March 4, 2025 • 31 mins
Are you ready to explore the dynamic world of construction through the lens of women making waves in the industry? This episode of the Builder Upper Show features the inspiring voice of Stefanie Couch, founder of Grit Blueprint and a trailblazer who shares her journey from a childhood steeped in the family's lumberyard to establishing her own growth and AI-marketing company aimed at empowering construction businesses. We dive into the vital importance of branding and marketing in reshaping the industry's image, a necessary step as the sector seeks to attract new talent and showcase its beauty and potential.
Throughout our engaging conversation, Stefanie highlights her mission with Build Women, a program aimed at uplifting women in construction, providing valuable resources, support, and mentorship to foster their confidence and career growth. She encourages women to embrace their unique strengths in a predominantly male field, reminding them that their differences can be leveraged as competitive advantages. This collective empowerment journey inspires women to pursue their passions in construction, supporting each other along the way while advocating for their own worth.
We also discuss the tremendous impact of AI technology in marketing and operations, revealing how these advancements are shaping the construction industry's future. Stefanie shares her views on integrating innovative tools to enhance productivity, allowing companies to focus on strategic tasks. This episode is packed with insightful advice for newcomers and seasoned professionals alike, emphasizing the importance of resilience, personal branding, and the necessity of embracing failure as part of growth.
Join us on this journey towards empowerment and innovation in construction. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review, as we continue to uncover the stories that redefine the construction industry!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lou Perez (00:00):
Hey everyone, I'm Lou Perez, your host of the Builder
Upper Show, a podcast where wetalk about everything in
construction and trades.
We have a special co-host today, Jennifer Hires, who will be
interviewing women inconstruction for Women in
Construction Week.
Hey Jen, how are you doing?
Jennifer Heirs (00:16):
Hi Lou, thanks for having me.
Lou Perez (00:18):
Who is your special guest today?
Jennifer Heirs (00:21):
Thank you so much for attending the Builder
Upper Show.
I am beyond excited to have aspecial guest.
We have Stefanie Couch for ourspecial guest this week for our
women in construction and I'lljust do a little introduction
and then, Stefanie, you can fillin the holes that I missed.
So Stefanie is a dynamic leaderin the construction industry,
(00:42):
known for her innovativeapproach to marketing, branding
and leadership development.
As the founder of GritBlueprint and Build Women, she
focuses on empowering businessesand individuals within the
building sector, and herextensive experience spans over
(01:02):
25 years, beginning in herfamily's lumberyard and
advancing through roles inFortune 500 companies.
Please welcome Stefanie Couchto the show.
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm excited to be here.
Awesome, do you want to fill inthe gaps of what I took through
the lifespan of you, Stefanie?
Stefanie Couch (01:23):
Well, 25 years is not really true because I was
actually kind of born into alumber truck.
So my dad and my grandfatherowned a lumber yard when I was
born and we lived in Atlanta andI actually rode in a lumber
truck in a car seat when I wassix weeks old.
Literally my whole life I'vebeen in the business.
But short version is started inmy family lumber yard.
It was a retail lumber yard inGeorgia and then went to a
(01:45):
Fortune 500 distribution companyand helped them scale and grow
a door and millwork division,kind of from a startup to 10
locations, 200 million a year.
And then two and a half yearsago my husband and I went out on
our own and we have a growthand marketing agency scaling
business for construction andbuilding industry companies.
So we have a lot of partnersthat are amazing companies
(02:07):
throughout the US and a few inCanada Just excited to be a part
of this amazing industry.
So that's me.
I do a lot of speaking and Ilove going around and going to
shows, which we just talked.
We're going to be at IBStogether next week, so I'm
pumped about that.
Get to meet you in person.
So yeah, that's me.
Jennifer Heirs (02:23):
Yeah, she is going to be speaking at IBS,
which this recording willprobably be before the women in
construction that week, but yes,she will be speaking.
So, Stefanie, I want to tap ina little bit into some early
influences, so growing up in thebusiness.
Then how did those earlyexperiences shape your passion
(02:44):
for the construction industry?
Stefanie Couch (02:46):
Well, I have always loved business.
I actually asked my parents fora cash register when I was five
for Christmas.
I don't know if it was themoney, I don't even know if I
had a conversation in my head ofwhat money really meant.
I just knew that you could dothings and people would pay you
for it and I just thought thatwas the coolest thing ever.
So I was a Girl Scout.
I love selling cookies, I'mvery competitive and I just
wanted to do business from dayone.
(03:07):
So I went to work with my dad alot at the lumberyard.
I would go and meet customers.
I would actually ring people upfrom, I mean, like seven or
eight on.
I just.
I remember now the stud studskew was 2408 PC first pre cut
studs.
So I just loved it, you know,and that really was who I was as
(03:28):
a person from birth.
I think I believe a lot inusing your natural strengths and
I'm a Gallup Clifton strengthscoach, so I lead with
influencing and sales and kindof that competitive
communication.
Nature is just who I was fromday one.
So then my dad really taught mea lot about business.
He taught me about customerservice and we had a very great
local business that did verylittle marketing and just had a
(03:50):
lot of very loyal customers.
We did a lot of high-end stuffand a lot of custom homes on the
lake and things like that, andso I love that part of the
business still because of whatmy dad taught me, and he taught
me a lot about business ethicsand really about working hard.
I remember my dad from a veryyoung age.
We would work all day I wasobviously at school at the time,
(04:11):
but he would work, he would.
If someone called out, he'ddrive the lumber truck.
He had a CDL, if you knowinventory any of that needed to
be done.
He would work late and thenhe'd come home and he was so
tired because it's very physical.
You know you're loading trucksand you're doing all the things
and he would come home.
My mom would have dinner cookedmy mom's an amazing, amazing
mom and she would always haveeverything taken care of with
(04:32):
the kids.
So he at least hopefully didn'thave to do that when he got
home.
But he was such a good dad thathe would go like throw the
softball with us or whatever,even though I know he was just
now looking back at it like sotired Because at 7 pm, after
I've worked from like 5 am till7, I'm just dead and I don't do
physical stuff as much as he did.
But then he would go backinside and he priced tickets.
(04:53):
And so I know software isamazing now, all the things that
we have, erps and all theseother tools.
He had carbon copy tickets sohe would price them, we would
write it out for the customerand then he would have his
market pricing and he wouldactually price.
And I remember very much mychildhood is the sound of him
hitting that printer on thecalculator and I would hear that
(05:15):
at night as I was going tosleep.
That was my childhood.
So what he taught me is thatyou have to work hard to do
anything that's worthwhile, andboy has my entrepreneurship
journey proved that to be true.
Jennifer Heirs (05:26):
Yeah, and you can definitely see it in all of
the speaking events that you'rein right now and just the growth
that you've had in your careerfrom that.
Stefanie Couch (05:34):
Thank you.
Jennifer Heirs (05:35):
Yeah, I would say common denominator there is
really your father.
Stefanie Couch (05:38):
Yeah, and my mom had a lot to do with it as well
.
My mom also was very supportiveof him and everything he did.
She did things that she wasgood at so he could do what he
was good at, and I think thatthat taught me a lot about being
in business with a spouse andkind of that level.
My husband and I have beenmarried a long time Now.
