October 8, 2024 • 39 mins
What does it take to build a successful consulting firm? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. David Weiman, an executive coach and founder of Weiman Consulting. Dr. David discusses the core services of Weiman Consulting, including talent assessment, executive coaching, and leadership development. He shares his unique journey from a background in religion and marketing to becoming a respected consultant and coach. He also reveals how he built Weiman Consulting through valuable seminars and a supportive network, emphasizing the importance of having a personal board of directors for guidance. Entrepreneurs will gain insights into navigating the challenges of starting a business and the essential qualities needed for effective leadership.
Tune in to explore the foundations of effective leadership and the keys to building a thriving consulting business!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dane Shoemaker (00:03):
Hi. This is Dane Shoemaker with the Shoemaker
Films podcast. I'm here withdoctor David Wyman. Pleasure to
be with you. How are you doingtoday?
Dr. David Weiman (00:09):
I'm well.
Dane Shoemaker (00:10):
Good. Executive coach, management consultant,
doctorate of psychology,entrepreneur. Why don't you tell
us a little bit about WymanConsulting.
Dr. David Weiman (00:20):
Not a heck bad baker Yeah. Of cookies. Wyman
Consulting is a leadershipconsulting firm.
Dane Shoemaker (00:28):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (00:29):
And that's sort of vague and and maybe
intentionally, but there's 3core services we provide.
Dane Shoemaker (00:35):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (00:36):
And it's sometimes it's helpful to give
an example of each as I go alongYeah. Which I can do. So
Perfect. The first part istalent assessment. And, we have
clients who are technicallyscreening senior executives and
senior staff who they'rebringing on, but they wanna get
a sense of how good a fit isthis person for our culture, and
(00:57):
the way that we work.
What are the strengths and thedevelopment needs they might
lead in a leadership role thatwe can find out in advance?
Yeah. So in an example of thatmight be a real estate
investment firm is looking for achief financial officer, and
they have 3 finalists. And allof those 3 can do the job, but
they're looking for the degreeof fit with the firm, the
(01:19):
culture, and what they'vecreated. Okay.
And and even saying real estateinvestment firm, now that I
think about it, there could be 5different firms that operate
very differently. So we look
Dane Shoemaker (01:29):
at Right.
Dr. David Weiman (01:30):
The firm and the person and give them a sense
of how good that fit would be.So that's an example of of the
talent assessment service, andwe do an assessment of the
person using some structuredquestionnaires and interview,
and then we feed that data backto the client, usually with a
quick phone call, and then wehave a full report
Dane Shoemaker (01:51):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (01:51):
Of what we found. Okay. The second bucket
is executive coaching. Okay. Andthere, this we could either be
hired by a company to provide itfor a leader, or sometimes we
have leaders or people who ownentrepreneurial businesses Yeah.
Who are looking for thatthemselves. And we also have
just private people who wantcoaching, usually for business,
(02:16):
you know, business leadership orRight. You know, they're they're
in a company, but they wanna payfor it privately. And in all of
these examples, we're usuallydoing an assessment first and
some interviewing to find out asmuch as we can about the person
and the, like, various aspectsof strength or maybe some
(02:36):
development needs that they haveRight. Prior experiences.
And then we give them somefeedback, create a plan, and
start the coaching. And thethird area is leadership
development, and that has twokind of subparts to it. 1 is an
organization may want to developan entire team.
Dane Shoemaker (02:55):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (02:55):
And so we might assess that group and give
some suggestions for how theycould improve, or they might be
looking for a seminar of somesort. And I enjoy doing them,
but also they're very helpfulfor getting a team to have the
same kind of information at thesame time.
Dane Shoemaker (03:14):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (03:15):
So it might be a 90 minute seminar on conflict
resolution as an example, or itcould be a 3 day program on
different leadership tools thata company wants all leaders at a
certain level to have.
Dane Shoemaker (03:28):
Right. Right. Okay. So out of those 3, I mean,
are you focused more on onearea? Is it kind of equal?
You know, where do you think
Dr. David Weiman (03:36):
most of your question
Dane Shoemaker (03:37):
is most of your time and energy goes towards?
Dr. David Weiman (03:39):
It's almost evenly divided among those 3,
and I think that some of theseservices lead to other services.
So for example, if a companyhires us to do a 360 degree
assessment, which is sort ofwhat it sounds like. It's an
assessment that focuses on oneperson, but their boss, their
peers, and their direct reportswill be solicited for feedback,
(04:02):
and that all goes into onereport about them.
Dane Shoemaker (04:04):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (04:05):
It's very natural after that. We've
already gotten all this datatogether and given them
feedback. Coaching programs area natural follow on to that. Or
if we do a seminar on a topicaround a certain kind of issue
that might benefit a team, thatmight lead to us then doing
talent assessment to make surethat they get the kind of people
(04:25):
that they want on that team. Sothese we we get sort of I call
them follow on services Right.
To a primary service that weoffer, but even that's a super
long way of saying, yes. Butit's kind of evenly divided.
Dane Shoemaker (04:39):
Yes. I mean, it makes sense if you've been able
to build the trust
Dr. David Weiman (04:42):
and Yep.
Dane Shoemaker (04:42):
Show show the value of your services. It makes
sense. So, that's it'sinteresting. How did you how did
you get started in this? I mean,you know, what what does your
career look like?
Dr. David Weiman (04:51):
I never had a psychology class in high school
or college.
Dane Shoemaker (04:54):
Oh, really? It was
Dr. David Weiman (04:55):
a total career change for me. My undergraduate
degree was in religion, and Iwas very interested in
marketing. So the first jobsthat I had were in marketing.
And if you think about religionbecause I got this question a
lot when I was interviewing tobe a copywriter. They say, well,
I see a 1,000 English majors.
You're the 1st religion majorwho's ever walked in here. And
(05:19):
if you study like, religion issomething that people make, in
some cases, the most importantthing in their lives. It's very
central.
Dane Shoemaker (05:27):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (05:27):
But they don't get a guarantee for it. They
can't possess it. They can'treturn it. So if you can
understand how religious leadersconvey that kind of importance
to people, you kind of know alittle bit about marketing.
Right?
And so Sure. Started out as acopywriter, then began working
for a publishing company rightdown the road here in Devon, and
(05:49):
I became the vice president ofmarketing of that publishing
company, but always had anemphatic desire to help other
people. So my late twenties,went back to graduate school,
got a master's degree from Pennin counseling psychology, and
then another master's and adoctorate from Widener in
clinical psychology. I wasworking part time the entire
(06:09):
time I was in graduate school. Iwas still working at the
publishing company.
Yeah. And I thought, are theyeventually gonna say, like, what
why do we have a psychologist asour marketing director? But it
worked really well because themore I learned about psychology,
the more I thought about how toreach people and connect with
them over wants and needs thatwere important to them. Yeah.
And eventually took the stepthat I think a lot of
(06:32):
entrepreneurs have to deal withat some point, which is I had a
full time job, then it was parttime when I was at graduate
school, then I started my ownshop.
Okay.
Dane Shoemaker (06:41):
Yeah. I mean, just going back to psychology
and market I mean, marketing andsales is really all psychology
if you
Dr. David Weiman (06:46):
if you
Dane Shoemaker (06:47):
if you if you look at it.
Dr. David Weiman (06:48):
But our our entire lives were I I don't mean
this like, a a great colleagueof mine, Dave Fries, says, now
we're sort of marketing all thetime. So if if I was at a
friend's house and they toldtheir daughter she couldn't have
dessert unless she finished herdinner. And at 6 years old, I
saw her out negotiate these twopeople, one of whom was a
(07:09):
Wharton graduate. Like, shedidn't finish her meal, and I
had brought dessert which these,like, giant brownies. And she
totally negotiated her.
Like, she was a brilliantmarketing salesperson because
although she didn't conform tothat request of theirs, she did
wind up with dessert andprobably had the biggest brownie
of the 4 of us.
Dane Shoemaker (07:29):
So Nice.
Dr. David Weiman (07:30):
Yeah. But I think throughout life, we're
doing that. You know, we'repersuading, and so he doesn't
mean Dave doesn't mean sales andmarketing in a negative way at
all. But Yeah. But we'repersuading all the time.
