December 11, 2024 • 53 mins
Neelima Parasker, President and CEO of Snap It Solutions LLC, discussed her journey from India to the U.S., where she pursued a master's in computer science. Initially working in Kansas City, she rose to leadership roles, managing teams of up to 250 people. In 2015, she founded Snap It Solutions, focusing on training and deploying tech talent, particularly underrepresented groups. Despite a demanding schedule, she emphasizes balancing work with personal time and self-healing. Neelima serves on various boards, including the Kansas Board of Regents, and advocates for documenting processes to scale operations. She aims to create a ripple effect of success and impact through her company and community involvement. Listen to her story today and choose which action principle resonates most with you.
Action Principles
Pick one to do this week:
1. Challenge yourself. Seek out more "real" experiences that push you out of your comfort zone. ACTION: Sign up for an activity you've always wanted to try this week.
2. Find an accountability partner. A trusted partner or friend can encourage and push you to realize your full potential. ACTION: Reach out to someone you admire and trust and ask to be accountability partners.
3. Document systems. When your processes are recorded, you improve both consistency and efficiency. ACTION: Schedule time to record all of your processes, both professionally and personally.
4. Strive for a healthy balance. Try to allocate at least 30% of your time for personal and self-care activities to maintain your energy and innovative mindset. ACTION: Schedule blocks of time in your calendar to do fun activities and relax.
Guest Resources
Follow Neelima Parasker on LinkedIn to learn more about her and SnapIT Solutions.
Suggested LinkedIn Learning Courses
Time Management Fundamentals
Balancing Work and Life
Free Time Management Course
Thanks to Dave Crenshaw's partnership with Microsoft and LinkedIn Learning, you can get free access to his full course, Time Management Fundamentals, at DaveGift.com.
Dave Crenshaw develops productive leaders in Fortune 500 companies, universities, and organizations of every size. He has appeared in Time magazine, USA Today, FastCompany, and the BBC News. His courses on LinkedIn Learning have been viewed tens of millions of times. His five books have been published in eight languages, the most popular of which is The Myth of Multitasking—a time management bestseller. As an author, speaker, and online instructor, Dave has transformed the lives and careers of hundreds of thousands around the world. DaveCrenshaw.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Neelima Parasker (00:00):
I got a call from this agency saying that
they are from Oprah Winfrey andthat they are wanting to publish
our story, and I thought it wasa prank.
Dave Crenshaw (00:11):
In this episode, you'll get to know the Lima
parisker, the mother of techtalent, and you'll hear the
story of how she overcamecultural barriers and used an
engineering mindset to become anotable and influential leader
in the tech industry. I'm DaveCrenshaw, and this is my success
Show.
(00:34):
Welcome back, friends, to theDave Crenshaw Success Show. This
is where I speak to some of themost successful people I've met
in my life's journey, and I gettheir success story, and I'm
doing it to find universalprinciples of success that can
help both you and my familysucceed, and if it's your first
time here, I'm a best sellingauthor. I speak around the world
(00:55):
of Fortune 500 companies, andI've taught millions of people
how to be successful through myonline courses this show, I it's
something I created as a legacyproject. I wanted to help my
three children succeed, and Ithought, Well, why not invite my
followers along? And let's lookfor things that we all can do,
(01:15):
no matter what our career is.
Let's find specific actions wecan take. So as you listen to
today's episode, look forsomething you can do, something
you can do, not not a year fromnow, but today or this week, to
make my guest success story apart of your success story. Now,
before we get into theinterview, I just want to say
that because this was a liveinterview, we had maybe a little
(01:37):
bit of an audio hiccup at thebeginning. We got it sorted out
as the interview goes along. ButI just want you to be aware, if
you go, Oh, that doesn't soundquite right, it's just part of
the challenge of interviewingsomeone live and in person. But
I think you're really going toenjoy this despite that. Now to
my guest, nelima paraskar, isPresident and CEO of snap it
(01:59):
solutions LLC and CO, founder ofLotus TMS, and she has more than
20 years of experience in it innumerous leadership roles. Ulima
has been featured in Forbes,Oprah Inc, and many more
publications. She's therecipient of numerous awards,
(02:20):
including the prestigiousNational Award as enterprising
Woman of the Year. She's a boardmember of the Kansas works State
Workforce Board. She served onthe Community Development
Advisory Council at the FederalReserve Bank of Kansas City, and
she's a regent for the KansasBoard of Regents supporting
(02:40):
higher education in her freetime, nelima enjoys traveling,
enjoying the outdoors andspending time with her two
children. And now let's go tothe interview. Nalima, it's so
great to be with you here inKansas City. Thank you, Dave.
It's wonderful to host you.
(03:00):
Yeah, it was so serendipitousthat we met. I mentioned how
I've got a speaking engagementhere tomorrow, and I came in a
day early to watch the Mondaynight football game. We need to
meet somebody who really issuccessful in business in Kansas
City, you immediately stood outon LinkedIn and all of your
accomplishments, it's incrediblyimpressive what you've done. So
(03:22):
I'm grateful that you couldcarve out a little time in your
busy schedule for this. Thankyou so much, Dave, for the
compliment. When you're in ityou don't feel it. Yeah, you
know you don't feel the amountof success that is being
recognized. Yeah, I do know thatevery recognition aids and helps
the mission of what we areworking on. So I take it and I'm
(03:44):
humbled by it. That's somethingthat a lot of founders really
have to wrestle with, is theidea that you are the face of
your company, and therefore yourstory has value to the company.
And I could tell you a littlehesitant to talk about yourself,
so I appreciate you being moreopen with this, because your
(04:04):
story is educational for otherpeople and they can be inspired
by what you've done. Yeah, Iagree. You know, I spearheaded,
what I say is peer to spadeapproach where leaders are
spearheading a certain aspect ofthe initiative that we taken up,
and then we find our space topush it forward, and then the
(04:26):
spades will turn into spears ingrowing, I believe in that
method and forming a chain ofconnections. So there was a need
for me to be out there and talkabout what we are doing, because
we are creating something new inthe industry, for an industry
that's been there for at leastfour decades now, and rapidly
(04:51):
growing. So I had to put myselfout there, but I always were.
Was very mindful about notsetting myself up.
Neelima Parasker (05:00):
Up to something permanent. They were
advisers like, you should have anelima.com website, you know? I
said, No, that's not theintention, right? So those are
the things that I'm verymeaningful and mindful about,
stepping forward and steppingback, so that I push the
leaders, future leaders,forward. Yeah, that's it. That's
a really wise perspective. So Ilike to ask everyone the same
(05:22):
question. Elli Ma, which is,when you were growing up, what
did you want to become? Right?
That's the question we ask ourkids, what did you think when
you were perhaps in your teenageyears, what you were going to be
in your career? You know, I wasborn in India, Dave, and raised
by parents who had given meevery opportunity to grow the
way I want to go, especially myfather. But my story began even
(05:44):
before I was born, is what theytell me. My dad was, you know,
raised by a very strict father,so he felt very restricted in
certain areas certain times. Soit seems when I was born, he's
just said this girl will know,no fear. That's how he wanted to
(06:04):
raise me. Okay. So it was achoice on his part, yeah, to say
that. Yeah. So he took a lot ofbeating for me.
What does that mean? That meansthat I was being honorary at
times where he, like, you know,not not accommodating the
society norms. And he would say,let her to be right. And then,
(06:28):
if it comes from a closerfamily, like my grandparents,
giving him, you know, grief, hewould take that but not impact
me. Could you talk a little bit,for those who are not familiar
with India, yeah, you said yousort of challenged the society
norms. What does that mean? Whatwere the norms and how were you
Challenging? Challenging them,right? The part of the country
(06:51):
that I come from, they are veryparticular about education.
Everybody needs to be educated.
All the kids need to beeducated. But what do you do
with that? Education is a wholedifferent ball game, right? She
gets that education so that shecan find a good groom. No, okay,
does that make sense? That wasthe primary purpose. Primary
purpose, okay? And she canmarry, you know, a big
(07:12):
executive, and she'll have agreat life, but she has to be
educated for that. So that's themeans to the end in that sense.
Okay, so I'm not saying that itis a theme everywhere, but in
the areas that I know, this iswhat 30 years back, I'm talking
about 2530 years it was notnormal to women to graduate and
(07:35):
say that. Okay, let me start abusiness. Let me go get whatever
I need to do, travel wherever Ineed to be. Safety is an issue.
Physical safety is an issue.
Opportunity open doors to awoman is an issue. And I wanted
to be a mechanical engineer likemy dad, that is certainly an
(07:57):
issue. Oh, okay, that would beextremely unusual, or at least
at that time, yeah, unusual. Sothat was my early childhood
where I was protected to befearless, protected to think
that I can do whatever I want todo. Sometimes I may not confine
(08:17):
with the societal norms ofgetting the first grade, or a or
anything, just because I didn'tthink the teacher didn't teach
as well, like I would getattracted to a more practical
approach for a knowledge andimplementing that, instead of
just saying that, okay, this isthe book, and you need to get it
by heart and put that on thetest paper. And if I get test
(08:40):
scores right then via I'm a,okay, that's a great point. And
this is something that I talkabout with my kids when they're
contemplating, well, I mean,right now in high school, but as
they're contemplating go tocollege, there are sometimes
these two schools of thought ofwe're just going to get the
grade right. The grade is whatmatter, whereas the other thing
(09:01):
that really matters is theknowledge and the know how it
sounds like you were puttingemphasis on the ladder. I was
ready to go out there and do mything. And I felt like, without
knowing the true knowledge ofhow things need to be done, I'm
gonna set myself up for, youknow, something that I'm not
ready for and so in my ownversion, I always viewed getting
(09:26):
a grade is a smaller step tosuccess than gaining knowledge
that I'm interested in learningand knowing about myself Where
we I can actually bring thatcombination of interest, skilled
knowledge and practical use wassomething I was always striving
(09:48):
now. I'm able to put that inwords right now, but at that
age, all I knew is, I'm notgoing to go get good grades,
because this is an easy subject,and I'll get an A in this,
right.