We have a business together andreally what he is good at is
(05:59):
the things I'm weak at, and viceversa, so we have a very good
division of labor as well.
I watched that from a young agewith them and they never wavered
on each other, and I think themost important thing in life to
me is who you choose as yourpartner.
I have been with someone whosupported me like ride or die,
no matter what.
Now we're ride or die inbusiness together, so there is
(06:21):
no break.
But when you have the rightperson, I tell him a lot.
I'm like we're we're going towar together every day and I
fricking love it and I wouldn'twant to do it with anybody else.
I'm so grateful for my husband,ben.
Jennifer Heirs (06:34):
What was his name?
Ben Ben.
Okay, will Ben be at the show?
Stefanie Couch (06:39):
He's going to be there.
He'll be recording the contentand stuff.
So he'll be there and that'spart of a lot of what he does is
operations and helping me justdo all the things that I do, and
everything you see somehow hashim behind it making it happen.
I love that.
Just right now like we havecameras and lights and all that,
and he makes all that happen.
And then I just hit record.
Jennifer Heirs (06:58):
I love it.
That's great.
Well, let's transition fromlike background and journey and
let's talk about industry.
Okay, so how do you approachbranding and marketing
differently for construction andbuilding industry companies
compared to, let's say, likeother sectors?
Stefanie Couch (07:15):
Absolutely.
The construction and buildingindustry needs a rebrand and we
need to step into the forefrontand show how amazing we are,
especially for top talent, andalso to brand ourselves, that we
actually have something to showthat is an outward facing thing
, that's not just reputationbased.
(07:35):
So we have beautiful products,we build amazing homes, we have
all of this stuff that's soaesthetically beautiful, and
then we have cool stories thatgo with it, and we don't do a
very good job of telling ourstory as an industry, and what
we've done is we've allowedourselves to believe that
reputation will speak for itselfand these legacy businesses
(07:56):
that have been really promotingon word of mouth and all of
these things they have builtbrands.
Brand is something you have,whether you intentionally curate
it or if you just let it happen.
You have a brand.
You, as a person, have a brand.
A company has a brand.
It's just is it out there andis it known, and are you known
for the things you would like tobe known for?
(08:18):
And so that's really how Ithink we could rebrand our
industry and, honestly, ourpeople, showing who we are and
really showing up and actuallyintentionally doing that.
So when I think about brand, Ithink about two things.
So I'll explain kind of mylittle 30 second version.
Brand is really the associationof two things.
(08:38):
So the brand started withcattle.
A cattle farmer would have abrand to mark that cow.
To say with cattle, a cattlefarmer would have a brand to
mark that cow to say thisbelongs to me.
So two things that belongtogether or are associated, and
that is how brands started.
Now we think of brand as logosand colors.
It's so much more of that.
It's really about who you oryour company is.
When you're not standing theregiving a pitch, when you're not
(08:59):
telling them what you want themto think, it's what are you
thought of and associated with.
When you're not telling themwhat you want them to think,
it's what are you thought of andassociated with when you're not
in the room?
And so that goes for people orfor companies and brand.
With everything going on in ourworld, with all of the amazing
technology I talk about ai, useai a lot it's going to
(09:21):
revolutionize our industry.
It's almost the only thing thatcan separate people truly is
brand.
So another way to say that isthat brand is the only long-term
moat.
It's the only way to protectyour castle.
And so, as a person or as acompany, you should be thinking
about am I building a brand thatwill stand the test of time?
(09:42):
Am I finding my customers wherethey are to show them who my
brand is?
And third, am I thinking aboutthis from a long-term
perspective?
Or am I thinking about this ofwhat return on investment will I
get tomorrow or in the nextthree weeks or the next month?
Because it's not like spendingmoney on an ad where you get a
(10:02):
click and then you get apurchase.
Brand is a long-term game, butreally we should all be thinking
in decades and not in today,because if you have a business
that's already been for 30 years, 50 years, 100 years, some of
these brands are so long-termand they're amazing companies.
Who cares about tomorrow?
You care about 2028, 2038, 2048.
(10:23):
That's what you're thinkingabout, and so, even if you wanna
sell your business or you wannakeep your business, you've got
to think about how importantbrand is.
Jennifer Heirs (10:31):
That's good.
No, that's really good.
So then you mentioned AI, right?
So in what ways do you see AItechnology transforming
marketing and operations for theconstruction industry?
Stefanie Couch (10:44):
Well, I'll give you one example that I think is
gonna change everything.
So there is a technology that'sit's been out for a year or two
.
I heard the first time I'veever heard it about a year and a
half ago.
It's called a voice AI agent iswhat most people call it.
So it is actually a salesperson.
I'm going to be demoing this atIBS.
You'll get to see this in reallife If you go onto my website
(11:07):
and I'm selling doors and youclick on there and you're like
man, I really like these doors.
I want to learn more.
You call me and I don't answer.
68% of small business phonecalls actually go unanswered.
So it's not really thatuncommon that someone's doing
something else and they're justbusy, right?
If you're getting five phonecalls at a time and you have
three people on the counter,you're not going to answer all
(11:30):
five.
It's impossible.
So this person, this AI agentthat you've programmed, will
answer that phone call and youcan either say, hey, this is an
AI agent, or you can decide justto let it be paid from
Stefanie's door company,whatever you want, and you can
say, hey, this is Stefanie'sdoors, thank you for calling,
(11:52):
how can I help you today?
And then that AI agent is goingto have a conversation, just
like you and I are having rightnow.
It's going to ask you what youwant to know about the doors,
what you're looking for, how toqualify you, all those things
and then it's going to get youremail, phone number, maybe even
book a calendar time, if youhave it set up that way, for me
to call you back and me, as theperson, sell you what you need.
(12:13):
That's here.
I can turn that on for youtomorrow, and so that's 2025 AI.
In two years, there will not befront end business development
agents.
In most businesses, it will beAI, because we can do things
with humans that that AI cannotdo.
We are spending time spendingour wheels about how do we get
(12:35):
all these things done, whenthese little tasks that are very
tactical and super important toour businesses could be
allocated to AI so that we canspend the time doing what only
we can do.
I get asked a lot aren't youafraid of a dystopian future
with AI?
I am a positive person and I'mgoing to choose to think that
it's going to make our lifebetter.
(12:56):
Just like the tractor made thefarmer's life better, just like
AI now is going to make ourlives better, just like websites
or ERPs in our lumber business.
Think about CAD software.
Architects probably thoughttheir world was ending when hand
drawing wasn't the only wayanymore, but what actually
happened was it just made thembetter and able to do more with
(13:18):
the time they had to spend.
Think of AI as a tool just likea nail gun or a crane, anything
like that.
It just allows you to dosomething better and faster and
more efficiently than it didbefore.
You had that tool, and if youlearn how to use it, as a person
or your company implements it,it will give you an extreme
(13:40):
competitive edge.
So those who early adopt itwe're still in the very early
stages, especially in ourconstruction and building
industry, where people are notsure.
A lot of people have not evenused chat, gpt.
Those who decide to do thingsnow will be the ones that are
winning in a decade.
Brand and this technology andinnovation that is the future.
(14:01):
That's how you leverage and setyourself apart and build a
business that is worth so muchmore and actually have
stickiness from your customersbecause of those things.