Dane Shoemaker (07:40):
Yeah. And I would say a 6 year old I have a
5 year old. He's verymanipulative, you know, for
better or for worse. So
Dr. David Weiman (07:47):
But it's a if you think about it, it's a way
of getting what we need from theenvironment. Mhmm. And so at
that age, just sort ofnegotiating back and forth with
adults, particularly in a in ahome environment where you're
safe, is a great way
Dane Shoemaker (08:02):
to learn.
Dr. David Weiman (08:03):
Like, yeah. What happens when I say this or
that? Or what if I don't dosomething I'm asked to do?
Dane Shoemaker (08:08):
Yeah. We're all running little experiments all
Dr. David Weiman (08:11):
the time
Dane Shoemaker (08:11):
to see what the reactions are.
Dr. David Weiman (08:12):
And I think the world of work is the same
way. Yeah. You know? Yeah. SoYep.
Dane Shoemaker (08:17):
Just the religion component. Were were
are you a religious person? Wereyou did you have goals of
Dr. David Weiman (08:22):
I think going into Yeah. I I liked
Dane Shoemaker (08:25):
the I Gotta know that. Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (08:26):
Yeah. I liked, in in undergraduate, the study
of what was ultimately importantto people.
Dane Shoemaker (08:33):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (08:33):
Like, that felt important to me. And, so I
I think I'm a spiritual personmore than a religious person. K.
But definitely what was ofultimate concern to people but
it was very attractive to me tostudy that and, to sort of see
how religions are similar allover the world and what kind of
(08:53):
connects people potentially.
Dane Shoemaker (08:55):
Yeah. Yep. One of the things that I noticed
about you is I I think you're areally good storyteller. Would
would you
Dr. David Weiman (09:03):
agree with that? I I hope so.
Dane Shoemaker (09:07):
Yeah. I I think just you know? And even just
doing some research on this, I Iwent on your LinkedIn earlier
this week, and a lot of peoplejust have their resume with
bullet points. And and you havea really nice intro to, you
know, when you got a first got aphone call Yep. You know In
college.
In college about going to, youknow, do you know, the your
first for the publisher was themarketing For Wendy's. Yeah. For
(09:29):
Wendy's. Right. Right.
Dr. David Weiman (09:30):
Sort of a child prodigy in marketing, and
so I was the marketing directorfor all the Wendy's in South
Jersey when I was still incollege.
Dane Shoemaker (09:37):
Yeah. That which that that must be an interesting
story there as well. But, butyou did it really well where,
you know, kind of, you know,bring it back to what you're
doing now and, you know, kindalooking at the pain points of
what your clients are that youwork with now, you know, I
forget exactly how you wordedit, but, you know, if you you
know, I'll take your call, youknow, for that. So I just think
(09:59):
you're really good at writing.
Dr. David Weiman (10:00):
Thank you.
Dane Shoemaker (10:00):
And, the way you present yourself is great. So
very much. So so when did youstart Wyman Consulting? When did
you know, you took that leapfrom, you know, into
entrepreneurship. And what wasthat what was that experience
like?
Dr. David Weiman (10:14):
Even in graduate school, I wanted to be
prepared when I left for whatthe business would look like.
Mhmm. And I jotted down ideasfor what I wanted to look what
what what I wanted it to looklike and kinda kept that in a
file as I was going along. Andas I was meeting other
professionals, if I liked theway that their practice was set
(10:34):
up or I liked the way that theydid different things, I would
keep notes about that. And sowhen I left, I was employed by
the publishing company
Dane Shoemaker (10:44):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (10:44):
And I had a few part time jobs. And that
gave me the time to sort of puttogether a business plan, and I
showed it to colleagues in andoutside of psychology. Okay. And
I had one mentor in particularwho I mentioned, Dave Fries, who
said, like, eventually, you haveto let go of the main part time
(11:07):
job for the publishing companyif you wanna move forward with
that, business. So it was inJanuary of 2,001 that I was
ready at that point because Ihad talked to my boss at the
publishing company and asked himif could I do this work instead
of as a part time employee?
