.

And so if you do realize that everything comes back to your leadership

Mhmm.

And you make that a priority as an entrepreneur

Mhmm.

Then like you said, that's gonna be the difference between whether or not your business is gonna thrive or fail. Right. Because if you can't lead your team, you can't lead yourself

Mhmm. Then

how are you gonna lead your business or your customers?

Totally. And it's so interesting. I find that, like I said earlier, we many times forget the importance of creating culture and creating vision. And the thing I wanna underscore here with our listeners is you may still be like, oh, yeah. Like, that's just a fluffy thing I don't have time for. And I would say, what's the turnover look like in your company? And how much time does it take you to hire the next person because this person left? And are there SOPs in the work that they're doing? Are people that you're hiring being delegated specific clarity in their task day to day? I see a lot of turnover in the entrepreneurial space with contractors because the contractors aren't clear Mhmm. About their expectations. The business owner is then disappointed and is over expecting with lack of clarity what these people are actually doing, and there's this huge disconnect.

And then you get turnover, and that is really costly to your business versus, like, slowing down, creating very specific KPIs and priorities, checking in with your team. Again, I think a lot of people don't wanna take the time to check-in. But that's the lifeblood of retaining key talent versus literally having to start over from scratch, like, with turnover after turnover after turnover. I mean, can you speak to turnover and and business and the impact it can make?

At what level? At a financial level?

All of it. Yeah. The energetic level, financial level, time.

From an HR standpoint, that's one of the the key metrics that we are usually tasked with

Mhmm.

Is calculating what turnover rate is and what that financial cost is to the company. Mhmm. And so for a much larger organization, they're able to eat that cost and budget it in every year. But if you're a smaller or entrepreneur Mhmm.

And

you're not focusing on building that culture and increasing your leadership and understanding the different personalities that you need to fill in your gaps Mhmm. Within your team, it's gonna be a much bigger cost to you.

Totally. It's very costly. I'm looking at this year, we went through an HR recruiter to hire our marketing project manager, and it was a costly process for me. And she is priceless and worth every penny. And I had to pay a recruiting fee that I'm still paying off. And to me, the people are the asset. And it's like, how do I make sure I'm continually checking in with her, that she's continually clear about her role, and that she is supported, and that I am serving her because it's an investment in my business. So good.

Well, last thing I wanna ask you about when it comes to HR is just how do you connect different people and different personalities? I know, like, for me, I'm an Enneagram 8. I'm a bulldozer. I'm direct. I'm not so warm and fuzzy, and sometimes knowing certain people on my team are, I've had to learn how to before going straight in for the kill or straight in for the ask, like, pausing and being like, good morning, before saying, I need x y z. So can you talk a little bit about communication style with different people? Even, like, now on this podcast, I'm very loud, I'm very animated, and you're a more kind of quiet and calm. And so it's like, how do we match people's energy? How do we work with different personalities to be more effective?

Yeah. And so I think a lot of people in your audience probably have heard you talk about Enneagram in the past. Not everybody is familiar with it. There are several different personality tests and profiles out there that you can utilize to learn different personalities. But I think it all comes back down to communication. And some people and this is one skill that you've probably had a lot of opportunity to build, having that corporate background and being able to draw from those trainings that that you had available to you. Mhmm. Not all entrepreneurs come from corporate.

So they may not have that background to to pull from and those experiences to pull from to see different personality styles. And so they know what they know from who they are.

Like you

said, you're an enneagram 8, and so that's how they communicate. They communicate as who they are. Right. Or they may be somebody who is like me. I'm a little bit more subdued. I'm in Enneagram 6, so everything is in my head. So the blocks that I have as an Enneagram 6 is I analyze everything to death. Mhmm.

And so as an entrepreneur, you have to start by recognizing your strengths and weaknesses.

Mhmm.

And then start identifying on your team what their strengths and weaknesses are. Mhmm. It takes some self reflection, but also some observation. I have frameworks that I help my business owners with so they can identify different strengths and weaknesses and then categorize their people based on that.

Yeah.

And understanding those categorizations, the best way to communicate with them. It sounds like you have gone through that yourself, maybe through some trial and error. Yeah. But as a business owner, you also have to thank all your customers. If you're only communicating from your style of communication, how many people are you not connecting with in your audience Totally. That you could help serve

Totally.

To shift the way you communicate.