Customer experience all thatgoes to branding.
That's what I like to talkabout, because that is really
how you stand out, because noone wants to compete on price.
Everyone has good products andtruly talent is really hard to
(14:25):
find.
So how do you use the talentyou can get and then lever that
with industry technology?
That's what I think the futureis.
Jennifer Heirs (14:33):
No, absolutely, and we could go on and on with
AI, and I'm very excited that Iwill be part of next week for
you, so I get to hear more.
So let's transition.
Since we are here for Women inConstruction Week, let's talk
about empowering women inconstruction.
So can you share the missionbehind Build Women and some
success stories from you?
(14:55):
Know any programs that?
Stefanie Couch (14:57):
Yes, when I was in my young life I really didn't
realize that being a woman wasa big deal in the construction
industry.
I knew I was the only one atthe lumberyard, but it was like
five people or seven people orwhatever.
Inside the business, inside thelumberyard operation, we had
people you know, driving andstuff, but it was me and five or
seven other guys.
I never thought anything of itbecause this is the way it was
(15:19):
my whole life.
And then, you know, my mom wasa part of the business but it
wasn't a big deal to me.
Then I got to corporate andthere were a few women in my
office but it was all menrunning everything.
All the managers were men.
All their managers were men.
All their managers were men.
You get the idea.
And I was like this is kind ofweird, like I'm, I'm 25.
(15:41):
I want to be very ambitious andI'm looking up and there's no
one that looks like me, likeanywhere.
And I also remembered that mylifetime had been spent talking
to amazing women who worked atthese companies that I would
call that were my vendors, andthey were the go-to at every
place pretty much.
I mean, there was a woman thatwhen she went on vacation, the
(16:03):
business shut down.
At every business and I laugh alittle bit because a lot of my
men will say, like, do you wantto talk to the man in charge or
the woman that actually runs theplace?
And my dad used to say that alot about me, you know.
Kind of laughing about stuffbut that is really how I grew up
is like, hey, these are amazingwomen that are awesome at the
lumber business, at the buildingbusiness, whatever they were
doing.
(16:23):
So I knew that there were bosswomen everywhere and they were
just a part of this industry.
I just didn't see them where Iwas at that corporate job and so
I decided that, you know, I wasjust going to do my thing and
just be me and that was kind of.
That's just always how I'vesort of played it.
Sometimes that went in my favorand the dice laid on the side
that I needed them to, andsometimes that was really hard.
(16:45):
Looking back on it now I feellike I actually got more
opportunity in my career becauseI was a bubbly blonde woman
that was also extremely good atwhat I was doing and worked
really, really hard.
I feel like I got more upsidefrom that than downside.
Now, I know there are a lot ofwomen that don't see that and
don't say that in theconstruction industry especially
(17:06):
.
But I believe, now where I'm atin my life, that it is a
competitive advantage and adifferentiator that is positive
in a lot of ways to be a femalein this industry, and I have
leveraged that in a lot of wayssince I've started my business,
but also before in my corporatecareer.
And it's because you aredifferent.
Different stands out.
(17:27):
Why would you want to be one ofa hundred that look identical
to everyone else?
And not that all the men in theindustry are the same, because
they're not.
There's a lot of differentpeople and they all have
different skills andpersonalities and all that.
But you, being a woman in aplace where maybe you are the
only one at the table, if youcan position it the right way
(17:48):
and really frame it in your mindas an advantage, it is an
advantage.
If you tell yourself thateveryone's gonna hold it against
you that you're a woman andthat they're never gonna let you
do things, that will be aself-fulfilling prophecy, and I
believe so strongly in that that.
That's one of the reasons why Istarted Build Women, because I
wanted these women to know theirvalue and take into their own
(18:13):
hands their brands, theirconfidence and their skills and
also know this is one thingthat's a little different than
some of the other women'sorganizations that are out there
is like this is going to behard and it's hard for men too.
And you got to work, girl.
This is not a phone it in.
Because I'm a woman, I get thisthing and there will be
(18:35):
challenges.
But, heck, there's challengesfor every single man that I know
.
I mean me and my husband arebuilding the same business
together at the same time, likewe are working side and side,
like two horses pulling a plow.
We are working and it is justas hard for him than it is for
me.
Actually be easier for mebecause I have connections and
all these things that I'm likereaching out to people and doing
(18:56):
things, and a lot of what he'strying to figure out is like
there's no one to ask.
You know, he's just got tofigure it out, but it is hard
because I'm a woman and it'shard because he's a man.
It doesn't matter.
So life is not easy andanything that you do is not
going to be easily come andgained without work, and that is
what I want these women to knowis you are your own best
(19:18):
advocate.
You've got to use your voiceand speak up and you've got to
be confident in your ownabilities, and you've got to
know that sometimes you don'thave it figured out and you got
to keep working until you do.
And so that's one thing that wedo at Build Women is really
help with confidence andbreaking those habits that you
have that are actually holdingyou back.
It's not anyone else, it's,it's it's me that's holding this
(19:42):
back.
So when I started this, I hadsome things that I worked on
myself to get past, like somereal speed bumps in my career
that I was doing.
A lot of things likeperfectionism, as one brought me
so far to be a perfectionist inmy early career because I was
really, really conscientious.
I wanted things to be rightslash, perfect.
(20:04):
And now, once I'm into a pointwhen a lot of what I'm doing is
new, it's risky, it's not goingto be perfect.
There's zero intention of itbeing perfect, because you'd
never start if it was.
I had to get past that where Iwas never going to be able to do
what I needed to do in the nextstep.
So that was one of the.
We talk a lot about the habitsthat hold you back and actually
(20:25):
in March March 18th through the20th the National Hardware Show
and Build Women are doing a howWomen Rise in Hardware
conference.
It's a part of the NationalHardware Show main stage and
it's a whole day built aroundcontent that shows women how to
do that.
So I'm going to be speaking onhow to build your personal brand
and then also doing anothersession on how to break the
(20:48):
habits that hold you back, andthat is based on a book called
how Women Rise by an amazingwoman named Sally Helgensen, and
also Marshall Goldsmithco-wrote the book with her and
that's a best selling book, andher and I have partnered
together to do a program on howwomen rise for the construction
industry, so educating women onhow to get out of their own way
and make it happen.
Jennifer Heirs (21:08):
That's incredible.
Stefanie Couch (21:08):
Yeah.
So if you're listening to this,you're anywhere near Vegas or
you want to come to that show.
It is the National HardwareShow and you can actually click
on and just sign up for the howWomen Rise Day, or you can come
to the whole show, and it's inLas Vegas at the Convention
Center, 18th.
Jennifer Heirs (21:24):
All right.
So then you're going to have apretty big stint in Vegas, then
you're going to be doing a Vegastour, yeah, and also there's
some other amazing speakers.
Stefanie Couch (21:31):
So Gina Schaefer , who owns 13 hardware stores
she has over $53 million a yearin hardware store business
Amazing entrepreneur.
She's going to be speakingabout how to handle people,
profits and purpose in yourbusiness and what you need to
know.
And then we have a panel ofleaders from the industry, of
women, that are going to bespeaking a networking session
(21:51):
afterwards.
A lot of cool stuff happening.
