Artwork for podcast LaQuita’s Toolbox
Power of the Pause: Embrace slowing down for growth.
Episode 920th August 2024 • LaQuita’s Toolbox • LaQuita Monley
00:00:00 00:52:08

Share Episode

Shownotes

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


Transcripts

Speaker:

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

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube