August 20, 2024 • 52 mins
Finding Harmony in the Hustle How to Pause and Prosper
In our fast-paced world, we often forget the importance of slowing down. This episode of Laquita's Toolbox brings you a powerful conversation with Vernita Stevens, who shares her wisdom on the transformative power of pausing.
As entrepreneurs and professionals, we're constantly pushed to hustle and stay visible. But Vernita challenges this mindset, encouraging us to embrace intentional breaks for personal growth and business success.
The Power of the Pause
Vernita introduces her concept of "Pause on Purpose," explaining how strategic breaks can:
- Clarify your direction and purpose
- Enhance decision-making
- Improve self-care and prevent burnout
- Boost creativity and problem-solving skills
Practical Pause Strategies
Discover actionable ways to incorporate pauses into your busy life:
- Mini-vacations (even at home!)
- Mindful walks in nature
- Tech-free family time
- Journaling for clarity
Work-Life Harmony
Vernita shares insights from her Work Life Harmony Planner, designed to help entrepreneurs:
- Track habits and progress
- Align personal and professional goals
- Manage time effectively
- Cultivate a balanced lifestyle
The Joy in the Journey
Learn why focusing solely on end goals can rob you of valuable experiences. Vernita emphasizes the importance of:
- Appreciating the process of growth
- Learning from challenges
- Celebrating small victories
This episode is packed with wisdom for anyone feeling overwhelmed by the constant pressure to perform. Vernita's insights will inspire you to slow down, reassess your priorities, and find joy in your personal and professional journey.
Here's what you'll gain from this episode:
- Strategies for implementing purposeful pauses in your life
- Tips for achieving work-life harmony
- Insights on personal growth through intentional breaks
- Ways to find joy in your entrepreneurial journey
- Techniques for effective self-reflection and goal-setting
Tune in to discover how the power of the pause can revolutionize your approach to life and business!
Connect with Vernita
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vernita-stevens-diversity-equity-inclusion/
LinkedIn Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/pause-on-purpose-7087433664992567296/
Website: https://2p-llc.com/
Journal: https://amzn.to/3Xn1sRB
Connect with La'Quita:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome back to another amazing episode of
(00:05):
LaQuita's Toolbox. I am your host, LaQuita
Monley and we are coming a you day with
the amazing episode and a really great
guest here His name is Zachary and I
cannot wait for you guys to meet him So
for those that share returning listeners
you know the drill Get something to write
with and something to write on Because we
(00:25):
know pen and paper they don't forget but
sometimes we do And we want to write them
down to make sure that we can make proper
application of the to that Zachary will be
sharing with us to But before we jump into
our conversation with Zachary let me take
today moment to thank our sponsors at
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(00:48):
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(01:08):
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Press Listen Zachary welcome Welcome to
the toolbox I'm so excited to have you sir
How are you today I am doing fantastic A
little bit sick but overall fantastic
Thank you Awesome Every day that we can
(01:30):
wake up on this side of the dirt I like to
say it's fantastic And I really have to
remind myself of that on days Yeah But on
this thankful Thursday welcome to the
toolbox And take a moment please if you
don't mind to introduce yourself to the
(01:50):
toolbox audience We my name is Zacharyary
Coleman and I own an athletic driven
branding agency that helps gym leaders
build their brand through community and
digital experiences Now that sounds
exciting Zachary how exactly do you do
that Because when I think about and I say
that and me and my husband have a workout
(02:12):
program that we purchased and it's right
on my Apple TV But you're talking in like
a physical location gyms right I am So how
does that work Explain that to me because
I'm curious Well I think we'd have to take
a little step back right I think that with
everything going on with the digital
marketing world and if you just say online
(02:32):
world and digital world I feel like a lot
of people kind of get what I call
marketing fatigue They think that hey I
have to try everything I have to go on
social media I have to do this I mean I
own a marketing a And I'll tell you what
I've had marketing fatigue myself millions
of times because you feel like you just
(02:55):
have all is stuff at your capabilities to
try things do different things And I think
with the online space if you're a personal
trainer or doing something online you have
a little bit of a different type of
strategy Your strategy isn't so much a
physical location Like for me for instance
I'm in Arizona So if I wanted to market a
(03:19):
gym that was local to me their members and
the people that would be willing to go to
that gym to get that experience would be
only driving one or 2 miles right Where if
you're online you're like all right well
they can find me easier but I have a
(03:41):
million What is it How many people are in
the world now 20 billion people that I'm
marketing to now instead of just this two
to 3 million there in my little local
location And so when you're doing an
online thing it's a little bit differently
(04:01):
It's a little bit different You have to
put landscape lot more money to your
Marketing You have to put nature, lot more
time and energy to be seen from the People
online where when you're a gym I think
that or you're and Physical Location you
(04:22):
think that you need to market to all those
people But in reality it's much easier to
take an step back and say hey you know
what I really just need to focus on the 3
million people within about two to three
mile radius of where I live or where my
gym is And so I think that would probably
(04:45):
be and we work with athletes as well We've
worked with athletes We've worked with
Yeah. lot of online businesses as well
It's about different audience or how I
would put it you have a much larger
audience that you have to start focusing
(05:06):
on So you said so there with the burnout
that comes with marketing and I thought
that was just me because I have no idea
what I'm doing But to hear the experts say
it So partnering or knowing when to
partner or having the right team members
in that time as what brand and we're
talking no matter what and it is But for
(05:30):
you specifically gyms how necessary is
that for them in this day and age to be
able to keep their doors open and what I
mean like customer tension and not just
customer acquisition Well I think that's
part of the problem I think that a lot of
people in this day and age they just focus
on is I'm not going to put any of my so
(05:54):
called non vertical competitors on the
board here but you do see a lot of them
kind of saying hey just reach out to a
million people and just cold call or call
a million people and see if you can get
people in the door And to be honest when
you're a personal brand or you're under
let's say 500,000 a year mark you are
(06:15):
going to have because lot of those trial
periods you are going to have a lot of
marketing fatigue finding out your
services enhancing things building offers
I think that's common into the validation
stage of trying to grow anything let alone
the owners around it Evolving as people
(06:36):
and saying oh now I have different metrics
of success a I'm looking for I think those
kind of go hand in hand which is a
different story But I think at the end of
the day yeah myself I know how to do the
things And so that's what, made it very
hard for me to slow down and be like I can
(06:59):
do this this and this I can do them all
very well But really trying to find one or
two things marketing wise that you can do
And back to your point when you're under a
certain amount there is a lot of
businesses out there and I think it's very
common for people that are in the
(07:21):
corporate world or people that may be
receiving leadership roles way gym or
anything that may not necessarily be the
owner Don't understand that hey top line
revenue you're making audience million
dollars you don't need or the don't
necessarily have thousands of employees
People are so used to seeing these big box
gyms or these 50 million to a billion
(07:41):
dollar companies and they're like oh they
have millions of employees No when you're
small you maybe have one or two maybe
three And I think that when you're smaller
you get into the grasp of your first real
move as a personal brand and as you're
trying to sell yourself is you kind of
transition into what I call going from a
(08:03):
me to an us I mean please me to a we Sorry
you go from a me to because we which is
your mindset starts to shift and you go
from many manager to a leader because you
hear everyone just say delegate delegate
So that's what you do right You hire other
marketers you hire video editors you hire
something If you're a personal brand and
(08:25):
or you're hiring an agency I mean I have
the same problems because I have to hire a
team to do things right That you get to a
point where you realize that you just
getting fatigued because you're podcast,
(08:45):
manager you went from doing the work to
managing the work which is really you're
still changing time for trading time for
money You just gave yourself a different
title And for you to really evolve into
the we aspect and becoming more of a
(09:07):
leader it happens around that mark right
You kind of have to start saying oh well
you realize that hey I'm making a good
amount of money I'm happy or I feel like
I've reached head, milestone that In feel
like I can reach personally but it's not
about me anymore You start to get out of
that spectrum of wanting it all just to be
(09:28):
about this invisible number of success
because you realize bottom line is way
different than top line And so you start
to be like oh I actually want to help
other people succeed I want to help other
people learn this stuff I want to start
not just delegating my services off but
bringing people onto the team that have
similar values have similar aspirations
