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August 11, 2021 • 13 mins

There is one thing that holds true for all entrepreneurs... you cannot do this all by yourself. Why not? Because God created us to be each other's helpers. Even Jesus didn't go it alone and had 12 disciples, so let's talk about who you need in your village.

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Episode Transcript

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Ray Mayfield (00:04):
Welcome to the front runner podcast with your
hosts Ray Mayfield and TiaraJones to engineers more from
coworkers to in laws. And nowbusiness partners, creating a
safe space to be open and honestabout what it really takes to
start or run a business.

Tiara Jones (00:17):
We know it's easier said than done. But you were
built for this and you are notalone. Join us each week to hear
stories, lessons learned andstrategies from trusted advisors
and new and seasonedentrepreneurs on how to endure
the marathon entrepreneurship.

Ray Mayfield (00:39):
Peace yall it's Ray.

Tiara Jones (00:41):
Hey, it's Tiara.

Ray Mayfield (00:42):
And thank you guys, for joining us down
another great episode. So Tiara,what are we going to talk about
today?

Tiara Jones (00:48):
So today we're talking about just like how it
takes a village to raise a childtake the village to grow a
business start and grow abusiness. Okay, facts,

Ray Mayfield (00:56):
facts, facts, facts. No doubt

Tiara Jones (00:59):
I know we have this term solopreneur and, you know,
yes, there's, there's validhowever, yeah, nobody is out
here doing this alone, okay? Idon't care who you are, you can
not get through this solo, okay.
You know, there's different, youknow, you may not have an
official team behind you, thingshelp you out, but you have your

(01:19):
unofficial team and what we liketo call, you know, your Winner's
Circle, that's gonna be there toreally, you know, be there to
get you through it.

Ray Mayfield (01:28):
Yeah, absolutely.
Now, me know, your, your, yourideas inside you bounce them off
of people. That's just that'spart of your Winner's Circle.
And the only a trusted few canmake it in that circle, maybe
once you in there, it's like themafia may only be out to death,
but not really. So you reallyhave to look at it from that
perspective, right. It's a, youknow, some struggle with pride,
not wanting to ask people forhelp in in a burn themselves out

(01:49):
to a point where they know theyfall apart, their bodies get
sick. You know, don't be afraidto ask for help. Don't be afraid
to bring real people around youwho are going to be open and
honest with you at all times.
Definitely an important part tokeeping you grounded as you
grow, will also for them to helpfeed feed, you know, maybe even
direct you and give you someadvice along the way.

Tiara Jones (02:09):
Exactly. And like your team, you got to think
about different people are goingto offer different things to
you. So you're not going to useone person, to be your sounding
board to be the one, you know,that's gonna give you the
constructive criticism, like allthose things, I think there's a
moment where you're going tohave different people for
different reasons. And so you'regoing to have that person that,

(02:29):
you know, you can bounce ideasoff of, or someone that's been
in your industry and have gonedown that path, and then you're
going to have people that's, youknow, just sole purpose is going
to be an intercessor to pray onyour behalf. They may not know
anything about business, butthey can pray for you. Okay,
they can be there, you know, inyour corner, you can go with
them, no matter the time, youknow, I know, Sis in our good

(02:53):
friend, Jules, always talk aboutyour 3am friend, you know, that
three am in person that you cancall when you can't get a prayer
through somebody else, you needthat type of person, like in
your circle, and then you know,the one that can, that's not
afraid to tell you like it isbecause pretty much you know
that in many ways that is Ray tome, he's, he's just gonna be
blunt about it. About me aboutmyself. Yeah, yeah. That's just

(03:16):
gonna gonna say it. So the otherthings that people may be
thinking about us, with, with usto each other, we just going to
say it. Sometimes it's not gonnacome out in the nicest way. But
we know that we mean it from aplace of love

Ray Mayfield (03:30):
my spirit rang when you say, it's not going to
come out a nice way. To know,you sharp now. But yeah, yo,
ttt, you know, hit all some verycritical points there, right?
The Winner's Circle the prayerthat right people really need to
bounce ideas off, you know,those who are going to be that,
you know, that that sandpaper?
For your rough idea to smooththings out? Very important. You

(03:51):
know, it's, it's, it's needed,right? I mean, just think about
it, right? You know, where wouldthe world be if everyone's lied
to each other, and then, youknow, keep it real, and help
shape your long way, especiallythose within your circle, man,
it's a tough place to be toughto be