Yeah. Okay, so you'rechallenging this concept, right?
You're you have a differentperspective on it. What sort of
opposition did you run into?
Because it sounds like from thebeginning, you were thinking,
(10:11):
No, I'm not doing this just toget married. I am doing this to
build a career, right? So whatwere some of the obstacles that
you saw, either from people orfrom institutions that were
making that hard. Yeah, to dothat, I would say, you know,
once I got my bachelor's inmechanical engineering, by then,
technology was kind of openingup to the world in different
(10:33):
industries. So I got awarenessthat computer sciences is kind
of coming in at that point andreally becoming prevalent. So I
wanted to find my even though Iwas protected by very loving
family, I felt like I was insidea golden cage. I really need to
(10:54):
find I was very desperate, and Ialways needed freedom of thought
and freedom of movement, freedomof energy. And no matter where I
went, if I was recognized bysomebody that, you know, that
recognized my family, orsomething like that, or I was
given transportation, you know,I could go in a car and come
(11:20):
back and I'm like, but that'ssuch a boxed in approach. I want
to go and take publictransportation, interesting. So
you were sort of seeking almosta more difficult experience out,
yes, real, I would not saydifficult. Okay, I didn't want a
difficulty. I want realsituations so that I knew that I
could navigate that by myself,not needing somebody always to
(11:44):
be guiding me. So you havechildren, yes, is that a concern
that you have now? And I'masking this as a parent, right?
Because sometimes I look at mykids and what they have, and I
think this is perhaps notrealistic. It's not as much of a
challenge. And we try to teachthem, hey, look when, when we
(12:05):
first started as a couple, weate oatmeal and hot dogs for
years, right? Right? So whatyou're experiencing now with
even just the food you have isnot what it's going to be like,
but you we say that, right? Butit's not the same as
experiencing that. So is thatsomething that, as a parent,
you're conscious of, or you tryto provide for your kids, I'm
very conscious about whatthey're able to do
(12:28):
independently. Now, it isdifferent for them to for my
upbringing, or my situation orour situation, right at our age,
for them, what we needed is newchallenges that they need to
observe that we didn'texperience as when we were a
kid. Say, for example, socialmedia is all over, and that was
not there for us. Technology wasnot there. Handhelds were not
(12:54):
there. So now their problem isan elevated or a different type
of problem. Now we need to besideline observers and get in as
needed for them, because wecan't really do anything. We
can't take away a device. Wecan't take away social media
privilege, right, right? That'snot practical, exactly. But what
(13:14):
we could do is put them in asituation and observe and be the
learning partner for them. Andthat's when our kids will say
that, okay, I need to I'mfiguring this out by myself, but
when I hit a stumble, I know whoto talk to. But if we come in
strong handed and say that thisis how it needs to be, then they
(13:38):
are automatically findingdifferent ways to find their
mentors and advisors. And so ina relationship which is ever
evolving between your kid andyou, is a constant struggle in
terms of what could be a betterapproach. It's not a one way fix
all. I'm not certainly anadvisor for parental advices,
(13:59):
but for my own kids, what I sayis, like, I would like them to
navigate their own issues.
Always let them know that we arehere for you if you need us, not
just when you get into trouble,but when you need a hearing,
listening ear. I love thatapproach. That's fantastic.
Okay, so let's move on with thestory. Then, so far we've talked
(14:20):
about your experience incollege, right? Or they call it
just early college, yeah. Okay,so you're doing that. Where did
you transition into theworkforce? What was that first
opportunity like? So I completedmy mechanical engineering in
Bachelors in India, back inIndia, and then I decided to
come to United States just to domy master's in computer
(14:44):
sciences. And truly, I wasscheduled to go back and take my
father's company. So I came toUnited States into 1998
to do my master's in computersciences. And what I.
Realized is after about one anda half years, is when I
(15:05):
completed one year and onesemester really completed my
master's what I find out is whenI wanted to get into the
workforce. In my mind, I waslike, oh, I want to go back and
take over. And so I, of course,I met my now husband, then
that's a different story totell. But the main core story
was my parents felt like Indiawas not ready for me, or I was
(15:30):
not ready for India, right? So,just because you were
challenging the norms, I'mchallenging the norms, I'm
gonna, you know, not succumb toany kind of like bribery. And
you know, if you do findsuccess, which they felt very
strongly that I would besuccessful, then it's a whole
(15:50):
different ball game. Hopefullywe in the United States will
never face that kind of aproblem. For a normal person,
normal, regular, you know,individual in our ways, we have
different different challenges,of course, but at that point,
they thought I would walk intotrouble right off the bat, yeah.
And with my kind of approach ofI would always speak openly what
(16:12):
I thought, right? I would alwayschallenge small, even small
things, like my dad called Oneday the entire house and said,
I've noticed that glass of waterfor three days sitting there,
and nobody picked up, and mymom's got up, and now that she's
a fierce woman, there's nothingdoubter. But she felt like, oh
shoot, the cleaning lady musthave forgot. And my sister was
(16:33):
like, oh, it's not a big deal.
But I said, if you observe forthree days, why did you not pick
it up? And instead of gettingoffended, he was so happy that I
challenged him. Oh, that'sThat's wonderful. That's great
that he created that kind ofability to challenge. But they
know that not the society is notready for us in that sense. So I
(16:55):
would be the same person whowould challenge if there is not
something that makes sense,right, right? Yeah, so that is
why I said, Okay, let mecontinue my work here, because
obviously we are sitting on theland of dreams, right? So by
then, I started looking atopportunities here in the United
(17:17):
States, and I got my firstsoftware engineering job here in
Kansas City. Okay? I got offersin Silicon Valley from a small
startup, which I went toCalifornia. I was very excited
about the job offer, but Irealized that I was already a
Midwest girl. Okay, so what wasthat first opportunity? Like it
(17:38):
was a lot of learning curve, andI would not sit on my desk if I
didn't have anything to do. Iwould constantly go annoy people
to give me more work, more work,more work. And that restlessness
got me into projects that werepretty astronomical, like we are
using 3g network right now 5gbut I started working on 3g
(18:01):
contract projects. I worked onnumber portability, worked on
replacing entire back end systemfor one of the top three
telecommunication companies, andI was hand picked by seven
people because it's supposed tobe NDA contract. We worked 20
hours a day, like for many, manymonths. So those kind of
(18:24):
projects exposed me to a lotmore width, right? I may have by
then, 10 years of experience,but I gained 30 years of
knowledge. Yeah, because ofpushing myself into different
aspects of the business. I wantto pause on that for a second,
because I'm a time managementguy, and when I hear someone
(18:45):
saying that they're working 20hours a day, my perspective,
Neely, man, you may disagree, isthat that's not healthy and
that's not productive in thelong run. So where you are now,
and you look back at that,what's your perspective? Was
that necessary to work that manyhours? No, it was not okay. And
unfortunately, after six monthsof working together, a business
(19:08):
decision came in that theexisting company gave a better
deal for the company, and so ourproject was shelved. But here's
the thing, a lot of people likeliterally cried out loud on
right in the halls, right? Yeah,that's it's a terrible way,
terrible way to live and towork, right? But what I told
(19:29):
myself is, they gave me salaryto learn something that I could
have probably taken a decade tolearn, yeah, the amount of
knowledge that I looked underthe hood for that six months
gave me exposure that I tookthat and put it on the positive
(19:50):
care, and now I could get intopositions where I called for,
you know, opportunities and.
Roles that I called for I wasthe youngest in so many ways.
And no, I would never makeanybody go through that kind of
and I will never sign a clientcontract if they're expecting
(20:14):
that out of my team. Yeah, Ilove that principle of getting
paid to learn and grow. Yeah,and I even experienced that. I
don't know if my my clients fromyou know, 20 years ago, would
want to hear this, but I waslearning at the same time that I
was coaching businesses. Andthat isn't to say I wasn't
(20:35):
capable, that I was helpingthem, but I think there's
something to be said with ofembracing opportunities that
maybe aren't perfect, aren'tideal, but you're realizing that
they're a stepping stone to whatit is that you want to do next
exactly, and also keeping inmind the holisticness, right?
You gain knowledge, and there isonly so much you can do when you
(20:57):
sprint. Our life and our careeris marathon. We have to remember
that there are certain stagesand ages of your career and your
life that you may have to sprinttake best advantage of it, but
don't keep put yourself in thatmode always. So when I started
my company several years later,I did everything I could, and I
(21:20):
put an arbitrary kind of anumber of three years right, and
then technically I slowed down,but the amount of investment I
did in the first three years hastaken me next six years to reap.
So those seeds that I sowed arestill coming my way. And so you
walking in asking for a podcast.
These are the opportunities thatare walking in, and I'm now
(21:43):
having to select it. Rather, alot of people are trying to
keeping the sprint longer thanthey should, and that's where we
burn out, and that's where welose track of who we are as
people, to our family andeverything else. So I want to
ask you about that you'retalking about these
opportunities that are comingthrough the door. How do you
(22:04):
choose? How do you prioritizewhich ones you should say yes to
which I'm thankful you said yesto this, versus ones where you
say no, I'm going to say no. Howdo you make that choice? I think
only one year I put moneytowards any kind of marketing
(22:25):
gig. Through my 10 years ofrunning this company, and I have
never, ever put $1 towardssomething first, say, for
example, few said, and I have alot of requests coming in, and
they said, Oh, it'll cost usXYZ. So I want you to pay 1000
(22:47):
bucks, or whatever that is. Iwill never pay, but I will
support that, after they put theeffort in. Say, for example, all
these awards that you're seeing.