So if you're anywhere nearVegas, you got to get to this
event.
Jennifer Heirs (21:56):
Awesome, no, and this is perfect because again,
we're going to be airing thisand so everybody will be able to
, you know, look into it andthen go.
So I appreciate that.
Yeah, let's look at now, youknow, at your advice, personal
reflections, newcomers in theindustry right?
(22:17):
So what advice would you givesomeone um starting their career
in their construction industrytoday?
Stefanie Couch (22:24):
I would say enlist from day one.
Get people in your corner fromday one.
Don't try to be the quietperson in the corner that just
lets things happen and figuresit out and then comes, comes
into the fold.
I want you to kind of find somepeople that will help you from
day one, so you will know someof those people are going to be
easier to win over than others.
You might have someone that isassigned to train you, that
(22:46):
doesn't want to do that, orsomeone that doesn't have time.
That's really.
It's usually more.
It's not people don't want tohelp you, it's that they're
already drowning in their ownrespective position.
It's hard to hand someone alife vest and say I'll help you
when you're already sort ofdrowning.
So find those people that canhelp you and figure out what is
most important first and don'ttry to do everything at once.
(23:09):
So if you have a lot ofresponsibilities in the role
that you're taking and you don'tfeel like you're quite ready I
hear the words I have impostersyndrome a lot you don't have
imposter syndrome.
What you have is inexperience.
You don't know what you'redoing because you've never done
it before.
And that's okay, because everysingle person that does
something new is that way youfeel like an imposter because
you just haven't figured out howto do it yet.
(23:30):
So give yourself some time andsome grace to do things and fail
.
That is the biggest lesson thatI would ever give anyone is you
have to be able to take riskand embrace failure as a
learning lesson and know thatyou will fail if you're doing
anything that is new or that ishard at all.
If you win every single day atevery single thing you do, you
(23:53):
must not be doing anything.
That's very difficult, becauseI certainly know that I fail all
the time at things that I do.
Yesterday I sent an email with aloom link for a video.
I sent someone on my teaminstead of a proposal and it's
like I sent the wrong thing.
I mean, it's not like somehorrible email I sent like a bad
thing, but I had to email themback and say, like I've been
working for I didn't say this,I've been working for 14 hours.
(24:15):
Today this is the last email ofthe day that I sent and I put
the wrong link on the proposal.
You know I sent them back andme for that speaking event.
I don't know if that's if theydon't do that because of that,
then cool.
But I make mistakes and so willyou, and no matter how
brilliant or how hardworking youare.
That will come, so embrace it,learn from it and try not to do
(24:37):
it again If you can.
That's how you grow and learnin your career and your company.
So don't be scared to makemistakes.
That is my number one piece ofadvice for anyone in any role
anywhere.
Jennifer Heirs (24:49):
Yeah, just give yourself grace, right?
We're human, we make mistakesand it's going to happen, but
you know.
Stefanie Couch (24:54):
Learn from those .
Jennifer Heirs (24:56):
Yeah, well, let's wrap up with one more
question, if you have time.
Yeah, again.
Lessons learned, reflecting onyour own journey.
What has been your mostsignificant?
Like learning?
Stefanie Couch (25:07):
experience.
The number one thing I thinkreally was a catalyst for me to
take it from one level to theother is figuring out what my
natural abilities and strengthswere, and that is from the
Gallup Clifton Strengthsassessment that I did.
You can go online gallupcomAnyone can take it.
I think it's $60 to take thetest.
It takes about an hour or soand it really is 200 questions
(25:31):
that you answer.
It's a normed test, so they askyou the same thing a few
different ways so you don't kindof game the system, and it
gives you your strengths inorder and tells you almost like
a psychic reading on the report.
It's a 25 page report about you, exactly how you're wired and
why you do things and what youshould lean towards and also
(25:53):
your blind spot.
So any strength can turn into aweakness if you use it the
wrong way or overuse it.
Don't use it at all.
The actual Gallup definition ofa weakness is anything that
gets in the way of your success.
So that could be a strength ora weakness, right.
But when I took this and Istarted also using it with my
teams and different things, itmade me realize that some of the
(26:19):
things that I was trying to dothe way I was trying to like
other people.
So I would look around and seesomeone that just loved data and
spreadsheets and like wouldspend like 17 hours looking at
the tables and the micro dataand all this stuff and I'm like
I got to know how to do all thatand I need to be able to.
I got to love data like thatand I do love data to make
decisions, but I like datathat's done for me so I can
(26:40):
strategically analyze it andthen pull the trigger and I want
someone else to do that.
14 hours of legwork.
Thankfully, that 14 hours oflegwork is my husband's love
language.
So if you look at that, when Iwas trying to force myself into
that position of being thatperson, it was really hard for
me to thrive there.
Right, it's like trying, youknow, I think it's.
(27:00):
Einstein says if you try tomake a fish climb a tree, he's
going to look like he's an idiotevery single day.
But if you put him in the ocean, watch them go.
And that's really what I wouldsay Find your ocean that you can
swim in, that you are amazingat swimming in, and once you
find that, and then you willstill have to work really hard
(27:21):
to hone those skills.
But once you get into thatright, better watch out, because
that is when you can behappiest, the most fulfilled in
what you're doing and also makethe biggest impact for yourself
financially, impact wise as faras how you feel about what
you're doing in your world orfor your company.
And that really was an unlockfor me that I couldn't quantify,
(27:43):
and that's why I became astrengths coach.
I actually got let go from a joband I had already decided that
I wanted to start my ownbusiness anyway.
I'd already started somebusinesses and I was just trying
to wait to get a little morebonus money, honestly.
So right after I got let go,two weeks later, I went to the
Gallup strengths training as acoach and I did everything I
(28:04):
could to get that training.
I did not have the money to doit.
Someone actually sponsored me.
It was really cool, cool story.
We don't have time to tell.
But for what you want and goafter things that are in your
strength zone and you willexponentially grow.
And if you're trying to do toomany things in your role every
day that you are, it's not ifyou're not good at it, it's if
you really dread that, if myexample of the spreadsheets is
(28:27):
the easiest thing I know to say,if you wake up in the morning
and you're like I lovespreadsheets and I really hope I
get to analyze some data today,that's your thing, right?
If you have that feeling I had,where it's like, just give me
the final notes and I'll make adecision.
That probably isn't the job youwant to be doing every day,
right?
So maybe you don't need to bethe data analyst, maybe you need
(28:54):
to be the strategist.
So, at the end of the day, knowyour strengths, know your
weaknesses, work on it and growyour strengths instead of
focusing on your weaknesses.
And hopefully you have a teamof people that love to do the
things you're not good at, andthat's when real exponential
growth happens in companies.
Jennifer Heirs (29:04):
That's awesome, Stefanie.
Such a joy to have you on thisshow.
And also thank you, ben.
In the background, we have toalso say thank you Like this
lighting all the things it'sbeen.
Stefanie Couch (29:21):
He makes it happen, he makes me.
He's an amazing, amazing humanand I wouldn't trade him for a
trillion dollars.
That's incredible.
I'm happy for you Ben, Thankyou.
Jennifer Heirs (29:38):
And I'm looking forward to meeting you next week
.