(11:28):
If I were to create my ownbusiness, would you be willing
to be a client? And it madesense to him because the costs
of having me as a part timeemployee would go away, but we'd
still have this connection. AndI at that point, I had worked
there 12 years, I think
Dane Shoemaker (11:42):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (11:43):
Full time and continued for 8 years. So
understanding that they wouldbecome a client gave me the
confidence to go out on my ownin January of 2001, and it was
really executing the plan that Ihad been creating for years
prior to that. So thisdefinitely wasn't like a sub
moment where
Dane Shoemaker (12:00):
I was
Dr. David Weiman (12:00):
like, yeah. I'm mad as hell, and I can't
take an hour or whatever thephrase is from the movie
network. But I had all all andin fact, it was now that we're
talking about this, it was amentor of mine at Wendy's who
asked me if I wanted to foregomy senior year of college to
work there full time, and I saidno. And he said, I was asked to
(12:23):
ask you that, but I'm glad yousaid no. And, also, I feel like
in the future, you won't workfor someone else.
You you'll work for yourself.And to be told that at 19 or 20
was really powerful because thiswas a super successful person.
Dane Shoemaker (12:37):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (12:38):
And Julian Oskowitz was the name of that
supervisor. So that kind of gotthe idea in my head, like, what
is it like to be on your own torun your own business? I I also
think that just in terms ofstyle, I liked the idea of
having my own thing, creating myown the you know, my own
assignments and and serving myown clients.
Dane Shoemaker (12:59):
Yeah. Yeah. I certainly think that's a not a
goal for everyone, but a lot ofit's a human, desire to build
something and then, you know,provide for people around you.
So so that that, at that point,was that your first client? Did
they move forward with you beinga client, your former employer?
Dr. David Weiman (13:19):
They did, and I had already prepared a a
letter of agreement about thatclient relationship.
Dane Shoemaker (13:27):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (13:28):
And I had it on my desk in my office. I went
over to see the publisher, andhe agreed. And the very first
thing he said is, why don't youdraw up a letter of agreement
that explains what we justtalked about? And I said, I
think I can do that. So I walkedback to my office.
I waited a couple of minutes,and then I brought in the letter
that I had already prepared.
Dane Shoemaker (13:48):
That was quick. Yeah. Yeah. So what I mean, what
was that like, that relationshipthen, You know, because it's a
different dynamic. It's less of,David, can you do this?
Then it's more of consultative.I mean, you're now a contractor
or a consultant. Right? So
Dr. David Weiman (14:05):
I've it's funny now that we're talk a lot
of things are occurring to methat haven't occurred to me
before in talking about thisfrom your questions. But one of
the things that I think is a away of feeling when I have a
really good connection with aclient now
Dane Shoemaker (14:21):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (14:21):
Is like I'm part of that organization. And
there are some clients where ifI've worked with them enough,
it's in order for me to haveaccess to files or connect with
other people, I might have anemail address with that company
or a way of accessing files ordocuments.
Dane Shoemaker (14:39):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (14:40):
I might go to their company events, and it
feels like more collegial thanclient and provider of a service
or consultant. So I think itjust felt like an extension of
that relationship, and I thinkthat our job security is kind of
a perception of our jobsecurity. Like Yeah. Because we
(15:02):
can always be fired from acompany. So in some ways, it
felt a little more securebecause I couldn't be I wouldn't
be I wasn't worried about beingfired, not that that's something
that was on my mind all thetime, but it felt like there
were ways to enhance thatrelationship with what else I
could provide beyond what mypart time job was.
And that turned out to be thecase. So it was a really good
(15:23):
really good relationship.
Dane Shoemaker (15:25):
And things that are more in your control, right,
than if you were just workingfor them, you're kind of at the
mercy of what their budget is orwhatever is going on.
Dr. David Weiman (15:33):
Right.
Dane Shoemaker (15:33):
You know, macro. Yeah. That's great. What what
were the next couple years likein building Wyman Consulting? I
mean, did you have a next coupleof critical clients or other
milestones that
Dr. David Weiman (15:47):
I I really believe strongly even now in the
the kind of the social groupthat we're in as a source of
referrals. So the very firstthing that I did was I created 3
seminars that I offered to do atno charge, and I called them,
like, lunch and learns orsomething like their lunch and
(16:08):
seminars because I had so manyfriends in business, and I
didn't wanna impose on them ormarket to them.
Dane Shoemaker (16:14):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (16:15):
But I said, I have these 3 programs that I'll
do at at no charge, and they'llhappen over lunch so your
employees aren't gonna miss anytime. But it was a way for me to
get accustomed to meeting newpeople Yeah. Getting in front of
a group and learning about whatissues they were having. And so
the very the next the secondclient, or the first one that I
(16:38):
was getting outside of thatpublishing company, asked me to
come in and do the one of theone of the seminars was on
conflict resolution.