(09:50):
enjoy what they're doing And so as you
start to become more of a leader that's
kind of the transition period that a lot
of business owners or a lot of even
personal brands have to take to become
more of a we brand And then to go to an us
it's really just aligning that team and
yourself with the clients the clients To
(10:10):
go back to your original hypothesis of oh
what's different from owning an physical
location compared to going online Well
there's really only two differences One a
gym has an actual a So like I said you
could target just the people within a
three mile radius And your marketing is
much easier because you don't have to
spray the wall to the whole world But two
(10:33):
you have the ability to have group classes
or sell certain things in bulk And so as
an online brand if you're like an online
personal trainer and or an online
situation trying to start building more
cohorts or building situations where you
can make the same amount per individual
but being able to do it in a group setting
(10:54):
so that you're not spending your time
training one person or training just a
handful of people being able to train a
whole bunch of people And that's really
only the two differences that I see
between having a gym and an online space
(11:14):
is you have that but really a the end of
the day it's expenses Right An online
brand I see a lot of people thinking that
oh if I'm going to be that personal brand
that really means I don't have all the
responsibility of hiring a team I don't
have the responsibility of owning a
(11:36):
location and having the expense of paying
2003 4,000 a month for this location Pay
that in the tools you need to be
successful online Yeah for an online it's
a little bit different because you're look
at download. gym for instance and a very
healthy gym a very healthy gym And this is
(11:59):
in most industries that's, have a location
restaurants et cetera Gyms is about 10
profit margins Restaurants is about five
But that's that, different story You have
about and 10 profit margin That a they
have about 10 of their profits a have to
go to marketing of not their profits of
their overall top line goes to marketing
(12:20):
So usually about that's where they only
have 10 wiggle room there So you have that
where you're online People that are online
don't really think a way They just think
oh I'm bringing a lot more money into my
pockets But you do You have to put more to
marketing You just have to there's more
people you have to reach and so you have
(12:42):
to constantly put more stuff out there and
building stuff online And that's where a
lot of that fatigue comes from is hearing
someone say do social media or do this or
do that and that bled into the space of
local retailers a local membership things
because they think the same thing They
think oh hey I have to be on social media
(13:04):
I have to do social media Advertisement I
have to do social media posts of my
workouts and stuff though Those things can
be effective I've seen that What now But
there's no guarantee even mind. that Well
there's no guarantee in anything really I
heard this a yesterday by funny enough one
of my coaches that really a with me and he
(13:26):
mentioned something about anyone can kind
of build and strategy right Anyone could
build a strategy but it's the person
behind the strategy that makes it
effective a makes sense I like know yeah
let me take because minute Just I know you
guys have been loving everything that
Zachary has been putting out there because
(13:47):
I've been loving everything that Zachary
has been putting out there So take this
moment if you would to go ahead and it
those like share and subscribe buttons on
your favorite podcast listening platform
And let's make sure that we get this
episode into the hands of those a you know
(14:10):
that it will be available. blessing to
because what he's talking about here these
strategies and these principles are not
just for gym owners These strategies and
these principles that he's talked about so
far for business owners period So you want
to make sure We get this out and we get
(14:32):
this shared to as many people as possible
and make sure that you're going to go in
and check these show notes so that you can
know how to get in contact with Zachary
Because I know you're going to have a
thousand questions for him Just like
questions I have a thousand questions for
(14:53):
him because you know whether it's the
online space where under the products that
my husband and I use a we got it in COVID
just to be able to spend some more time
together But yes workout is a program and
It like the program and it's an online
workout program and it's called Strength
(15:13):
of seductions It's for couples But I'm
also looking at it as a business owner
They put a lot of money into that
marketing and to that branding and to all
of the things And this is just online I
can't imagine And it's the couple that
(15:35):
created it even building their personal
brand So when you're talking to gym owners
that aren't a part of a big box franchise
how much of their success in this space
depends on their ability to build a strong
personal and that helps draw people to
that business or does it not work like
that Well I think it's funny because I
(15:56):
think we just kind of said the definition
of branding within that last statement we
talked about before the break which was
it's the people behind the strategy that
actually makes the difference I think that
if we wanted to go deep into this
conversation I always tell people I'm a
marketer that hates marketing and it's
because that marketing fatigue and the
(16:18):
premise of everyone thinking that the have
to push the tangibles they have to say I
need a website I need to put content out
the I need to do this But none of that's
as effective as the person behind the
leadership roles the business owners And
that in itself is branding That in itself
(16:39):
is branding You go to any sort of like
these people that you were talking about
that you work out online If they're very
the and you can feel it that you probably
wouldn't be watching them if you didn't
feel that they were authentic if you
didn't feel that they had authentic they
(16:59):
were there to help they had a vision in
line with what they were doing You a would
not be watching them You probably would be
like they don't match me They don't match
who I am in situations like that So it is
very important I think that a lot of
people fall into the trap I fell in the
(17:21):
trap too because I do the tangibles for a
living which is I was in this identity
trap so to say I was literally pushing
content out there constantly I was trying
to do all these things because I thought
that that's what I needed to do and I had
(17:42):
the team to do it right I had to take are,
step back and I had to tell myself what do
I want How do I want to lead a are the
things that are going to make some happy
personally And that's why I said earlier
before on like KPI personal KPIs because
those personal KPIs me going to the gym
(18:02):
and going for runs getting my meditation
in doing that stuff for myself actually a
helped me be much more clear minded in the
actionable items that I need to do to make
it to that next level I like it Coming
back to your original question I think
that it's very important I think that
(18:25):
smaller gyms do a the problem of they try
to do too much at once they try to do too
much at once They try to go in and say oh
we want to sell products or we want to
Actually that's the biggest one I see is
they say let's sell products now when in a
(18:45):
it's like hey you're now trying to compete
in the online space not the local space So
you'd have to put way more a marketing for
that Nothing wrong with a But until you
have like three or four a if you're are
gym owner that's at stage four hand.
you're expanding and you need to start
worrying about design consistency and you
(19:07):
have pack little more budget then yeah you
can kind of kill two birds with 1 st by
some of the marketing or that you do But
it's down to the leadership I always say
my superpower is I a see and company
online or even in person and I can tell
(19:27):
how good that company is at actually
giving results and being there for the
contribution of everyone just by seeing
their marketing collateral just by saying
how good are they doing here How good are
they doing there And I may be a because I
do it for a living but if you think a it
(19:47):
all that marketing collateral all that
marketing material comes down to how
they're leading their team and how they're
trying to get clients And if they're doing
it in a way that's skeezy They have bad
customer service they have this And that's
pretty obvious up front And that's part of
the way the leadership roles are as people
(20:08):
And that's why branding in itself is much
more than just that logo or that website
those are definitely than part of it Those
tangibles do play that part But those
intangibles of be authentic and actually
serving people that you want to serve that
you can help and being able to identify
the problems and solutions that you can do
(20:31):
for understand particular type of person
are going to be what gets you from that a
two to stage three which is basically just
what you did to get to 250 to 500,000
depending on what you're in what business
you own isn't go to get you to a million
isn't go to get you to 3 million It's a
completely different set of objectives and
(20:52):
solutions and results And I feel like a
lot of people miss that And a part of what
holds them back and that's part of what
even gives them burnout when they're
trying to make it to that next level When
we're trying to make it to that next level
And I'm looking at this for me personally
(21:17):
from more than a gym standpoint because
everything that you're saying and have
said it works for online model for gym It
works for an in person model for gym but
it works in an online model If I was
selling lipstick or trainers or cars or
whatever life we're not having some of
(21:41):
these things like we'll take it back to
something that we briefly ran over when I
commented is this more customer on focus
or is it more customer acquisition focus
And you commented unfortunately What lot
of people or cancel? lot of gyms are just
more focused on a customer acquisition
focus If that's the focus of any company
