July 10, 2025 • 36 mins
Julie's brand new Big Gorgeous Goals: Official Workbook can be ordered now! Grab your copy.
Shari Cedar's remarkable career pivot reveals how seemingly unrelated skills can become your greatest business assets. In this episode of Figure 8, we discover the unconventional journey from TV production to becoming CEO of AK Building Services-- a major commercial janitorial company in Florida that Shari co-owns with her husband Mark.
For 25+ years, Shari Cedar has been leading with purpose and passion. Whether in TV production, where she spent her first chapter, or commercial cleaning, where she has fully dedicated her second chapter to creating growth opportunities for AK Building Services, Shari’s presence is felt by all. As CEO and Co-Owner of AK Building Services, an industry-leading family owned and operated commercial janitorial services provider in Florida that Shari owns with her husband, Mark, Shari is laser-focused on leadership and growing the organization for the team. Shari is an active participant in the industry representing the company as a member of Building Owners and Managers Association International (BOMA), CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) Network, BSCAI and the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce. When Shari is not serving her clients and teammates, she can be found supporting her community. She is a board member for the Pace Center for Girls, an active member of Women United, and a member of the Nova Southeastern University Ambassador Board.
As a working mom of two boys, Shari hopes to pass on her commitment to making a difference, both in business and in the community.
You can connect with Shari on LinkedIn. You can also learn more about AK Building Services on their website.
You can connect with Julie on LinkedIn or Instagram.
Find Julie's writing at her blog or by ordering her book Big Gorgeous Goals and the brand new official companion workbook!
What did you think of this conversation? We'd love if you'd rate or review our show!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Julie (00:04):
Welcome to Figure 8, where we feature inspiring
stories of women entrepreneurswho have grown their businesses
to seven and eight figuresrevenue.
If you're in the mix of growinga bigger business, these
stories are for you.
Join us as we explore where thetough spots are, how to
overcome them and how to prepareyourself for the next portion
(00:27):
of the climb.
I'm your host, Julie Ellis.
I'm an author, entrepreneur anda growth and leadership coach
who co-founded, grew and exitedan eight-figure business.
This led me to exploring whysome women achieve great things,
and that led to my book BigGorgeous Goals.
(00:47):
Let's explore the systems,processes and people that help
us grow our businesses to newheights.
If you're interested in growingyour business, this podcast
will help.
Now let's get going.
Hello and welcome to thisepisode of Figure 8.
(01:08):
Today I am speaking with ShariCedar.
She is the CEO and co-owner ofAK Building Services, and Shari
has had an eclectic career path,starting in TV and TV
production, and now she is in anew chapter as the CEO and
co-owner of AK Building Services, which is an industry-leading
(01:30):
family-owned and operatedcommercial janitorial services
provider, and Shari owns that inFlorida with her husband, mark.
She is incredibly focused onleadership and growing the
organization for the team sheworks with.
She represents the company inthe industry and she is a member
(01:51):
of the Fort Lauderdale Chamberof Commerce, so she's active in
her own community.
She is also a working mom andhopes to demonstrate.
You know how you can build bigthings in your life and let your
kids see you thrive.
So welcome Shari.
Shari (02:06):
Thank you.
It is great to be here.
I'm honored to be a guest and,yeah, thank you Looking forward
to today.
Julie (02:15):
It's so good to have you.
Yeah, I'm so looking forward toour conversation because I
think you know I mean I've hadmy own eclectic career path and
I'm always fascinated by howpeople end up places because
certainly when you read your bioand look at TV hosts, tv
production and when I say TVproduction I mean household name
(02:36):
stuff and that all feels soglamorous and like a job that
many of us might wish for.
Shari (02:42):
You know well, first of all, I will say never, say never
.
Right, like you never say never, because you just never know
where your life is going to takeyou.
And I think the fun ofeverything is really that
journey.
And you know, I have alwaysI'll call it monkey barred my
(03:05):
way through life, for lack of abetter term.
But yeah, I went from a reallycool, amazing industry sexy
industry, I should say torunning janitorial services, and
that's a big swing of thependulum services and that's a
(03:28):
big swing of the pendulum.
Julie (03:28):
It sure is.
It sure is, and I know when wechatted before I mean you talked
about having been a producer onone of the Oprah's favorite
things productions, and ofcourse that's sort of near and
dear to my heart as someone whotried to get their product on
that list many times and and soyou know you just think of
things like that as like I canjust so relate to the time you
were doing that and the time Iwas trying to get on that list.
(03:49):
It was kind of everything.
Shari (03:50):
Oh yeah, if you look at career highlights, I mean
there's well, there's a few,right?
I mean I've been really blessed, I've had an incredible career.
But yes, doing working onOprah's favorite things I did
one of her favorite thingsepisodes was truly a career
highlight for me.
It almost like a bucket listitem and I think when you do
(04:13):
productions of that we'll callit high caliber, with
expectation.
The bar is so high you can notmess up.
You know the pressure's reallyon, so it's very cool.
Everyone's like oh my God, youdid it.
I could just tell you firsthandwhen I did that production I
have never been so scared,shitless in my life.
I'm sorry Jamie will say youcan't say an S word on a podcast
(04:36):
, but there's a lot of highstakes with it.
It really set me up for myfuture in many ways because if
you can pull off a favoritethings and not cry, or while
crying.
(04:56):
But if you believe in, peoplesaid good job, we'd like to work
with you again.
You can pretty much do anythingin life and that ripples out to
almost anything you do.
Julie (05:08):
Well, it is so interesting really, because I
mean, as an industry, media andjournalism has changed so much
through, you know, our lifetimeand is continuing to evolve and
that pressure cooker ofexpectation, it's a lot, oh yeah
.
Shari (05:25):
And I think when I started out in television and I
you know I was single, I wasdriven.
You say jump, I say how high.
I mean I worked all the timeand I thrived on that pressure
and that was a great thing.
You know that work ethic is keyto success in anything you do
and some would argue it'slacking in the workplace today,
(05:49):
however, that's another story.
But yeah and but I think youcan only keep up that pace and
that pressure for so longbecause we all are human and
while I absolutely lovejournalism, I mean I love
sitting here in this podcast, Ilove, you know, journalism and
creating and storytelling issuch an incredible thing.
(06:12):
But the world of TV productionfor me, looking back at it now,
had a shelf life.
I didn't realize it at the timebut it did, because as we get
older and appreciate otherthings in our lives, like family
, friendships, even doingnothing, like I love doing
nothing right when you can carveout that nothingness.
(06:34):
But you have to have that.
Anyway, I think the point I'mmaking is my story in television
was amazing and I hadincredible opportunities to do
things for National GeographicChannel and for E and for Bravo.
But then I think I quitefiguratively and literally hit a
wall and it was like it wastime.
(06:56):
It was time to change.
Julie (07:02):
Well, in some ways, I think, you know, it's like an
all-consuming kind of you wereall consumed by what that was in
your life, but you had manyother things going on in your
life.
I mean, you had kids, you weremarried, you were, you know,
building something with otherpeople in it.
Shari (07:19):
It wasn't just but just funny story.
It was my crazy TV career thatallowed me to meet my husband.
