December 12, 2024 • 38 mins
On this episode of The Founder's Sandbox, Brenda speaks with Tammy Alvarez, founder and CEO of Career Winners Circle. Tammy is also an author, professional keynote speaker, inspirational coach, trainer, and epic storyteller. After experiencing firsthand burn out in a corporate career she struck out and intentionally created a work /life balance that resulted in creating Career Winners Circle, a company offering career coaching, helping individuals figure out what you do that you love and organizations that want to ignite their employees.
They speak about Tammy leaving corporate life in New York, and how to “weather through” seasonality in your business and your career to come back to your "Why?"
You can find out more about Tammy and her writing at:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tammyalvarez
https://careerwinnerscircle.com/
“Escaping the Career Trap: Transform Your Apathy Into Ambition and Never Hate Mondays Again;”
and the book Tammy mentions in this episode: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/scale-or-fail-allison-maslan/1128886160
You can subscribe to Next Act Advisors at https://nextactadvisors.com/product/subscriptions/ and be sure to use the special discount code "sandbox25" for friends of The Founder's Sandbox for 25% off your subscription.
transcript:
00:04
Hi, I'm pleased to announce something very special to me, a new subscription-based service through Next Act Advisors that allows members exclusive access to personal industry insights and bespoke
00:32
corporate governance knowledge. This comes in the form of blogs, personal book recommendations, and early access to the founder's sandbox podcast episodes before they released to the public. If you want more white glove information on building your startup with information like what was in today's episode, sign up with the link in the show notes to enjoy being a special member of Next Act Advisors.
01:01
As a thank you to Founders Sandbox listeners, you can use code SANDBOX25 at checkout to enjoy 25% off your membership costs. Thank you.
01:20
Welcome back to the Founder's Sandbox. I am Brenda McCabe, your host in this monthly podcast. We're now into our third season. The monthly podcast reaches entrepreneurs and business owners who learn about building resilient, purpose-driven and sustainable businesses with great corporate governance. I want to assist entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs in building those scalable, well-governed and resilient businesses. And guests to my podcast are founders, business owners,
01:49
themselves who want to use the power of the private enterprise, be it small, medium, or large, to create change for a better world. Through storytelling with each of my guests that are going to touch upon resilience, purpose-driven enterprise, and sustainable growth, my goal is to provide in a fun environment where we can equip one startup founder at a time the skills to build a better world through great corporate governance.
02:20
Today, my guest is Tammy Alvarez. Tammy is joining the podcast as founder and CEO of Career Winners Circle. She also is an author, professional keynote speaker, inspirational coach, trainer, and epic storyteller. So welcome, Tammy, to the Founder's Sandbox. Thank you, Brenda. It is such a pleasure to be here today. I do feel a bit intimidated. You know, you're an epic storyteller, and I thought...
02:49
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
We're standing on the edge of something big.We're going to make some changes. Hi, I'm pleased
to announce something very special to me, anew subscription-based service through Next
(00:25):
Act Advisors that allows members exclusive accessto personal industry insights and bespoke corporate
governance knowledge. This comes in the formof blogs, personal book recommendations, and
early access to the founder's sandbox podcastepisodes before they released to the public.
(00:46):
If you want more white glove information onbuilding your startup with information like
what was in today's episode, sign up with thelink in the show notes to enjoy being a special
member of Next Act Advisors. As a thank youto Founders Sandbox listeners, you can use
code SANDBOX25 at checkout to enjoy 25% offyour membership costs. Thank you.
(01:20):
Welcome back to the Founder's Sandbox. I amBrenda McCabe, your host in this monthly podcast.
We're now into our third season. The monthlypodcast reaches entrepreneurs and business
owners who learn about building resilient, purpose-drivenand sustainable businesses with great corporate
governance. I want to assist entrepreneurs andentrepreneurs in building those scalable, well-governed
(01:44):
and resilient businesses. And guests to my podcastare founders, business owners, themselves who
want to use the power of the private enterprise,be it small, medium, or large, to create change
for a better world. Through storytelling witheach of my guests that are going to touch upon
resilience, purpose-driven enterprise, and sustainablegrowth, my goal is to provide in a fun environment
(02:11):
where we can equip one startup founder at atime the skills to build a better world through
great corporate governance. Today, my guestis Tammy Alvarez. Tammy is joining the podcast
as founder and CEO of Career Winners Circle.She also is an author, professional keynote
(02:33):
speaker, inspirational coach, trainer, and epicstoryteller. So welcome, Tammy, to the Founder's
Sandbox. Thank you, Brenda. It is such a pleasureto be here today. I do feel a bit intimidated.
You know, you're an epic storyteller, and Ithought... So we have two storytellers in the
sandbox today. Should be good. Excellent. Soin prior conversations with you, Tammy, and
(02:57):
I did take some time to listen to some otherpodcasts where you've been featured. You, like
me, share a mission. And you're very mission-driven.And you've experienced firsthand burnout in
the corporate world. And you intentionally created.a work life balance, which we're going to learn
(03:21):
about more today that resulted in creating careerwinners circle. And it's a company that's offering
coaching, career coaching, helping individualsfigure out what you do that you love. Every
guest and I we choose a title for the podcast,our title for this podcast with Tammy Alvarez,
(03:43):
CEO of career is purpose pivoting careers. SoTammy, you are joining us from Mexico City.
I am. But your journey actually started yearsago in New York and Wall Street. And then you
took a little jaunt over to Belize. And I foundsome commonalities, my own work. is informed
(04:14):
by a major life change that I made back over20, actually 15 years now, I moved back to
the US after 25 years in Europe. And I workwith companies, not necessarily individuals,
to be fit for purpose, poised for growth, andmade for resilience. What made you leave the
(04:35):
Manhattan, Wall Street life and go offshorebefore it became fashionable? in the post-COVID
world?
It was an interesting culmination of activities,if you will. I grew up in and around Wall Street.
So my whole career was really around financialservices and I loved the corporate career.
(05:01):
Throughout my corporate career, I made 11 differentchanges in terms of the jobs that I had, everything
from sales to audit and everything in between.in five different industries and around Wall
Street, because I had this mindset that if youdon't like it, change it. And that's kind of
how I navigated through my career. And I rememberthis one day, here I am, top of my career,
(05:27):
managing director, the height of my career ismanaging like over 2000 people in 35 countries,
like all these big girl things that are goingon. And I remember sitting in a boardroom,
we had missed earnings again. And we were justwaiting for the bloodletting to begin, right?
So our boss comes in and every quarter it wouldturn into a game of hot potato. Of whose fault
(05:48):
was it? Like, it's not my fault. It's salesfault. It's operations. It's this, it's that.
And it just was actually, you know, became comical.And then we'd all go out for a few beers after
the meeting was over. And so this time was particularlybrutal in terms of how difficult the analyst
call was. And I remember having this. out ofbody experience it felt like in the movies.
(06:10):
You know, when you're floating over the tableand you're associated to it, but you're not
really there. And I didn't realize it at thetime, but my career had received its death
sentence because I developed this disease thatI call I don't give a shititis. And so, you
know, six months later, I had found myself,I had cashed out of Wall Street. I had moved
(06:33):
to a tropical island off the coast of Belizein Central America and started this business,
which was by far the most terrifying thing I'veever done. And I just really needed that reset
because I had stopped learning. And it feltlike I had just seen everything and to go to
another company would have been the same, youknow, the same thing with a different shade
of lipstick. And I needed to reignite my desireto actually learn. fail successfully and move
(07:02):
my business forward. Say that again, you wantedto reignite. I needed to reignite my desire,
my ability to learn, but also how to fail successfully.Okay. And continue to start a new chapter.