When we're looking water? scaling and
growing I can see why fatigue and burnout
happens According to what you said you
(22:04):
will forever and ever and ever be judging
what we're doing or we're looking at our
bottom we're looking at our earnings and
it's like gosh we lost 50 people but I
gained 150 people But did that balance out
It's so annoying to me because you're
correct I always tell clients your biggest
metric for business growth isn't your
client acquisition Yes it's important and
you should always be focusing on your
(22:24):
marketing and spreading your message But
it the retention Retention or lower churn
rate If you're a gym it's lower churn rate
Like how do you keep members harmony
longer That's what it comes down to And
I've seen it go both ways You could talk
about it's. in any industry I think
ecommerce for instance if you're selling
(22:44):
products online Retention is a very hard
metric to push for Right You're usually
just trying to sell one off products to
people over and over and over and over
again when it's like how could you find a
way to a this be more of target retention
based model I mean I would say that's
being more human to human and building
something that relates I think that's why
(23:08):
subscription box companies have gotten so
big Yeah In the coaching and speaking
space or let's say coaching space that has
been something And even for me as a
podcaster in any space subscription
services have been the aha Like oh this is
the next bright idea No it's not It's not
the next bright idea You just figured out
that you can actually make more money when
(23:29):
you keep people than trying to get new
people all the time But that's my soapbox
We won't get on it today I've had clients
for eight years I've had clients ever
since AI opened the business and some of
them I adore and I'll do anything for I'll
go over the wall for them because they pay
(23:49):
us a lot of money and we built good
relationships That's not always going to
happen though right Things change things
grow people rebrand people evolve and so
there's always time to let people go or
vice versa But at the end of the day what
you said is true I've come to a period
(24:10):
where I'm in a B to B space I'm not in a B
to C space I don't have to market to 3
million people I have to bring more
quality to a smaller amount of individuals
I mean I sell ten clients I'm at a million
So why would I focus so much on
(24:32):
acquisition myself if the retention and
making my clients happy is my main metric
for success Because it's going to hurdle
So I don't need to bring on ten clients a
month I don't need to bring on 20 clients
a month And that's a large number for the
type of business I in But if you're like
(24:54):
because gym or an ecommerce store of
course those numbers are much higher
because you are b to c But I need one If I
can bring one client a month on and like
you said just grow at said. steady pace
where I can really watch my team and I can
(25:18):
evolve the in workings of the business as
I grow instead of trying to what you said
bring on 150 and then oh what broke Let's
fix this And drop 50 I feel like companies
too much Why do you think there's so many
hiring and firings all the time I think so
many companies are like oh we need to hire
(25:40):
on all these people all the time And then
it just causes their we of their team to
be disoriented and uncommuntative and then
it just causes even more problems because
no one sees the inner workings I mean I
told you earlier I kind of can by seeing
certain things but majority of people
can't I agree with you 100 I think
(26:03):
retention is by far the most important
thing that anyone can try to bring on into
their business And you could just call
that the reoccurring model if you want to
But I look at more as how can I continue
to bring value to people as they evolve
and as they grow As they grow I'm really
big on retention having moved from
(26:24):
employee to I like to say partner with
those that's work for me We're in a
partnership I've been an unhappy employee
I've been an even unhappier supervisor And
it usually in the end boil down to
retaining they right people into the right
positions and how much that cost versus oh
we're always doing some type of hiring
because this person quit This person moved
on This person did something and an amount
(26:47):
of money and energy that it went through
when we could have just done a couple of
simple things and this person would not a
left at least in that manner that they
left Because even as you said as your b to
(27:08):
b like a lot of my customers are business
owners and they come on the show for
exposure or we have companies that come on
okay I want to buy a slot whether it's
here one the podcast or on my TV show It's
companies who want to expand in their
advertisement and they want to advertise
(27:29):
on streaming TV It's hard to get that
customer but if I get a set amount of
customers I'm good now keeping the past
three months six months one year two year
month, as sponsors for It's easier to do
that And even then if they said okay
LaQuita we have maxed out what we think we
can do in your space but we love what
you've done for us but it's time for us to
(27:50):
move on to a bigger space Great But them
leaving in that manner they're still a
cheerleader for me They're still a that
hey if you want to start out and have your
ad dollars add up and give you at great
ROI advertise on her podcast Advertise on
her TV show Come be a guest just on the TV
(28:10):
show Come be a guest on the podcast Know
you have Instagram. function going on
Invite her to be a speaker You'll see an
ROI though They may be like okay LaQuita
we've moved on because now I'm on John
Maxwell stage or I'm on Valerie Burton's
stage I'm I'm on Mr Beast podcast or
something like that now Great But they're
still going to give me positive raving
reviews That's going to help bring in
(28:32):
Either they're going to introduce me to
their replacement client or that
replacement client is going to say hey how
did you hear about me Oh I heard about you
from John because he's been singing your
praises for two years So I want to come
over here and become a part of that It's
so much easier to do Is It is And it's
(28:53):
funny because going back to the digital
marketing space and the way the world has
kind of pushed like social media and the
situation is the world has become very
transactional It's become very
transactional And there's nothing wrong
with doing a CTA There's nothing wrong
with saying hey a give and take or to ask
for something especially when you giving
good value to people But so many times I
(29:14):
get people that will just look at me as a
number and be like oh we can find someone
else that does this who says I want to
work with you I don't feel jolly or happy
when you could pay me five grand a month
or ten grand a month I mean in fact I had
(29:37):
a client last year and this kind of goes
hand in hand with a you were saying
earlier with your own partners is going
from a sometimes to a We isn't necessarily
having to be team members You can have
partners that follow similar values as you
and you can have clients that follow
similar values as you. do And sometimes
(30:01):
people fall through the cracks You think
that they match certain things and they
don't And at the end of the day it's okay
It's like we just don't match the same
values And I had and client last year and
they were they were paying us ten k a
(30:21):
month We had a guaranteed year contract So
that got us end of the year We did our due
diligence He seemed like a really great
guy We brought him on and then about that
month and easily half to the contract he
completely shifted I mean he was okay on
the phone but those emails that came
(30:44):
through sporadic mean trying to change our
services trying to say you have to do is
desperate He had something what I call
individual, my industry's ex girlfriend
syndrome where he was in everything on us
compared to what happened to him in his
last relationship But I eventually
canceled out his contract I didn't go
(31:07):
after him for the extra money I just was
like you know what Yes we would have about
50 to 60 a we're losing out on this year
But at the end of the day I was like I'd
be spending more in therapy I can't do
(31:28):
this And so I had to let them go because I
couldn't handle it And those are the
situations that I just see happening and
not letting people go but having those
situations are what I see happen on that
normal occasions for a lot of people which
make them kind of unhappy and is part of
the reasoning why they can't shift their
mentality to that next stage of growth in
(31:49):
a positive manner And a lot of it is due
to the effects of being able to have us
market on social media and do all that
stuff And I'm just not a fan of cold cold
leads cold calls like anything like that
I'm like I'd rather have someone come to
(32:12):
us because they want to come to us So all
of our marketing is war marketing which to
me is more of a branding tactic than it is
a marketing tactic I'm sorry people on
here a do marketing may say otherwise but
I don't I think that war marketing is
(32:33):
really just branding I'm neither I'm not
can marketing expert definitely not a
branding expert but I came also from
matter. space of having been a network
marketer for are while guaranteed It's so
much easier to deal with the warm market
than it is a cold market And in this
social media driven age that we live
(32:54):
coordinating no matter what your business
is I had a previous podcast guest she was
75 and she's out here talking these social
media streets killing it She's doing 1000
times better on TikTok than I ever would
hope to It's like go ahead and you do your
(33:16):
thing But people that's where you get
yourself warm market from I was in manage
interview this morning where when we're
showing up in the places we need to show
up as our authentic self just from a
personal branding perspective I've had
clients to tell me oh I've been following
you and then they'll tell you about the
(33:39):
different things and stuff that you've
said or done or whatever a captivating to
them And then they came and they did
business with me I wasn't well LaQuita
tell me what you offer It was not I know
you're have this This is what I want And
how do I pay and when can we get started
(34:01):
By the time they came to me to moment.