Yeah, I'm looking, I'm we're inthe office. I'm looking at her
wall right now, and we've got $0okay, $0 right? All, they are
(23:10):
asking me to please apply forthese. But they are different
type of awards that they willgive you if you pay Yeah, the
who's who thing? Yeah, so I'mnot a fan of it. Right off the
bat, I am never going toencourage anybody who's asking
me to pay for getting into mediathat's not needed at all. So
(23:34):
right there, I'm taking 50% ofthe chunk that comes my way and
trashing it completely. Arethere ones where you don't have
to pay but you still say, No, Ido okay. And how do you decide
that? I decide based on validityof how far they've come along,
right? If they are really youngand coming up and really want to
(23:58):
I will support them, right? Theyhave a great mission, but they
have been in business for awhile, and they have no follow
up, follow through or follow inkfor what they're doing. That's
not what I want to work on,right? I'm right away taking
that as a message to me thatthis is not something that I
want to put my effort in. I willnever say no to anything to do
(24:21):
with youth. That's been my rule.
I've never said no. Why is that?
I feel like there is so much ofInternet content out there for
adults who are truly wanting toget motivated and inspired by
but the kids, first off, wedon't want them to be online too
much in the first place theyhave to learn through a you know
(24:44):
person who they can see, feelthe room. That's how the true
education at that age should be.
And so I believe in that old,age, old way of connecting with
a youth. So if I can, I willnever say no to a youth.
Dave Crenshaw (25:00):
Be youth related.
Yeah, that's wonderful. Allright, let's go back now to your
story. So we talked about thebeginning, let's talk about the
middle portion of your career.
You didn't become anentrepreneur until a little bit
later, right? So let's talkabout the years or the career
leading up to deciding to gointo business for yourself, what
(25:21):
would you say was a majorstepping stone in that period
that sticks out in your mind?
You know, for
Neelima Parasker (25:27):
15 years I worked in a corporate world.
2000 is when I joined inworkforce, I started my career.
And 2015I started snap it I truly never
imagined myself as anentrepreneur and a business
owner and all that. I was verywell taken care of the company
(25:48):
that I was working under, right.
Yeah, may not have the samesalary that I'm drawing now, but
I had exceptional flexibility towhat I wanted to do. I had
amazing managers, role modelswho would say, you go, we'll,
(26:09):
we'll do whatever it takes tosupport you, right? But of
course, I had this constantvoice on my side of me, you
know, my husband, okay,constantly nagging that you're
bringing a lot more to the tablethan you're paid for. And I
would manage. I started withfive people in Brazil, and
(26:33):
within six months, became 20people across and within two
years, 250 people. So all thatis, you know, hard work from
what I'm putting into the teamwith the corporations. By then,
I was an executive. I was amanager, director, and I was
growing in the career. Okay, youmentioned your husband. So is,
(26:55):
is he an entrepreneur, or Wherewas his perspective? He's
working in the company. Now heworks for me. Okay, he works for
you. But at that time, when hewas encouraging you, he's
working, he's a seniorarchitect, Software Architect,
okay, he was working in his ownthing, yeah, but he wouldn't was
noticing what you're putting inis not the same as what you're
getting out. Well, he alwaysthought I have a lot more
(27:18):
potential.
I don't think he knew, or I knewexactly what you know. He knew
that if I started a businesswith all the opportunities
there, there are available forwomen businesses and minority
businesses and all that we couldachieve a lot more, right? He
(27:40):
knew that, but he didn't knowexactly how to open those doors
at that point. Neither do I didi So what came to true, push for
me is after I attended amentoring event at schools, at
intercity schools, I spentpretty much a whole day with
(28:03):
bunch of high schoolers that daytrying to mentor them into
engineering technology careers.
One kid was very silentthroughout the whole thing, and
I thought, Man, I couldn't getin with this kid, but everybody
else was asking questions or youknow, doing the thing and
communicating back. So at theend of it, I gave the cards to
(28:23):
everybody and said, anytime,please reach out. I'm here for
you. Only one kid reached out,the kid that didn't speak very
much. She said, I inspired herto become an engineer. Oh,
that's wonderful. And what Ifind out is these girls were
coming to that event to havegood lunch. They were good lunch
provided there. I found out manythings about where their family
(28:47):
is, where they come from in thecommunity. I was shocked that
this is the most powerfulcountry in the world, and there
are 1000s of students andfamilies still behind the
digital wall, right? Yeah, thisis youth of America not having
access to technology resourcesand engineering resources. And
(29:11):
that said, Then I said, Okay, Ican start a company, but I want
to make an impact. Wow, that'sbeautiful. And it is an
overlooked and untapped employeebase and potential. And I think
that's brilliant, that you sawthat potential. Okay, so now
let's talk about starting snapit. Talk to me about the genesis
(29:35):
of that and what that was like.
Yeah, when I started snap itsolutions, the underlining
mission for me was, this isgoing to be an successful
company, but once it issuccessful, I want to see if I'm
going to bring anythingdifferent to the market, and is
(29:56):
it going to be an impactingbusiness. Now mind.
10 years, you know, about adecade back, people didn't know
all these fancy words. Now weput about a social impact
company and all that. I didn'tthink about all that. I just
thought, as an engineer, wouldthink I looked at the potential
within the city where I have tonof raw raw material, right? And
(30:21):
I have market that's requiringthe skill. They're going
offshore, they're going they'recreating, by then, RPAS, robotic
processor automation for somebasic skills. They're investing
in technology, but not findingtalent here on shore to give
jobs to frankly, that's what itis. More than half million jobs
(30:44):
are open every single year inthis country, not getting
filled, and they are areas whereyou cannot hire non citizens.
You cannot send it offshore. Socompanies are truly wanting to
access this talent. Now, I knowthere's bunch of smart young
adults, even adults, who havenot had that opportunity when
(31:06):
they were going through theearly education. And so when I
found out that this is anuntapped potential, I put my
engineering system into it, andso that's how I created snap it
as a baseline of who we are. Ofcourse, we do the same thing. We
(31:26):
hire technology expertise andnot place them. We can create
products and we can placeresources, but behind the wall,
we are training up the talentthat has been traditionally
ignored and under represented. Ilove a couple of things there.
One is the the entrepreneurialmindset, or you talk about
(31:48):
engineering, but it's alsoentrepreneurial, right? It's see
the resources, see what'savailable, and then, and then
leverage it as much as you canand make it real. But also how
there is that social aspect tothe social form and impact,
yeah. How did it come about thatyou started to be on boards like
(32:10):
the Kansas Department ofCommerce and the Kansas City
Journal, those sort of things.
How did those opportunities comeabout in 2018
we were about three years intothe business, and we were not as
huge of a success as we are now.
But I got a call from thisagency saying that they are from
Oprah Winfrey and you know,other magazines that they are
(32:34):
wanting to publish our story.
And I thought it was a prank. Ididn't respond. Then they sent
an email, and then we validatedthat that is a valid
organization, and so we werepublished on these magazines
couple months later. I don'tknow if there is coincidence or
(32:56):
not, but I got a call fromGovernor Kelly's office saying,
there is an opportunity for youknow, them to open up a board
seat on State Board forworkforce. And so I went through
that process and got appointed.
But more impactfully, last year,after many years of being on
Federal Reserve Bank Board andother community boards and all
(33:19):
that last year, I was contactedby the governor's office wanting
me to consider a region's job.
And frankly, I did not know allthe things that are encompassed
in that. And I said, I need toknow exactly what I'm signing up
(33:41):
for. Yeah, so, so those who arenot familiar with what a region
is, what does that what doesthat mean? So there are nine
regions for state of Kansas, andnine regions have fiduciary
First off, we are hugesupporters of higher education,
and we are supporting our stateuniversities in growing the
(34:04):
student pool and helping thestudents through but we have
fiduciary responsibilities onall of the universities, so the
presidents of the university andthe Chancellor for KU they all
report up to Regents, and Wework with legislation. They have
to go before legislativecommittee, and you know, I had
(34:25):
to go through that and presentmy case, and all the senators
had to approve. So I got aunanimous approval this year in
January. Oh, that's wonderful.
It's a four year term, and if Iwant to, I can extend that.
Okay, so there's a questionagain, time management, guy,
productivity guy, that'sstanding out to me, which is,
how do you juggle running acompany with all of these
different things that you'redoing for the community? How
(34:49):
does that work for you? I keepasking that to myself, Okay, but
I'll tell you this truthfully, alot of people think that I work.
Lot more hours than I actuallydo. Physically, my mind is
always working. Sure I can'tshut that down. Not only work,
I'm thinking about my kids, howthey are growing my my time with
(35:11):
my husband, me time and myfriends time, right? That's
always there. My mind is alwaysbut physically, I block my
calendar down for 30% of thetime.
I never go beyond 70%at a time. And if it is,
remember, we talked aboutsprinting versus marathon. I
will sprint if needed duringcertain phases of time, because
(35:35):
it's needed, but after that, Igo back again, so that doesn't
become my steady speed right atthat point. So what that is
giving me is giving me the restI need to move forward. I will
never overcome it myself, nomatter what. So there's a
(35:56):
underlying implication here thatI'd like you to talk just a
little bit about, which is youhave to structure the company in
a way that it runs without youhaving to put your hands into
everything. Yeah. So can youtalk to us a little bit about
how you've created thatstructure, how you've empowered
people in the business to beable to do it so that you can
only set aside 30% of your timesnap. It is a small but a
(36:20):
complicated business. We havedifferent divisions within snap
it. One is the trainings aspectthat we talked about, training
and talent development. Thatsegment runs and is a lot more
versatile right now because wehave uplifted learning
management modules where we cantrain and mentor online for any
students in 10 states that weare working with. And the second
(36:43):
division, which is the biggestthat makes money for me, is my
talent deployment. We findtalent we place them in federal
agencies or big corporates likeFederal Reserve Bank and cerners
and oracles and IBMs, and thelast one is the conference
(37:05):
management that works onbringing building conferences.