Dane Shoemaker (16:46):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (16:46):
And I was asked to come in and do it, and
as we were picking a date, shesaid, I really think we might
need you to work with this team,not just talk with this team.
Yeah. And can you do that? Andthat started a long term
relationship. I mean, it's a 20year relationship it turned
into.
Mhmm. So the gateway project washelping that team, manage
(17:11):
conflict in a more, sort ofproductive way. I mean, to a
certain degree, you wantdiversity of thought and ideas,
and you want people to debate ina team. Yeah. And this when it
goes over the line from beingconstructive to destructive,
that's where it could be helpfulto have someone outside of all
of that, come in and help withit.
(17:31):
But Yeah. That was the very nextkind of that method of offering
something of value withoutexpecting any I did not expect
anything in return. It wasreally helping me refine my
public speaking skills, whichwere rusty at that point, and
getting accustomed to doingseminars. But, at the publishing
company, they also startedhaving me get in front of
(17:54):
groups. Okay.
So some of my programs were onthe psychology of marketing and
selling handcrafted jewelry, andthat helped me kind of learn how
to put together a program,deliver it, get feedback, and
react to that feedback.
Dane Shoemaker (18:10):
Okay. So that that jewelry marketing videos
that are up on your YouTube,that was stemmed from the
publishing. Got it. I was tryingto figure out where that fit
into your career a little bit.Yeah.
Yeah. That is fascinating. Andthey're really interesting too.
Dr. David Weiman (18:26):
Oh, thank you.
Dane Shoemaker (18:26):
Yeah. Yeah. So, that's great. And you mentioned,
you know, just I would say that,you know, what you're what you
did in those early days, doingdoing free seminars, lunch and
learns, providing value, that'sreally, you know, I just and
from what I see in building mycompany, Schumacher Fellows, I
mean, doing free stuff. We'vedone a lot of free work for to
(18:49):
free videos for for companies,and that tends to come back, you
know, you know, and we're doingthis, you know, in a way that's
I'm not expecting anything tocome back.
Right? But the world kinda has afunny way of rewarding that in a
way. So I'm buildingrelationships, building
referrals. Just from a, youknow, marketing standpoint, I
(19:12):
mean, what are some of thethings that you're doing today?
I mean, I imagine that, youknow, you're in a very
specialized field.
You know, you have probably alot of referrals or business
contacts. You know, what what doyou do? You know, what does that
flow of clients look liketypically? I mean, are you
working with a lot I I know I'mthrowing a lot of questions at
you now, but, like, how manyclients are you working with at
(19:34):
any given time? Is it reallyjust, like, one engagement at a
time, or is it multiple?
It's multiple. Finding clients,
Dr. David Weiman (19:39):
I guess. It can be multiple engagements at a
time. We have some long termwork that we've done with
clients over years and someindividual projects where we're
brought in to do one thing. Wedo that thing, and then that
project stops.
Dane Shoemaker (19:54):
Right.
Dr. David Weiman (19:55):
Coaching engagements, excuse me, tend to
be they start out often as a 6month engagement that can be
renewed. And so that's anexample of a situation where we
might coach someone for 2 years
Dane Shoemaker (20:07):
Oh, wow.
Dr. David Weiman (20:08):
But it started out as a 6 month engagement. The
talent assessment, it we'relike, in my field, there's no
way to plan ahead for thatbecause people call us when they
need that.
Dane Shoemaker (20:21):
Right.
Dr. David Weiman (20:21):
And for the clients who use us regularly for
talent assessment, they've usedus for years. So we have a
system set up when we get thatcall. There's usually some
urgency around it.
Dane Shoemaker (20:33):
Right.
Dr. David Weiman (20:34):
We have we're ready to go within, you know, a
short time of getting that emailand get that started.
Dane Shoemaker (20:39):
Oh, that's great.
Dr. David Weiman (20:41):
So the the overall picture, like we were
talking about at the beginning,tends to be about a third talent
assessment, a third executivecoaching, and a third leadership
development. But, what's youknow, in any given time, what
what pops up we respond to. AndYeah. And I like being when I
(21:02):
say we, I have a colleague, parttime colleague, Lauren
Schechter, who's been with me 5years and just does a phenomenal
job. So we work on theseprojects together, and as things
come in, we have a system formoving them along together, and
that works out really well.