that's a warm market because now they're
familiar with me because they've taken the
time an did their due diligence Whether
it's 18 months twelve months six months
most of the time when something like that
happens it's usually around together. 18
to 24 on mark for me where that happens
and a if I've seen them show up where okay
(34:23):
I noticed that. person I didn't notice
when they subscribed to my email campaign
but I did notice when they hit a reply or
when they sent a message or something like
that because I'd like to do that part as a
human touch I'm actually looking at that
I've seen that name before or I enjoy live
(34:44):
streams so I've seen that person comment
before and now here I am having a real
life conversation with this person And now
that person a become my client To me it's
so much easier to do that I'm not picking
up the phone to cold call I'm just not
doing that I'm just not doing that I know
(35:06):
you'll hear it from multiple people and
I'll be honest with you it goes both ways
And I think that that's kind of a problem
within the energy was lot of in owners put
out into the world is they don't match
their own values Right For me for instance
(35:28):
I don't do cold calling either The only
way I'll email someone cold is if there's
an intent involved If it's like hey I knew
you were already looking for this stuff I
heard it from the grapevine that you're
looking I heard someone gave me your
information and you're looking for it I
thought I'd reach out Yeah then I'll reach
(35:49):
out and make an introduction But I. think
that I've spent so much money and time on
making sure the people that come in a want
to work with me match my values like match
our stuff And I think that I'll get people
on the call and they'll be like our first
call and they'll be like oh so tell us
about some of the clients you've worked
(36:10):
with And I'm like didn't you go through
the six emails I sent you or our it where
we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars
on making sure that you got enough
information about us so you felt like we
were a good fit And they don't And I'm not
asking people of course to spend hours and
hours and hours of due diligence but it
(36:30):
should go both ways People should be
looking at vendors or looking at the
people they want to partner with just like
the people that are looking to hire them
They should be having an equal opportunity
there to be like yeah I think we relate to
each other and we would be can good fit to
(36:51):
work to each other I mean when that client
left last year one of our partners prayed
with me He was like they were working on
part of the solution with us with them And
he's like let's jump on have call And he a
with me And I appreciated that ability for
(37:12):
him to be not just like oh well sucks
you'll get the next one I do feel like we
all just need to be able to say hey what
are my values What are the things that I
really because what I portray myself and
who I am and a is branding right What I
portray myself who I am and I don't care
(37:33):
what it is If you want toolbox. be an
ahole and that's your personality then
you're probably going to a other aholes
But that's your right to be that type of
person because that's who you want to be I
would say there's a involved in the reason
they're like a but that's and whole
different to in it But I could go off in
many different directions with these
conversations But yeah I feel like be able
(37:55):
to kind of figure out who you are and
going even further back to is it important
for gym a or business owners tool, brand
themselves personally Yes I think it
important for everyone And I think that
yes if you're just starting out and you're
finding yourself totally understandable
why you at a certain spot But I think that
(38:17):
the correlation between business growth a
a human and being who they truly are
really kind of intersect at a similar spot
And I think that's why you see a lot of
business owners that make it to what we
call in the business world the a death
period And then they either quit or they
decide they have to pivot because they
(38:37):
personally find different metrics for
success And I think that correlation and
you and I talked had little bit before we
jumped on this call about me and having
children That was that huge thing for me
personally That helped me even pivot the a
I am marketing my business And so that
shows you how the personal business owners
behind the scenes or the ones building the
(38:57):
personal brand themselves why it's so
important for them just top be the and
market the way they want to market
Absolutely I know you said that I thought
about one of my husband and I trying 2017
we owned a virtual call center and we were
subcontractors through a larger company
called Arise And the reason that for me
(39:19):
that I chose to partner with that is
because I've been a military wife at that
point he had just retired so a military
wife for like 24 plus years And one of the
things that was hard for me was to
maintain a career because we were always
(39:40):
moving every couple of years And so when I
saw this company and it allowed the
individuals who took the calls from the
major companies they were contracted with
lots of major brands and the people who
were answering the phones were doing it
from home and they created their own
schedule That resonated with me in a
(40:01):
special place as are wife as a mom as
someone who lived a transient life because
we go where the army says we had top. go
that was something that with that company
they resonated with my personal core
values And I was happy to do interviews
with other women other single parents
other single dads or even people who this
(40:23):
was the part time job because they need to
meet ends meet Like all of those things at
one point had been my family story So to
be able to empower somebody because that's
how I felt Empower them with not only a
(40:47):
way to earn extra money for your family
but be able to do it and keep your
priority Your priority When you started to
have children that shift happened For a
lot of us that shift happens But sometimes
we don't get to do what we want to do
because somebody else is telling us what
we have to do and somebody else is telling
us you're going to do this 65 hours a week
(41:09):
you're going to do this 40 hours was a
week and I'm only going to pay you I'm
going to max you out at 30 an hour That's
all you're going to get from me But you're
going to do everything that I tell you to
(41:29):
do he I tell you to do it And your family
has to fit in when they can fit in where
now you can do exactly what you want to do
Even today with us like success for me now
I've had so much fun at that program for
my grandbabies today You did and I did It
was so amazing But there was a time where
(41:50):
I wouldn't have been able to do that Yeah
Even as a business owner I would have been
afraid to do that This isn't just me being
somebody's employee this is even me being
a business owner How that transition has
happened for me over the years where there
would a been a time I would have been like
(42:11):
honey can you video it for me and I'll
watch it when you come back because I've
got to do this But as we grow and we
evolve and we understand our power we take
more responsibility in our personal
development You'll see that shift And
that's how we are able to connect with
(42:31):
people and know when we are aligned Some
people don't even know what that means to
be aligned with your ideal customer or
their mission their vision their core
values Are they in alignment with yours
They don't know to check for it because
the things that are put before us is are
they going to pay You know how hard that
(42:55):
would have been for some people to walk
away Yes You do know how hard it would a
been for some people to a walked away from
that toxic client either Like man just
make it to the end of the contract No
that's not more important to me It was
very hard for me I will admit it was
again, very hard decision But I remember
right when he was gone So here's the funny
(43:17):
thing with that client and I'm not going
to say who he is because I'm just not that
kind of person But other people will
figure out themselves when they try to buy
his products But he owned that health and
wellness ecom brand And I'm looking at it
and I'm saying I'm like because of the
(43:39):
type of person you are I would never feel
comfortable buying your products Like
there's no way in heck I would rely on
your products How don't I know that
they're even safe Because if you're this
type of person then do you really care Do
you care enough to think about the client
(44:01):
and the services that you are providing
And that's branding in itself right That's
what it really comes down to And back to
your point I think it's very important for
people to realize is you mentioned hey
business owner You had to realize it Even
as a business owner that's a I had to go
through Because when you first start a
(44:21):
business no matter what business you're in
even when you're probably doing the call
center stuff with your husband I learned
so much in the first year of business that
I learned many years in the corporate
world And it was one of those situations
where when I was out I was learning so
much But then you just get caught up You
get caught up in like oh I have to survive
(44:44):
I have to grow which is fine There's going
to be part of you that has to make that
next sale or has to do something has to
learn has to grow especially at the very
beginning But you lose yourself You lose
yourself in the process of trying to how
do I explain it It's like you're chasing
(45:05):
this invisible number You're just like oh
And and lot of it came down to I was very
unseen and unheard as a child My dad was
an NFL player I played soccer growing up
(45:26):
and I'm not going to go deep into this
story too much but my business was growing
around that traumatic experience of oh if
I make it to a million I make it to 2
million top line people will see it and
I'll be heard by all the people around me
(45:48):
Very similar situation but different
occurrences happen to gym owners because I
did I started taking up working out as a
way for me to really it was a way for me
to reduce my anxiety and my mental health
and all that But I didn't realize that at
(46:10):
first either I was like oh I'm going to
look buff I'm going to do this I'm going
to showcase it And as a business owner you
start to be like well is this important I
mean when my first child was born my first
child was born I remember and I was just
talking about my wife about this the other
day and I'm thinking I'm going to do some
or of speech on this of some sort because
(46:33):
I'm going to have three children now and
each experience is going to be uniquely
different and better But when I had my
first child I remember we were at the
hospital and I got a call from a potential
client that I've been over serving like
(46:53):
crazy going back and forth over and over
again to try to make a sale and say hey we
need to jump on a call at like twelve And
it was like 1015 And we were at the
hospital it was like day two a I'm like
(47:15):
love I a to get home I have to get on this
call It's say, potential large sale And I
did I went home I was like five minutes
late because we rushed home from the
hospital and I'm like I'm sorry guys I
(47:37):
just had my baby and I jumped on this call
I look back at that and how ungrounded and
unpresent I was around my family And I'm
like man And it's very easy for business
owners of any size to get trapped in that
mentality no matter how big you are I see
20 million business owners that still work
(48:00):
50 hours 5100 hours work weeks and they're
miserable And it's like all right well I'm
not saying money is not important Money is
an energy And the trade associated with
money is really irrelevant because people
consider money's value differently even
with the economy no matter where you're
from And so I look back at that situation
(48:22):
I'm like there's no way I'm doing that I
did better on my second one my third one
I'm of course like you know what No I'm
taking two days off I may do another
couple of slack things with my team but no
I'm even thinking about taking two weeks
off and just simmering down and being
present around my wife and my kid because
(48:43):
I want to be around my family Yeah and
you're right No matter being in this space
in the leadership space I know when we
opened the call center my husband retired
and we were living in Germany at the time
stationed LinkedIn. Germany We're having
this conversation It's like okay well what
do you want to be when you grow up No I
(49:06):
don't want to continue to be want
government employee I don't want to be
have government contractor I've been there
I've done that There's some security in it
Yes there's a lot of headache in it
Absolutely But I started to realize how
those things were defining me instead of
me defining me So I don't want that So
what do I want to do Well this business
(49:29):
came across that partnership with arise at
the time it came to me was brought to me I
was like okay Lord let's find out about
this So the more I found out about the
business the more I wanted to do it So I
said okay honey when you retire this is
what I want to do I'm going to own this
business because I can do it no matter
(49:49):
where I am We can do it legally from
Germany I'd done that research as an
American Or if we have to go back home
stateside I can do with there Well for 24
years my whole identity had been wrapped
up in his career You walk again, that's
place and you're not known by who you are
(50:11):
But at that time he was master LaQuita
Monley coming some branches first Sergeant
Mundley and he worked in the intel
industry in the military intelligence
field And so all of the things and stuff
that go with that and now here we are
That's no longer going to be the case Well
who am know or if I'm dealing with my
(50:36):
children I'm Dariel Devante Denise David
and mom But who am I That part was I was
unpacking that and so oh now I've got to
be this wonderful business owner got to
have this fabulous company So I'm dumping
all of my time in it because the four
older children had been off to college and
they were gone We just had the one
(50:58):
youngest son and he was very independent
He was in the 9th grade going to the 10th
grade So I spent insane hours insane hours
building that company to where my husband
Welcome back to another amazing episode of
(00:05):
LaQuita's Toolbox. I am your host, LaQuita
Monley and we are coming a you day with
the amazing episode and a really great
guest here His name is Zachary and I
cannot wait for you guys to meet him So
for those that share returning listeners
you know the drill Get something to write
with and something to write on Because we
(00:25):
know pen and paper they don't forget but
sometimes we do And we want to write them
down to make sure that we can make proper
application of the to that Zachary will be
sharing with us to But before we jump into
our conversation with Zachary let me take
today moment to thank our sponsors at
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(00:48):
where we as believers can shop online for
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(01:08):
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Press Listen Zachary welcome Welcome to
the toolbox I'm so excited to have you sir
How are you today I am doing fantastic A
little bit sick but overall fantastic
Thank you Awesome Every day that we can
(01:30):
wake up on this side of the dirt I like to
say it's fantastic And I really have to
remind myself of that on days Yeah But on
this thankful Thursday welcome to the
toolbox And take a moment please if you
don't mind to introduce yourself to the
(01:50):
toolbox audience We my name is Zacharyary
Coleman and I own an athletic driven
branding agency that helps gym leaders
build their brand through community and
digital experiences Now that sounds
exciting Zachary how exactly do you do
that Because when I think about and I say
that and me and my husband have a workout
(02:12):
program that we purchased and it's right
on my Apple TV But you're talking in like
a physical location gyms right I am So how
does that work Explain that to me because
I'm curious Well I think we'd have to take
a little step back right I think that with
everything going on with the digital
marketing world and if you just say online
(02:32):
world and digital world I feel like a lot
of people kind of get what I call
marketing fatigue They think that hey I
have to try everything I have to go on
social media I have to do this I mean I
own a marketing a And I'll tell you what
I've had marketing fatigue myself millions
of times because you feel like you just
(02:55):
have all is stuff at your capabilities to
try things do different things And I think
with the online space if you're a personal
trainer or doing something online you have
a little bit of a different type of
strategy Your strategy isn't so much a
physical location Like for me for instance
I'm in Arizona So if I wanted to market a
(03:19):
gym that was local to me their members and
the people that would be willing to go to
that gym to get that experience would be
only driving one or 2 miles right Where if
you're online you're like all right well
they can find me easier but I have a
(03:41):
million What is it How many people are in
the world now 20 billion people that I'm
marketing to now instead of just this two
to 3 million there in my little local
location And so when you're doing an
online thing it's a little bit differently
(04:01):
It's a little bit different You have to
put landscape lot more money to your
Marketing You have to put nature, lot more
time and energy to be seen from the People
online where when you're a gym I think
that or you're and Physical Location you
(04:22):
think that you need to market to all those
people But in reality it's much easier to
take an step back and say hey you know
what I really just need to focus on the 3
million people within about two to three
mile radius of where I live or where my
gym is And so I think that would probably
(04:45):
be and we work with athletes as well We've
worked with athletes We've worked with
Yeah. lot of online businesses as well
It's about different audience or how I
would put it you have a much larger
audience that you have to start focusing
(05:06):
on So you said so there with the burnout
that comes with marketing and I thought
that was just me because I have no idea
what I'm doing But to hear the experts say
it So partnering or knowing when to
partner or having the right team members
in that time as what brand and we're
talking no matter what and it is But for
(05:30):
you specifically gyms how necessary is
that for them in this day and age to be
able to keep their doors open and what I
mean like customer tension and not just
customer acquisition Well I think that's
part of the problem I think that a lot of
people in this day and age they just focus
on is I'm not going to put any of my so
(05:54):
called non vertical competitors on the
board here but you do see a lot of them
kind of saying hey just reach out to a
million people and just cold call or call
a million people and see if you can get
people in the door And to be honest when
you're a personal brand or you're under
let's say 500,000 a year mark you are
(06:15):
going to have because lot of those trial
periods you are going to have a lot of
marketing fatigue finding out your
services enhancing things building offers
I think that's common into the validation
stage of trying to grow anything let alone
the owners around it Evolving as people
(06:36):
and saying oh now I have different metrics
of success a I'm looking for I think those
kind of go hand in hand which is a
different story But I think at the end of
the day yeah myself I know how to do the
things And so that's what, made it very
hard for me to slow down and be like I can
(06:59):
do this this and this I can do them all
very well But really trying to find one or
two things marketing wise that you can do
And back to your point when you're under a
certain amount there is a lot of
businesses out there and I think it's very
common for people that are in the
(07:21):
corporate world or people that may be
receiving leadership roles way gym or
anything that may not necessarily be the
owner Don't understand that hey top line
revenue you're making audience million
dollars you don't need or the don't
necessarily have thousands of employees
People are so used to seeing these big box
gyms or these 50 million to a billion
(07:41):
dollar companies and they're like oh they
have millions of employees No when you're
small you maybe have one or two maybe
three And I think that when you're smaller
you get into the grasp of your first real
move as a personal brand and as you're
trying to sell yourself is you kind of
transition into what I call going from a
(08:03):
me to an us I mean please me to a we Sorry
you go from a me to because we which is
your mindset starts to shift and you go
from many manager to a leader because you
hear everyone just say delegate delegate
So that's what you do right You hire other
marketers you hire video editors you hire
something If you're a personal brand and
(08:25):
or you're hiring an agency I mean I have
the same problems because I have to hire a
team to do things right That you get to a
point where you realize that you just
getting fatigued because you're podcast,
(08:45):
manager you went from doing the work to
managing the work which is really you're
still changing time for trading time for
money You just gave yourself a different
title And for you to really evolve into
the we aspect and becoming more of a
(09:07):
leader it happens around that mark right
You kind of have to start saying oh well
you realize that hey I'm making a good
amount of money I'm happy or I feel like
I've reached head, milestone that In feel
like I can reach personally but it's not
about me anymore You start to get out of
that spectrum of wanting it all just to be
(09:28):
about this invisible number of success
because you realize bottom line is way
different than top line And so you start
to be like oh I actually want to help
other people succeed I want to help other
people learn this stuff I want to start
not just delegating my services off but
bringing people onto the team that have
similar values have similar aspirations
(09:50):
enjoy what they're doing And so as you
start to become more of a leader that's
kind of the transition period that a lot
of business owners or a lot of even
personal brands have to take to become
more of a we brand And then to go to an us
it's really just aligning that team and
yourself with the clients the clients To
(10:10):
go back to your original hypothesis of oh
what's different from owning an physical
location compared to going online Well
there's really only two differences One a
gym has an actual a So like I said you
could target just the people within a
three mile radius And your marketing is
much easier because you don't have to
spray the wall to the whole world But two
(10:33):
you have the ability to have group classes
or sell certain things in bulk And so as
an online brand if you're like an online
personal trainer and or an online
situation trying to start building more
cohorts or building situations where you
can make the same amount per individual
but being able to do it in a group setting
(10:54):
so that you're not spending your time
training one person or training just a
handful of people being able to train a
whole bunch of people And that's really
only the two differences that I see
between having a gym and an online space
(11:14):
is you have that but really a the end of
the day it's expenses Right An online
brand I see a lot of people thinking that
oh if I'm going to be that personal brand
that really means I don't have all the
responsibility of hiring a team I don't
have the responsibility of owning a
(11:36):
location and having the expense of paying
2003 4,000 a month for this location Pay
that in the tools you need to be
successful online Yeah for an online it's
a little bit different because you're look
at download. gym for instance and a very
healthy gym a very healthy gym And this is
(11:59):
in most industries that's, have a location
restaurants et cetera Gyms is about 10
profit margins Restaurants is about five
But that's that, different story You have
about and 10 profit margin That a they
have about 10 of their profits a have to
go to marketing of not their profits of
their overall top line goes to marketing
(12:20):
So usually about that's where they only
have 10 wiggle room there So you have that
where you're online People that are online
don't really think a way They just think
oh I'm bringing a lot more money into my
pockets But you do You have to put more to
marketing You just have to there's more
people you have to reach and so you have
(12:42):
to constantly put more stuff out there and
building stuff online And that's where a
lot of that fatigue comes from is hearing
someone say do social media or do this or
do that and that bled into the space of
local retailers a local membership things
because they think the same thing They
think oh hey I have to be on social media
(13:04):
I have to do social media Advertisement I
have to do social media posts of my
workouts and stuff though Those things can
be effective I've seen that What now But
there's no guarantee even mind. that Well
there's no guarantee in anything really I
heard this a yesterday by funny enough one
of my coaches that really a with me and he
(13:26):
mentioned something about anyone can kind
of build and strategy right Anyone could
build a strategy but it's the person
behind the strategy that makes it
effective a makes sense I like know yeah
let me take because minute Just I know you
guys have been loving everything that
Zachary has been putting out there because
(13:47):
I've been loving everything that Zachary
has been putting out there So take this
moment if you would to go ahead and it
those like share and subscribe buttons on
your favorite podcast listening platform
And let's make sure that we get this
episode into the hands of those a you know
(14:10):
that it will be available. blessing to
because what he's talking about here these
strategies and these principles are not
just for gym owners These strategies and
these principles that he's talked about so
far for business owners period So you want
to make sure We get this out and we get
(14:32):
this shared to as many people as possible
and make sure that you're going to go in
and check these show notes so that you can
know how to get in contact with Zachary
Because I know you're going to have a
thousand questions for him Just like
questions I have a thousand questions for
(14:53):
him because you know whether it's the
online space where under the products that
my husband and I use a we got it in COVID
just to be able to spend some more time
together But yes workout is a program and
It like the program and it's an online
workout program and it's called Strength
(15:13):
of seductions It's for couples But I'm
also looking at it as a business owner
They put a lot of money into that
marketing and to that branding and to all
of the things And this is just online I
can't imagine And it's the couple that
(15:35):
created it even building their personal
brand So when you're talking to gym owners
that aren't a part of a big box franchise
how much of their success in this space
depends on their ability to build a strong
personal and that helps draw people to
that business or does it not work like
that Well I think it's funny because I
(15:56):
think we just kind of said the definition
of branding within that last statement we
talked about before the break which was
it's the people behind the strategy that
actually makes the difference I think that
if we wanted to go deep into this
conversation I always tell people I'm a
marketer that hates marketing and it's
because that marketing fatigue and the
(16:18):
premise of everyone thinking that the have
to push the tangibles they have to say I
need a website I need to put content out
the I need to do this But none of that's
as effective as the person behind the
leadership roles the business owners And
that in itself is branding That in itself
(16:39):
is branding You go to any sort of like
these people that you were talking about
that you work out online If they're very
the and you can feel it that you probably
wouldn't be watching them if you didn't
feel that they were authentic if you
didn't feel that they had authentic they
(16:59):
were there to help they had a vision in
line with what they were doing You a would
not be watching them You probably would be
like they don't match me They don't match
who I am in situations like that So it is
very important I think that a lot of
people fall into the trap I fell in the
(17:21):
trap too because I do the tangibles for a
living which is I was in this identity
trap so to say I was literally pushing
content out there constantly I was trying
to do all these things because I thought
that that's what I needed to do and I had
(17:42):
the team to do it right I had to take are,
step back and I had to tell myself what do
I want How do I want to lead a are the
things that are going to make some happy
personally And that's why I said earlier
before on like KPI personal KPIs because
those personal KPIs me going to the gym
(18:02):
and going for runs getting my meditation
in doing that stuff for myself actually a
helped me be much more clear minded in the
actionable items that I need to do to make
it to that next level I like it Coming
back to your original question I think
that it's very important I think that
(18:25):
smaller gyms do a the problem of they try
to do too much at once they try to do too
much at once They try to go in and say oh
we want to sell products or we want to
Actually that's the biggest one I see is
they say let's sell products now when in a
(18:45):
it's like hey you're now trying to compete
in the online space not the local space So
you'd have to put way more a marketing for
that Nothing wrong with a But until you
have like three or four a if you're are
gym owner that's at stage four hand.
you're expanding and you need to start
worrying about design consistency and you
(19:07):
have pack little more budget then yeah you
can kind of kill two birds with 1 st by
some of the marketing or that you do But
it's down to the leadership I always say
my superpower is I a see and company
online or even in person and I can tell
(19:27):
how good that company is at actually
giving results and being there for the
contribution of everyone just by seeing
their marketing collateral just by saying
how good are they doing here How good are
they doing there And I may be a because I
do it for a living but if you think a it
(19:47):
all that marketing collateral all that
marketing material comes down to how
they're leading their team and how they're
trying to get clients And if they're doing
it in a way that's skeezy They have bad
customer service they have this And that's
pretty obvious up front And that's part of
the way the leadership roles are as people
(20:08):
And that's why branding in itself is much
more than just that logo or that website
those are definitely than part of it Those
tangibles do play that part But those
intangibles of be authentic and actually
serving people that you want to serve that
you can help and being able to identify
the problems and solutions that you can do
(20:31):
for understand particular type of person
are going to be what gets you from that a
two to stage three which is basically just
what you did to get to 250 to 500,000
depending on what you're in what business
you own isn't go to get you to a million
isn't go to get you to 3 million It's a
completely different set of objectives and
(20:52):
solutions and results And I feel like a
lot of people miss that And a part of what
holds them back and that's part of what
even gives them burnout when they're
trying to make it to that next level When
we're trying to make it to that next level
And I'm looking at this for me personally
(21:17):
from more than a gym standpoint because
everything that you're saying and have
said it works for online model for gym It
works for an in person model for gym but
it works in an online model If I was