Right, right. And we did speak about some ofyour intentional choices. All right, you leave,
(07:27):
you had it. What would you call that? You hada disease? Oh, yeah. I don't give a shititis,
right? So yes. I think a lot of us have thatdisease, and we just don't realize it's, you
know. Right. Well, by speaking your truth, whichis what I'm hearing, and my listeners will
as well. I was struck, though, Tammy, becauseyou landed in that tropical island, but you
(07:49):
really didn't yet know what you were about todo, right? I had no idea.
you age out of Wall Street, you just do. Andso part of my plan, soft plan, the extent of
my business plan, Brenda, was I'm gonna coachsomeday and sit on a few boards and do some
academic work. That was the extent of my businessplan. So when I pulled the plug, I think I've
(08:13):
made every mistake an entrepreneur could possiblymake, probably twice, because I'm a slow learner.
And so I just fumbled my way through in thedark and just. kept trying things and kept
failing at things until I finally figured outthe secret sauce, but it took several years
for me to get to that point. And it was terrifying,right? In terms of feeling like I had lost
(08:37):
the skill to learn, I'm like, oh, this is takinga lot longer than it used to because I purposefully
stayed at a corporate. I did not wanna havea business to business company because I knew
I was still addicted to the work. Yep. And ifI'd gone right back in, I'd just be in the
same rat race under my own flag. And so I purposelysent myself to serve consumers and I didn't
(09:00):
know anything about mailing lists or drip campaignsor marketing funnels. I knew none of this stuff.
And so that, that journey was absolutely oneof the most frustrating and rewarding journeys
I think I've had. And, and you know, did you,um, you're six years into this almost seven
now. Yeah, exactly. auspicious number. Do youreally believe that you've removed the golden
(09:25):
handcuffs of a corporate life or and you arethe best operator to actually be working with
people that are leaving corporate life in WallStreet? Yes. And yes. Excellent. You know,
since the day I started the firm, I've neverworked more than 30 hours a week. Right. We
(09:45):
would go scuba diving a couple of days a weekbefore work. Just as a way to start our day.
What better way than to go play with the fishand get salty. And it was interesting. So I
had how to coach when I, when I finally realizedthat I can't do this on my own. And I probably
should actually get some help with somebodywho's done this before. I was not looking at
the finances in my business the way I was supposedto. And she kept asking me, you know, every
(10:11):
time we met, where are we with the numbers?Where are we with the forecast? And I would
just, I didn't do what I didn't do it. And soshe finally asked me, she goes, what are you
afraid of? And of course I bristled, cause I'mlike, I'm not afraid of anything. And she let
it go because she knew she hit a nerve. Andso I let that marinate for a little bit. And
after a session or two, what it turned out Brenda,is that I was afraid of success. Okay. I didn't
(10:38):
know it at the time consciously, but I was afraidthat I was gonna end up tethered to my desk
just like I was in corporate. And so I was abandoningall the good practices and the things that
I had learned in corporate because when I cutthe cord, I cut everything. I didn't keep the
good stuff. And so once I started to realizethat some of these routines will actually help
(10:58):
me scale without compromising my lifestyle,then that's when things really started to turn
around for me. Now we've got six coaches. We'reserving individuals and businesses worldwide.
And I'm still, I don't work on Fridays. Andthose boundaries are so important to me because
I just gave up on those for my entire adultlife. You said a few things here, too, that
(11:24):
really caught my attention. So you intentionallydid set out to want to make a difference in
other people's lives. So you started with yourown. You work no more than 30 hours a week.
You've built your work life, your work aroundthe work-life balance. Yes. And you kept the
(11:50):
good stuff that matter from that corporate life.I'm curious, is this a type of consulting that
you do with the individuals that you coach?Yes, we do. Because a lot of the mid-assessors
mid to senior level leaders that we coach, starttheir own businesses. And so we helped them
on that journey. And so the business found meinitially, because one of the biggest mistakes
(12:15):
I made is that I created a bunch of amazingprograms that no one would buy. So I was like,
okay, this is a terrible idea. Because I wasa transformation expert on Wall Street. So
we, every time the building was burning, myteam and I were running in while everyone else
was running out. I loved it. But when I wasin corporate, I realized that most people suck
at this. Okay. And so I'm like, let me teachpeople how to be really strong transformational
(12:39):
leaders, which was a great idea, but that didn'twork with a business to consumer model because
they wouldn't pay for it because they didn'tsee that as a gating factor to their success.
That's right. And as I was talking to potentialclients, it's like, yeah, I don't care about
that, but I want to know how you did what youdid. I was like, Oh, you do. And like, you
(13:00):
know, cause they. Most of our clients when westarted were mid to senior level leaders, single
career, multiple companies usually, but singlecareer, and now they're miserable and they
feel stuck and they know they don't like this,but they don't know what they did like. And
there's a lot of shame that comes with that.And so I deconstructed the things that I did
naturally over the past 20 years in terms ofmaking all these moves. I'm like, how do I
(13:24):
help others do this? And so the business actuallyfound me. And that's really how we started.
But then as our customers' journeys evolvedand they started to go into smaller companies
and become C-suite executives for mid-size organizationsor start their own firms or begin their own
nonprofits, then we continue to serve them onthat journey because those are new challenges
(13:49):
and new opportunities for them to need a wingmanor a win-win-win for. And so now we really
work with business leaders and individual executiveswithin companies, if you don't wake up and
love Monday every Monday, you're doing it wrong.Exactly. It's not a pipe dream. And that's
(14:10):
really where we step in and add that value andmake that difference. That's a great segue
to the title of your book that you recentlyauthored, The First Quarter of 2024. How did
you? Make the time Tammy, while running yourbusiness, attending to your clients, working
(14:35):
with building your own team. So for my listeners,Tammy is author of Escaping the Career Trap,
Transform Your Apathy into Ambition and NeverHate Mondays Again. So applause. Thank you.
So you are an author. How did you find the time?um, to write this and how, who was your target
(14:57):
audience? Um, and how has that influenced thetype of work you're doing today? Yeah, the
book, um, has been in the making since I startedthe company. And I had a really good mentor
because that was the first thing I wanted todo was write a book. And so he sat me down.