Stefanie Couch (29:39):
And then we also found out that next week and
then we're going to do somethingcollaborative, hopefully maybe
multiple times in the future.
So I'm excited about that.
Thank you so much, jennifer.
You're awesome, and I amexcited for women Week this
coming month.
And I would just say to anywoman that is not sure what to
do next you have the ability andyou are worthy to do whatever
(29:59):
it is that you want to do inyour life.
You just have to be willing toput in the work and be
consistent with it and believethat you can, because if you
believe plus put in the work, itwill absolutely happen.
It just might not be tomorrow,so you've got to be consistent
and work and believe all at thesame time, and that's how you
really build what you want inyour life.
Jennifer Heirs (30:21):
Amazing.
I'll leave it on that.
So thank you everybody forjoining and we'll see you next
time.
Hey everyone, I'm Lou Perez, your host of the Builder
Upper Show, a podcast where wetalk about everything in
construction and trades.
We have a special co-host today, Jennifer Hires, who will be
interviewing women inconstruction for Women in
Construction Week.
Hey Jen, how are you doing?
Jennifer Heirs (00:16):
Hi Lou, thanks for having me.
Lou Perez (00:18):
Who is your special guest today?
Jennifer Heirs (00:21):
Thank you so much for attending the Builder
Upper Show.
I am beyond excited to have aspecial guest.
We have Stefanie Couch for ourspecial guest this week for our
women in construction and I'lljust do a little introduction
and then, Stefanie, you can fillin the holes that I missed.
So Stefanie is a dynamic leaderin the construction industry,
(00:42):
known for her innovativeapproach to marketing, branding
and leadership development.
As the founder of GritBlueprint and Build Women, she
focuses on empowering businessesand individuals within the
building sector, and herextensive experience spans over
(01:02):
25 years, beginning in herfamily's lumberyard and
advancing through roles inFortune 500 companies.
Please welcome Stefanie Couchto the show.
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm excited to be here.
Awesome, do you want to fill inthe gaps of what I took through
the lifespan of you, Stefanie?
Stefanie Couch (01:23):
Well, 25 years is not really true because I was
actually kind of born into alumber truck.
So my dad and my grandfatherowned a lumber yard when I was
born and we lived in Atlanta andI actually rode in a lumber
truck in a car seat when I wassix weeks old.
Literally my whole life I'vebeen in the business.
But short version is started inmy family lumber yard.
It was a retail lumber yard inGeorgia and then went to a
(01:45):
Fortune 500 distribution companyand helped them scale and grow
a door and millwork division,kind of from a startup to 10
locations, 200 million a year.
And then two and a half yearsago my husband and I went out on
our own and we have a growthand marketing agency scaling
business for construction andbuilding industry companies.
So we have a lot of partnersthat are amazing companies
(02:07):
throughout the US and a few inCanada Just excited to be a part
of this amazing industry.
So that's me.
I do a lot of speaking and Ilove going around and going to
shows, which we just talked.
We're going to be at IBStogether next week, so I'm
pumped about that.
Get to meet you in person.
So yeah, that's me.
Jennifer Heirs (02:23):
Yeah, she is going to be speaking at IBS,
which this recording willprobably be before the women in
construction that week, but yes,she will be speaking.
So, Stefanie, I want to tap ina little bit into some early
influences, so growing up in thebusiness.
Then how did those earlyexperiences shape your passion
(02:44):
for the construction industry?
Stefanie Couch (02:46):
Well, I have always loved business.
I actually asked my parents fora cash register when I was five
for Christmas.
I don't know if it was themoney, I don't even know if I
had a conversation in my head ofwhat money really meant.
I just knew that you could dothings and people would pay you
for it and I just thought thatwas the coolest thing ever.
So I was a Girl Scout.
I love selling cookies, I'mvery competitive and I just
wanted to do business from dayone.
(03:07):
So I went to work with my dad alot at the lumberyard.
I would go and meet customers.
I would actually ring people upfrom, I mean, like seven or
eight on.
I just.
I remember now the stud studskew was 2408 PC first pre cut
studs.
So I just loved it, you know,and that really was who I was as
(03:28):
a person from birth.
I think I believe a lot inusing your natural strengths and
I'm a Gallup Clifton strengthscoach, so I lead with
influencing and sales and kindof that competitive
communication.
Nature is just who I was fromday one.
So then my dad really taught mea lot about business.
He taught me about customerservice and we had a very great
local business that did verylittle marketing and just had a
(03:50):
lot of very loyal customers.
We did a lot of high-end stuffand a lot of custom homes on the
lake and things like that, andso I love that part of the
business still because of whatmy dad taught me, and he taught
me a lot about business ethicsand really about working hard.
I remember my dad from a veryyoung age.
We would work all day I wasobviously at school at the time,
(04:11):
but he would work, he would.
If someone called out, he'ddrive the lumber truck.
He had a CDL, if you knowinventory any of that needed to
be done.
He would work late and thenhe'd come home and he was so
tired because it's very physical.
You know you're loading trucksand you're doing all the things
and he would come home.
My mom would have dinner cookedmy mom's an amazing, amazing
mom and she would always haveeverything taken care of with
(04:32):
the kids.
So he at least hopefully didn'thave to do that when he got
home.
But he was such a good dad thathe would go like throw the
softball with us or whatever,even though I know he was just
now looking back at it like sotired Because at 7 pm, after
I've worked from like 5 am till7, I'm just dead and I don't do
physical stuff as much as he did.
But then he would go backinside and he priced tickets.
(04:53):
And so I know software isamazing now, all the things that
we have, erps and all theseother tools.
He had carbon copy tickets sohe would price them, we would
write it out for the customerand then he would have his
market pricing and he wouldactually price.
And I remember very much mychildhood is the sound of him
hitting that printer on thecalculator and I would hear that
(05:15):
at night as I was going tosleep.
That was my childhood.
So what he taught me is thatyou have to work hard to do
anything that's worthwhile, andboy has my entrepreneurship
journey proved that to be true.
Jennifer Heirs (05:26):
Yeah, and you can definitely see it in all of
the speaking events that you'rein right now and just the growth
that you've had in your careerfrom that.
Stefanie Couch (05:34):
Thank you.
Jennifer Heirs (05:35):
Yeah, I would say common denominator there is
really your father.
Stefanie Couch (05:38):
Yeah, and my mom had a lot to do with it as well
.
My mom also was very supportiveof him and everything he did.
She did things that she wasgood at so he could do what he
was good at, and I think thatthat taught me a lot about being
in business with a spouse andkind of that level.
My husband and I have beenmarried a long time Now.
We have a business together andreally what he is good at is
(05:59):
the things I'm weak at, and viceversa, so we have a very good
division of labor as well.
I watched that from a young agewith them and they never wavered
on each other, and I think themost important thing in life to
me is who you choose as yourpartner.
I have been with someone whosupported me like ride or die,
no matter what.
Now we're ride or die inbusiness together, so there is
(06:21):
no break.
But when you have the rightperson, I tell him a lot.
I'm like we're we're going towar together every day and I
fricking love it and I wouldn'twant to do it with anybody else.
I'm so grateful for my husband,ben.
Jennifer Heirs (06:34):
What was his name?
Ben Ben.
Okay, will Ben be at the show?
Stefanie Couch (06:39):
He's going to be there.