Fun fact I was working on aseries, National Geographic
Channel (07:29):
Worlds Apart, and the whole idea was bring an American
family, like a typical Americanfamily, leave where you are to
learn who you are, to live witha typical Native family,
Indigenous family, this one.
Anyway, amazing experience,life-changing for me.
(07:50):
Really.
I'll never let my water faucetrun endlessly, but anyway, I was
put on mandatory leave by myboss because I was so burnt out.
He was pretty much like you'renot good for, you're useless
right now, go take a vacation.
And I went to Club Med for aweek.
I saw the lady with the hat theall-inclusive Club Med for a
week.
I saw the lady with the hat.
You know the all-inclusivebought like four books.
(08:11):
Yeah, exactly, and that's whereI met my husband.
I have to be grateful for theway life was stacked for me,
because I'm pretty sure if Inever took that vacation I
wouldn't have met Mark.
My life wouldn't have unfoldedthe way it did.
So always keep an open mind.
Julie (08:29):
Well, to me that's kind of the interesting part about
life is the you know you go onthe journey, and whether that
you know the journey zigs andzags, which I think it does for
everybody, it's, yeah what youcan take away from those times.
Shari (08:45):
Well, yes, and just circling back to the different
careers, I think what's reallycool about TV production and
media that serve me well is thesame facets of production.
And journalism really set me upfor the rest of my life, right?
If you look at the idea ofpre-production, production and
(09:06):
post-production, in any time youdo a show, that's applicable to
anything you do in life, right?
Your pre-production you plan,your production, you do it.
And then post-production, howyou follow through and we learn
how to communicate.
We learn how to work onschedules.
We learn how to budget.
We learn how to work onschedules.
We learn how to budget.
We learn how to deal withdifficult people, shy people,
(09:30):
under pressure.
So this sort of first chapterthat I had that gave me this
incredible life experience, likeI would have never told you
that I could run a company.
I didn't ever know that I hadthe chops for that and I would
have said I don't have an MBA, Ihave no, no experience.
But when you are, you are soopen to learning and when you're
(09:53):
so accustomed to just diving indeep and learning everything
you can about a subject, well,why is running a company any
different?
Julie (10:03):
Yeah, and I think the the one like as the producer of
something, you are in a rolewhere not everything may unfold
as you planned it, no matter howyou plan every single thing
right.
And so it is about likeadaptability and how you
navigate the circumstances,circumstances that kind of
unfold in real time.
Shari (10:24):
Oh, absolutely.
I mean, in TV production youplan everything you can, you
control everything you can,because all of that thing, all
of those things that you can'tcontrol, inevitably will happen.
Julie (10:41):
But I also feel that running a business is like that
maybe not everything will unfold, but a lot of things will
unfold that you don't expect,and you have to learn how to
navigate them as you go.
Shari (10:54):
Oh, a thousand percent.
I mean you have to be calm, youhave to be level-headed, you
have to make swift, thoughtful,decisive decisions and, at the
same time, if you made a baddecision, you have to recognize
and own it so you can fix things.
Everyone makes mistakes.
It's how you deal with aproblem and how quickly you
(11:16):
resolve it and you own it thatseparates you from anybody else,
and that applies to anything inbusiness.
Yeah, and if you can't pivotand you can't be ready to go
well, you shouldn't be anentrepreneur or business owner.
Julie (11:32):
Yeah, and so you, you meet your husband and you leave
the you know, for a while youlive the high flying, fast paced
New York life, but eventuallyyou moved to Florida and you
know, with the kids and you'restill in TV at that time.
How did you make the?
How did you make the switch?
What happened in your life thatcaused you to really think
about becoming an entrepreneur?
Shari (11:57):
I always take a breath because I wonder, like, how much
should I share?
But I'll share.
So I was, you know, still full,full in it in Florida executive
producing an incredible seriesfor Travel Channel, and it was.
It was amazing.
But I would drop my kids off atpreschool in the morning and
(12:21):
then I wouldn't see them untilthe next morning.
And I think it was when myoldest son came up to me and
said Lily, I mean mommy, youknow that I, like I just had a
moment really, and I was like,oh my God, what am I doing?
What am I doing?
(12:42):
What am I doing?
What am I doing?
And Mark was busy growing AKBuilding Services and he looked
at me.
He's like what are we doing?
Like, what are we doing here?
Why are you working for otherpeople?
(13:03):
Why not build something for ourfamily?
You know, and that really wasthe pivotal moment, at that
exact moment I wasn't like whatdo you want me to?
Like, you know, quit my job and, yeah, go from tv to janitorial
and I'm not poo-pooingjanitorial.
But at that moment it seemedlike I couldn't.
I couldn't reconcile.
You build a career for yearsand years to get to the place.
Julie (13:28):
Yes, and none of what you built was over in janitorial
right.
The bridge to pull those twothings together must have seemed
very big to build.
I didn't see it.
Shari (13:40):
But he said to me don't come over if you don't want it.
And he was amazing.
I mean, Mark was amazing.
He's just said, look, do whatmakes you happy, but we also
have to look at our family.
And I was fully on board withthat.
So I'll call that.
Then what entered into thetransition phase of life,
(14:04):
because I wasn't quite ready tohang one up and go to the other,
and during that time I did alot of like smaller freelance
projects.
I was even like selling jewelryfor a girlfriend, I was running
a charity.
And again, mark's like, whatare you doing?
You're all over.
So I dipped my toe in.
I said I'll start with somemarketing, what I know and what
(14:25):
I'm comfortable with.
And then it was a little more.
And then it was about customerretention.
And then I couldn't handle it.
I was like, well, here's somethings operationally.
And me being the type A that Iam, I was like, well, when I
lead a team, I do it this way.
He's like, oh, so now you wantin?
He, I do it this way.
He's like, oh, so now you wantin.
Basically said, you give me anoffice, I'll show up.
(14:52):
And he was like, nope, notdoing it because, no, you're not
going to show up.
And I said you give me anoffice, I will show up.
So he gave me an office and Ishowed up, me an office and I
showed up and here I am fastforward, however many you know
years later, living, breathing,loving my team, loving our
(15:14):
customers, loving our industry.
Julie (15:16):
Yeah, and at the helm of the company.
Shari (15:19):
And at the helm of the company alongside Mark.
But, yes, and I foundcreativity in business.
Let me say that again, I foundcreativity in business.
I found the creative thatfilled my soul in building a
company and forming it.
But the relationships that Ihad in television I also have
(15:42):
those relationships with, likeour frontline workers and my
management team and customersand other industry professionals
, like all the things that Ithought that I adored about
journalism, which I still do.
I totally have that fulfillmentthrough a different lens, which
is really kind of wild to mebecause I wouldn't have ever
(16:04):
like, I wouldn't have ever thunkit.
Julie (16:06):
Right, yes, isn't it amazing how you can't see it
until you're sort of moving intoit and then finally you look
back.
Often, it's when we look backthat we can see it.
Shari (16:17):
Okay, so funny little anecdote.
I was on a run with my runningpartner the other day.
We stopped to use the restroom.
She was waiting outside and Ilive in Florida, so this is on
A1A on the beach, and I runoutside.