He lived in Belize as well. And so he and Iwere, you know, having a cocktail on the terrace,
(15:19):
looking over the ocean. He's like, Tammy, youdon't need a book. you need customers. And
he's like, without customers, you don't havea business. And so this idea of a book kept
going on my vision board year after year afteryear. And so the timing turned out to be perfect
(15:40):
because we were moving from Belize to MexicoCity. I had no friends in Mexico City yet,
and I didn't speak the language very well. Andso this was a really good time for me just
to hunker in. and really finally get this passionproject of mine over the finish line. And obviously
it takes a village, right? So I had a greatcoach and even better editor. You know, I'm
(16:03):
a thought leader, I'm not an author by trade.And so there was a lot of heavy lifting in
terms of making this readable for our audience.And the book surprised me actually, because
originally it was written for the disenfranchisedworker. Like if you hate Mondays, you need
to read the book. And it's a coaching book.where you absolutely know step by step exactly
(16:23):
what you need to do. But then what surprisedme is that organizations started to pay me
to come in and deliver this message to theirteens. Oh my gosh. I was like, you do realize
I talk in the first two chapters about how messedup everything is. And they're like, yes, but
this is the message. Cause in the message, theso what to this is that I think everyone needs
(16:48):
to become that CEO. of you incorporated. Andwhen you start to treat your career like a
business, whether you are a corporate personor whether you actually have your own business,
because a lot of us haven't promoted ourselvesinto that CEO spot yet. But when you start
to think about things in terms of running abusiness and apply those to how you manage
(17:09):
your career, everything changes. And it's goodfor the individual, it's good for the business,
it's good for everyone. And so, you know, withthe book now, we are working with companies
who are really struggling with the majorityof their employees who also have, I don't give
a shit, itis. Okay. And like, how do you wakethem up? Because there's this, especially in
(17:30):
the middle market space, there's this conceptof this, you know, global talent shortage crisis
is what they're calling it. And so I'm herewith all the layoffs, how can there be a talent
shortage crisis anywhere? But what I stronglybelieve, and what we're starting to prove out
with our clients now, is that businesses haveeverything they need right under their nose.
(17:52):
They just don't know how to activate it. Right,right. And so we've created a, you know, literally
a three month like adrenaline rush process toreactivate the ambition and get people to start
to lean in and care about what they do again.And it's made amazing results and differences
for our clients. So at the end of the day, we'reall about loving Mondays in every way possible.
(18:16):
And whether that's helping organizations orindividuals find their path, there's a way
forward for everyone. Right, I love the commentyou made around the first three chapters when
you were surprised that corporates were askingyou to come in and speak is that everyone needs
to become a CEO within their business, right?The business line, right? Did I quote you correctly?
(18:41):
Because I mean, you know, so when you treatyour career like a business, yeah, and you
become the CEO of you incorporated, then that'swhen the magic starts to happen.
I can't wait to read it because I will be honest,I have not read your book, but I loved the
catchy title, Escaping the Career Trap. Transformyour apathy into ambition and never hate Mondays
(19:07):
again. And those golden handcuffs are there,right? Right on the cover. And I think for
entrepreneurs and solopreneurs and new businessowners, we feel trapped too sometimes and we
become a victim of the monster we've created,either a victim of our own success. or we're
not seeing the growth that we expected and thingsare harder than we planned for. And so much
(19:32):
of what's in the book and also what we coachon really helps you break through that and
find your way to the other side. Because I thinkall of our careers have what I call seasonality,
right? And we all know success isn't linear.And so when you start to embrace that seasonality
in your business, and in your career and realize,okay, how can I show up better for me first?
(19:57):
Because when I do that, then the downstreamimpacts are gonna show up in my business. seasonality
and how can I show up better? All right. Let'sswitch gears. Tammy, we've talked about how
you from created your business over the lastseven years, walk my listeners through a typical
(20:18):
is the, is the word engagement. Is it one-on-one?Um, do you consult as well for the executive
team of the midsize companies? Walk my listenersthrough that experience. Yeah, absolutely.
And so we do work privately and we have group,you know, we have group programs that we use.
And then we also do business advisory work.And so a typical engagement in any of those
(20:40):
scenarios is really not only getting clear onwhat good looks like, but why? Oh, because
so many times we were like, I want to do this,you know, a business is like we want to expand,
you know, an individual is like, I want to getpromoted or, you know. in group settings, we
do a lot of women in leadership type work. Youknow, it's like, I want whatever. And then
(21:03):
the next question is why? Why? And if thoseanswers ring hollow, then it's time to go back
and take a look at that to figure out what youreally do want. Because so often we're on autopilot,
we do something because it's what's expectednext. We do something because well, that's
(21:24):
what all the books and the magazines and thepodcasts I'm supposed to do. And all of these
things, it's like, no, let's lean back in andfigure out what do you want? And I think a
really good example is I had this summer, Ihad a summer of flow is what I called it. And
we had hired all these coaches last year. Welaunched the book in January. We had a great
book launch party in New York City in April.And everybody's like, what's next? And I'm
(21:47):
like, I'm tired. Nothing is next. Right, andso I promised we're gonna run the business,
but I was just gonna not make any big decisionsor start anything new for the whole summer.
Nice. Now the summer flow is led into a ragingriver, but I needed that time to assess what
I wanted. And as I was doing this, I read thisbook called Scalar Fail. Scalar Fail. And so
(22:11):
one of the exercises is that, you know, youput your big hairy goal out there from a revenue
perspective and you triple it. And so I didthat and I'm like, well, this is exciting and
all that kind of fun stuff. But then I startedto back into what the operational and personal
expense would be in terms of lifestyle to dothat. I'm like, I don't wanna work that hard.
It's not for me. Right? And so I think checkingin and asking ourselves why, because if you
(22:38):
find that you've achieved something that youwanted and you get there, and suddenly you
look around and you're like, is this all thereis, then you've been running the wrong race.
And so we don't check in enough to make surethat the race we're running is going to give
us the finish line that is truly where we needto be. So that's the really first part of the
(23:01):
engagement, because once that's clear, thenfrom an execution perspective and building
that path forward through coaching and throughskill building and through advisory work, that
stuff becomes a lot easier. because when youknow Simon Sinek is great with that whole start
with why, because when you're really connectedto that, that is where you get your resilience.
(23:22):
Okay. You know, I have found there's been severaltimes in my life where I want to give up. Okay.
And things got too hard. Do I really want this?Like, you know, it was just easier to just
play it safe, do nothing, all the things. Butwhen I connected to my, you know, my true why,
like. what is going on with me personally, thenthat's where I found my grit to keep going.
(23:47):
Like when I was younger in my career, you know,quick story, but long story short, my parents
split up when I was a teenager, my mom, my sisterand I ended up homeless. And I saw how much
she struggled. And I swore that would neverbe me. And so for the beginning part of my
career, my ambition was fueled by fear. Yes.Um, and so, but that's what kept me going.
(24:09):
It's like, I don't want this, like, you know,and so, so that was really what allowed me
to find that internal fortitude to do the thingsthat just seemed impossible. Now, when I started
this business, I started to have second thoughtsagain. I'm like, this is so irresponsible.
It's like, you are a grown adult and you'veleft the job everybody wants. You're living
on a tropical island. You have no idea whereyour first paycheck is coming from, let alone
(24:33):
the second and third. It's like, what are youdoing? And I was afraid, because at that time,
my parents were aging and they had no moneyseparately. And so my sister and I were supporting
them financially. And I'm like, I have one daughter.I'm like, I don't want to be a burden on her
because I'm off playing around the world. Andso when I realized that, okay, now my... you
(24:54):
know, my big reason for doing what I do andfor wanting what I want is so that way I'm
never a burden on her, but I can still havethe life that I want for me. Then the days
where I wake up and I'm like, I'll be like doingthis. I still get up and do it anyway. Right.
So yeah. Thank you for sharing that personalstory. And I feel honored that you shared that
(25:21):
here on the Founder Sandbox. So I'm good onhow my listeners can use your services. So
it's either individuals or mid-size companies.Yep, yep. Entrepreneurs, mid-size companies,
that kind of stuff. Yes. So at Next Act Advisors,I work a lot with scaling companies. So it's
(25:45):
normally the CEO and the founding team. I'mall about building scalable and resilient companies.
and the management of risk is very important.Can you, and you have a lot of clients that
come from the Wall Street world, right? Do youhave any specific highlights or experiences
(26:08):
with executives who have pivoted their careerswhile working with you and are actually working
in the risk and compliance functions? I mean,I'd love to hear some real life stories. Yeah,
when I was in corporate, you know, three ofthose 11 roles that I had, one was operational
risk for a client defense, one was internalaudit, so the very last stop, and then a major
(26:33):
role in compliance, in terms of internationalbanking and during the financial crisis. And
so I think having a sales background, whichis how I started my career, moving into middle
office and operations, and then ultimately leadingsome risk functions, There's a few things that
(26:53):
I think if you're sitting in a risk functiontoday, that make a difference between being
adequate at your job and being an amazing businesspartner. And it's so easy to just hide behind
the word no. Okay. It's safe. Like you can'tdo that. Like Dr. No. Right? You can't do that.
(27:13):
You can't do this. You can't do these things.Whereas there's a true risk part. is going
to be able to help guide a business executiveon how to get to yes, safe, and in a safe way.
And very few, I think, risk partners actuallydo that. And so knowing I had a quota that
(27:34):
I had carried in my life and frontline withclients when they're irritated because it takes
so long to get them onboarded, or they haveto fill out this form 700 times or whatever
it is, it's like as a risk partner, it's yourjob to help. the business safely get to yes
and grow. And I think it's just too easy tohide behind the checklist, hide behind that
(27:55):
this is what the regulators said. I mean, weneed to listen to the regulators. They are
there for everyone's safety. But there's somany ways to not have to have that contentious
or that myopic relationship. And so I thinkfrom a risk partner perspective, really understanding
how the business works. really understandingwhere the risks are. So let's face it, you
(28:18):
know, if you are going to be completely riskadverse, you would never open up your front
door on a rainy day with marble floors. Becausethe chance of somebody slipping and falling
is too high, but we open our doors every day.So there's at some level an assumed acceptance
of risk. And like, how do we do this in a waythat business people understand? You know,
(28:41):
cause you've got your. RCS says you've got yourrisk assessments. You've got all these things.
The end of the day, they're just spreadsheets.No one cares about, right? You've got to and
so to bring this alive, I'm like, OK, here'swhat we need to do. Let's find a way to do
that. And with the business partners with youhand in hand, it's just an amazing combination
to be able to get things done in a good way.I like that. I love how you've really brought
(29:06):
it back to how a risk professional could telltheir story and a more coming CEO of your own
career, all right? Let's go to another questionrelated to 2025. So you took the summer off,
you were in flow, now we're in a raging river.We are definitely in a raging river now, that's
(29:28):
for sure. The team is like, hope you enjoyedthe rest. You have something in store for 2025
that is related to your service offering withCEOs and management teams. Tell us a little
bit more about that. upcoming launch. Yeah,so excited about this. And this is going to
be an absolute game changer for so many businesses.And really started with that aha moment I had
(29:51):
when companies wanted me to start talking aboutthe messages in the book. And so what we've
done is we've cracked the code on how to reignitea workforce that no longer cares. In ways that
actually move the dime. Okay. And revenue, profitability,quality, customer satisfaction, key talent
(30:17):
retention. And so it's called Amplify 360. Andwhat we do is we take this three pronged approach
to work with a company for three months. I thinkmost leaders have kind of fallen out of love
with a long term culture play. Right, you bringconsultants in, you bring organizational design
(30:37):
people in, you bring in employee engagementsurveys, you do all these things and nothing
works. So what do you do? And so what we dois we take three months, basically it's an
adrenaline shot to get the company started andkind of pivoted onto the right track. But we
work with three different constituents. We workwith the employees and teach them how to become
(31:01):
that CEO of their career. Okay. we work withthe leadership team to teach them how to not
screw that up. Okay. Right? Cause that's a presslike, oh, I got a stick. I don't like this.
It makes me uncomfortable. And then we workwith the executive team and the board to make
sure that their policies, their procedures,the things that they're recognizing and moving
(31:23):
people forward in terms of behavior are takingthe organization in the right direction of
travel. Okay. Because one of those three pieces,when one of them breaks, the whole thing breaks.
Okay. And so we spend the first month doingbaseline work and seeing where the company's
at. The second month is skill building and trainingand coaching and those types of things. The
(31:49):
third month is operationalizing this so theycan be self-sufficient. Wow. And so it is fast,
it is high energy. It layers in with, You stillhave to run a business, so we don't have to
shut down for three months to do this. And whatwe've found in some of our preliminary pilots
is that the entire dynamic starts to change.And all of a sudden, the people who didn't
(32:15):
have much to say are engaged and connected.And one of the biggest core foundational things
that we work on is we work on connecting anindividual's personal um, ambition, you know,
they're the things that get them, that get themup at night or aspirations rather. So we take
their aspirations and connect them to the company'sbiggest goals. I love it. See, we don't tap
(32:42):
into aspiration because you can't measure it.Right. But there's a reason all of us get out
of bed in the morning, regardless of what wedo for a living. So what is that? And when
you figure out what that is, And then you startapplying that to the company's, you know, biggest
objectives. Now, all of a sudden everyone iswinning because typically the things that you
(33:06):
have the biggest aspirations about are alsothe things you're most skilled in. Now you
have more people spending time playing to theirstrengths. They're doing things that they personally
care about and the business is winning too.So would you say that your secret sauce in
this amplify 360 degree approach is aligningthe individual's personal aspiration with the
(33:34):
corporate goals. Yes, that is absolutely stepone, right? And it's something no one's doing,
right? Everyone's talking employee engagement.I'm telling you to think about aspirations.
Absolutely. Wow. And Tammy, just for clarification,are you focusing this new service offering
on
(33:56):
it's sector agnostic. People are people, right?Our area of strong expertise are middle market
companies that are in STEM and in hypergrowth,right? That's really where this has the best
opportunity for an ROI fast. But we serve allclients in terms of if you need that kind of
(34:17):
support and you're willing to do the thingsthat you need to within your organization.
But middle market STEM, that's really our sweetspot. Excellent. Well, it's now your time to
share with my listeners how to contact you,Tammy Alvarez, or your company. What would
you, there'll be show notes for this episodeand we'll be providing material to give some
(34:42):
information on how. Absolutely. Yeah. So, sothe one thing I love to ask all of our listeners
to do is connect with me on LinkedIn and sendme a message. Let me know you heard the podcast,
what you thought, you know, what you agreedwith, what you didn't. I love to hear your
stories. But you can also reach us at care Weare offering a complimentary strategy assessment
(35:04):
for companies who might need the Amplify 360solution, where we can see, are you ready for
this and where's your best opportunity? So reallybetween the website and LinkedIn, those are
the best ways to get ahold of us right now.Well, thank you, Tammy. We're gonna go back
to the founder sandbox and I love to ask eachof my guests. The meaning of three words, which
(35:26):
is the areas of work where I engage with myclients. And it's on building resilient businesses,
purpose-driven businesses and scalable growth.What does resilience mean to you? Resilience
to me is being able to find joy no matter whatlife throws at you. Wow.
(35:50):
What about purpose-driven businesses? From abusiness perspective, I think having a purpose-driven
business is about having that unifying forcewithin your organization that everyone can
get behind. Goes much further than a vision,mission, value statement. But again, it's the
(36:11):
organizational aspiration. What is the reasonwe are getting out of bed in the morning, like
a career winner circle? Our purpose? is to makesure that everyone loves Mondays again, right?
And to eradicate the apathetic haze that hastaken over in organizations. And that is our
purpose. It's big and everyone's behind that.And so that's where I think the value of having
(36:34):
a purpose-driven company comes into play. Thankyou. Scalable growth. Scalable growth kind
of ties to me into resilience, right? In termsof the rate of change that individuals and
businesses are experiencing right now is significant.And so one of the things, especially through
Amplify 360 that we focus on is making surethat the entire organization's ecosystem is
(37:00):
future-proofed. And so, you can focus on yourown shop, but if all your suppliers, your vendors,
or your customers are changing tack and youdon't know, then you can do all the things
right for all the wrong outcomes. And so it'sfor me, that scalability, a big piece of that
is you look at all the things that are involvedecosystem internally and externally and make
(37:23):
sure that everything is as feature-proofed asit can possibly be. Like amazing nuggets there.
Thank you. Last and final question, Tammy, didyou have fun in the sandbox today? I love playing
in the sandbox, right? So I did, Britta. Thankyou so much for the invite. And hopefully some
of the things that we talked about today resonatewith the listeners where you can start to take
(37:45):
action on some of these things right away. Well,thank you. My listeners, if you like this episode
with Tammy Alvarez, sign up for the monthlyrelease where founders, business owners, corporate
directors, and professional service providerslearn about how to build with strong governance,
resilience, scalable, and purpose-driven companyto make profits for good. Signing off for this
(38:08):
month, thank you very much.
We're standing on the edge of something big.We're going to make some changes. Hi, I'm pleased
to announce something very special to me, anew subscription-based service through Next
(00:25):
Act Advisors that allows members exclusive accessto personal industry insights and bespoke corporate
governance knowledge. This comes in the formof blogs, personal book recommendations, and
early access to the founder's sandbox podcastepisodes before they released to the public.
(00:46):
If you want more white glove information onbuilding your startup with information like
what was in today's episode, sign up with thelink in the show notes to enjoy being a special
member of Next Act Advisors. As a thank youto Founders Sandbox listeners, you can use
code SANDBOX25 at checkout to enjoy 25% offyour membership costs. Thank you.
(01:20):
Welcome back to the Founder's Sandbox. I amBrenda McCabe, your host in this monthly podcast.
We're now into our third season. The monthlypodcast reaches entrepreneurs and business
owners who learn about building resilient, purpose-drivenand sustainable businesses with great corporate
governance. I want to assist entrepreneurs andentrepreneurs in building those scalable, well-governed
(01:44):
and resilient businesses. And guests to my podcastare founders, business owners, themselves who
want to use the power of the private enterprise,be it small, medium, or large, to create change
for a better world. Through storytelling witheach of my guests that are going to touch upon
resilience, purpose-driven enterprise, and sustainablegrowth, my goal is to provide in a fun environment
(02:11):
where we can equip one startup founder at atime the skills to build a better world through
great corporate governance. Today, my guestis Tammy Alvarez. Tammy is joining the podcast
as founder and CEO of Career Winners Circle.She also is an author, professional keynote
(02:33):
speaker, inspirational coach, trainer, and epicstoryteller. So welcome, Tammy, to the Founder's
Sandbox. Thank you, Brenda. It is such a pleasureto be here today. I do feel a bit intimidated.
You know, you're an epic storyteller, and Ithought... So we have two storytellers in the
sandbox today. Should be good. Excellent. Soin prior conversations with you, Tammy, and
(02:57):
I did take some time to listen to some otherpodcasts where you've been featured. You, like
me, share a mission. And you're very mission-driven.And you've experienced firsthand burnout in
the corporate world. And you intentionally created.a work life balance, which we're going to learn
(03:21):
about more today that resulted in creating careerwinners circle. And it's a company that's offering
coaching, career coaching, helping individualsfigure out what you do that you love. Every
guest and I we choose a title for the podcast,our title for this podcast with Tammy Alvarez,
(03:43):
CEO of career is purpose pivoting careers. SoTammy, you are joining us from Mexico City.
I am. But your journey actually started yearsago in New York and Wall Street. And then you
took a little jaunt over to Belize. And I foundsome commonalities, my own work. is informed
(04:14):
by a major life change that I made back over20, actually 15 years now, I moved back to
the US after 25 years in Europe. And I workwith companies, not necessarily individuals,
to be fit for purpose, poised for growth, andmade for resilience. What made you leave the
(04:35):
Manhattan, Wall Street life and go offshorebefore it became fashionable? in the post-COVID
world?
It was an interesting culmination of activities,if you will. I grew up in and around Wall Street.
So my whole career was really around financialservices and I loved the corporate career.
(05:01):
Throughout my corporate career, I made 11 differentchanges in terms of the jobs that I had, everything
from sales to audit and everything in between.in five different industries and around Wall
Street, because I had this mindset that if youdon't like it, change it. And that's kind of
how I navigated through my career. And I rememberthis one day, here I am, top of my career,
(05:27):
managing director, the height of my career ismanaging like over 2000 people in 35 countries,
like all these big girl things that are goingon. And I remember sitting in a boardroom,
we had missed earnings again. And we were justwaiting for the bloodletting to begin, right?
So our boss comes in and every quarter it wouldturn into a game of hot potato. Of whose fault
(05:48):
was it? Like, it's not my fault. It's salesfault. It's operations. It's this, it's that.
And it just was actually, you know, became comical.And then we'd all go out for a few beers after
the meeting was over. And so this time was particularlybrutal in terms of how difficult the analyst
call was. And I remember having this. out ofbody experience it felt like in the movies.
(06:10):
You know, when you're floating over the tableand you're associated to it, but you're not
really there. And I didn't realize it at thetime, but my career had received its death
sentence because I developed this disease thatI call I don't give a shititis. And so, you
know, six months later, I had found myself,I had cashed out of Wall Street. I had moved
(06:33):
to a tropical island off the coast of Belizein Central America and started this business,
which was by far the most terrifying thing I'veever done. And I just really needed that reset
because I had stopped learning. And it feltlike I had just seen everything and to go to
another company would have been the same, youknow, the same thing with a different shade
of lipstick. And I needed to reignite my desireto actually learn. fail successfully and move
(07:02):
my business forward. Say that again, you wantedto reignite. I needed to reignite my desire,
my ability to learn, but also how to fail successfully.Okay. And continue to start a new chapter.
Right, right. And we did speak about some ofyour intentional choices. All right, you leave,
(07:27):
you had it. What would you call that? You hada disease? Oh, yeah. I don't give a shititis,
right? So yes. I think a lot of us have thatdisease, and we just don't realize it's, you
know. Right. Well, by speaking your truth, whichis what I'm hearing, and my listeners will
as well. I was struck, though, Tammy, becauseyou landed in that tropical island, but you
(07:49):
really didn't yet know what you were about todo, right? I had no idea.
you age out of Wall Street, you just do. Andso part of my plan, soft plan, the extent of
my business plan, Brenda, was I'm gonna coachsomeday and sit on a few boards and do some
academic work. That was the extent of my businessplan. So when I pulled the plug, I think I've
(08:13):
made every mistake an entrepreneur could possiblymake, probably twice, because I'm a slow learner.
And so I just fumbled my way through in thedark and just. kept trying things and kept
failing at things until I finally figured outthe secret sauce, but it took several years
for me to get to that point. And it was terrifying,right? In terms of feeling like I had lost
(08:37):
the skill to learn, I'm like, oh, this is takinga lot longer than it used to because I purposefully
stayed at a corporate. I did not wanna havea business to business company because I knew
I was still addicted to the work. Yep. And ifI'd gone right back in, I'd just be in the
same rat race under my own flag. And so I purposelysent myself to serve consumers and I didn't
(09:00):
know anything about mailing lists or drip campaignsor marketing funnels. I knew none of this stuff.
And so that, that journey was absolutely oneof the most frustrating and rewarding journeys
I think I've had. And, and you know, did you,um, you're six years into this almost seven
now. Yeah, exactly. auspicious number. Do youreally believe that you've removed the golden
(09:25):
handcuffs of a corporate life or and you arethe best operator to actually be working with
people that are leaving corporate life in WallStreet? Yes. And yes. Excellent. You know,
since the day I started the firm, I've neverworked more than 30 hours a week. Right. We
(09:45):
would go scuba diving a couple of days a weekbefore work. Just as a way to start our day.
What better way than to go play with the fishand get salty. And it was interesting. So I
had how to coach when I, when I finally realizedthat I can't do this on my own. And I probably
should actually get some help with somebodywho's done this before. I was not looking at
the finances in my business the way I was supposedto. And she kept asking me, you know, every
(10:11):
time we met, where are we with the numbers?Where are we with the forecast? And I would
just, I didn't do what I didn't do it. And soshe finally asked me, she goes, what are you
afraid of? And of course I bristled, cause I'mlike, I'm not afraid of anything. And she let
it go because she knew she hit a nerve. Andso I let that marinate for a little bit. And
after a session or two, what it turned out Brenda,is that I was afraid of success. Okay. I didn't
(10:38):
know it at the time consciously, but I was afraidthat I was gonna end up tethered to my desk
just like I was in corporate. And so I was abandoningall the good practices and the things that
I had learned in corporate because when I cutthe cord, I cut everything. I didn't keep the
good stuff. And so once I started to realizethat some of these routines will actually help
(10:58):
me scale without compromising my lifestyle,then that's when things really started to turn
around for me. Now we've got six coaches. We'reserving individuals and businesses worldwide.
And I'm still, I don't work on Fridays. Andthose boundaries are so important to me because
I just gave up on those for my entire adultlife. You said a few things here, too, that
(11:24):
really caught my attention. So you intentionallydid set out to want to make a difference in
other people's lives. So you started with yourown. You work no more than 30 hours a week.
You've built your work life, your work aroundthe work-life balance. Yes. And you kept the
(11:50):
good stuff that matter from that corporate life.I'm curious, is this a type of consulting that
you do with the individuals that you coach?Yes, we do. Because a lot of the mid-assessors
mid to senior level leaders that we coach, starttheir own businesses. And so we helped them
on that journey. And so the business found meinitially, because one of the biggest mistakes
(12:15):
I made is that I created a bunch of amazingprograms that no one would buy. So I was like,
okay, this is a terrible idea. Because I wasa transformation expert on Wall Street. So
we, every time the building was burning, myteam and I were running in while everyone else
was running out. I loved it. But when I wasin corporate, I realized that most people suck
at this. Okay. And so I'm like, let me teachpeople how to be really strong transformational
(12:39):
leaders, which was a great idea, but that didn'twork with a business to consumer model because
they wouldn't pay for it because they didn'tsee that as a gating factor to their success.
That's right. And as I was talking to potentialclients, it's like, yeah, I don't care about
that, but I want to know how you did what youdid. I was like, Oh, you do. And like, you
(13:00):
know, cause they. Most of our clients when westarted were mid to senior level leaders, single
career, multiple companies usually, but singlecareer, and now they're miserable and they
feel stuck and they know they don't like this,but they don't know what they did like. And
there's a lot of shame that comes with that.And so I deconstructed the things that I did
naturally over the past 20 years in terms ofmaking all these moves. I'm like, how do I
(13:24):
help others do this? And so the business actuallyfound me. And that's really how we started.
But then as our customers' journeys evolvedand they started to go into smaller companies
and become C-suite executives for mid-size organizationsor start their own firms or begin their own
nonprofits, then we continue to serve them onthat journey because those are new challenges
(13:49):
and new opportunities for them to need a wingmanor a win-win-win for. And so now we really
work with business leaders and individual executiveswithin companies, if you don't wake up and
love Monday every Monday, you're doing it wrong.Exactly. It's not a pipe dream. And that's
(14:10):
really where we step in and add that value andmake that difference. That's a great segue
to the title of your book that you recentlyauthored, The First Quarter of 2024. How did
you? Make the time Tammy, while running yourbusiness, attending to your clients, working
(14:35):
with building your own team. So for my listeners,Tammy is author of Escaping the Career Trap,
Transform Your Apathy into Ambition and NeverHate Mondays Again. So applause. Thank you.
So you are an author. How did you find the time?um, to write this and how, who was your target
(14:57):
audience? Um, and how has that influenced thetype of work you're doing today? Yeah, the
book, um, has been in the making since I startedthe company. And I had a really good mentor
because that was the first thing I wanted todo was write a book. And so he sat me down.
He lived in Belize as well. And so he and Iwere, you know, having a cocktail on the terrace,
(15:19):
looking over the ocean. He's like, Tammy, youdon't need a book. you need customers. And
he's like, without customers, you don't havea business. And so this idea of a book kept
going on my vision board year after year afteryear. And so the timing turned out to be perfect
(15:40):
because we were moving from Belize to MexicoCity. I had no friends in Mexico City yet,
and I didn't speak the language very well. Andso this was a really good time for me just
to hunker in. and really finally get this passionproject of mine over the finish line. And obviously
it takes a village, right? So I had a greatcoach and even better editor. You know, I'm
(16:03):
a thought leader, I'm not an author by trade.And so there was a lot of heavy lifting in
terms of making this readable for our audience.And the book surprised me actually, because
originally it was written for the disenfranchisedworker. Like if you hate Mondays, you need
to read the book. And it's a coaching book.where you absolutely know step by step exactly
(16:23):
what you need to do. But then what surprisedme is that organizations started to pay me
to come in and deliver this message to theirteens. Oh my gosh. I was like, you do realize
I talk in the first two chapters about how messedup everything is. And they're like, yes, but
this is the message. Cause in the message, theso what to this is that I think everyone needs
(16:48):
to become that CEO. of you incorporated. Andwhen you start to treat your career like a
business, whether you are a corporate personor whether you actually have your own business,
because a lot of us haven't promoted ourselvesinto that CEO spot yet. But when you start
to think about things in terms of running abusiness and apply those to how you manage
(17:09):
your career, everything changes. And it's goodfor the individual, it's good for the business,
it's good for everyone. And so, you know, withthe book now, we are working with companies
who are really struggling with the majorityof their employees who also have, I don't give
a shit, itis. Okay. And like, how do you wakethem up? Because there's this, especially in
(17:30):
the middle market space, there's this conceptof this, you know, global talent shortage crisis
is what they're calling it. And so I'm herewith all the layoffs, how can there be a talent
shortage crisis anywhere? But what I stronglybelieve, and what we're starting to prove out
with our clients now, is that businesses haveeverything they need right under their nose.
(17:52):
They just don't know how to activate it. Right,right. And so we've created a, you know, literally
a three month like adrenaline rush process toreactivate the ambition and get people to start
to lean in and care about what they do again.And it's made amazing results and differences
for our clients. So at the end of the day, we'reall about loving Mondays in every way possible.
(18:16):
And whether that's helping organizations orindividuals find their path, there's a way
forward for everyone. Right, I love the commentyou made around the first three chapters when
you were surprised that corporates were askingyou to come in and speak is that everyone needs
to become a CEO within their business, right?The business line, right? Did I quote you correctly?
(18:41):
Because I mean, you know, so when you treatyour career like a business, yeah, and you
become the CEO of you incorporated, then that'swhen the magic starts to happen.
I can't wait to read it because I will be honest,I have not read your book, but I loved the
catchy title, Escaping the Career Trap. Transformyour apathy into ambition and never hate Mondays
(19:07):
again. And those golden handcuffs are there,right? Right on the cover. And I think for
entrepreneurs and solopreneurs and new businessowners, we feel trapped too sometimes and we
become a victim of the monster we've created,either a victim of our own success. or we're
not seeing the growth that we expected and thingsare harder than we planned for. And so much
(19:32):
of what's in the book and also what we coachon really helps you break through that and
find your way to the other side. Because I thinkall of our careers have what I call seasonality,
right? And we all know success isn't linear.And so when you start to embrace that seasonality
in your business, and in your career and realize,okay, how can I show up better for me first?
(19:57):
Because when I do that, then the downstreamimpacts are gonna show up in my business. seasonality
and how can I show up better? All right. Let'sswitch gears. Tammy, we've talked about how
you from created your business over the lastseven years, walk my listeners through a typical
(20:18):
is the, is the word engagement. Is it one-on-one?Um, do you consult as well for the executive
team of the midsize companies? Walk my listenersthrough that experience. Yeah, absolutely.
And so we do work privately and we have group,you know, we have group programs that we use.
And then we also do business advisory work.And so a typical engagement in any of those
(20:40):
scenarios is really not only getting clear onwhat good looks like, but why? Oh, because
so many times we were like, I want to do this,you know, a business is like we want to expand,
you know, an individual is like, I want to getpromoted or, you know. in group settings, we
do a lot of women in leadership type work. Youknow, it's like, I want whatever. And then
(21:03):
the next question is why? Why? And if thoseanswers ring hollow, then it's time to go back
and take a look at that to figure out what youreally do want. Because so often we're on autopilot,
we do something because it's what's expectednext. We do something because well, that's
(21:24):
what all the books and the magazines and thepodcasts I'm supposed to do. And all of these
things, it's like, no, let's lean back in andfigure out what do you want? And I think a
really good example is I had this summer, Ihad a summer of flow is what I called it. And
we had hired all these coaches last year. Welaunched the book in January. We had a great
book launch party in New York City in April.And everybody's like, what's next? And I'm
(21:47):
like, I'm tired. Nothing is next. Right, andso I promised we're gonna run the business,
but I was just gonna not make any big decisionsor start anything new for the whole summer.
Nice. Now the summer flow is led into a ragingriver, but I needed that time to assess what
I wanted. And as I was doing this, I read thisbook called Scalar Fail. Scalar Fail. And so
(22:11):
one of the exercises is that, you know, youput your big hairy goal out there from a revenue
perspective and you triple it. And so I didthat and I'm like, well, this is exciting and
all that kind of fun stuff. But then I startedto back into what the operational and personal
expense would be in terms of lifestyle to dothat. I'm like, I don't wanna work that hard.
It's not for me. Right? And so I think checkingin and asking ourselves why, because if you
(22:38):
find that you've achieved something that youwanted and you get there, and suddenly you
look around and you're like, is this all thereis, then you've been running the wrong race.
And so we don't check in enough to make surethat the race we're running is going to give
us the finish line that is truly where we needto be. So that's the really first part of the
(23:01):
engagement, because once that's clear, thenfrom an execution perspective and building
that path forward through coaching and throughskill building and through advisory work, that
stuff becomes a lot easier. because when youknow Simon Sinek is great with that whole start
with why, because when you're really connectedto that, that is where you get your resilience.
(23:22):
Okay. You know, I have found there's been severaltimes in my life where I want to give up. Okay.
And things got too hard. Do I really want this?Like, you know, it was just easier to just
play it safe, do nothing, all the things. Butwhen I connected to my, you know, my true why,
like. what is going on with me personally, thenthat's where I found my grit to keep going.
(23:47):
Like when I was younger in my career, you know,quick story, but long story short, my parents
split up when I was a teenager, my mom, my sisterand I ended up homeless. And I saw how much
she struggled. And I swore that would neverbe me. And so for the beginning part of my
career, my ambition was fueled by fear. Yes.Um, and so, but that's what kept me going.
(24:09):
It's like, I don't want this, like, you know,and so, so that was really what allowed me
to find that internal fortitude to do the thingsthat just seemed impossible. Now, when I started
this business, I started to have second thoughtsagain. I'm like, this is so irresponsible.
It's like, you are a grown adult and you'veleft the job everybody wants. You're living
on a tropical island. You have no idea whereyour first paycheck is coming from, let alone
(24:33):
the second and third. It's like, what are youdoing? And I was afraid, because at that time,
my parents were aging and they had no moneyseparately. And so my sister and I were supporting
them financially. And I'm like, I have one daughter.I'm like, I don't want to be a burden on her
because I'm off playing around the world. Andso when I realized that, okay, now my... you
(24:54):
know, my big reason for doing what I do andfor wanting what I want is so that way I'm
never a burden on her, but I can still havethe life that I want for me. Then the days
where I wake up and I'm like, I'll be like doingthis. I still get up and do it anyway. Right.
So yeah. Thank you for sharing that personalstory. And I feel honored that you shared that
(25:21):
here on the Founder Sandbox. So I'm good onhow my listeners can use your services. So
it's either individuals or mid-size companies.Yep, yep. Entrepreneurs, mid-size companies,
that kind of stuff. Yes. So at Next Act Advisors,I work a lot with scaling companies. So it's
(25:45):
normally the CEO and the founding team. I'mall about building scalable and resilient companies.
and the management of risk is very important.Can you, and you have a lot of clients that
come from the Wall Street world, right? Do youhave any specific highlights or experiences
(26:08):
with executives who have pivoted their careerswhile working with you and are actually working
in the risk and compliance functions? I mean,I'd love to hear some real life stories. Yeah,
when I was in corporate, you know, three ofthose 11 roles that I had, one was operational
risk for a client defense, one was internalaudit, so the very last stop, and then a major
(26:33):
role in compliance, in terms of internationalbanking and during the financial crisis. And
so I think having a sales background, whichis how I started my career, moving into middle
office and operations, and then ultimately leadingsome risk functions, There's a few things that
(26:53):
I think if you're sitting in a risk functiontoday, that make a difference between being
adequate at your job and being an amazing businesspartner. And it's so easy to just hide behind
the word no. Okay. It's safe. Like you can'tdo that. Like Dr. No. Right? You can't do that.
(27:13):
You can't do this. You can't do these things.Whereas there's a true risk part. is going
to be able to help guide a business executiveon how to get to yes, safe, and in a safe way.