And so every division has theirown leaders that we have hired.
The one thing they look for meis guidance on which direction
to take when it's the nextphase, and so when it's
constantly dependent on me, Itry to find ways to make a
(37:30):
process moremore streamlined. That way
they're not trying to invent thewheel over and over again. Could
you give us an one example ofstreamlining a process? Yeah, so
for example, before I say that,I want to let you know that snap
ID is close to 40 employeesright now. Okay, that's a decent
(37:54):
size, decent size, and we havetrained more than 2000 people
into tech jobs and things likethat, but we don't have one
sales position within thecompany. There is no sales or
biz dev role within the company.
Whatever work I'm doing, it'smaking sure the society knows
(38:15):
what we do, and we get inquiriesand request to meet with
clients, and so it's easier forus to sit down and look at
moving to the next phase. Soyou're sort of the lead
generator, kinda Yes, great. Soin terms of processes, you're
making it easy for the easierfor these 40 people. What's
(38:37):
something that you're doing tostreamline it so that they're
not having to spend excessiveamounts of time doing something.
So we have SOPs, standardoperating procedures for every
every area of running abusiness. We have standards of
how to put certain actions basedon a process that we have
(38:59):
already defined. And so if weknow that we are following the
SOP or there needs to be changein SOP, we sit down and reflect
back in how it's done. How wasthat documented? Or is it? Is it
video documentation? Is itwriting out a document? What?
How are we depending ondifferent teams? One team is
(39:21):
totally manually returned, andmaybe only one person is doing
that process. So they got itdown, and they're getting things
done in one area, there is a lotmore heavier hand holding on all
the teams to work with, so theyhave trailer boards and making
sure that the trailer isassigned and on time, and all
that we've used Salesforcebefore. We thought it was too
(39:42):
much complicated for what we aredoing, so we didn't need
Salesforce. But there aredifferent tools that we have
used depending on complexity ofthe situation. Yeah, the reason
why I asked that is, that's thekey though, is to document it.
Yes, if you do not, if you tryto just tell someone verbally,
this is how.
It's done. You actually haven'tcreated any value in the
(40:03):
company. You're making itverbally dependent, yes, so I
like that. So it's constantlycoming to me or somebody else,
right, as a bottleneck creation.
What we are pushing though isthe next stage. You have a
document, you have a processdocumented. We want to do a zero
trust implementation. What thatmeans is, when you open it, your
(40:23):
metrics will show exactly whichof that process has been
implemented right, and who didit and how many times. And so
that is what we are workingtowards, is making it truly
scalable and measurable processthat at an executive level, we
can look and see what's workingand what not, and this is for
(40:45):
expansion for nationally. Solet's shift gears for a moment.
And I wish we could keep talkingforever. I love this
conversation, and in yourproviding so much value to me
and to people who are listening.
So there are two, two lastquestions I want to ask you. The
first is, just you mentioned howyou've limited how many hours
(41:07):
you're spending and you're doingthese other things. How do you
make sure that you're takingtime for yourself? Yeah, great
question. So if I'm traveling,I'll weave in a massage day or a
massage evening or somethinglike that. I like to catch up,
you know, on a phone call withmy friends or family. I keep
(41:28):
some time there. What I know isI love traveling. I like being
in the nature quite a lot. Ilike to spend, obviously, with
my family as much as I can thosemovie nights or board game
nights and all that. I weave inthose things intentionally so
that I get a break in thatmonotonous way of I love what I
(41:50):
do, but that doesn't mean thatthat should define who I am, and
so I have done very less socialmedia these days, by the way,
interesting. Why out of thethree that I used to use
Facebook, Instagram andLinkedIn,
I've kept LinkedIn almost asmuch, but reduced it to 80% I
(42:11):
would say from I used to 100%use it. For example, 80% I went
Instagram. 50%I went 5% to Facebook.
And so the reason is, I think weall have a lot more data to
publish from our end, knowinglyor unknowingly, my brain is I'm
(42:34):
observer. I'm a sponge. And sowhen I look at that content, I'm
taking in and I'm processing it,and what happens is, there is
only so much we can process andwe want to process. And so I
consciously put a timer on myFacebook app where it will pop
up and say, you have used fiveminutes. Now I'm using five
(42:54):
minutes in a week, and I can'teven believe, like it was such
an addiction at one point. Yes,and so those things will give
you more time for your me time,read a book, walk in the sit
outside and just take thenature. And there is so much of
internal journey I do duringthose moments that is helping me
(43:18):
grow more stronger, my biggestweakness, Dave, I have never
said this in public, was myanger.
My anger was my worst enemy, buttaking the time yes has helped
you be aware of that and tobegin to truly identify where is
that anger. Anger is a secondaryemotion, but it's like since
(43:40):
snap it, I've really recognizedmyself as like going backward in
that process and identifyingsystems and areas within me
to heal, and then when I comeout and be in the public, I'm a
lot more stronger because ofthat. So me time is not just for
(44:01):
what the social media makes usfeel like it's everybody has our
own ways of me time. It's trulyhealing, self healing. I love
how, as you talked about that,we could see how you are using
the engineering perspective toto find personal happiness and
self reflection. It's oiling,right of the mechanical thing?
(44:23):
Yeah, we have to find the jointsto oil. Yeah, yeah. Last
question, where do you see yourcareer five years from now?
I've never seen my the work I'mdoing as a career. I truly think
the more chains I can connect,the more people I can connect to
(44:44):
this theory of self healing andself so the if you observe our
logo has three strokes in itwith an upward movement of
spiral. So I see as much asevolution as possible with.
Dave Crenshaw (45:00):
In the company, and hopefully more people will
get impacted and grow throughthis process. It's the way of
regenerative approach. So Idon't see myself in a career
journey. I see myself as what isit needed for me to achieve 100%
(45:22):
freedom on what I want to do andalso give the ability for others
to grow through it. Why do Ifeel that is needed? Is, that's
my payoff, that's my net profit.
Is if somebody else has found methat, then it becomes a chain
reaction, and I want to make itas big and impactful as
(45:43):
possible. That's beautiful.
Thank you for sharing all this.
Nelima, so what I do at the endof every episode is, as we've
been interviewing, I've beenmaking notes about things that
someone can do, anyone can do,on a simple, practical level to
follow your example. So what I'mgoing to do is I'm going to
(46:03):
share three actions. There werea lot of wonderful actions in
here, but I'm just going tofocus to three that someone
might take. And then what I'dlike you to do is add in your
own add in one more action thatyou would suggest to be sure.
All right, so the first one thatstood out to me was, let's go
all the way back to thebeginning of your story about
(46:23):
how you were looking for morereal experiences, right? You
were sort of in this shelteredenvironment, and were not
experiencing life as it reallyis. And then we talked about how
that led to you your approach asa parent, right? How you want
your children to also have thesekinds of experiences? So what I
(46:44):
would ask someone listening tothis is to say, what is
something that's going on inyour life, in your career, where
maybe you're sheltered a littlebit, maybe the experience isn't
real, and how ask yourself thequestion, how could I challenge
myself a little bit more. Howcould I put myself into a more
real, more vulnerable state,just a little bit? And I think
(47:06):
that's going to help you be moreprepared and have a broader
perspective on what life isreally like. The second one, and
we didn't talk about this toomuch, but it stood out to me.
You mentioned how your husbandwas encouraging you and pushing
you to do this. And I thinkthere's real value in finding a
partner, finding a friend,someone who you know and trust,
(47:28):
who pushes you just a littlebit, not in a unhealthy way, but
in a way that says you don'trealize how wonderful you are.
You don't realize what yourpotential is.
I think there's real value infinding someone like that. It
doesn't have to be your marriagepartner. It can just be a good
friend or even a counselor thatcan help you with that, and then
(47:50):
the last one document yourprocesses. Now this may sound
like it's only a entrepreneurthing, but it is not in your
career, you can say, What issomething that I'm doing? Maybe
the company hasn't documentedthe processes, but that doesn't
stop you from doing that, andmaybe even on a personal level,
uh. Nelima, one of the mostdifficult things I have to do,
(48:13):
this is going to sound crazy, isto pack for a trip like this.
I'm I'm off the charts. ADHD,and so I've documented my
process. I've got a packinglist, and I have to go through
that list, and the process helpsme feel confident that I haven't
left something right. And Ithink that all of us have these
things that we have to do thatare difficult. Just write it
(48:37):
down. Use something. Get it outof your head, put it on paper,
put it on a digital thing, andthen you can reference that, and
it will help you get moreconsistent results. So those are
just three the actions that Isaw Lima. What's one that you
would add to this? I think whathelped me is opening up my 30%
of the time, all the time,constantly being running back to
(49:01):
that phase, even though I wouldsprint, like I said, but making
sure that's not the constantphase coming back. So what that
does is that keeps you whole asa person, as an entrepreneur,
and keeps your juices innovativejuices still there, not so dry
that you're only constantlywiping yourself out. So
(49:24):
constantly check your calendar.
We are all running around ourcalendar make sure that is at
least 30% blocked off. Yeah,that's wonderful. Thank you for
sharing that. Ulima, if someonewants to continue to follow you
and learn from you, learn aboutyour company. Where would you
suggest they go? I would sayLinkedIn is a good place to be.
I put, once in a while,information to post, and you
(49:48):
know, they can definitely followmy journey. But a lot of what's
happening right now is not onLinkedIn. If I can truly make a
difference in anybody's life,I'm.
Unknown (50:00):
Always open to sitting down and having the
conversation, but I want to makesure they are doing their part
before they come to me right.
They are doing their homework.
If it's not already out there,then I can speak, but if it's
already out there, there are alot of many mentors and advisors
(50:20):
who is already giving that thenlearn that first before you come
to me, yeah, make an investment,put some effort into it. I like
that, and so we'll link to yourLinkedIn profile. It's been a
real pleasure to get to know youhere today. Thank you so much
for for saying yes to this andallowing me to come in. And I
really appreciate it absolutely.