I was like Ellen, you got tocome in.
You got to come in, you got toshow you something.
She thought I was going to showher like a cute dog or like a
(16:40):
celebrity.
But there was a janitor withthis really cool backpack vacuum
, a cordless backpack.
I was like, look at it, he'sgot the protein, he's got the
latest model.
I was like so what do you thinkof it?
It's lightweight, right, andyou can cover more square
footage.
And we walked outside and Ellengoes oh my, look at how far
(17:02):
we've come.
She's like I would have neverpegged you for getting that
excited over a vacuum cleaner.
And I was like, yep.
Julie (17:12):
There we are, but there you are still going out and
connecting with people andhaving that conversation.
Like all those things are stillthe same.
Shari (17:24):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Leadership, inspiration,company culture, values,
customer service, deliverablesand the stories behind who
people are and what they do, andhow our service changes lives
and helps lives.
(17:45):
You know it's.
Julie (17:47):
It's truly rewarding yes, and so what's happened in terms
of your journey?
So you got that office, youstarted showing up every day,
and what happened to you and tothe business?
Well, okay.
Shari (18:05):
Well, I'll just say and no disrespect to anybody else
but we have doubled the business.
We have grown substantially andI think we're one of the larger
or largest privately ownedcompanies in Florida and I'm
very proud of that.
We built an incredible companyculture and we're making a
(18:27):
difference.
But here's the big but.
This was not an easy transitionand some days I still have
imposter syndrome Because youwalk in and think, well, am I
qualified, am I able to do this?
Because there are people in myindustry they're second
generation, you know, they'vebeen in this industry 40, 50
(18:48):
years Like they.
They, they know the real.
You know they know where thebodies are buried.
I don't know they can, likeclean a floor in their sleep and
the wax and the coating Bodiesare buried.
I don't know they can, likeclean a floor in their sleep and
the wax and the coating.
You know I don't have thatindustry experience and I won't
pretend to.
But I know what I can do reallywell and I know how to invest
in the right people and expertswho know the mechanics of our
(19:12):
industry to teach me and guideme.
You know, nobody's an expert inabsolutely everything they do,
and so I've gotten comfortablewith that.
Julie (19:21):
Right, well, and it is also sort of an interesting like
, I think, the sort of I don'tknow old I'll use the air quotes
there but old industries, right, like, like you know, this kind
of supply business has beenaround for a really long time
Like you said, second generationowners.
(19:42):
now they're, you know, maybeeven thirds coming in and it's
just so interesting like we'retalking about businesses that
can be very profitable and verysuccessful, but, you know,
aren't the like sexy, you know,tech business or those kinds of
things that lots of people talkabout, but they're, they're
really fruitful businesses.
Shari (20:04):
Oh, absolutely.
Yes, there's extremelyprofitable, healthy businesses
that those are the businessesyou want to be in.
And I think it's much better tobe in a healthy, sustainable,
growing business than somethingthat might be cool on Instagram
(20:25):
for a minute, because there'slongevity in that and building
something and we employ a lot ofpeople, and to know that we're
creating stability for ourteammates and for lives, that's
really meaningful.
Julie (20:42):
Making a difference in families' lives.
Yeah, that is really meaningful, absolutely when you employ
some big families.
Shari (20:50):
It's really important.
But I also want to give someprops, and also something that I
recognize.
Mark has a finance backgroundand so he's great with numbers.
Like he does a killerspreadsheet, I will never do a
killer spreadsheet.
And Mark, his father was in theindustry, so Mark is second
generation and I think thereally cool part of this story
(21:14):
was husband and wife comingtogether to know our strengths
and weaknesses staying in ourown lane, but to like, really
collaborate to build somethingthat you don't see every day.
And I recognize how strange itis and how absolutely lucky we
are and that we're still married.
Julie (21:36):
Well, that too.
You're still together in lifeand in business, which is really
amazing.
Shari (21:44):
Yeah.
Julie (21:44):
Yeah, because it can be a lot.
What is it, what have you found, you know, from those days of
coming into this business reallyfeeling like an imposter?
What have you done on theleadership side to keep growing
yourself?
Shari (22:03):
Well.
So there's internal andexternal.
So I'm part of a peer groupwith an industry organization,
bscai.
We meet with other buildingowners once a month.
I really take my role veryseriously and I speak at
industry conferences.
I just spoke in Baltimore.
(22:25):
I led two different sessionsand sat on a panel.
Women in the janitorial orbuilding services industry.
I'm a leader in my community.
I might sit on the boards ofcharities and organizations and
for our team.
You know I'm always trying toset the good example.
I always try to offer trainingand educational opportunities
(22:47):
for everybody, because for me Ihave to keep learning, like if
I'm not learning and growing I'mdying, and I want everybody to
like embrace that.
You know we got to be 1% betterevery day.
I have a lending library in ouroffice like read a book, borrow
(23:10):
it, take some time.
If there's a class you want totake, go ahead.
We'll pay for it, assuming it'snot, like you know, in
Australia, of course, but yeah.
Julie (23:16):
But you encourage people to embrace that value of
learning, continuous learning,oh yeah, I mean absolutely.
Shari (23:24):
And to learn from each other you know we have some
people in our organizationeveryone has different strengths
and to say, you know, hey,Daniel, you are really good at
handling this situation.
You know commanding the respectof your employees, and when
there's a difficult situation,you seem to handle it with such
(23:46):
calm and grace.
You know, so-and-so has beenhaving a little trouble in this
area.
Could you guys pair up andmaybe go to lunch on me and
could you help them out?
So those are other leadershipopportunities.
Julie (24:03):
Yeah, yeah.
Which is really important and Ithink you know it is.
It goes to that kind of companyculture and how you build the
culture that you want and then,as the company grows and gets
bigger, how the culture passesto the people who work there and
it lives and breathes.
Shari (24:21):
And another I think I'll call this a form of leadership
is really not shaming peoplefrom mistakes, but failures are
great opportunities to learnfrom.
Failures are your biggestlearning opportunities, and so
when we have a situation thatwarrants a discussion, we'll all
(24:45):
talk about it as a group, butit's not a negative Like you
messed up.
You made this mistake.
It's like we've all been inthis situation.
Let's talk it through together.
What would we have donedifferently and how will we
handle this differently, movingforward and I think those are
great teaching moments.
Right, if you shame people,it's if you shame people, then
(25:06):
the lesson's lost.
Julie (25:08):
Yes, absolutely.
And you know people don't wantto make bad decisions for your
business.
They don't like the people whowork for you.
They want to show up and do agood job every day.
You know there it's a reallyrare exception that they don't.
And so how you encourage themto make decisions, you know,
(25:29):
even though they might notalways be right, like really
almost all the time they'regoing to do a decent job.
Shari (25:35):
Yeah Well, I want everyone to know we have your
back.
Yes, so we have your back andlet's figure this out together.
Like, call me anytime let'sfigure out the situation.
Another quote that I love isthe comeback is always better
than the setback.
Julie (25:52):
Oh, that's a good one.
I like that.
Shari (25:55):
You know.
So you have to embrace thosesetbacks, and we all have them
in, whether it's your personallife or your business.