He'll be recording the contentand stuff.
So he'll be there and that'spart of a lot of what he does is
operations and helping me justdo all the things that I do, and
everything you see somehow hashim behind it making it happen.
I love that.
Just right now like we havecameras and lights and all that,
and he makes all that happen.
And then I just hit record.
Jennifer Heirs (06:58):
I love it.
That's great.
Well, let's transition fromlike background and journey and
let's talk about industry.
Okay, so how do you approachbranding and marketing
differently for construction andbuilding industry companies
compared to, let's say, likeother sectors?
Stefanie Couch (07:15):
Absolutely.
The construction and buildingindustry needs a rebrand and we
need to step into the forefrontand show how amazing we are,
especially for top talent, andalso to brand ourselves, that we
actually have something to showthat is an outward facing thing
, that's not just reputationbased.
(07:35):
So we have beautiful products,we build amazing homes, we have
all of this stuff that's soaesthetically beautiful, and
then we have cool stories thatgo with it, and we don't do a
very good job of telling ourstory as an industry, and what
we've done is we've allowedourselves to believe that
reputation will speak for itselfand these legacy businesses
(07:56):
that have been really promotingon word of mouth and all of
these things they have builtbrands.
Brand is something you have,whether you intentionally curate
it or if you just let it happen.
You have a brand.
You, as a person, have a brand.
A company has a brand.
It's just is it out there andis it known, and are you known
for the things you would like tobe known for?
(08:18):
And so that's really how Ithink we could rebrand our
industry and, honestly, ourpeople, showing who we are and
really showing up and actuallyintentionally doing that.
So when I think about brand, Ithink about two things.
So I'll explain kind of mylittle 30 second version.
Brand is really the associationof two things.
(08:38):
So the brand started withcattle.
A cattle farmer would have abrand to mark that cow.
To say with cattle, a cattlefarmer would have a brand to
mark that cow to say thisbelongs to me.
So two things that belongtogether or are associated, and
that is how brands started.
Now we think of brand as logosand colors.
It's so much more of that.
It's really about who you oryour company is.
When you're not standing theregiving a pitch, when you're not
(08:59):
telling them what you want themto think, it's what are you
thought of and associated with.
When you're not telling themwhat you want them to think,
it's what are you thought of andassociated with when you're not
in the room?
And so that goes for people orfor companies and brand.
With everything going on in ourworld, with all of the amazing
technology I talk about ai, useai a lot it's going to
(09:21):
revolutionize our industry.
It's almost the only thing thatcan separate people truly is
brand.
So another way to say that isthat brand is the only long-term
moat.
It's the only way to protectyour castle.
And so, as a person or as acompany, you should be thinking
about am I building a brand thatwill stand the test of time?
(09:42):
Am I finding my customers wherethey are to show them who my
brand is?
And third, am I thinking aboutthis from a long-term
perspective?
Or am I thinking about this ofwhat return on investment will I
get tomorrow or in the nextthree weeks or the next month?
Because it's not like spendingmoney on an ad where you get a
(10:02):
click and then you get apurchase.
Brand is a long-term game, butreally we should all be thinking
in decades and not in today,because if you have a business
that's already been for 30 years, 50 years, 100 years, some of
these brands are so long-termand they're amazing companies.
Who cares about tomorrow?
You care about 2028, 2038, 2048.
(10:23):
That's what you're thinkingabout, and so, even if you wanna
sell your business or you wannakeep your business, you've got
to think about how importantbrand is.
Jennifer Heirs (10:31):
That's good.
No, that's really good.
So then you mentioned AI, right?
So in what ways do you see AItechnology transforming
marketing and operations for theconstruction industry?
Stefanie Couch (10:44):
Well, I'll give you one example that I think is
gonna change everything.
So there is a technology that'sit's been out for a year or two
.
I heard the first time I'veever heard it about a year and a
half ago.
It's called a voice AI agent iswhat most people call it.
So it is actually a salesperson.
I'm going to be demoing this atIBS.
You'll get to see this in reallife If you go onto my website
(11:07):
and I'm selling doors and youclick on there and you're like
man, I really like these doors.
I want to learn more.
You call me and I don't answer.
68% of small business phonecalls actually go unanswered.
So it's not really thatuncommon that someone's doing
something else and they're justbusy, right?
If you're getting five phonecalls at a time and you have
three people on the counter,you're not going to answer all
(11:30):
five.
It's impossible.
So this person, this AI agentthat you've programmed, will
answer that phone call and youcan either say, hey, this is an
AI agent, or you can decide justto let it be paid from
Stefanie's door company,whatever you want, and you can
say, hey, this is Stefanie'sdoors, thank you for calling,
(11:52):
how can I help you today?
And then that AI agent is goingto have a conversation, just
like you and I are having rightnow.
It's going to ask you what youwant to know about the doors,
what you're looking for, how toqualify you, all those things
and then it's going to get youremail, phone number, maybe even
book a calendar time, if youhave it set up that way, for me
to call you back and me, as theperson, sell you what you need.
(12:13):
That's here.
I can turn that on for youtomorrow, and so that's 2025 AI.
In two years, there will not befront end business development
agents.
In most businesses, it will beAI, because we can do things
with humans that that AI cannotdo.
We are spending time spendingour wheels about how do we get
(12:35):
all these things done, whenthese little tasks that are very
tactical and super important toour businesses could be
allocated to AI so that we canspend the time doing what only
we can do.
I get asked a lot aren't youafraid of a dystopian future
with AI?
I am a positive person and I'mgoing to choose to think that
it's going to make our lifebetter.
(12:56):
Just like the tractor made thefarmer's life better, just like
AI now is going to make ourlives better, just like websites
or ERPs in our lumber business.
Think about CAD software.
Architects probably thoughttheir world was ending when hand
drawing wasn't the only wayanymore, but what actually
happened was it just made thembetter and able to do more with
(13:18):
the time they had to spend.
Think of AI as a tool just likea nail gun or a crane, anything
like that.
It just allows you to dosomething better and faster and
more efficiently than it didbefore.
You had that tool, and if youlearn how to use it, as a person
or your company implements it,it will give you an extreme
(13:40):
competitive edge.
So those who early adopt itwe're still in the very early
stages, especially in ourconstruction and building
industry, where people are notsure.
A lot of people have not evenused chat, gpt.
Those who decide to do thingsnow will be the ones that are
winning in a decade.
Brand and this technology andinnovation that is the future.
(14:01):
That's how you leverage and setyourself apart and build a
business that is worth so muchmore and actually have
stickiness from your customersbecause of those things.
Customer experience all thatgoes to branding.
That's what I like to talkabout, because that is really
how you stand out, because noone wants to compete on price.
Everyone has good products andtruly talent is really hard to
(14:25):
find.
So how do you use the talentyou can get and then lever that
with industry technology?
That's what I think the futureis.
Jennifer Heirs (14:33):
No, absolutely, and we could go on and on with
AI, and I'm very excited that Iwill be part of next week for
you, so I get to hear more.
So let's transition.
Since we are here for Women inConstruction Week, let's talk
about empowering women inconstruction.
So can you share the missionbehind Build Women and some
success stories from you?
(14:55):
Know any programs that?