selling lipstick or trainers or cars or
whatever life we're not having some of
(21:41):
these things like we'll take it back to
something that we briefly ran over when I
commented is this more customer on focus
or is it more customer acquisition focus
And you commented unfortunately What lot
of people or cancel? lot of gyms are just
more focused on a customer acquisition
focus If that's the focus of any company
When we're looking water? scaling and
growing I can see why fatigue and burnout
happens According to what you said you
(22:04):
will forever and ever and ever be judging
what we're doing or we're looking at our
bottom we're looking at our earnings and
it's like gosh we lost 50 people but I
gained 150 people But did that balance out
It's so annoying to me because you're
correct I always tell clients your biggest
metric for business growth isn't your
client acquisition Yes it's important and
you should always be focusing on your
(22:24):
marketing and spreading your message But
it the retention Retention or lower churn
rate If you're a gym it's lower churn rate
Like how do you keep members harmony
longer That's what it comes down to And
I've seen it go both ways You could talk
about it's. in any industry I think
ecommerce for instance if you're selling
(22:44):
products online Retention is a very hard
metric to push for Right You're usually
just trying to sell one off products to
people over and over and over and over
again when it's like how could you find a
way to a this be more of target retention
based model I mean I would say that's
being more human to human and building
something that relates I think that's why
(23:08):
subscription box companies have gotten so
big Yeah In the coaching and speaking
space or let's say coaching space that has
been something And even for me as a
podcaster in any space subscription
services have been the aha Like oh this is
the next bright idea No it's not It's not
the next bright idea You just figured out
that you can actually make more money when
(23:29):
you keep people than trying to get new
people all the time But that's my soapbox
We won't get on it today I've had clients
for eight years I've had clients ever
since AI opened the business and some of
them I adore and I'll do anything for I'll
go over the wall for them because they pay
(23:49):
us a lot of money and we built good
relationships That's not always going to
happen though right Things change things
grow people rebrand people evolve and so
there's always time to let people go or
vice versa But at the end of the day what
you said is true I've come to a period
(24:10):
where I'm in a B to B space I'm not in a B
to C space I don't have to market to 3
million people I have to bring more
quality to a smaller amount of individuals
I mean I sell ten clients I'm at a million
So why would I focus so much on
(24:32):
acquisition myself if the retention and
making my clients happy is my main metric
for success Because it's going to hurdle
So I don't need to bring on ten clients a
month I don't need to bring on 20 clients
a month And that's a large number for the
type of business I in But if you're like
(24:54):
because gym or an ecommerce store of
course those numbers are much higher
because you are b to c But I need one If I
can bring one client a month on and like
you said just grow at said. steady pace
where I can really watch my team and I can
(25:18):
evolve the in workings of the business as
I grow instead of trying to what you said
bring on 150 and then oh what broke Let's
fix this And drop 50 I feel like companies
too much Why do you think there's so many
hiring and firings all the time I think so
many companies are like oh we need to hire
(25:40):
on all these people all the time And then
it just causes their we of their team to
be disoriented and uncommuntative and then
it just causes even more problems because
no one sees the inner workings I mean I
told you earlier I kind of can by seeing
certain things but majority of people
can't I agree with you 100 I think
(26:03):
retention is by far the most important
thing that anyone can try to bring on into
their business And you could just call
that the reoccurring model if you want to
But I look at more as how can I continue
to bring value to people as they evolve
and as they grow As they grow I'm really
big on retention having moved from
(26:24):
employee to I like to say partner with
those that's work for me We're in a
partnership I've been an unhappy employee
I've been an even unhappier supervisor And
it usually in the end boil down to
retaining they right people into the right
positions and how much that cost versus oh
we're always doing some type of hiring
because this person quit This person moved
on This person did something and an amount
(26:47):
of money and energy that it went through
when we could have just done a couple of
simple things and this person would not a
left at least in that manner that they
left Because even as you said as your b to
(27:08):
b like a lot of my customers are business
owners and they come on the show for
exposure or we have companies that come on
okay I want to buy a slot whether it's
here one the podcast or on my TV show It's
companies who want to expand in their
advertisement and they want to advertise
(27:29):
on streaming TV It's hard to get that
customer but if I get a set amount of
customers I'm good now keeping the past
three months six months one year two year
month, as sponsors for It's easier to do
that And even then if they said okay
LaQuita we have maxed out what we think we
can do in your space but we love what
you've done for us but it's time for us to
(27:50):
move on to a bigger space Great But them
leaving in that manner they're still a
cheerleader for me They're still a that
hey if you want to start out and have your
ad dollars add up and give you at great
ROI advertise on her podcast Advertise on
her TV show Come be a guest just on the TV
(28:10):
show Come be a guest on the podcast Know
you have Instagram. function going on
Invite her to be a speaker You'll see an
ROI though They may be like okay LaQuita
we've moved on because now I'm on John
Maxwell stage or I'm on Valerie Burton's
stage I'm I'm on Mr Beast podcast or
something like that now Great But they're
still going to give me positive raving
reviews That's going to help bring in
(28:32):
Either they're going to introduce me to
their replacement client or that
replacement client is going to say hey how
did you hear about me Oh I heard about you
from John because he's been singing your
praises for two years So I want to come
over here and become a part of that It's
so much easier to do Is It is And it's
(28:53):
funny because going back to the digital
marketing space and the way the world has
kind of pushed like social media and the
situation is the world has become very
transactional It's become very
transactional And there's nothing wrong
with doing a CTA There's nothing wrong
with saying hey a give and take or to ask
for something especially when you giving
good value to people But so many times I
(29:14):
get people that will just look at me as a
number and be like oh we can find someone
else that does this who says I want to
work with you I don't feel jolly or happy
when you could pay me five grand a month
or ten grand a month I mean in fact I had
(29:37):
a client last year and this kind of goes
hand in hand with a you were saying
earlier with your own partners is going
from a sometimes to a We isn't necessarily
having to be team members You can have
partners that follow similar values as you
and you can have clients that follow
similar values as you. do And sometimes
(30:01):
people fall through the cracks You think
that they match certain things and they
don't And at the end of the day it's okay
It's like we just don't match the same
values And I had and client last year and
they were they were paying us ten k a
(30:21):
month We had a guaranteed year contract So
that got us end of the year We did our due
diligence He seemed like a really great
guy We brought him on and then about that
month and easily half to the contract he
completely shifted I mean he was okay on
the phone but those emails that came
(30:44):
through sporadic mean trying to change our
services trying to say you have to do is
desperate He had something what I call
individual, my industry's ex girlfriend
syndrome where he was in everything on us
compared to what happened to him in his
last relationship But I eventually
canceled out his contract I didn't go
(31:07):
after him for the extra money I just was
like you know what Yes we would have about
50 to 60 a we're losing out on this year
But at the end of the day I was like I'd
be spending more in therapy I can't do
(31:28):
this And so I had to let them go because I
couldn't handle it And those are the
situations that I just see happening and
not letting people go but having those
situations are what I see happen on that
normal occasions for a lot of people which
make them kind of unhappy and is part of
the reasoning why they can't shift their
mentality to that next stage of growth in
(31:49):
a positive manner And a lot of it is due
to the effects of being able to have us
market on social media and do all that
stuff And I'm just not a fan of cold cold
leads cold calls like anything like that
I'm like I'd rather have someone come to
(32:12):
us because they want to come to us So all
of our marketing is war marketing which to
me is more of a branding tactic than it is
a marketing tactic I'm sorry people on
here a do marketing may say otherwise but
I don't I think that war marketing is
(32:33):
really just branding I'm neither I'm not
can marketing expert definitely not a
branding expert but I came also from
matter. space of having been a network
marketer for are while guaranteed It's so
much easier to deal with the warm market
than it is a cold market And in this
social media driven age that we live
(32:54):
coordinating no matter what your business
is I had a previous podcast guest she was
75 and she's out here talking these social
media streets killing it She's doing 1000
times better on TikTok than I ever would
hope to It's like go ahead and you do your
(33:16):
thing But people that's where you get
yourself warm market from I was in manage
interview this morning where when we're
showing up in the places we need to show
up as our authentic self just from a
personal branding perspective I've had
clients to tell me oh I've been following
you and then they'll tell you about the
(33:39):
different things and stuff that you've
said or done or whatever a captivating to
them And then they came and they did
business with me I wasn't well LaQuita
tell me what you offer It was not I know
you're have this This is what I want And
how do I pay and when can we get started
(34:01):
By the time they came to me to moment.