And very few, I think, risk partners actuallydo that. And so knowing I had a quota that
(27:34):
I had carried in my life and frontline withclients when they're irritated because it takes
so long to get them onboarded, or they haveto fill out this form 700 times or whatever
it is, it's like as a risk partner, it's yourjob to help. the business safely get to yes
and grow. And I think it's just too easy tohide behind the checklist, hide behind that
(27:55):
this is what the regulators said. I mean, weneed to listen to the regulators. They are
there for everyone's safety. But there's somany ways to not have to have that contentious
or that myopic relationship. And so I thinkfrom a risk partner perspective, really understanding
how the business works. really understandingwhere the risks are. So let's face it, you
(28:18):
know, if you are going to be completely riskadverse, you would never open up your front
door on a rainy day with marble floors. Becausethe chance of somebody slipping and falling
is too high, but we open our doors every day.So there's at some level an assumed acceptance
of risk. And like, how do we do this in a waythat business people understand? You know,
(28:41):
cause you've got your. RCS says you've got yourrisk assessments. You've got all these things.
The end of the day, they're just spreadsheets.No one cares about, right? You've got to and
so to bring this alive, I'm like, OK, here'swhat we need to do. Let's find a way to do
that. And with the business partners with youhand in hand, it's just an amazing combination
to be able to get things done in a good way.I like that. I love how you've really brought
(29:06):
it back to how a risk professional could telltheir story and a more coming CEO of your own
career, all right? Let's go to another questionrelated to 2025. So you took the summer off,
you were in flow, now we're in a raging river.We are definitely in a raging river now, that's
(29:28):
for sure. The team is like, hope you enjoyedthe rest. You have something in store for 2025
that is related to your service offering withCEOs and management teams. Tell us a little
bit more about that. upcoming launch. Yeah,so excited about this. And this is going to
be an absolute game changer for so many businesses.And really started with that aha moment I had
(29:51):
when companies wanted me to start talking aboutthe messages in the book. And so what we've
done is we've cracked the code on how to reignitea workforce that no longer cares. In ways that
actually move the dime. Okay. And revenue, profitability,quality, customer satisfaction, key talent
(30:17):
retention. And so it's called Amplify 360. Andwhat we do is we take this three pronged approach
to work with a company for three months. I thinkmost leaders have kind of fallen out of love
with a long term culture play. Right, you bringconsultants in, you bring organizational design
(30:37):
people in, you bring in employee engagementsurveys, you do all these things and nothing
works. So what do you do? And so what we dois we take three months, basically it's an
adrenaline shot to get the company started andkind of pivoted onto the right track. But we
work with three different constituents. We workwith the employees and teach them how to become
(31:01):
that CEO of their career. Okay. we work withthe leadership team to teach them how to not
screw that up. Okay. Right? Cause that's a presslike, oh, I got a stick. I don't like this.
It makes me uncomfortable. And then we workwith the executive team and the board to make
sure that their policies, their procedures,the things that they're recognizing and moving
(31:23):
people forward in terms of behavior are takingthe organization in the right direction of
travel. Okay. Because one of those three pieces,when one of them breaks, the whole thing breaks.
Okay. And so we spend the first month doingbaseline work and seeing where the company's
at. The second month is skill building and trainingand coaching and those types of things. The
(31:49):
third month is operationalizing this so theycan be self-sufficient. Wow. And so it is fast,
it is high energy. It layers in with, You stillhave to run a business, so we don't have to
shut down for three months to do this. And whatwe've found in some of our preliminary pilots
is that the entire dynamic starts to change.And all of a sudden, the people who didn't
(32:15):
have much to say are engaged and connected.And one of the biggest core foundational things
that we work on is we work on connecting anindividual's personal um, ambition, you know,
they're the things that get them, that get themup at night or aspirations rather. So we take
their aspirations and connect them to the company'sbiggest goals. I love it. See, we don't tap
(32:42):
into aspiration because you can't measure it.Right. But there's a reason all of us get out
of bed in the morning, regardless of what wedo for a living. So what is that? And when
you figure out what that is, And then you startapplying that to the company's, you know, biggest
objectives. Now, all of a sudden everyone iswinning because typically the things that you
(33:06):
have the biggest aspirations about are alsothe things you're most skilled in. Now you
have more people spending time playing to theirstrengths. They're doing things that they personally
care about and the business is winning too.So would you say that your secret sauce in
this amplify 360 degree approach is aligningthe individual's personal aspiration with the
(33:34):
corporate goals. Yes, that is absolutely stepone, right? And it's something no one's doing,
right? Everyone's talking employee engagement.I'm telling you to think about aspirations.
Absolutely. Wow. And Tammy, just for clarification,are you focusing this new service offering
on
(33:56):
it's sector agnostic. People are people, right?Our area of strong expertise are middle market
companies that are in STEM and in hypergrowth,right? That's really where this has the best
opportunity for an ROI fast. But we serve allclients in terms of if you need that kind of
(34:17):
support and you're willing to do the thingsthat you need to within your organization.
But middle market STEM, that's really our sweetspot. Excellent. Well, it's now your time to
share with my listeners how to contact you,Tammy Alvarez, or your company. What would
you, there'll be show notes for this episodeand we'll be providing material to give some
(34:42):
information on how. Absolutely. Yeah. So, sothe one thing I love to ask all of our listeners
to do is connect with me on LinkedIn and sendme a message. Let me know you heard the podcast,
what you thought, you know, what you agreedwith, what you didn't. I love to hear your
stories. But you can also reach us at care Weare offering a complimentary strategy assessment
(35:04):
for companies who might need the Amplify 360solution, where we can see, are you ready for
this and where's your best opportunity? So reallybetween the website and LinkedIn, those are
the best ways to get ahold of us right now.Well, thank you, Tammy. We're gonna go back
to the founder sandbox and I love to ask eachof my guests. The meaning of three words, which
(35:26):
is the areas of work where I engage with myclients. And it's on building resilient businesses,
purpose-driven businesses and scalable growth.What does resilience mean to you? Resilience
to me is being able to find joy no matter whatlife throws at you. Wow.
(35:50):
What about purpose-driven businesses? From abusiness perspective, I think having a purpose-driven
business is about having that unifying forcewithin your organization that everyone can
get behind. Goes much further than a vision,mission, value statement. But again, it's the
(36:11):
organizational aspiration. What is the reasonwe are getting out of bed in the morning, like
a career winner circle? Our purpose? is to makesure that everyone loves Mondays again, right?
And to eradicate the apathetic haze that hastaken over in organizations. And that is our
purpose. It's big and everyone's behind that.And so that's where I think the value of having
(36:34):
a purpose-driven company comes into play. Thankyou. Scalable growth. Scalable growth kind
of ties to me into resilience, right? In termsof the rate of change that individuals and
businesses are experiencing right now is significant.And so one of the things, especially through
Amplify 360 that we focus on is making surethat the entire organization's ecosystem is
(37:00):
future-proofed. And so, you can focus on yourown shop, but if all your suppliers, your vendors,
or your customers are changing tack and youdon't know, then you can do all the things
right for all the wrong outcomes. And so it'sfor me, that scalability, a big piece of that
is you look at all the things that are involvedecosystem internally and externally and make
(37:23):
sure that everything is as feature-proofed asit can possibly be. Like amazing nuggets there.
Thank you. Last and final question, Tammy, didyou have fun in the sandbox today? I love playing
in the sandbox, right? So I did, Britta. Thankyou so much for the invite. And hopefully some
of the things that we talked about today resonatewith the listeners where you can start to take
(37:45):
action on some of these things right away. Well,thank you. My listeners, if you like this episode
with Tammy Alvarez, sign up for the monthlyrelease where founders, business owners, corporate
directors, and professional service providerslearn about how to build with strong governance,
resilience, scalable, and purpose-driven companyto make profits for good. Signing off for this
(38:08):
month, thank you very much.
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