Stefanie Couch (14:57):
Yes, when I was in my young life I really didn't
realize that being a woman wasa big deal in the construction
industry.
I knew I was the only one atthe lumberyard, but it was like
five people or seven people orwhatever.
Inside the business, inside thelumberyard operation, we had
people you know, driving andstuff, but it was me and five or
seven other guys.
I never thought anything of itbecause this is the way it was
(15:19):
my whole life.
And then, you know, my mom wasa part of the business but it
wasn't a big deal to me.
Then I got to corporate andthere were a few women in my
office but it was all menrunning everything.
All the managers were men.
All their managers were men.
All their managers were men.
You get the idea.
And I was like this is kind ofweird, like I'm, I'm 25.
(15:41):
I want to be very ambitious andI'm looking up and there's no
one that looks like me, likeanywhere.
And I also remembered that mylifetime had been spent talking
to amazing women who worked atthese companies that I would
call that were my vendors, andthey were the go-to at every
place pretty much.
I mean, there was a woman thatwhen she went on vacation, the
(16:03):
business shut down.
At every business and I laugh alittle bit because a lot of my
men will say, like, do you wantto talk to the man in charge or
the woman that actually runs theplace?
And my dad used to say that alot about me, you know.
Kind of laughing about stuffbut that is really how I grew up
is like, hey, these are amazingwomen that are awesome at the
lumber business, at the buildingbusiness, whatever they were
doing.
(16:23):
So I knew that there were bosswomen everywhere and they were
just a part of this industry.
I just didn't see them where Iwas at that corporate job and so
I decided that, you know, I wasjust going to do my thing and
just be me and that was kind of.
That's just always how I'vesort of played it.
Sometimes that went in my favorand the dice laid on the side
that I needed them to, andsometimes that was really hard.
(16:45):
Looking back on it now I feellike I actually got more
opportunity in my career becauseI was a bubbly blonde woman
that was also extremely good atwhat I was doing and worked
really, really hard.
I feel like I got more upsidefrom that than downside.
Now, I know there are a lot ofwomen that don't see that and
don't say that in theconstruction industry especially
(17:06):
.
But I believe, now where I'm atin my life, that it is a
competitive advantage and adifferentiator that is positive
in a lot of ways to be a femalein this industry, and I have
leveraged that in a lot of wayssince I've started my business,
but also before in my corporatecareer.
And it's because you aredifferent.
Different stands out.
(17:27):
Why would you want to be one ofa hundred that look identical
to everyone else?
And not that all the men in theindustry are the same, because
they're not.
There's a lot of differentpeople and they all have
different skills andpersonalities and all that.
But you, being a woman in aplace where maybe you are the
only one at the table, if youcan position it the right way
(17:48):
and really frame it in your mindas an advantage, it is an
advantage.
If you tell yourself thateveryone's gonna hold it against
you that you're a woman andthat they're never gonna let you
do things, that will be aself-fulfilling prophecy, and I
believe so strongly in that that.
That's one of the reasons why Istarted Build Women, because I
wanted these women to know theirvalue and take into their own
(18:13):
hands their brands, theirconfidence and their skills and
also know this is one thingthat's a little different than
some of the other women'sorganizations that are out there
is like this is going to behard and it's hard for men too.
And you got to work, girl.
This is not a phone it in.
Because I'm a woman, I get thisthing and there will be
(18:35):
challenges.
But, heck, there's challengesfor every single man that I know
.
I mean me and my husband arebuilding the same business
together at the same time, likewe are working side and side,
like two horses pulling a plow.
We are working and it is justas hard for him than it is for
me.
Actually be easier for mebecause I have connections and
all these things that I'm likereaching out to people and doing
(18:56):
things, and a lot of what he'strying to figure out is like
there's no one to ask.
You know, he's just got tofigure it out, but it is hard
because I'm a woman and it'shard because he's a man.
It doesn't matter.
So life is not easy andanything that you do is not
going to be easily come andgained without work, and that is
what I want these women to knowis you are your own best
(19:18):
advocate.
You've got to use your voiceand speak up and you've got to
be confident in your ownabilities, and you've got to
know that sometimes you don'thave it figured out and you got
to keep working until you do.
And so that's one thing that wedo at Build Women is really
help with confidence andbreaking those habits that you
have that are actually holdingyou back.
It's not anyone else, it's,it's it's me that's holding this
(19:42):
back.
So when I started this, I hadsome things that I worked on
myself to get past, like somereal speed bumps in my career
that I was doing.
A lot of things likeperfectionism, as one brought me
so far to be a perfectionist inmy early career because I was
really, really conscientious.
I wanted things to be rightslash, perfect.
(20:04):
And now, once I'm into a pointwhen a lot of what I'm doing is
new, it's risky, it's not goingto be perfect.
There's zero intention of itbeing perfect, because you'd
never start if it was.
I had to get past that where Iwas never going to be able to do
what I needed to do in the nextstep.
So that was one of the.
We talk a lot about the habitsthat hold you back and actually
(20:25):
in March March 18th through the20th the National Hardware Show
and Build Women are doing a howWomen Rise in Hardware
conference.
It's a part of the NationalHardware Show main stage and
it's a whole day built aroundcontent that shows women how to
do that.
So I'm going to be speaking onhow to build your personal brand
and then also doing anothersession on how to break the
(20:48):
habits that hold you back, andthat is based on a book called
how Women Rise by an amazingwoman named Sally Helgensen, and
also Marshall Goldsmithco-wrote the book with her and
that's a best selling book, andher and I have partnered
together to do a program on howwomen rise for the construction
industry, so educating women onhow to get out of their own way
and make it happen.
Jennifer Heirs (21:08):
That's incredible.
Stefanie Couch (21:08):
Yeah.
So if you're listening to this,you're anywhere near Vegas or
you want to come to that show.
It is the National HardwareShow and you can actually click
on and just sign up for the howWomen Rise Day, or you can come
to the whole show, and it's inLas Vegas at the Convention
Center, 18th.
Jennifer Heirs (21:24):
All right.
So then you're going to have apretty big stint in Vegas, then
you're going to be doing a Vegastour, yeah, and also there's
some other amazing speakers.
Stefanie Couch (21:31):
So Gina Schaefer , who owns 13 hardware stores
she has over $53 million a yearin hardware store business
Amazing entrepreneur.
She's going to be speakingabout how to handle people,
profits and purpose in yourbusiness and what you need to
know.
And then we have a panel ofleaders from the industry, of
women, that are going to bespeaking a networking session
(21:51):
afterwards.
A lot of cool stuff happening.
So if you're anywhere nearVegas, you got to get to this
event.
Jennifer Heirs (21:56):
Awesome, no, and this is perfect because again,
we're going to be airing thisand so everybody will be able to
, you know, look into it andthen go.
So I appreciate that.
Yeah, let's look at now, youknow, at your advice, personal
reflections, newcomers in theindustry right?
(22:17):
So what advice would you givesomeone um starting their career
in their construction industrytoday?
Stefanie Couch (22:24):
I would say enlist from day one.
Get people in your corner fromday one.
Don't try to be the quietperson in the corner that just
lets things happen and figuresit out and then comes, comes
into the fold.
I want you to kind of find somepeople that will help you from
day one, so you will know someof those people are going to be
easier to win over than others.