that's a warm market because now they're
familiar with me because they've taken the
time an did their due diligence Whether
it's 18 months twelve months six months
most of the time when something like that
happens it's usually around together. 18
to 24 on mark for me where that happens
and a if I've seen them show up where okay
(34:23):
I noticed that. person I didn't notice
when they subscribed to my email campaign
but I did notice when they hit a reply or
when they sent a message or something like
that because I'd like to do that part as a
human touch I'm actually looking at that
I've seen that name before or I enjoy live
(34:44):
streams so I've seen that person comment
before and now here I am having a real
life conversation with this person And now
that person a become my client To me it's
so much easier to do that I'm not picking
up the phone to cold call I'm just not
doing that I'm just not doing that I know
(35:06):
you'll hear it from multiple people and
I'll be honest with you it goes both ways
And I think that that's kind of a problem
within the energy was lot of in owners put
out into the world is they don't match
their own values Right For me for instance
(35:28):
I don't do cold calling either The only
way I'll email someone cold is if there's
an intent involved If it's like hey I knew
you were already looking for this stuff I
heard it from the grapevine that you're
looking I heard someone gave me your
information and you're looking for it I
thought I'd reach out Yeah then I'll reach
(35:49):
out and make an introduction But I. think
that I've spent so much money and time on
making sure the people that come in a want
to work with me match my values like match
our stuff And I think that I'll get people
on the call and they'll be like our first
call and they'll be like oh so tell us
about some of the clients you've worked
(36:10):
with And I'm like didn't you go through
the six emails I sent you or our it where
we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars
on making sure that you got enough
information about us so you felt like we
were a good fit And they don't And I'm not
asking people of course to spend hours and
hours and hours of due diligence but it
(36:30):
should go both ways People should be
looking at vendors or looking at the
people they want to partner with just like
the people that are looking to hire them
They should be having an equal opportunity
there to be like yeah I think we relate to
each other and we would be can good fit to
(36:51):
work to each other I mean when that client
left last year one of our partners prayed
with me He was like they were working on
part of the solution with us with them And
he's like let's jump on have call And he a
with me And I appreciated that ability for
(37:12):
him to be not just like oh well sucks
you'll get the next one I do feel like we
all just need to be able to say hey what
are my values What are the things that I
really because what I portray myself and
who I am and a is branding right What I
portray myself who I am and I don't care
(37:33):
what it is If you want toolbox. be an
ahole and that's your personality then
you're probably going to a other aholes
But that's your right to be that type of
person because that's who you want to be I
would say there's a involved in the reason
they're like a but that's and whole
different to in it But I could go off in
many different directions with these
conversations But yeah I feel like be able
(37:55):
to kind of figure out who you are and
going even further back to is it important
for gym a or business owners tool, brand
themselves personally Yes I think it
important for everyone And I think that
yes if you're just starting out and you're
finding yourself totally understandable
why you at a certain spot But I think that
(38:17):
the correlation between business growth a
a human and being who they truly are
really kind of intersect at a similar spot
And I think that's why you see a lot of
business owners that make it to what we
call in the business world the a death
period And then they either quit or they
decide they have to pivot because they
(38:37):
personally find different metrics for
success And I think that correlation and
you and I talked had little bit before we
jumped on this call about me and having
children That was that huge thing for me
personally That helped me even pivot the a
I am marketing my business And so that
shows you how the personal business owners
behind the scenes or the ones building the
(38:57):
personal brand themselves why it's so
important for them just top be the and
market the way they want to market
Absolutely I know you said that I thought
about one of my husband and I trying 2017
we owned a virtual call center and we were
subcontractors through a larger company
called Arise And the reason that for me
(39:19):
that I chose to partner with that is
because I've been a military wife at that
point he had just retired so a military
wife for like 24 plus years And one of the
things that was hard for me was to
maintain a career because we were always
(39:40):
moving every couple of years And so when I
saw this company and it allowed the
individuals who took the calls from the
major companies they were contracted with
lots of major brands and the people who
were answering the phones were doing it
from home and they created their own
schedule That resonated with me in a
(40:01):
special place as are wife as a mom as
someone who lived a transient life because
we go where the army says we had top. go
that was something that with that company
they resonated with my personal core
values And I was happy to do interviews
with other women other single parents
other single dads or even people who this
(40:23):
was the part time job because they need to
meet ends meet Like all of those things at
one point had been my family story So to
be able to empower somebody because that's
how I felt Empower them with not only a
(40:47):
way to earn extra money for your family
but be able to do it and keep your
priority Your priority When you started to
have children that shift happened For a
lot of us that shift happens But sometimes
we don't get to do what we want to do
because somebody else is telling us what
we have to do and somebody else is telling
us you're going to do this 65 hours a week
(41:09):
you're going to do this 40 hours was a
week and I'm only going to pay you I'm
going to max you out at 30 an hour That's
all you're going to get from me But you're
going to do everything that I tell you to
(41:29):
do he I tell you to do it And your family
has to fit in when they can fit in where
now you can do exactly what you want to do
Even today with us like success for me now
I've had so much fun at that program for
my grandbabies today You did and I did It
was so amazing But there was a time where
(41:50):
I wouldn't have been able to do that Yeah
Even as a business owner I would have been
afraid to do that This isn't just me being
somebody's employee this is even me being
a business owner How that transition has
happened for me over the years where there
would a been a time I would have been like
(42:11):
honey can you video it for me and I'll
watch it when you come back because I've
got to do this But as we grow and we
evolve and we understand our power we take
more responsibility in our personal
development You'll see that shift And
that's how we are able to connect with
(42:31):
people and know when we are aligned Some
people don't even know what that means to
be aligned with your ideal customer or
their mission their vision their core
values Are they in alignment with yours
They don't know to check for it because
the things that are put before us is are
they going to pay You know how hard that
(42:55):
would have been for some people to walk
away Yes You do know how hard it would a
been for some people to a walked away from
that toxic client either Like man just
make it to the end of the contract No
that's not more important to me It was
very hard for me I will admit it was
again, very hard decision But I remember
right when he was gone So here's the funny
(43:17):
thing with that client and I'm not going
to say who he is because I'm just not that
kind of person But other people will
figure out themselves when they try to buy
his products But he owned that health and
wellness ecom brand And I'm looking at it
and I'm saying I'm like because of the
(43:39):
type of person you are I would never feel
comfortable buying your products Like
there's no way in heck I would rely on
your products How don't I know that
they're even safe Because if you're this
type of person then do you really care Do
you care enough to think about the client
(44:01):
and the services that you are providing
And that's branding in itself right That's
what it really comes down to And back to
your point I think it's very important for
people to realize is you mentioned hey
business owner You had to realize it Even
as a business owner that's a I had to go
through Because when you first start a
(44:21):
business no matter what business you're in
even when you're probably doing the call
center stuff with your husband I learned
so much in the first year of business that
I learned many years in the corporate
world And it was one of those situations
where when I was out I was learning so
much But then you just get caught up You
get caught up in like oh I have to survive
(44:44):
I have to grow which is fine There's going
to be part of you that has to make that
next sale or has to do something has to
learn has to grow especially at the very
beginning But you lose yourself You lose
yourself in the process of trying to how
do I explain it It's like you're chasing
(45:05):
this invisible number You're just like oh
And and lot of it came down to I was very
unseen and unheard as a child My dad was
an NFL player I played soccer growing up
(45:26):
and I'm not going to go deep into this
story too much but my business was growing
around that traumatic experience of oh if
I make it to a million I make it to 2
million top line people will see it and
I'll be heard by all the people around me
(45:48):
Very similar situation but different
occurrences happen to gym owners because I
did I started taking up working out as a
way for me to really it was a way for me
to reduce my anxiety and my mental health
and all that But I didn't realize that at
(46:10):
first either I was like oh I'm going to
look buff I'm going to do this I'm going
to showcase it And as a business owner you
start to be like well is this important I
mean when my first child was born my first
child was born I remember and I was just
talking about my wife about this the other
day and I'm thinking I'm going to do some
or of speech on this of some sort because
(46:33):
I'm going to have three children now and
each experience is going to be uniquely
different and better But when I had my
first child I remember we were at the
hospital and I got a call from a potential
client that I've been over serving like
(46:53):
crazy going back and forth over and over
again to try to make a sale and say hey we
need to jump on a call at like twelve And
it was like 1015 And we were at the
hospital it was like day two a I'm like
(47:15):
love I a to get home I have to get on this
call It's say, potential large sale And I
did I went home I was like five minutes
late because we rushed home from the
hospital and I'm like I'm sorry guys I
(47:37):
just had my baby and I jumped on this call
I look back at that and how ungrounded and
unpresent I was around my family And I'm
like man And it's very easy for business
owners of any size to get trapped in that
mentality no matter how big you are I see
20 million business owners that still work
(48:00):
50 hours 5100 hours work weeks and they're
miserable And it's like all right well I'm
not saying money is not important Money is
an energy And the trade associated with
money is really irrelevant because people
consider money's value differently even
with the economy no matter where you're
from And so I look back at that situation
(48:22):
I'm like there's no way I'm doing that I
did better on my second one my third one
I'm of course like you know what No I'm
taking two days off I may do another
couple of slack things with my team but no
I'm even thinking about taking two weeks
off and just simmering down and being
present around my wife and my kid because
(48:43):
I want to be around my family Yeah and
you're right No matter being in this space
in the leadership space I know when we
opened the call center my husband retired
and we were living in Germany at the time
stationed LinkedIn. Germany We're having
this conversation It's like okay well what
do you want to be when you grow up No I
(49:06):
don't want to continue to be want
government employee I don't want to be
have government contractor I've been there
I've done that There's some security in it
Yes there's a lot of headache in it
Absolutely But I started to realize how
those things were defining me instead of
me defining me So I don't want that So
what do I want to do Well this business
(49:29):
came across that partnership with arise at
the time it came to me was brought to me I
was like okay Lord let's find out about
this So the more I found out about the
business the more I wanted to do it So I
said okay honey when you retire this is
what I want to do I'm going to own this
business because I can do it no matter
(49:49):
where I am We can do it legally from
Germany I'd done that research as an
American Or if we have to go back home
stateside I can do with there Well for 24
years my whole identity had been wrapped
up in his career You walk again, that's
place and you're not known by who you are
(50:11):
But at that time he was master LaQuita
Monley coming some branches first Sergeant
Mundley and he worked in the intel
industry in the military intelligence
field And so all of the things and stuff
that go with that and now here we are
That's no longer going to be the case Well
who am know or if I'm dealing with my
(50:36):
children I'm Dariel Devante Denise David
and mom But who am I That part was I was
unpacking that and so oh now I've got to
be this wonderful business owner got to
have this fabulous company So I'm dumping
all of my time in it because the four
older children had been off to college and
they were gone We just had the one
(50:58):
youngest son and he was very independent
He was in the 9th grade going to the 10th
grade So I spent insane hours insane hours
building that company to where my husband
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