I'm thrilled to have this and ofcourse, host you at snap it.
(50:43):
Yeah, and thank you everyone forlistening. Remember, it's not
just about the knowledge thatyou gained or the inspiration
that you received. It's aboutthe action that you take. So do
something. Use one of theseaction principles. Do something
based on what you heard today,and you'll make new Lima's
success story a part of yoursuccess story. Thanks for
(51:06):
listening.
You've been listening to theDave Crenshaw Success Show,
hosted by my dad, Dave Crenshaw,and produced by invaluable
incorporated research andassistant production by Victoria
Bidez, Sound Editing by NikicWright, voiceover by me Darci
(51:26):
Crenshaw, and the music is byRyan Brady via Pon five.
Licensing, please subscribe tothe Dave Crenshaw success show
on Apple podcasts, Spotify,wherever you like to get your
podcasts. If you have asuggestion for someone my dad
might like to interview, pleasesend it to guests at Dave
crenshaw.comand please don't forget to leave
(51:47):
us a five star review. See younext time you.
I got a call from this agency saying that
they are from Oprah Winfrey andthat they are wanting to publish
our story, and I thought it wasa prank.
Dave Crenshaw (00:11):
In this episode, you'll get to know the Lima
parisker, the mother of techtalent, and you'll hear the
story of how she overcamecultural barriers and used an
engineering mindset to become anotable and influential leader
in the tech industry. I'm DaveCrenshaw, and this is my success
Show.
(00:34):
Welcome back, friends, to theDave Crenshaw Success Show. This
is where I speak to some of themost successful people I've met
in my life's journey, and I gettheir success story, and I'm
doing it to find universalprinciples of success that can
help both you and my familysucceed, and if it's your first
time here, I'm a best sellingauthor. I speak around the world
(00:55):
of Fortune 500 companies, andI've taught millions of people
how to be successful through myonline courses this show, I it's
something I created as a legacyproject. I wanted to help my
three children succeed, and Ithought, Well, why not invite my
followers along? And let's lookfor things that we all can do,
(01:15):
no matter what our career is.
Let's find specific actions wecan take. So as you listen to
today's episode, look forsomething you can do, something
you can do, not not a year fromnow, but today or this week, to
make my guest success story apart of your success story. Now,
before we get into theinterview, I just want to say
that because this was a liveinterview, we had maybe a little
(01:37):
bit of an audio hiccup at thebeginning. We got it sorted out
as the interview goes along. ButI just want you to be aware, if
you go, Oh, that doesn't soundquite right, it's just part of
the challenge of interviewingsomeone live and in person. But
I think you're really going toenjoy this despite that. Now to
my guest, nelima paraskar, isPresident and CEO of snap it
(01:59):
solutions LLC and CO, founder ofLotus TMS, and she has more than
20 years of experience in it innumerous leadership roles. Ulima
has been featured in Forbes,Oprah Inc, and many more
publications. She's therecipient of numerous awards,
(02:20):
including the prestigiousNational Award as enterprising
Woman of the Year. She's a boardmember of the Kansas works State
Workforce Board. She served onthe Community Development
Advisory Council at the FederalReserve Bank of Kansas City, and
she's a regent for the KansasBoard of Regents supporting
(02:40):
higher education in her freetime, nelima enjoys traveling,
enjoying the outdoors andspending time with her two
children. And now let's go tothe interview. Nalima, it's so
great to be with you here inKansas City. Thank you, Dave.
It's wonderful to host you.
(03:00):
Yeah, it was so serendipitousthat we met. I mentioned how
I've got a speaking engagementhere tomorrow, and I came in a
day early to watch the Mondaynight football game. We need to
meet somebody who really issuccessful in business in Kansas
City, you immediately stood outon LinkedIn and all of your
accomplishments, it's incrediblyimpressive what you've done. So
(03:22):
I'm grateful that you couldcarve out a little time in your
busy schedule for this. Thankyou so much, Dave, for the
compliment. When you're in ityou don't feel it. Yeah, you
know you don't feel the amountof success that is being
recognized. Yeah, I do know thatevery recognition aids and helps
the mission of what we areworking on. So I take it and I'm
(03:44):
humbled by it. That's somethingthat a lot of founders really
have to wrestle with, is theidea that you are the face of
your company, and therefore yourstory has value to the company.
And I could tell you a littlehesitant to talk about yourself,
so I appreciate you being moreopen with this, because your
(04:04):
story is educational for otherpeople and they can be inspired
by what you've done. Yeah, Iagree. You know, I spearheaded,
what I say is peer to spadeapproach where leaders are
spearheading a certain aspect ofthe initiative that we taken up,
and then we find our space topush it forward, and then the
(04:26):
spades will turn into spears ingrowing, I believe in that
method and forming a chain ofconnections. So there was a need
for me to be out there and talkabout what we are doing, because
we are creating something new inthe industry, for an industry
that's been there for at leastfour decades now, and rapidly
(04:51):
growing. So I had to put myselfout there, but I always were.
Was very mindful about notsetting myself up.
Neelima Parasker (05:00):
Up to something permanent. They were
advisers like, you should have anelima.com website, you know? I
said, No, that's not theintention, right? So those are
the things that I'm verymeaningful and mindful about,
stepping forward and steppingback, so that I push the
leaders, future leaders,forward. Yeah, that's it. That's
a really wise perspective. So Ilike to ask everyone the same
(05:22):
question. Elli Ma, which is,when you were growing up, what
did you want to become? Right?
That's the question we ask ourkids, what did you think when
you were perhaps in your teenageyears, what you were going to be
in your career? You know, I wasborn in India, Dave, and raised
by parents who had given meevery opportunity to grow the
way I want to go, especially myfather. But my story began even
(05:44):
before I was born, is what theytell me. My dad was, you know,
raised by a very strict father,so he felt very restricted in
certain areas certain times. Soit seems when I was born, he's
just said this girl will know,no fear. That's how he wanted to
(06:04):
raise me. Okay. So it was achoice on his part, yeah, to say
that. Yeah. So he took a lot ofbeating for me.
What does that mean? That meansthat I was being honorary at
times where he, like, you know,not not accommodating the
society norms. And he would say,let her to be right. And then,
(06:28):
if it comes from a closerfamily, like my grandparents,
giving him, you know, grief, hewould take that but not impact
me. Could you talk a little bit,for those who are not familiar
with India, yeah, you said yousort of challenged the society
norms. What does that mean? Whatwere the norms and how were you
Challenging? Challenging them,right? The part of the country
(06:51):
that I come from, they are veryparticular about education.
Everybody needs to be educated.
All the kids need to beeducated. But what do you do
with that? Education is a wholedifferent ball game, right? She
gets that education so that shecan find a good groom. No, okay,
does that make sense? That wasthe primary purpose. Primary
purpose, okay? And she canmarry, you know, a big
(07:12):
executive, and she'll have agreat life, but she has to be
educated for that. So that's themeans to the end in that sense.
Okay, so I'm not saying that itis a theme everywhere, but in
the areas that I know, this iswhat 30 years back, I'm talking
about 2530 years it was notnormal to women to graduate and
(07:35):
say that. Okay, let me start abusiness. Let me go get whatever
I need to do, travel wherever Ineed to be. Safety is an issue.
Physical safety is an issue.
Opportunity open doors to awoman is an issue. And I wanted
to be a mechanical engineer likemy dad, that is certainly an
(07:57):
issue. Oh, okay, that would beextremely unusual, or at least
at that time, yeah, unusual. Sothat was my early childhood
where I was protected to befearless, protected to think
that I can do whatever I want todo. Sometimes I may not confine
(08:17):
with the societal norms ofgetting the first grade, or a or
anything, just because I didn'tthink the teacher didn't teach
as well, like I would getattracted to a more practical
approach for a knowledge andimplementing that, instead of
just saying that, okay, this isthe book, and you need to get it
by heart and put that on thetest paper. And if I get test
(08:40):
scores right then via I'm a,okay, that's a great point. And
this is something that I talkabout with my kids when they're
contemplating, well, I mean,right now in high school, but as
they're contemplating go tocollege, there are sometimes
these two schools of thought ofwe're just going to get the
grade right. The grade is whatmatter, whereas the other thing
(09:01):
that really matters is theknowledge and the know how it
sounds like you were puttingemphasis on the ladder. I was
ready to go out there and do mything. And I felt like, without
knowing the true knowledge ofhow things need to be done, I'm
gonna set myself up for, youknow, something that I'm not
ready for and so in my ownversion, I always viewed getting
(09:26):
a grade is a smaller step tosuccess than gaining knowledge
that I'm interested in learningand knowing about myself Where
we I can actually bring thatcombination of interest, skilled
knowledge and practical use wassomething I was always striving
(09:48):
now. I'm able to put that inwords right now, but at that
age, all I knew is, I'm notgoing to go get good grades,
because this is an easy subject,and I'll get an A in this,
right.
Yeah. Okay, so you'rechallenging this concept, right?
You're you have a differentperspective on it. What sort of
opposition did you run into?
Because it sounds like from thebeginning, you were thinking,
(10:11):
No, I'm not doing this just toget married. I am doing this to
build a career, right? So whatwere some of the obstacles that
you saw, either from people orfrom institutions that were
making that hard. Yeah, to dothat, I would say, you know,
once I got my bachelor's inmechanical engineering, by then,
technology was kind of openingup to the world in different
(10:33):
industries. So I got awarenessthat computer sciences is kind
of coming in at that point andreally becoming prevalent. So I
wanted to find my even though Iwas protected by very loving
family, I felt like I was insidea golden cage. I really need to
(10:54):
find I was very desperate, and Ialways needed freedom of thought
and freedom of movement, freedomof energy. And no matter where I
went, if I was recognized bysomebody that, you know, that
recognized my family, orsomething like that, or I was
given transportation, you know,I could go in a car and come
(11:20):
back and I'm like, but that'ssuch a boxed in approach. I want
to go and take publictransportation, interesting. So
you were sort of seeking almosta more difficult experience out,
yes, real, I would not saydifficult. Okay, I didn't want a
difficulty. I want realsituations so that I knew that I
could navigate that by myself,not needing somebody always to
(11:44):
be guiding me. So you havechildren, yes, is that a concern
that you have now? And I'masking this as a parent, right?
Because sometimes I look at mykids and what they have, and I
think this is perhaps notrealistic. It's not as much of a
challenge. And we try to teachthem, hey, look when, when we
(12:05):
first started as a couple, weate oatmeal and hot dogs for
years, right? Right? So whatyou're experiencing now with
even just the food you have isnot what it's going to be like,
but you we say that, right? Butit's not the same as
experiencing that. So is thatsomething that, as a parent,
you're conscious of, or you tryto provide for your kids, I'm
very conscious about whatthey're able to do
(12:28):
independently. Now, it isdifferent for them to for my
upbringing, or my situation orour situation, right at our age,
for them, what we needed is newchallenges that they need to
observe that we didn'texperience as when we were a
kid. Say, for example, socialmedia is all over, and that was
not there for us. Technology wasnot there. Handhelds were not
(12:54):
there. So now their problem isan elevated or a different type
of problem. Now we need to besideline observers and get in as
needed for them, because wecan't really do anything. We
can't take away a device. Wecan't take away social media
privilege, right, right? That'snot practical, exactly. But what
(13:14):
we could do is put them in asituation and observe and be the
learning partner for them. Andthat's when our kids will say
that, okay, I need to I'mfiguring this out by myself, but
when I hit a stumble, I know whoto talk to. But if we come in
strong handed and say that thisis how it needs to be, then they
(13:38):
are automatically findingdifferent ways to find their
mentors and advisors. And so ina relationship which is ever
evolving between your kid andyou, is a constant struggle in
terms of what could be a betterapproach. It's not a one way fix
all. I'm not certainly anadvisor for parental advices,
(13:59):
but for my own kids, what I sayis, like, I would like them to
navigate their own issues.
Always let them know that we arehere for you if you need us, not
just when you get into trouble,but when you need a hearing,
listening ear. I love thatapproach. That's fantastic.
Okay, so let's move on with thestory. Then, so far we've talked
(14:20):
about your experience incollege, right? Or they call it
just early college, yeah. Okay,so you're doing that. Where did
you transition into theworkforce? What was that first
opportunity like? So I completedmy mechanical engineering in
Bachelors in India, back inIndia, and then I decided to
come to United States just to domy master's in computer
(14:44):
sciences. And truly, I wasscheduled to go back and take my
father's company. So I came toUnited States into 1998
to do my master's in computersciences. And what I.
Realized is after about one anda half years, is when I
(15:05):
completed one year and onesemester really completed my
master's what I find out is whenI wanted to get into the
workforce. In my mind, I waslike, oh, I want to go back and
take over. And so I, of course,I met my now husband, then
that's a different story totell. But the main core story
was my parents felt like Indiawas not ready for me, or I was
(15:30):
not ready for India, right? So,just because you were
challenging the norms, I'mchallenging the norms, I'm
gonna, you know, not succumb toany kind of like bribery. And
you know, if you do findsuccess, which they felt very
strongly that I would besuccessful, then it's a whole
(15:50):
different ball game. Hopefullywe in the United States will
never face that kind of aproblem. For a normal person,
normal, regular, you know,individual in our ways, we have
different different challenges,of course, but at that point,
they thought I would walk intotrouble right off the bat, yeah.
And with my kind of approach ofI would always speak openly what
(16:12):
I thought, right? I would alwayschallenge small, even small
things, like my dad called Oneday the entire house and said,
I've noticed that glass of waterfor three days sitting there,
and nobody picked up, and mymom's got up, and now that she's
a fierce woman, there's nothingdoubter. But she felt like, oh
shoot, the cleaning lady musthave forgot. And my sister was
(16:33):
like, oh, it's not a big deal.
But I said, if you observe forthree days, why did you not pick
it up? And instead of gettingoffended, he was so happy that I
challenged him. Oh, that'sThat's wonderful. That's great
that he created that kind ofability to challenge. But they
know that not the society is notready for us in that sense. So I
(16:55):
would be the same person whowould challenge if there is not
something that makes sense,right, right? Yeah, so that is
why I said, Okay, let mecontinue my work here, because
obviously we are sitting on theland of dreams, right? So by
then, I started looking atopportunities here in the United
(17:17):
States, and I got my firstsoftware engineering job here in
Kansas City. Okay? I got offersin Silicon Valley from a small
startup, which I went toCalifornia. I was very excited
about the job offer, but Irealized that I was already a
Midwest girl. Okay, so what wasthat first opportunity? Like it
(17:38):
was a lot of learning curve, andI would not sit on my desk if I
didn't have anything to do. Iwould constantly go annoy people
to give me more work, more work,more work. And that restlessness
got me into projects that werepretty astronomical, like we are
using 3g network right now 5gbut I started working on 3g
(18:01):
contract projects. I worked onnumber portability, worked on
replacing entire back end systemfor one of the top three
telecommunication companies, andI was hand picked by seven
people because it's supposed tobe NDA contract. We worked 20
hours a day, like for many, manymonths. So those kind of
(18:24):
projects exposed me to a lotmore width, right? I may have by
then, 10 years of experience,but I gained 30 years of
knowledge. Yeah, because ofpushing myself into different
aspects of the business. I wantto pause on that for a second,
because I'm a time managementguy, and when I hear someone
(18:45):
saying that they're working 20hours a day, my perspective,
Neely, man, you may disagree, isthat that's not healthy and
that's not productive in thelong run. So where you are now,
and you look back at that,what's your perspective? Was
that necessary to work that manyhours? No, it was not okay. And
unfortunately, after six monthsof working together, a business
(19:08):
decision came in that theexisting company gave a better
deal for the company, and so ourproject was shelved. But here's
the thing, a lot of people likeliterally cried out loud on
right in the halls, right? Yeah,that's it's a terrible way,
terrible way to live and towork, right? But what I told
(19:29):
myself is, they gave me salaryto learn something that I could
have probably taken a decade tolearn, yeah, the amount of
knowledge that I looked underthe hood for that six months
gave me exposure that I tookthat and put it on the positive
(19:50):
care, and now I could get intopositions where I called for,
you know, opportunities and.
Roles that I called for I wasthe youngest in so many ways.
And no, I would never makeanybody go through that kind of
and I will never sign a clientcontract if they're expecting
(20:14):
that out of my team. Yeah, Ilove that principle of getting
paid to learn and grow. Yeah,and I even experienced that. I
don't know if my my clients fromyou know, 20 years ago, would
want to hear this, but I waslearning at the same time that I
was coaching businesses. Andthat isn't to say I wasn't
(20:35):
capable, that I was helpingthem, but I think there's
something to be said with ofembracing opportunities that
maybe aren't perfect, aren'tideal, but you're realizing that
they're a stepping stone to whatit is that you want to do next
exactly, and also keeping inmind the holisticness, right?
You gain knowledge, and there isonly so much you can do when you
(20:57):
sprint. Our life and our careeris marathon. We have to remember
that there are certain stagesand ages of your career and your
life that you may have to sprinttake best advantage of it, but
don't keep put yourself in thatmode always. So when I started
my company several years later,I did everything I could, and I
(21:20):
put an arbitrary kind of anumber of three years right, and
then technically I slowed down,but the amount of investment I
did in the first three years hastaken me next six years to reap.
So those seeds that I sowed arestill coming my way. And so you
walking in asking for a podcast.
These are the opportunities thatare walking in, and I'm now
(21:43):
having to select it. Rather, alot of people are trying to
keeping the sprint longer thanthey should, and that's where we
burn out, and that's where welose track of who we are as
people, to our family andeverything else. So I want to
ask you about that you'retalking about these
opportunities that are comingthrough the door. How do you
(22:04):
choose? How do you prioritizewhich ones you should say yes to
which I'm thankful you said yesto this, versus ones where you
say no, I'm going to say no. Howdo you make that choice? I think
only one year I put moneytowards any kind of marketing
(22:25):
gig. Through my 10 years ofrunning this company, and I have
never, ever put $1 towardssomething first, say, for
example, few said, and I have alot of requests coming in, and
they said, Oh, it'll cost usXYZ. So I want you to pay 1000
(22:47):
bucks, or whatever that is. Iwill never pay, but I will
support that, after they put theeffort in. Say, for example, all
these awards that you're seeing.
Yeah, I'm looking, I'm we're inthe office. I'm looking at her
wall right now, and we've got $0okay, $0 right? All, they are
(23:10):
asking me to please apply forthese. But they are different
type of awards that they willgive you if you pay Yeah, the
who's who thing? Yeah, so I'mnot a fan of it. Right off the
bat, I am never going toencourage anybody who's asking
me to pay for getting into mediathat's not needed at all. So
(23:34):
right there, I'm taking 50% ofthe chunk that comes my way and
trashing it completely. Arethere ones where you don't have
to pay but you still say, No, Ido okay. And how do you decide
that? I decide based on validityof how far they've come along,
right? If they are really youngand coming up and really want to
(23:58):
I will support them, right? Theyhave a great mission, but they
have been in business for awhile, and they have no follow
up, follow through or follow inkfor what they're doing. That's
not what I want to work on,right? I'm right away taking
that as a message to me thatthis is not something that I
want to put my effort in. I willnever say no to anything to do
(24:21):
with youth. That's been my rule.
I've never said no. Why is that?
I feel like there is so much ofInternet content out there for
adults who are truly wanting toget motivated and inspired by
but the kids, first off, wedon't want them to be online too
much in the first place theyhave to learn through a you know
(24:44):
person who they can see, feelthe room. That's how the true
education at that age should be.
And so I believe in that old,age, old way of connecting with
a youth. So if I can, I willnever say no to a youth.
Dave Crenshaw (25:00):
Be youth related.
Yeah, that's wonderful. Allright, let's go back now to your
story. So we talked about thebeginning, let's talk about the
middle portion of your career.
You didn't become anentrepreneur until a little bit
later, right? So let's talkabout the years or the career
leading up to deciding to gointo business for yourself, what
(25:21):
would you say was a majorstepping stone in that period
that sticks out in your mind?
You know, for
Neelima Parasker (25:27):
15 years I worked in a corporate world.
2000 is when I joined inworkforce, I started my career.
And 2015I started snap it I truly never
imagined myself as anentrepreneur and a business
owner and all that. I was verywell taken care of the company
(25:48):
that I was working under, right.
Yeah, may not have the samesalary that I'm drawing now, but
I had exceptional flexibility towhat I wanted to do. I had
amazing managers, role modelswho would say, you go, we'll,
(26:09):
we'll do whatever it takes tosupport you, right? But of
course, I had this constantvoice on my side of me, you
know, my husband, okay,constantly nagging that you're
bringing a lot more to the tablethan you're paid for. And I
would manage. I started withfive people in Brazil, and
(26:33):
within six months, became 20people across and within two
years, 250 people. So all thatis, you know, hard work from
what I'm putting into the teamwith the corporations. By then,
I was an executive. I was amanager, director, and I was
growing in the career. Okay, youmentioned your husband. So is,
(26:55):
is he an entrepreneur, or Wherewas his perspective? He's
working in the company. Now heworks for me. Okay, he works for
you. But at that time, when hewas encouraging you, he's
working, he's a seniorarchitect, Software Architect,
okay, he was working in his ownthing, yeah, but he wouldn't was
noticing what you're putting inis not the same as what you're
getting out. Well, he alwaysthought I have a lot more
(27:18):
potential.
I don't think he knew, or I knewexactly what you know. He knew
that if I started a businesswith all the opportunities
there, there are available forwomen businesses and minority
businesses and all that we couldachieve a lot more, right? He
(27:40):
knew that, but he didn't knowexactly how to open those doors
at that point. Neither do I didi So what came to true, push for
me is after I attended amentoring event at schools, at
intercity schools, I spentpretty much a whole day with
(28:03):
bunch of high schoolers that daytrying to mentor them into
engineering technology careers.
One kid was very silentthroughout the whole thing, and
I thought, Man, I couldn't getin with this kid, but everybody
else was asking questions or youknow, doing the thing and
communicating back. So at theend of it, I gave the cards to
(28:23):
everybody and said, anytime,please reach out. I'm here for
you. Only one kid reached out,the kid that didn't speak very
much. She said, I inspired herto become an engineer. Oh,
that's wonderful. And what Ifind out is these girls were
coming to that event to havegood lunch. They were good lunch
provided there. I found out manythings about where their family
(28:47):
is, where they come from in thecommunity. I was shocked that
this is the most powerfulcountry in the world, and there
are 1000s of students andfamilies still behind the
digital wall, right? Yeah, thisis youth of America not having
access to technology resourcesand engineering resources. And
(29:11):
that said, Then I said, Okay, Ican start a company, but I want
to make an impact. Wow, that'sbeautiful. And it is an
overlooked and untapped employeebase and potential. And I think
that's brilliant, that you sawthat potential. Okay, so now
let's talk about starting snapit. Talk to me about the genesis
(29:35):
of that and what that was like.
Yeah, when I started snap itsolutions, the underlining
mission for me was, this isgoing to be an successful
company, but once it issuccessful, I want to see if I'm
going to bring anythingdifferent to the market, and is
(29:56):
it going to be an impactingbusiness. Now mind.
10 years, you know, about adecade back, people didn't know
all these fancy words. Now weput about a social impact
company and all that. I didn'tthink about all that. I just
thought, as an engineer, wouldthink I looked at the potential
within the city where I have tonof raw raw material, right? And
(30:21):
I have market that's requiringthe skill. They're going
offshore, they're going they'recreating, by then, RPAS, robotic
processor automation for somebasic skills. They're investing
in technology, but not findingtalent here on shore to give
jobs to frankly, that's what itis. More than half million jobs
(30:44):
are open every single year inthis country, not getting
filled, and they are areas whereyou cannot hire non citizens.
You cannot send it offshore. Socompanies are truly wanting to
access this talent. Now, I knowthere's bunch of smart young
adults, even adults, who havenot had that opportunity when
(31:06):
they were going through theearly education. And so when I
found out that this is anuntapped potential, I put my
engineering system into it, andso that's how I created snap it
as a baseline of who we are. Ofcourse, we do the same thing. We
(31:26):
hire technology expertise andnot place them. We can create
products and we can placeresources, but behind the wall,
we are training up the talentthat has been traditionally
ignored and under represented. Ilove a couple of things there.
One is the the entrepreneurialmindset, or you talk about
(31:48):
engineering, but it's alsoentrepreneurial, right? It's see
the resources, see what'savailable, and then, and then
leverage it as much as you canand make it real. But also how
there is that social aspect tothe social form and impact,
yeah. How did it come about thatyou started to be on boards like
(32:10):
the Kansas Department ofCommerce and the Kansas City
Journal, those sort of things.
How did those opportunities comeabout in 2018
we were about three years intothe business, and we were not as
huge of a success as we are now.
But I got a call from thisagency saying that they are from
Oprah Winfrey and you know,other magazines that they are
(32:34):
wanting to publish our story.
And I thought it was a prank. Ididn't respond. Then they sent
an email, and then we validatedthat that is a valid
organization, and so we werepublished on these magazines
couple months later. I don'tknow if there is coincidence or
(32:56):
not, but I got a call fromGovernor Kelly's office saying,
there is an opportunity for youknow, them to open up a board
seat on State Board forworkforce. And so I went through
that process and got appointed.
But more impactfully, last year,after many years of being on
Federal Reserve Bank Board andother community boards and all
(33:19):
that last year, I was contactedby the governor's office wanting
me to consider a region's job.
And frankly, I did not know allthe things that are encompassed
in that. And I said, I need toknow exactly what I'm signing up
(33:41):
for. Yeah, so, so those who arenot familiar with what a region
is, what does that what doesthat mean? So there are nine
regions for state of Kansas, andnine regions have fiduciary
First off, we are hugesupporters of higher education,
and we are supporting our stateuniversities in growing the
(34:04):
student pool and helping thestudents through but we have
fiduciary responsibilities onall of the universities, so the
presidents of the university andthe Chancellor for KU they all
report up to Regents, and Wework with legislation. They have
to go before legislativecommittee, and you know, I had
(34:25):
to go through that and presentmy case, and all the senators
had to approve. So I got aunanimous approval this year in
January. Oh, that's wonderful.
It's a four year term, and if Iwant to, I can extend that.
Okay, so there's a questionagain, time management, guy,
productivity guy, that'sstanding out to me, which is,
how do you juggle running acompany with all of these
different things that you'redoing for the community? How
(34:49):
does that work for you? I keepasking that to myself, Okay, but
I'll tell you this truthfully, alot of people think that I work.
Lot more hours than I actuallydo. Physically, my mind is
always working. Sure I can'tshut that down. Not only work,
I'm thinking about my kids, howthey are growing my my time with
(35:11):
my husband, me time and myfriends time, right? That's
always there. My mind is alwaysbut physically, I block my
calendar down for 30% of thetime.
I never go beyond 70%at a time. And if it is,
remember, we talked aboutsprinting versus marathon. I
will sprint if needed duringcertain phases of time, because
(35:35):
it's needed, but after that, Igo back again, so that doesn't
become my steady speed right atthat point. So what that is
giving me is giving me the restI need to move forward. I will
never overcome it myself, nomatter what. So there's a
(35:56):
underlying implication here thatI'd like you to talk just a
little bit about, which is youhave to structure the company in
a way that it runs without youhaving to put your hands into
everything. Yeah. So can youtalk to us a little bit about
how you've created thatstructure, how you've empowered
people in the business to beable to do it so that you can
only set aside 30% of your timesnap. It is a small but a
(36:20):
complicated business. We havedifferent divisions within snap
it. One is the trainings aspectthat we talked about, training
and talent development. Thatsegment runs and is a lot more
versatile right now because wehave uplifted learning
management modules where we cantrain and mentor online for any
students in 10 states that weare working with. And the second
(36:43):
division, which is the biggestthat makes money for me, is my
talent deployment. We findtalent we place them in federal
agencies or big corporates likeFederal Reserve Bank and cerners
and oracles and IBMs, and thelast one is the conference
(37:05):
management that works onbringing building conferences.
And so every division has theirown leaders that we have hired.
The one thing they look for meis guidance on which direction
to take when it's the nextphase, and so when it's
constantly dependent on me, Itry to find ways to make a
(37:30):
process moremore streamlined. That way
they're not trying to invent thewheel over and over again. Could
you give us an one example ofstreamlining a process? Yeah, so
for example, before I say that,I want to let you know that snap
ID is close to 40 employeesright now. Okay, that's a decent
(37:54):
size, decent size, and we havetrained more than 2000 people
into tech jobs and things likethat, but we don't have one
sales position within thecompany. There is no sales or
biz dev role within the company.
Whatever work I'm doing, it'smaking sure the society knows
(38:15):
what we do, and we get inquiriesand request to meet with
clients, and so it's easier forus to sit down and look at
moving to the next phase. Soyou're sort of the lead
generator, kinda Yes, great. Soin terms of processes, you're
making it easy for the easierfor these 40 people. What's
(38:37):
something that you're doing tostreamline it so that they're
not having to spend excessiveamounts of time doing something.