Like everybody has them.
You got to.
You got to thank somebody forit.
Thank you for giving me thatopportunity to be better.
Julie (26:11):
Yeah, and you can figure out.
Is there something in yoursystem that you're outgrowing a
process?
Is this the beginning of morebreakdowns?
And you get that opportunitywhen you kind of unfold it, open
it up and talk about itobjectively to really think
about if you need to makechanges.
Shari (26:31):
Right or recognizing is everyone in the right seat on
the right bus?
Julie (26:37):
I'm a big fan of that.
Shari (26:39):
Yeah, but these are all leadership skills and traits
that I have, I would say,accumulated over the years
through my personal experiencesand through my, you know,
different careers.
Julie (26:55):
Yeah, and through also, I mean reading of books and
talking with other people whoare leaders and how they're
doing things, and I mean it is adialogue, isn't it?
Shari (27:08):
Well, it has to be because if I sit in my office
here and I don't talk to otherpeople and learn like the
world's going to pass me by andI'm not growing with it and I'm
not learning from it.
You know, and especiallysharing within your industry
groups and I'm also part ofother CEO groups where you
really can sit and havethoughtful conversations in a
(27:30):
safe space to help each othertalk through challenges, like I
love that.
I love that part of thebusiness.
Julie (27:42):
Yeah, interesting, and so it feels like you're very much
a you know, the "call me, mydoor's open.
People feel like you'reapproachable and there to really
help them and in terms of likea management style, I hope so, I
think so.
I know we can never truly know,of course, but that's obviously
(28:03):
what you're striving for.
Shari (28:06):
A thousand percent.
Yeah, no, we have an open doorpolicy and if you have an issue,
come you know there's obviouslythere's a chain of command, but
everybody knows they can callme and absolutely and you will
weigh in.
I will weigh in.
You know, I encourage people totry and figure things out on
(28:27):
their own, but if they can't,you know, cause one of the
things sometimes when there's alot of change or a lot of growth
(28:50):
.
Julie (28:51):
we we hold on too tight to some things that we need to
let go of, like how has, howhave you seen your role evolve
as the business gets a lotbigger?
Shari (29:02):
It's a great question, Um , and something that I reflect
on daily, Working very hard tolearn to delegate tasks that I
shouldn't be doing.
I've worked with coaches whohave really tried to explain how
to delegate and how to empowerpeople and, if somebody else
(29:25):
could do the job that I'm doing,delegate that out.
So that's an ongoing processand I also have to give myself
change the mindset from beingtask oriented to goal and
strategy oriented, Meaning everyday.
You know, I come in whatever.
(29:46):
I make my little lists of stuffthat has to get done, but
really, if you spend your wholeday in your to-do list, I'm not
furthering the growth of thecompany.
So I have to really trainmyself to look at okay, we're
going to have a strategicmeeting next week and where do I
want to be in six months?
Where do we want to be in 12months?
(30:06):
What do we need to do toachieve those goals and then
break it down bite by bite.
And that's been a big change inmy role because I feel like I
understand the business wellenough now to be able to look at
that 10,000 foot view to seehow, where the ship is moving.
Julie (30:26):
And do you feel like you have more time to do that now
that you have more resources,more people that you're kind of
like working for you and withyou?
Shari (30:36):
It's funny, yes and no.
Some days I would say no.
Some days I'm like ah, but Ilearned how to protect that time
.
I protect that time because Iknow that if I'm not doing this,
nobody else is.
Julie (30:53):
Right, yeah, and it is that piece of like this, like
that.
You know that to do listbecomes the like you feel sort
of driven by it and that it likeit's so important to get that
done.
But if you don't honor thattime you've carved out, then
you're, you're just sort ofspiraling deeper and deeper,
(31:14):
aren't you Into the, you know,into the weeds of the company,
as opposed to that 10,000 footview.
Shari (31:19):
Right and look, there's no question.
You know we have a CFO, acontroller, accounts payable,
you know.
So we develop positions and aswe grow we develop and create
more positions and then thatgets done.
And that's kind of the coolpart of a growing company is you
make your strategic plan andthen you make your people plan
(31:41):
right and you say, okay, well,in six months I would like to
add this position, let's see howthat works, and then we can add
more here.
And that's really important tothe structure and the growth of
a company.
It's like you build thefoundation for a house and then
you go up.
Julie (31:58):
Yes, and I always think, like I always sort of think of
things like in the beginning youpull out your napkin and you
make some strategy notes andthat's kind of like your first
plan, and then then you get tothe point where, yeah, you have
a finance department and they'rehelping you map what salary
changes would be and what rolesyou want to add, like like
there's this progression fromsomething that's very bare bones
(32:22):
and totally appropriate for thefirst time you do it to a
process that's now really robustand has lots of people
contributing to it and you'vegot lots of data to make your
choices from and those kinds ofthings.
Shari (32:34):
But it's also really important to look at.
You know, how are we handlingcustomer retention?
How are we handling sales?
How are we handling new trendsin the industry?
How are we handlingenvironmental factors Like there
was a terrible flu season thisyear, right, Horrible.
So how are we not onlyprotecting our frontline
associates from staying healthy,but then how are we informing
(32:57):
our customers on what they needto be doing to stay ahead of
this?
You know, making sure we'regreen sealed and making sure
everyone's abiding by theprotocols you set.
So there's a lot that goes intoa business.
So you have to sort of be a bitADHD and but to stay and
(33:21):
constantly thinking like where,what am I missing?
What do I need to be looking,what do I need to be paying
attention to?
And what are trends in realestate in Florida?
What's happening with vacancies?
Are people coming to work, arethey not?
What do people want?
Looking at the economy rightnow, people are tightening the
economy.
(33:41):
How do you create the valueservice that's so important for
them to have?
Julie (33:46):
Yep, I think it's so interesting just that evolution
of strategy as the businessgrows and changes, and to some
degree you need that evolutionbecause the ship gets bigger and
it's harder to turn on a dimeand all of the things that you
can do when you're tiny, rightTo make those adjustments, the
(34:07):
adjustments you've got to havefarther view, a farther
viewpoint to you know, sort oftry and be adjusting as you go.
Shari (34:15):
A great mentor said to me how do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.
It's like baby steps when you,if you do anything too big or
too fast, you risk some seriousramifications.
Julie (34:32):
Yeah, and so now, what's next for you and your journey?
Shari (34:37):
Oh, gosh, I'll tell you in five years, okay.
Julie (34:43):
It's a date.
I'll meet you back here.
Shari (34:46):
You know what we're having fun and, as Mark says, we
have more fuel in the tank.
So as long as we're feelinggood, we're healthy, we will
keep going.
Julie (35:00):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, I'm so excited to seewhere your journey takes you,
and I would love to be back herein five years and hearing all
about where you've gone fromhere.
So I hope that we can stay intouch and think about that.
But thank you for joining metoday.
I really appreciate it.
Shari (35:19):
And, by the way, your big gorgeous goals.
Right, that's what we all havein life Big, gorgeous goals.
So 100%.
Julie (35:27):
Yeah, and you've got to chase them because otherwise we
are stuck in those to-do listsand we never get out of the
weeds.