And I've learned that about myself in learning, even in high ticket sales, is matching your potential client's energy. So I am naturally a very high vibe, high energy human, and that's just what's gonna come across in my master classes on social media. But when I get on a 1 on 1 consult with someone, I immediately jump to their frequency and their tone so that they feel safe. And I think that's really important. The other thing you hit on, and I think it sounds like you've got some tools and resources that you use that maybe we'll hear a little bit more about with what you have to offer, but I used the Enneagram assessment for my entire team. And it helped me get perspective on how they think, how they react, how they react when they're feeling intimidated or in a corner, and how they're behaving when they're in their highest self. And I think that goes back to what you said earlier around the work. Let's call it work.

The work that we need to do as leaders to take the time to understand that people are what run businesses, and how do we learn to connect with more people with different styles so that they feel heard.

Yeah.

And you can operate more efficiently and effectively. Yeah. Precisely. Yeah. So good.

Yeah. And so, like I said, there's a lot of different tools out there.

Mhmm.

The Enneagram does get very deep and very complex.

Mhmm.

And so for your average day entrepreneur, it might be a little overwhelming for

them.

Yeah. Yeah.

It's taken me, like, 3 iterations to actually fully get it. Yeah. Yeah.

But it absolutely comes down to people and the connection.

Yeah. Yeah. So good. Well, this has been so good, Amy. Two final questions as we wrap up. Because you are one of our Elevate 360 mastermind members, and, as you know, Elevate 360, my mastermind is all about that 360 degree approach to business and life that I truly believe bodies build businesses, that it is a way of life as a modern entrepreneur. What do you feel has been one of your biggest transformations this year in your 360 degree approach?

So one of my biggest transformations this year has been stepping into the woo Yeah. And exploring those other tools that I wasn't exposed to, had no knowledge of growing up. And that's really kind of going within

Mhmm.

With breath work and sound healing

Mhmm.

Meditation. Mhmm. And as I mentioned before, as an Enneagram 6, that was something I really struggle with, like, before I'd heard of meditation Mhmm.

But I

didn't know how to really effectively tap into that.

Mhmm.

I couldn't ever really get my mind to shut off. And I realized after going through a couple different meditation programs that it's not about shutting your mind off. It's a good time to reflect on those thoughts that you're having. Yes. And, like, what are those thoughts really trying to tell you? Yes. So it's definitely embracing more of the woo.

Yeah. I love that. I call that, like, for me, I have 30 minutes to an hour every day in my calendar in the mornings, blank space, to actually process and ruminate. Sometimes, it's directed thought. Sometimes it's open thought to receive. But you're right. I think that we go that's why I think we all have our biggest ideas in the shower. Because it's like the one moment in your entire day that you're not either leading something or telling the kids what to do or, like, you're not in this, like, performative state.

Yeah. So I love that for you. That's awesome. I'm glad that you've been able to pick that up and implement it. And what do you have going on right now? Like, what you got right now that people can learn about, get into?

So, in addition to 1 on 1 consulting, I have a couple different AI workshops in the coming up. And that's just kind of broad overview for entrepreneurs, corporate professionals that want to learn how to effectively utilize AI tools, learn about them, how to effectively prompt AI tools to leverage whatever it is that they're trying to do. Mhmm. Whether it be writing a book Mhmm. You could write a book with AI. Yeah. You could create landing pages, create content for an entire year. Happy to help show people how to do that.

That's incredible. Can you say the link or where they can register? If they're listening right now.

Top of my head. I can't remember what

Oh, that's okay. We'll put we'll put it in the show notes. Okay. Okay. Where can people follow you?

They can find me on LinkedIn. Okay. I believe most of my professional handles are at wolfpackhr. Okay. Or you can find me at amymichaels.com. Okay. Awesome. So at wolfpackhr Mhmm.

Oramymichaels.com. Yeah. Alright, Amy. It's been awesome. Alright. Thanks.

Appreciate it. This has been so

good. Awesome. Thank you.

Thanks guys so much for listening in on today's podcast episode. And I can't wait for you to see my upcoming guest in the next episode. You are going to love this keynote speaker. Hey, here's the deal. If you like this, please subscribe and leave a review. And you want the latest online business growth strategies and exclusive LinkedIn pro tips sent straight to your phone? Text the word update to 704 318-2285. That is text the word update to 704-318-2285. Can't wait to see you guys.

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