So we have SOPs, standardoperating procedures for every
every area of running abusiness. We have standards of
how to put certain actions basedon a process that we have
(38:59):
already defined. And so if weknow that we are following the
SOP or there needs to be changein SOP, we sit down and reflect
back in how it's done. How wasthat documented? Or is it? Is it
video documentation? Is itwriting out a document? What?
How are we depending ondifferent teams? One team is
(39:21):
totally manually returned, andmaybe only one person is doing
that process. So they got itdown, and they're getting things
done in one area, there is a lotmore heavier hand holding on all
the teams to work with, so theyhave trailer boards and making
sure that the trailer isassigned and on time, and all
that we've used Salesforcebefore. We thought it was too
(39:42):
much complicated for what we aredoing, so we didn't need
Salesforce. But there aredifferent tools that we have
used depending on complexity ofthe situation. Yeah, the reason
why I asked that is, that's thekey though, is to document it.
Yes, if you do not, if you tryto just tell someone verbally,
this is how.
It's done. You actually haven'tcreated any value in the
(40:03):
company. You're making itverbally dependent, yes, so I
like that. So it's constantlycoming to me or somebody else,
right, as a bottleneck creation.
What we are pushing though isthe next stage. You have a
document, you have a processdocumented. We want to do a zero
trust implementation. What thatmeans is, when you open it, your
(40:23):
metrics will show exactly whichof that process has been
implemented right, and who didit and how many times. And so
that is what we are workingtowards, is making it truly
scalable and measurable processthat at an executive level, we
can look and see what's workingand what not, and this is for
(40:45):
expansion for nationally. Solet's shift gears for a moment.
And I wish we could keep talkingforever. I love this
conversation, and in yourproviding so much value to me
and to people who are listening.
So there are two, two lastquestions I want to ask you. The
first is, just you mentioned howyou've limited how many hours
(41:07):
you're spending and you're doingthese other things. How do you
make sure that you're takingtime for yourself? Yeah, great
question. So if I'm traveling,I'll weave in a massage day or a
massage evening or somethinglike that. I like to catch up,
you know, on a phone call withmy friends or family. I keep
(41:28):
some time there. What I know isI love traveling. I like being
in the nature quite a lot. Ilike to spend, obviously, with
my family as much as I can thosemovie nights or board game
nights and all that. I weave inthose things intentionally so
that I get a break in thatmonotonous way of I love what I
(41:50):
do, but that doesn't mean thatthat should define who I am, and
so I have done very less socialmedia these days, by the way,
interesting. Why out of thethree that I used to use
Facebook, Instagram andLinkedIn,
I've kept LinkedIn almost asmuch, but reduced it to 80% I
(42:11):
would say from I used to 100%use it. For example, 80% I went
Instagram. 50%I went 5% to Facebook.
And so the reason is, I think weall have a lot more data to
publish from our end, knowinglyor unknowingly, my brain is I'm
(42:34):
observer. I'm a sponge. And sowhen I look at that content, I'm
taking in and I'm processing it,and what happens is, there is
only so much we can process andwe want to process. And so I
consciously put a timer on myFacebook app where it will pop
up and say, you have used fiveminutes. Now I'm using five
(42:54):
minutes in a week, and I can'teven believe, like it was such
an addiction at one point. Yes,and so those things will give
you more time for your me time,read a book, walk in the sit
outside and just take thenature. And there is so much of
internal journey I do duringthose moments that is helping me
(43:18):
grow more stronger, my biggestweakness, Dave, I have never
said this in public, was myanger.
My anger was my worst enemy, buttaking the time yes has helped
you be aware of that and tobegin to truly identify where is
that anger. Anger is a secondaryemotion, but it's like since
(43:40):
snap it, I've really recognizedmyself as like going backward in
that process and identifyingsystems and areas within me
to heal, and then when I comeout and be in the public, I'm a
lot more stronger because ofthat. So me time is not just for
(44:01):
what the social media makes usfeel like it's everybody has our
own ways of me time. It's trulyhealing, self healing. I love
how, as you talked about that,we could see how you are using
the engineering perspective toto find personal happiness and
self reflection. It's oiling,right of the mechanical thing?
(44:23):
Yeah, we have to find the jointsto oil. Yeah, yeah. Last
question, where do you see yourcareer five years from now?
I've never seen my the work I'mdoing as a career. I truly think
the more chains I can connect,the more people I can connect to
(44:44):
this theory of self healing andself so the if you observe our
logo has three strokes in itwith an upward movement of
spiral. So I see as much asevolution as possible with.
Dave Crenshaw (45:00):
In the company, and hopefully more people will
get impacted and grow throughthis process. It's the way of
regenerative approach. So Idon't see myself in a career
journey. I see myself as what isit needed for me to achieve 100%
(45:22):
freedom on what I want to do andalso give the ability for others
to grow through it. Why do Ifeel that is needed? Is, that's
my payoff, that's my net profit.
Is if somebody else has found methat, then it becomes a chain
reaction, and I want to make itas big and impactful as
(45:43):
possible. That's beautiful.
Thank you for sharing all this.
Nelima, so what I do at the endof every episode is, as we've
been interviewing, I've beenmaking notes about things that
someone can do, anyone can do,on a simple, practical level to
follow your example. So what I'mgoing to do is I'm going to
(46:03):
share three actions. There werea lot of wonderful actions in
here, but I'm just going tofocus to three that someone
might take. And then what I'dlike you to do is add in your
own add in one more action thatyou would suggest to be sure.
All right, so the first one thatstood out to me was, let's go
all the way back to thebeginning of your story about
(46:23):
how you were looking for morereal experiences, right? You
were sort of in this shelteredenvironment, and were not
experiencing life as it reallyis. And then we talked about how
that led to you your approach asa parent, right? How you want
your children to also have thesekinds of experiences? So what I
(46:44):
would ask someone listening tothis is to say, what is
something that's going on inyour life, in your career, where
maybe you're sheltered a littlebit, maybe the experience isn't
real, and how ask yourself thequestion, how could I challenge
myself a little bit more. Howcould I put myself into a more
real, more vulnerable state,just a little bit? And I think
(47:06):
that's going to help you be moreprepared and have a broader
perspective on what life isreally like. The second one, and
we didn't talk about this toomuch, but it stood out to me.
You mentioned how your husbandwas encouraging you and pushing
you to do this. And I thinkthere's real value in finding a
partner, finding a friend,someone who you know and trust,
(47:28):
who pushes you just a littlebit, not in a unhealthy way, but
in a way that says you don'trealize how wonderful you are.
You don't realize what yourpotential is.
I think there's real value infinding someone like that. It
doesn't have to be your marriagepartner. It can just be a good
friend or even a counselor thatcan help you with that, and then
(47:50):
the last one document yourprocesses. Now this may sound
like it's only a entrepreneurthing, but it is not in your
career, you can say, What issomething that I'm doing? Maybe
the company hasn't documentedthe processes, but that doesn't
stop you from doing that, andmaybe even on a personal level,
uh. Nelima, one of the mostdifficult things I have to do,
(48:13):
this is going to sound crazy, isto pack for a trip like this.
I'm I'm off the charts. ADHD,and so I've documented my
process. I've got a packinglist, and I have to go through
that list, and the process helpsme feel confident that I haven't
left something right. And Ithink that all of us have these
things that we have to do thatare difficult. Just write it
(48:37):
down. Use something. Get it outof your head, put it on paper,
put it on a digital thing, andthen you can reference that, and
it will help you get moreconsistent results. So those are
just three the actions that Isaw Lima. What's one that you
would add to this? I think whathelped me is opening up my 30%
of the time, all the time,constantly being running back to
(49:01):
that phase, even though I wouldsprint, like I said, but making
sure that's not the constantphase coming back. So what that
does is that keeps you whole asa person, as an entrepreneur,
and keeps your juices innovativejuices still there, not so dry
that you're only constantlywiping yourself out. So
(49:24):
constantly check your calendar.
We are all running around ourcalendar make sure that is at
least 30% blocked off. Yeah,that's wonderful. Thank you for
sharing that. Ulima, if someonewants to continue to follow you
and learn from you, learn aboutyour company. Where would you
suggest they go? I would sayLinkedIn is a good place to be.
I put, once in a while,information to post, and you
(49:48):
know, they can definitely followmy journey. But a lot of what's
happening right now is not onLinkedIn. If I can truly make a
difference in anybody's life,I'm.
Unknown (50:00):
Always open to sitting down and having the
conversation, but I want to makesure they are doing their part
before they come to me right.
They are doing their homework.
If it's not already out there,then I can speak, but if it's
already out there, there are alot of many mentors and advisors
(50:20):
who is already giving that thenlearn that first before you come
to me, yeah, make an investment,put some effort into it. I like
that, and so we'll link to yourLinkedIn profile. It's been a
real pleasure to get to know youhere today. Thank you so much
for for saying yes to this andallowing me to come in. And I
really appreciate it absolutely.
I'm thrilled to have this and ofcourse, host you at snap it.
(50:43):
Yeah, and thank you everyone forlistening. Remember, it's not
just about the knowledge thatyou gained or the inspiration
that you received. It's aboutthe action that you take. So do
something. Use one of theseaction principles. Do something
based on what you heard today,and you'll make new Lima's
success story a part of yoursuccess story. Thanks for
(51:06):
listening.
You've been listening to theDave Crenshaw Success Show,
hosted by my dad, Dave Crenshaw,and produced by invaluable
incorporated research andassistant production by Victoria
Bidez, Sound Editing by NikicWright, voiceover by me Darci
(51:26):
Crenshaw, and the music is byRyan Brady via Pon five.
Licensing, please subscribe tothe Dave Crenshaw success show
on Apple podcasts, Spotify,wherever you like to get your
podcasts. If you have asuggestion for someone my dad
might like to interview, pleasesend it to guests at Dave
crenshaw.comand please don't forget to leave
(51:47):
us a five star review. See younext time you.
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