You might have someone that isassigned to train you, that
(22:46):
doesn't want to do that, orsomeone that doesn't have time.
That's really.
It's usually more.
It's not people don't want tohelp you, it's that they're
already drowning in their ownrespective position.
It's hard to hand someone alife vest and say I'll help you
when you're already sort ofdrowning.
So find those people that canhelp you and figure out what is
most important first and don'ttry to do everything at once.
(23:09):
So if you have a lot ofresponsibilities in the role
that you're taking and you don'tfeel like you're quite ready I
hear the words I have impostersyndrome a lot you don't have
imposter syndrome.
What you have is inexperience.
You don't know what you'redoing because you've never done
it before.
And that's okay, because everysingle person that does
something new is that way youfeel like an imposter because
you just haven't figured out howto do it yet.
(23:30):
So give yourself some time andsome grace to do things and fail
.
That is the biggest lesson thatI would ever give anyone is you
have to be able to take riskand embrace failure as a
learning lesson and know thatyou will fail if you're doing
anything that is new or that ishard at all.
If you win every single day atevery single thing you do, you
(23:53):
must not be doing anything.
That's very difficult, becauseI certainly know that I fail all
the time at things that I do.
Yesterday I sent an email with aloom link for a video.
I sent someone on my teaminstead of a proposal and it's
like I sent the wrong thing.
I mean, it's not like somehorrible email I sent like a bad
thing, but I had to email themback and say, like I've been
working for I didn't say this,I've been working for 14 hours.
(24:15):
Today this is the last email ofthe day that I sent and I put
the wrong link on the proposal.
You know I sent them back andme for that speaking event.
I don't know if that's if theydon't do that because of that,
then cool.
But I make mistakes and so willyou, and no matter how
brilliant or how hardworking youare.
That will come, so embrace it,learn from it and try not to do
(24:37):
it again If you can.
That's how you grow and learnin your career and your company.
So don't be scared to makemistakes.
That is my number one piece ofadvice for anyone in any role
anywhere.
Jennifer Heirs (24:49):
Yeah, just give yourself grace, right?
We're human, we make mistakesand it's going to happen, but
you know.
Stefanie Couch (24:54):
Learn from those .
Jennifer Heirs (24:56):
Yeah, well, let's wrap up with one more
question, if you have time.
Yeah, again.
Lessons learned, reflecting onyour own journey.
What has been your mostsignificant?
Like learning?
Stefanie Couch (25:07):
experience.
The number one thing I thinkreally was a catalyst for me to
take it from one level to theother is figuring out what my
natural abilities and strengthswere, and that is from the
Gallup Clifton Strengthsassessment that I did.
You can go online gallupcomAnyone can take it.
I think it's $60 to take thetest.
It takes about an hour or soand it really is 200 questions
(25:31):
that you answer.
It's a normed test, so they askyou the same thing a few
different ways so you don't kindof game the system, and it
gives you your strengths inorder and tells you almost like
a psychic reading on the report.
It's a 25 page report about you, exactly how you're wired and
why you do things and what youshould lean towards and also
(25:53):
your blind spot.
So any strength can turn into aweakness if you use it the
wrong way or overuse it.
Don't use it at all.
The actual Gallup definition ofa weakness is anything that
gets in the way of your success.
So that could be a strength ora weakness, right.
But when I took this and Istarted also using it with my
teams and different things, itmade me realize that some of the
(26:19):
things that I was trying to dothe way I was trying to like
other people.
So I would look around and seesomeone that just loved data and
spreadsheets and like wouldspend like 17 hours looking at
the tables and the micro dataand all this stuff and I'm like
I got to know how to do all thatand I need to be able to.
I got to love data like thatand I do love data to make
decisions, but I like datathat's done for me so I can
(26:40):
strategically analyze it andthen pull the trigger and I want
someone else to do that.
14 hours of legwork.
Thankfully, that 14 hours oflegwork is my husband's love
language.
So if you look at that, when Iwas trying to force myself into
that position of being thatperson, it was really hard for
me to thrive there.
Right, it's like trying, youknow, I think it's.
(27:00):
Einstein says if you try tomake a fish climb a tree, he's
going to look like he's an idiotevery single day.
But if you put him in the ocean, watch them go.
And that's really what I wouldsay Find your ocean that you can
swim in, that you are amazingat swimming in, and once you
find that, and then you willstill have to work really hard
(27:21):
to hone those skills.
But once you get into thatright, better watch out, because
that is when you can behappiest, the most fulfilled in
what you're doing and also makethe biggest impact for yourself
financially, impact wise as faras how you feel about what
you're doing in your world orfor your company.
And that really was an unlockfor me that I couldn't quantify,
(27:43):
and that's why I became astrengths coach.
I actually got let go from a joband I had already decided that
I wanted to start my ownbusiness anyway.
I'd already started somebusinesses and I was just trying
to wait to get a little morebonus money, honestly.
So right after I got let go,two weeks later, I went to the
Gallup strengths training as acoach and I did everything I
(28:04):
could to get that training.
I did not have the money to doit.
Someone actually sponsored me.
It was really cool, cool story.
We don't have time to tell.
But for what you want and goafter things that are in your
strength zone and you willexponentially grow.
And if you're trying to do toomany things in your role every
day that you are, it's not ifyou're not good at it, it's if
you really dread that, if myexample of the spreadsheets is
(28:27):
the easiest thing I know to say,if you wake up in the morning
and you're like I lovespreadsheets and I really hope I
get to analyze some data today,that's your thing, right?
If you have that feeling I had,where it's like, just give me
the final notes and I'll make adecision.
That probably isn't the job youwant to be doing every day,
right?
So maybe you don't need to bethe data analyst, maybe you need
(28:54):
to be the strategist.
So, at the end of the day, knowyour strengths, know your
weaknesses, work on it and growyour strengths instead of
focusing on your weaknesses.
And hopefully you have a teamof people that love to do the
things you're not good at, andthat's when real exponential
growth happens in companies.
Jennifer Heirs (29:04):
That's awesome, Stefanie.
Such a joy to have you on thisshow.
And also thank you, ben.
In the background, we have toalso say thank you Like this
lighting all the things it'sbeen.
Stefanie Couch (29:21):
He makes it happen, he makes me.
He's an amazing, amazing humanand I wouldn't trade him for a
trillion dollars.
That's incredible.
I'm happy for you Ben, Thankyou.
Jennifer Heirs (29:38):
And I'm looking forward to meeting you next week
.
Stefanie Couch (29:39):
And then we also found out that next week and
then we're going to do somethingcollaborative, hopefully maybe
multiple times in the future.
So I'm excited about that.
Thank you so much, jennifer.
You're awesome, and I amexcited for women Week this
coming month.
And I would just say to anywoman that is not sure what to
do next you have the ability andyou are worthy to do whatever
(29:59):
it is that you want to do inyour life.
You just have to be willing toput in the work and be
consistent with it and believethat you can, because if you
believe plus put in the work, itwill absolutely happen.
It just might not be tomorrow,so you've got to be consistent
and work and believe all at thesame time, and that's how you
really build what you want inyour life.
Jennifer Heirs (30:21):
Amazing.
I'll leave it on that.
So thank you everybody forjoining and we'll see you next
time.
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