Exactly.
Good Thanks for joining metoday, Shari.
Shari (35:38):
Thank you.
Julie (35:39):
I hope you enjoyed today's episode.
Please remember to hitsubscribe on your favorite
podcast platform so you won'tmiss any episodes.
Figure 8 isn't just a podcast.
It's a way of seeing the big,gorgeous goals of women
entrepreneurs coming to life.
If you're interested inlearning more, you can find my
(36:00):
book Big, Gorgeous Goals onAmazon, anywhere you might live.
For more about my growth andleadership training programs,
visit www.
juliellis.
ca to see how we might worktogether.
Read my blog or sign up to getyour free diagnostic.
Are you ready for growth?
(36:21):
Once again, that's www.
julieellis.
ca.
When we work together, we allwin.
See you again soon for anotherepisode of Figure 8.
Welcome to Figure 8, where we feature inspiring
stories of women entrepreneurswho have grown their businesses
to seven and eight figuresrevenue.
If you're in the mix of growinga bigger business, these
stories are for you.
Join us as we explore where thetough spots are, how to
overcome them and how to prepareyourself for the next portion
(00:27):
of the climb.
I'm your host, Julie Ellis.
I'm an author, entrepreneur anda growth and leadership coach
who co-founded, grew and exitedan eight-figure business.
This led me to exploring whysome women achieve great things,
and that led to my book BigGorgeous Goals.
(00:47):
Let's explore the systems,processes and people that help
us grow our businesses to newheights.
If you're interested in growingyour business, this podcast
will help.
Now let's get going.
Hello and welcome to thisepisode of Figure 8.
(01:08):
Today I am speaking with ShariCedar.
She is the CEO and co-owner ofAK Building Services, and Shari
has had an eclectic career path,starting in TV and TV
production, and now she is in anew chapter as the CEO and
co-owner of AK Building Services, which is an industry-leading
(01:30):
family-owned and operatedcommercial janitorial services
provider, and Shari owns that inFlorida with her husband, mark.
She is incredibly focused onleadership and growing the
organization for the team sheworks with.
She represents the company inthe industry and she is a member
(01:51):
of the Fort Lauderdale Chamberof Commerce, so she's active in
her own community.
She is also a working mom andhopes to demonstrate.
You know how you can build bigthings in your life and let your
kids see you thrive.
So welcome Shari.
Shari (02:06):
Thank you.
It is great to be here.
I'm honored to be a guest and,yeah, thank you Looking forward
to today.
Julie (02:15):
It's so good to have you.
Yeah, I'm so looking forward toour conversation because I
think you know I mean I've hadmy own eclectic career path and
I'm always fascinated by howpeople end up places because
certainly when you read your bioand look at TV hosts, tv
production and when I say TVproduction I mean household name
(02:36):
stuff and that all feels soglamorous and like a job that
many of us might wish for.
Shari (02:42):
You know well, first of all, I will say never, say never
.
Right, like you never say never, because you just never know
where your life is going to takeyou.
And I think the fun ofeverything is really that
journey.
And you know, I have alwaysI'll call it monkey barred my
(03:05):
way through life, for lack of abetter term.
But yeah, I went from a reallycool, amazing industry sexy
industry, I should say torunning janitorial services, and
that's a big swing of thependulum services and that's a
(03:28):
big swing of the pendulum.
Julie (03:28):
It sure is.
It sure is, and I know when wechatted before I mean you talked
about having been a producer onone of the Oprah's favorite
things productions, and ofcourse that's sort of near and
dear to my heart as someone whotried to get their product on
that list many times and and soyou know you just think of
things like that as like I canjust so relate to the time you
were doing that and the time Iwas trying to get on that list.
(03:49):
It was kind of everything.
Shari (03:50):
Oh yeah, if you look at career highlights, I mean
there's well, there's a few,right?
I mean I've been really blessed, I've had an incredible career.
But yes, doing working onOprah's favorite things I did
one of her favorite thingsepisodes was truly a career
highlight for me.
It almost like a bucket listitem and I think when you do
(04:13):
productions of that we'll callit high caliber, with
expectation.
The bar is so high you can notmess up.
You know the pressure's reallyon, so it's very cool.
Everyone's like oh my God, youdid it.
I could just tell you firsthandwhen I did that production I
have never been so scared,shitless in my life.
I'm sorry Jamie will say youcan't say an S word on a podcast
(04:36):
, but there's a lot of highstakes with it.
It really set me up for myfuture in many ways because if
you can pull off a favoritethings and not cry, or while
crying.
(04:56):
But if you believe in, peoplesaid good job, we'd like to work
with you again.
You can pretty much do anythingin life and that ripples out to
almost anything you do.
Julie (05:08):
Well, it is so interesting really, because I
mean, as an industry, media andjournalism has changed so much
through, you know, our lifetimeand is continuing to evolve and
that pressure cooker ofexpectation, it's a lot, oh yeah
.
Shari (05:25):
And I think when I started out in television and I
you know I was single, I wasdriven.
You say jump, I say how high.
I mean I worked all the timeand I thrived on that pressure
and that was a great thing.
You know that work ethic is keyto success in anything you do
and some would argue it'slacking in the workplace today,
(05:49):
however, that's another story.
But yeah and but I think youcan only keep up that pace and
that pressure for so longbecause we all are human and
while I absolutely lovejournalism, I mean I love
sitting here in this podcast, Ilove, you know, journalism and
creating and storytelling issuch an incredible thing.
(06:12):
But the world of TV productionfor me, looking back at it now,
had a shelf life.
I didn't realize it at the timebut it did, because as we get
older and appreciate otherthings in our lives, like family
, friendships, even doingnothing, like I love doing
nothing right when you can carveout that nothingness.
(06:34):
But you have to have that.
Anyway, I think the point I'mmaking is my story in television
was amazing and I hadincredible opportunities to do
things for National GeographicChannel and for E and for Bravo.
But then I think I quitefiguratively and literally hit a
wall and it was like it wastime.
(06:56):
It was time to change.
Julie (07:02):
Well, in some ways, I think, you know, it's like an
all-consuming kind of you wereall consumed by what that was in
your life, but you had manyother things going on in your
life.
I mean, you had kids, you weremarried, you were, you know,
building something with otherpeople in it.
Shari (07:19):
It wasn't just but just funny story.
It was my crazy TV career thatallowed me to meet my husband.
Fun fact I was working on aseries, National Geographic
Channel (07:29):
Worlds Apart, and the whole idea was bring an American
family, like a typical Americanfamily, leave where you are to
learn who you are, to live witha typical Native family,
Indigenous family, this one.
Anyway, amazing experience,life-changing for me.
(07:50):
Really.
I'll never let my water faucetrun endlessly, but anyway, I was
put on mandatory leave by myboss because I was so burnt out.
He was pretty much like you'renot good for, you're useless
right now, go take a vacation.
And I went to Club Med for aweek.
I saw the lady with the hat theall-inclusive Club Med for a
week.
I saw the lady with the hat.
You know the all-inclusivebought like four books.
(08:11):
Yeah, exactly, and that's whereI met my husband.
I have to be grateful for theway life was stacked for me,
because I'm pretty sure if Inever took that vacation I
wouldn't have met Mark.
My life wouldn't have unfoldedthe way it did.
So always keep an open mind.
Julie (08:29):
Well, to me that's kind of the interesting part about
life is the you know you go onthe journey, and whether that
you know the journey zigs andzags, which I think it does for
everybody, it's, yeah what youcan take away from those times.
Shari (08:45):
Well, yes, and just circling back to the different
careers, I think what's reallycool about TV production and
media that serve me well is thesame facets of production.
And journalism really set me upfor the rest of my life, right?
If you look at the idea ofpre-production, production and
(09:06):
post-production, in any time youdo a show, that's applicable to
anything you do in life, right?
Your pre-production you plan,your production, you do it.
And then post-production, howyou follow through and we learn
how to communicate.
We learn how to work onschedules.
We learn how to budget.
We learn how to work onschedules.
We learn how to budget.
We learn how to deal withdifficult people, shy people,
(09:30):
under pressure.
So this sort of first chapterthat I had that gave me this
incredible life experience, likeI would have never told you
that I could run a company.
I didn't ever know that I hadthe chops for that and I would
have said I don't have an MBA, Ihave no, no experience.
But when you are, you are soopen to learning and when you're
(09:53):
so accustomed to just diving indeep and learning everything
you can about a subject, well,why is running a company any
different?
Julie (10:03):
Yeah, and I think the the one like as the producer of
something, you are in a rolewhere not everything may unfold
as you planned it, no matter howyou plan every single thing
right.
And so it is about likeadaptability and how you
navigate the circumstances,circumstances that kind of
unfold in real time.
Shari (10:24):
Oh, absolutely.
I mean, in TV production youplan everything you can, you
control everything you can,because all of that thing, all
of those things that you can'tcontrol, inevitably will happen.
Julie (10:41):
But I also feel that running a business is like that
maybe not everything will unfold, but a lot of things will
unfold that you don't expect,and you have to learn how to
navigate them as you go.
Shari (10:54):
Oh, a thousand percent.
I mean you have to be calm, youhave to be level-headed, you
have to make swift, thoughtful,decisive decisions and, at the
same time, if you made a baddecision, you have to recognize
and own it so you can fix things.
Everyone makes mistakes.
It's how you deal with aproblem and how quickly you
(11:16):
resolve it and you own it thatseparates you from anybody else,
and that applies to anything inbusiness.
Yeah, and if you can't pivotand you can't be ready to go
well, you shouldn't be anentrepreneur or business owner.
Julie (11:32):
Yeah, and so you, you meet your husband and you leave
the you know, for a while youlive the high flying, fast paced
New York life, but eventuallyyou moved to Florida and you
know, with the kids and you'restill in TV at that time.
How did you make the?
How did you make the switch?
What happened in your life thatcaused you to really think
about becoming an entrepreneur?
Shari (11:57):
I always take a breath because I wonder, like, how much
should I share?
But I'll share.
So I was, you know, still full,full in it in Florida executive
producing an incredible seriesfor Travel Channel, and it was.
It was amazing.
But I would drop my kids off atpreschool in the morning and
(12:21):
then I wouldn't see them untilthe next morning.
And I think it was when myoldest son came up to me and
said Lily, I mean mommy, youknow that I, like I just had a
moment really, and I was like,oh my God, what am I doing?
What am I doing?
(12:42):
What am I doing?
What am I doing?
And Mark was busy growing AKBuilding Services and he looked
at me.
He's like what are we doing?
Like, what are we doing here?
Why are you working for otherpeople?
(13:03):
Why not build something for ourfamily?
You know, and that really wasthe pivotal moment, at that
exact moment I wasn't like whatdo you want me to?
Like, you know, quit my job and, yeah, go from tv to janitorial
and I'm not poo-pooingjanitorial.
But at that moment it seemedlike I couldn't.
I couldn't reconcile.
You build a career for yearsand years to get to the place.
Julie (13:28):
Yes, and none of what you built was over in janitorial
right.
The bridge to pull those twothings together must have seemed
very big to build.
I didn't see it.
Shari (13:40):
But he said to me don't come over if you don't want it.
And he was amazing.
I mean, Mark was amazing.
He's just said, look, do whatmakes you happy, but we also
have to look at our family.
And I was fully on board withthat.
So I'll call that.
Then what entered into thetransition phase of life,
(14:04):
because I wasn't quite ready tohang one up and go to the other,
and during that time I did alot of like smaller freelance
projects.
I was even like selling jewelryfor a girlfriend, I was running
a charity.
And again, mark's like, whatare you doing?
You're all over.
So I dipped my toe in.
I said I'll start with somemarketing, what I know and what
(14:25):
I'm comfortable with.
And then it was a little more.
And then it was about customerretention.
And then I couldn't handle it.
I was like, well, here's somethings operationally.
And me being the type A that Iam, I was like, well, when I
lead a team, I do it this way.
He's like, oh, so now you wantin?
He, I do it this way.
He's like, oh, so now you wantin.
Basically said, you give me anoffice, I'll show up.
(14:52):
And he was like, nope, notdoing it because, no, you're not
going to show up.
And I said you give me anoffice, I will show up.
So he gave me an office and Ishowed up, me an office and I
showed up and here I am fastforward, however many you know
years later, living, breathing,loving my team, loving our
(15:14):
customers, loving our industry.
Julie (15:16):
Yeah, and at the helm of the company.
Shari (15:19):
And at the helm of the company alongside Mark.
But, yes, and I foundcreativity in business.
Let me say that again, I foundcreativity in business.
I found the creative thatfilled my soul in building a
company and forming it.
But the relationships that Ihad in television I also have
(15:42):
those relationships with, likeour frontline workers and my
management team and customersand other industry professionals
, like all the things that Ithought that I adored about
journalism, which I still do.
I totally have that fulfillmentthrough a different lens, which
is really kind of wild to mebecause I wouldn't have ever
(16:04):
like, I wouldn't have ever thunkit.
Julie (16:06):
Right, yes, isn't it amazing how you can't see it
until you're sort of moving intoit and then finally you look
back.
Often, it's when we look backthat we can see it.
Shari (16:17):
Okay, so funny little anecdote.
I was on a run with my runningpartner the other day.
We stopped to use the restroom.
She was waiting outside and Ilive in Florida, so this is on
A1A on the beach, and I runoutside.
I was like Ellen, you got tocome in.
You got to come in, you got toshow you something.
She thought I was going to showher like a cute dog or like a
(16:40):
celebrity.
But there was a janitor withthis really cool backpack vacuum
, a cordless backpack.
I was like, look at it, he'sgot the protein, he's got the
latest model.
I was like so what do you thinkof it?
It's lightweight, right, andyou can cover more square
footage.
And we walked outside and Ellengoes oh my, look at how far
(17:02):
we've come.
She's like I would have neverpegged you for getting that
excited over a vacuum cleaner.
And I was like, yep.
Julie (17:12):
There we are, but there you are still going out and
connecting with people andhaving that conversation.
Like all those things are stillthe same.
Shari (17:24):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Leadership, inspiration,company culture, values,
customer service, deliverablesand the stories behind who
people are and what they do, andhow our service changes lives
and helps lives.
(17:45):
You know it's.
Julie (17:47):
It's truly rewarding yes, and so what's happened in terms
of your journey?
So you got that office, youstarted showing up every day,
and what happened to you and tothe business?
Well, okay.
Shari (18:05):
Well, I'll just say and no disrespect to anybody else
but we have doubled the business.
We have grown substantially andI think we're one of the larger
or largest privately ownedcompanies in Florida and I'm
very proud of that.
We built an incredible companyculture and we're making a
(18:27):
difference.
But here's the big but.
This was not an easy transitionand some days I still have
imposter syndrome Because youwalk in and think, well, am I
qualified, am I able to do this?
Because there are people in myindustry they're second
generation, you know, they'vebeen in this industry 40, 50
(18:48):
years Like they.
They, they know the real.
You know they know where thebodies are buried.
I don't know they can, likeclean a floor in their sleep and
the wax and the coating Bodiesare buried.
I don't know they can, likeclean a floor in their sleep and
the wax and the coating.
You know I don't have thatindustry experience and I won't
pretend to.
But I know what I can do reallywell and I know how to invest
in the right people and expertswho know the mechanics of our
(19:12):
industry to teach me and guideme.
You know, nobody's an expert inabsolutely everything they do,
and so I've gotten comfortablewith that.
Julie (19:21):
Right, well, and it is also sort of an interesting like
, I think, the sort of I don'tknow old I'll use the air quotes
there but old industries, right, like, like you know, this kind
of supply business has beenaround for a really long time
Like you said, second generationowners.
(19:42):
now they're, you know, maybeeven thirds coming in and it's
just so interesting like we'retalking about businesses that
can be very profitable and verysuccessful, but, you know,
aren't the like sexy, you know,tech business or those kinds of
things that lots of people talkabout, but they're, they're
really fruitful businesses.
Shari (20:04):
Oh, absolutely.
Yes, there's extremelyprofitable, healthy businesses
that those are the businessesyou want to be in.
And I think it's much better tobe in a healthy, sustainable,
growing business than somethingthat might be cool on Instagram
(20:25):
for a minute, because there'slongevity in that and building
something and we employ a lot ofpeople, and to know that we're
creating stability for ourteammates and for lives, that's
really meaningful.
Julie (20:42):
Making a difference in families' lives.
Yeah, that is really meaningful, absolutely when you employ
some big families.
Shari (20:50):
It's really important.
But I also want to give someprops, and also something that I
recognize.
Mark has a finance backgroundand so he's great with numbers.
Like he does a killerspreadsheet, I will never do a
killer spreadsheet.
And Mark, his father was in theindustry, so Mark is second
generation and I think thereally cool part of this story
(21:14):
was husband and wife comingtogether to know our strengths
and weaknesses staying in ourown lane, but to like, really
collaborate to build somethingthat you don't see every day.
And I recognize how strange itis and how absolutely lucky we
are and that we're still married.
Julie (21:36):
Well, that too.
You're still together in lifeand in business, which is really
amazing.
Shari (21:44):
Yeah.
Julie (21:44):
Yeah, because it can be a lot.
What is it, what have you found, you know, from those days of
coming into this business reallyfeeling like an imposter?
What have you done on theleadership side to keep growing
yourself?
Shari (22:03):
Well.
So there's internal andexternal.
So I'm part of a peer groupwith an industry organization,
bscai.
We meet with other buildingowners once a month.
I really take my role veryseriously and I speak at
industry conferences.
I just spoke in Baltimore.
(22:25):
I led two different sessionsand sat on a panel.
Women in the janitorial orbuilding services industry.
I'm a leader in my community.
I might sit on the boards ofcharities and organizations and
for our team.
You know I'm always trying toset the good example.
I always try to offer trainingand educational opportunities
(22:47):
for everybody, because for me Ihave to keep learning, like if
I'm not learning and growing I'mdying, and I want everybody to
like embrace that.
You know we got to be 1% betterevery day.
I have a lending library in ouroffice like read a book, borrow
(23:10):
it, take some time.
If there's a class you want totake, go ahead.
We'll pay for it, assuming it'snot, like you know, in
Australia, of course, but yeah.
Julie (23:16):
But you encourage people to embrace that value of
learning, continuous learning,oh yeah, I mean absolutely.
Shari (23:24):
And to learn from each other you know we have some
people in our organizationeveryone has different strengths
and to say, you know, hey,Daniel, you are really good at
handling this situation.
You know commanding the respectof your employees, and when
there's a difficult situation,you seem to handle it with such
(23:46):
calm and grace.
You know, so-and-so has beenhaving a little trouble in this
area.
Could you guys pair up andmaybe go to lunch on me and
could you help them out?
So those are other leadershipopportunities.
Julie (24:03):
Yeah, yeah.
Which is really important and Ithink you know it is.
It goes to that kind of companyculture and how you build the
culture that you want and then,as the company grows and gets
bigger, how the culture passesto the people who work there and
it lives and breathes.
Shari (24:21):
And another I think I'll call this a form of leadership
is really not shaming peoplefrom mistakes, but failures are
great opportunities to learnfrom.
Failures are your biggestlearning opportunities, and so
when we have a situation thatwarrants a discussion, we'll all
(24:45):
talk about it as a group, butit's not a negative Like you
messed up.
You made this mistake.
It's like we've all been inthis situation.
Let's talk it through together.
What would we have donedifferently and how will we
handle this differently, movingforward and I think those are
great teaching moments.
Right, if you shame people,it's if you shame people, then
(25:06):
the lesson's lost.
Julie (25:08):
Yes, absolutely.
And you know people don't wantto make bad decisions for your
business.
They don't like the people whowork for you.
They want to show up and do agood job every day.
You know there it's a reallyrare exception that they don't.
And so how you encourage themto make decisions, you know,
(25:29):
even though they might notalways be right, like really
almost all the time they'regoing to do a decent job.
Shari (25:35):
Yeah Well, I want everyone to know we have your
back.
Yes, so we have your back andlet's figure this out together.
Like, call me anytime let'sfigure out the situation.
Another quote that I love isthe comeback is always better
than the setback.
Julie (25:52):
Oh, that's a good one.
I like that.
Shari (25:55):
You know.
So you have to embrace thosesetbacks, and we all have them
in, whether it's your personallife or your business.
Like everybody has them.
You got to.
You got to thank somebody forit.
Thank you for giving me thatopportunity to be better.
Julie (26:11):
Yeah, and you can figure out.
Is there something in yoursystem that you're outgrowing a
process?
Is this the beginning of morebreakdowns?
And you get that opportunitywhen you kind of unfold it, open
it up and talk about itobjectively to really think
about if you need to makechanges.
Shari (26:31):
Right or recognizing is everyone in the right seat on
the right bus?
Julie (26:37):
I'm a big fan of that.
Shari (26:39):
Yeah, but these are all leadership skills and traits
that I have, I would say,accumulated over the years
through my personal experiencesand through my, you know,
different careers.
Julie (26:55):
Yeah, and through also, I mean reading of books and
talking with other people whoare leaders and how they're
doing things, and I mean it is adialogue, isn't it?
Shari (27:08):
Well, it has to be because if I sit in my office
here and I don't talk to otherpeople and learn like the
world's going to pass me by andI'm not growing with it and I'm
not learning from it.
You know, and especiallysharing within your industry
groups and I'm also part ofother CEO groups where you
really can sit and havethoughtful conversations in a
(27:30):
safe space to help each othertalk through challenges, like I
love that.
I love that part of thebusiness.
Julie (27:42):
Yeah, interesting, and so it feels like you're very much
a you know, the "call me, mydoor's open.
People feel like you'reapproachable and there to really
help them and in terms of likea management style, I hope so, I
think so.
I know we can never truly know,of course, but that's obviously
(28:03):
what you're striving for.
Shari (28:06):
A thousand percent.
Yeah, no, we have an open doorpolicy and if you have an issue,
come you know there's obviouslythere's a chain of command, but
everybody knows they can callme and absolutely and you will
weigh in.
I will weigh in.
You know, I encourage people totry and figure things out on
(28:27):
their own, but if they can't,you know, cause one of the
things sometimes when there's alot of change or a lot of growth
(28:50):
.
Julie (28:51):
we we hold on too tight to some things that we need to
let go of, like how has, howhave you seen your role evolve
as the business gets a lotbigger?
Shari (29:02):
It's a great question, Um , and something that I reflect
on daily, Working very hard tolearn to delegate tasks that I
shouldn't be doing.
I've worked with coaches whohave really tried to explain how
to delegate and how to empowerpeople and, if somebody else
(29:25):
could do the job that I'm doing,delegate that out.
So that's an ongoing processand I also have to give myself
change the mindset from beingtask oriented to goal and
strategy oriented, Meaning everyday.
You know, I come in whatever.
(29:46):
I make my little lists of stuffthat has to get done, but
really, if you spend your wholeday in your to-do list, I'm not
furthering the growth of thecompany.
So I have to really trainmyself to look at okay, we're
going to have a strategicmeeting next week and where do I
want to be in six months?
Where do we want to be in 12months?
(30:06):
What do we need to do toachieve those goals and then
break it down bite by bite.
And that's been a big change inmy role because I feel like I
understand the business wellenough now to be able to look at
that 10,000 foot view to seehow, where the ship is moving.
Julie (30:26):
And do you feel like you have more time to do that now
that you have more resources,more people that you're kind of
like working for you and withyou?
Shari (30:36):
It's funny, yes and no.
Some days I would say no.
Some days I'm like ah, but Ilearned how to protect that time
.
I protect that time because Iknow that if I'm not doing this,
nobody else is.
Julie (30:53):
Right, yeah, and it is that piece of like this, like
that.
You know that to do listbecomes the like you feel sort
of driven by it and that it likeit's so important to get that
done.
But if you don't honor thattime you've carved out, then
you're, you're just sort ofspiraling deeper and deeper,
(31:14):
aren't you Into the, you know,into the weeds of the company,
as opposed to that 10,000 footview.
Shari (31:19):
Right and look, there's no question.
You know we have a CFO, acontroller, accounts payable,
you know.
So we develop positions and aswe grow we develop and create
more positions and then thatgets done.
And that's kind of the coolpart of a growing company is you
make your strategic plan andthen you make your people plan
(31:41):
right and you say, okay, well,in six months I would like to
add this position, let's see howthat works, and then we can add
more here.
And that's really important tothe structure and the growth of
a company.
It's like you build thefoundation for a house and then
you go up.
Julie (31:58):
Yes, and I always think, like I always sort of think of
things like in the beginning youpull out your napkin and you
make some strategy notes andthat's kind of like your first
plan, and then then you get tothe point where, yeah, you have
a finance department and they'rehelping you map what salary
changes would be and what rolesyou want to add, like like
there's this progression fromsomething that's very bare bones
(32:22):
and totally appropriate for thefirst time you do it to a
process that's now really robustand has lots of people
contributing to it and you'vegot lots of data to make your
choices from and those kinds ofthings.
Shari (32:34):
But it's also really important to look at.
You know, how are we handlingcustomer retention?
How are we handling sales?
How are we handling new trendsin the industry?
How are we handlingenvironmental factors Like there
was a terrible flu season thisyear, right, Horrible.
So how are we not onlyprotecting our frontline
associates from staying healthy,but then how are we informing
(32:57):
our customers on what they needto be doing to stay ahead of
this?
You know, making sure we'regreen sealed and making sure
everyone's abiding by theprotocols you set.
So there's a lot that goes intoa business.
So you have to sort of be a bitADHD and but to stay and
(33:21):
constantly thinking like where,what am I missing?
What do I need to be looking,what do I need to be paying
attention to?
And what are trends in realestate in Florida?
What's happening with vacancies?
Are people coming to work, arethey not?
What do people want?
Looking at the economy rightnow, people are tightening the
economy.
(33:41):
How do you create the valueservice that's so important for
them to have?
Julie (33:46):
Yep, I think it's so interesting just that evolution
of strategy as the businessgrows and changes, and to some
degree you need that evolutionbecause the ship gets bigger and
it's harder to turn on a dimeand all of the things that you
can do when you're tiny, rightTo make those adjustments, the
(34:07):
adjustments you've got to havefarther view, a farther
viewpoint to you know, sort oftry and be adjusting as you go.
Shari (34:15):
A great mentor said to me how do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.
It's like baby steps when you,if you do anything too big or
too fast, you risk some seriousramifications.
Julie (34:32):
Yeah, and so now, what's next for you and your journey?
Shari (34:37):
Oh, gosh, I'll tell you in five years, okay.
Julie (34:43):
It's a date.
I'll meet you back here.
Shari (34:46):
You know what we're having fun and, as Mark says, we
have more fuel in the tank.
So as long as we're feelinggood, we're healthy, we will
keep going.
Julie (35:00):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, I'm so excited to seewhere your journey takes you,
and I would love to be back herein five years and hearing all
about where you've gone fromhere.
So I hope that we can stay intouch and think about that.
But thank you for joining metoday.
I really appreciate it.
Shari (35:19):
And, by the way, your big gorgeous goals.
Right, that's what we all havein life Big, gorgeous goals.
So 100%.
Julie (35:27):
Yeah, and you've got to chase them because otherwise we
are stuck in those to-do listsand we never get out of the
weeds.
Exactly.
Good Thanks for joining metoday, Shari.
Shari (35:38):
Thank you.
Julie (35:39):
I hope you enjoyed today's episode.
Please remember to hitsubscribe on your favorite
podcast platform so you won'tmiss any episodes.
Figure 8 isn't just a podcast.
It's a way of seeing the big,gorgeous goals of women
entrepreneurs coming to life.
If you're interested inlearning more, you can find my
(36:00):
book Big, Gorgeous Goals onAmazon, anywhere you might live.
For more about my growth andleadership training programs,
visit www.
juliellis.
ca to see how we might worktogether.
Read my blog or sign up to getyour free diagnostic.
Are you ready for growth?
(36:21):
Once again, that's www.
julieellis.
ca.
When we work together, we allwin.
See you again soon for anotherepisode of Figure 8.
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