Tiara Jones (04:06):
exactly. And then you kind of need those people
that are in differentindustries. And that can in the
first, you know, we kind oftalked about a thing on the last
episode, talking aboutdifferent, you know, bartering
services, you know, with otherentrepreneurs and things like
that. You don't want to juststay with people that's in your
industry, but you want to get toknow, other people that are
doing other things that you haveno idea how to do and maybe you

(04:29):
don't want to do. And so you cannot only, you know, barter, but
also invest in them. Invest inyour business by investing in
their business and supporting sothat I mean, that's huge for us,
you know, looking within, youknow, our local networks and
things like that and be like,okay, we don't want to do this
for ourselves. Who can we go to,and be a blessing to them, you

(04:50):
know, really, and so they canback and be a blessing to us.
And so we're always the oneswe're not looking for handouts.
We're not looking for discountsor anything like that. We want
to be a blessing we are hugegivers. That's One thing that,
um, that was important to bothof us starting in this business,
we are very good, you know, orit's very important to us to be
givers. And so in the sense,like, No, we will pay full

(05:11):
price, we know you know what youoffer, we know that you're good
or whatever. Right, but to grow,absolutely, because you know, if
you sow into good ground isgoing to come back to you. And
so making sure that you'renetworking outside of your
industry, and so you can notonly help yourself, but help
others that are coming along andbe like, hey, do you know
someone that does X, Y, and Z,we like actually I do. And so

(05:33):
because I mean, there's enoughwork, there's enough, you know,
clients, customers, all that outthere for all of us. And you
know, even for people that arein your same industry, still
network with them as well,because there may be
opportunities where, you know,there's maybe a customer that
needs a large order, or you'redoing a contract together, and
you don't have you know, all theresources to support it, but you

(05:55):
still, you know, want to beinvolved in it, then you can
partner and go in together andso don't be the one to just be
like, Nah, I'm not about to workwith them, because they're my
competition. Yeah, if it doesn'twork out that way,

Ray Mayfield (06:07):
but there's no competition, right? So you
should take every approachthough, that's, that's the
philosophy you have, there's nocompetition outside of yourself.
Right? You know, you know, wetalked about, you know, in the
first episode, introductionabout, you know, if God gives
you a vision is yours, you know,I'm saying there's no other
competition out there, stay trueto you know, the original intent
and remember the end game and goget it. And along the way, you

(06:29):
know, you're going to you'regoing to meet people, you're
going to need people, whetherthat's, you know, others were in
the exact same business as you,you know, when we did our
Facebook Live, our good friend,Geomyra Pollard, um, you know,
check out creative creativecoach for creatives sorry
Geomyra. She said, you know,she, she came from the wedding
planning industry, and leveragesanother wedding planner to do a

(06:51):
different business venturetogether. So and she flourshing
and so think of it from thatperspective, right? You know,
there's going to be people whoare in the same industry as you,
who you may want to partner withcollaborate with whatever it may
be, and there's going to be acost benefit to come from it,
right? That gives that person anopportunity to see you as not
competition, then that gives youan opportunity to learn what

(07:12):
makes them tick, and then sharegame with them, which in the end
will make you better, sharper,stronger, smarter, faster, all
that good stuff, right. So youknow, just just be just be
fluid, right? And be be be openvessel mesh, you can get fed,

Tiara Jones (07:24):
most definitely.
And know that, you know, God hasis always making provisions, and
he has made the provisionsbefore you even decided to, you
know, go down this road. And so,don't be the one that, you know,
says no to someone that God has,you know, strategically place
for you to say yes to, you know,to help you out. And so there's
just making sure that you're,you know, staying close to him,

(07:44):
and knowing who was he settingdown your path in order to help
you instead of just saying, Nah,I got this, I'm a solopreneur,
or whatever, I'm gonna do thison my own, that is not really
the meaning of that word. And sojust be open, to accept the help
that God has placed, you know,for you to get things done,
because God's not gonna, youknow, get us to or, you know,
give us the purpose, or to dosomething that he hasn't

(08:09):
already, you know, madeprovisions for that he's already
haven't set a path down. So youhave the resources that you'll
have the people that He who willmake the time available, He'll
make the finances, you know,there for you to utilize. And He
also is going to put thosepeople in place, there's going
to be people that you would havenever thought of I mean, look at
me and break. Yeah, I didn'tthink about this. But even back

(08:30):
when, when I was interviewingstraight out of college, He had
all of this in mind. And he wasalready making those previous
provisions. So just thought,just think if I was to have the
if I would have said yes to thatother job. Look at Oh, you know,
how much I could have missed outon. So yes, God could have
still, you know, took me down adifferent route where I we kind

(08:50):
of still got here, but it mayhave taken longer or things
might not have happened likethey were supposed to. And so
there's so many things that wedon't see down the road. So we
just have to be very sensitiveto God's voice in what he's
doing. And like, really justtrust him. When He says
something be like, I don't know,God, no, just trust Him. And I
know, it's hard, but just draghim.

Ray Mayfield (09:11):
Yeah, stay faithful man. I mean, you know,
just just remember man, like,you know, the, nothing, nothing
worth having comes easy. Youknow, I mean, there's, there's
going to be challenges along theway. You know, just to stay true
to a man you're going to, you'regoing to go through the highs
and lows, you're going to ridethe roller coaster, all those
crazy sayings. But at the end ofthe day, you know, God's plan
for using it for you. He's gonnabring people around, they're

(09:33):
gonna he's gonna bring bothpeople around people that help
you and people to distract you.
Right, you know, so stay staysharp in that regard. And, you
know, never never hesitate tonetwork locally, on, you know,
look at other opportunities thatare out there. Like Google is my
friend. You know, if there's adominance or hurdle, no matter
what it may be, I can alwaystype in in Google and find
something that I helped me or apoint of contact to call or just

(09:55):
look at my Rolodex and ask afriend if they know anybody
who's dealing with this, youknow, there's there's multiple
avenues of approach to get theanswers you need. Just don't be
too prideful to leverage any orall of them for a few for sure.

Tiara Jones (10:11):
Absolutely. And people make the difference, I
know want to raise favoritebooks is good to great. And it
really just breaks down howpeople are like the backbone of
the foundation of your business,like you could have the best
plan, you can have all themoney. But if you don't have
the, the people around you, oryou know, working with you, the

(10:33):
right people working with you,around you, everything can go
down, hill quickly. And so it'sso, so important to really have,
you know, good solid peoplearound you. And that's why you
know, our whole motto is staysolid. And just be consistent,
you know, and who you are, andbe there, be there for yourself
and be there for the peoplearound you.

Ray Mayfield (10:54):
Yeah, absolutely.
Man, you know, you want to havelike minded individuals who
share your vision, I'm along forthe ride those who really wants
to really help you succeed asmuch as possible, but it's not
as you succeed you helping eachother. Exactly. Um, so you know,
just keep that in mind, man, itdefinitely takes a village, when
you're looking at startingrunning and managing your own
business. When you look at youknow, you can't you can't be the

(11:14):
CEO, COO, President, VicePresident, PM, you can't do it
all. So there's, something's gotto share. So you know, just be
confident, know your role. Makesure that people who are helping
you understand their role andwhat's needed for them on a day
to day basis to and thencommunicate amongst each other.

Tiara Jones (11:35):
Absolutely, it's all about the support system.
And so don't look at it as Oh,I'm always going to these
people, ask them for help, youknow, you're really just going
to them, as you know, as anetwork, as a family as a, as a
as a support to what you'redoing, because you never know,
when you may be going to them tolook how to just, you know, vent
in some senses, sometimes youjust need to talk it out. And

(11:57):
you could be helping thembecause you don't know what it
is that they're dealing with. Itdoesn't even need to be, you
know, related to business, butthe way that you're overcoming
something, or the way thatyou're kind of talking through
it, and how you're navigatingthrough challenges, it could be
a blessing to them. So, youknow, think about it in that
sense on how you continue, youcan continue to support, you
know, one another in differentways and make an impact.

Ray Mayfield (12:20):
Definitely, definitely. So, you know,
there's a passage from a book, Ijust want to read what everybody
it says there are three types ofpeople in the world. There are
the wills, the wonts, and thecan'ts. The first accomplish
everything, the second opposeeverything, and the third fail
in everything. And that's bySwint Martin. So, you know,
remember that take that approachand doing all things and be a

(12:42):
will, not a won't or a can't.
Alright, thank you guys forjoining us and we look forward
to seeing you next time.

Tiara Jones (12:47):
Peace. Stay solid.
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