Yeah. With regard to themarketing piece, we have the
sort of, like, the big chunksare a monthly newsletter we do
(21:25):
called leadership update.
Dane Shoemaker (21:26):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (21:27):
And that has a quote that I like and why it's
relevant for leaders. A book I'mreading might be a piece of
fiction, but I try to relate itto leadership. Mhmm. Lauren does
a section on lifestyle, which isactually in when we track the
clicks, most of the clicks comefrom Lauren's lifestyle section.
(21:48):
And those could be holidayrelated, fall cocktails, or,
things to do.
I think one last year was whatto do with the Halloween
pumpkins that you might have. Itwas, like, 24 things to do with
pumpkins. And then I have afeature piece
Dane Shoemaker (22:04):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (22:05):
That's usually we try to keep it, like, under a
5 minute read because ourclients and readers are busy.
Sure. So that's one main thing,and that goes out by email
usually the 1st weekend of themonth.
Dane Shoemaker (22:18):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (22:19):
The second so that's for our mailing list. We
also do a quarterly physical,marketing piece
Dane Shoemaker (22:25):
on a
Dr. David Weiman (22:26):
different topic. We want people to have
something in their hands. I'm alittle old school that way, and,
also, we don't wanna use onemethod of marketing everything.
And we have a weekly videocalled Rise and Whine. Mhmm.
And that has a specific purposeattached to it that's reaching
out to people who may haven'tbeen to a seminar of mine. And
(22:48):
it's a way of them recallingwhat it was like for me to just
talk to them, if that makes anysense. Yeah. So it really had a
specific niche, but, which is onLinkedIn primarily. Okay.
But we get a lot of feedbackabout it from Facebook and
Twitter also
Dane Shoemaker (23:03):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (23:04):
Because those are the other platforms that we
use. And then we have weeklyquote picks or blog. We have a
weekly blog that Lauren You
Dane Shoemaker (23:14):
do have a blog post. Yep.
Dr. David Weiman (23:16):
So it's it's fair there's a steady pulse
across these different channels.The key to all of this to me is
reaching out to people 1 on 1
Dane Shoemaker (23:27):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (23:27):
And making phone calls just to check-in and
see how someone's doing. Yep. Sothat's another component to it
because you don't know what'shappening when you put something
out into the universe, whetherit's social media or otherwise.
But picking up the phone to callsomebody and connect with them
with the real intention of justseeing how they're doing is
(23:48):
impactful. And so my the bestoutcome from one of those calls
is that someone felt listenedto.
Not that I sold them something.It's like what you were saying
before. Not that I got somethingout of it other than they felt
better afterwards just fromsomeone listening
Dane Shoemaker (24:04):
to it. I think people people appreciate that
human connection, you know, andbeing even being face to face as
well, is really great. Youmentioned also the the the
mailing. I mean, I I actually Ireally like that. You know,
we're in digital marketing thesedays, but having something
physical in your hands reallythat's something that people
don't do a lot now.
(24:24):
You know? So it kinda cutsthrough the noise
Dr. David Weiman (24:27):
a little bit. In the
Dane Shoemaker (24:29):
at least in your space, I think, you know, you
know, you're you get thesewindow contractors in your mail
every day or, you know,landscaping or whatever it is.
But I think, you know, somethinglike that is is definitely
unique.
Dr. David Weiman (24:40):
In the pandemic, we sent out in a
packet, a tea bag, coffee thatwas in a, like, a little slim
pouch that you could use instantcoffee and a packet of hot
chocolate.
Dane Shoemaker (24:57):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (24:58):
And the appeal was nobody's meeting in person,
but why don't we have a virtualcup of coffee to your hot
chocolate together?
Dane Shoemaker (25:05):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (25:06):
And a lot of people contacted me and not only
set up those meetings, but madethe coffee, the tea, or the hot
chocolate, and and we talkedover that. So I think that it's
you know, the the more novelways and senses that we engage
people Mhmm. That physical thingmatters. Being able to take
something out of a out of a 6 by9 envelope, padded envelope that
(25:28):
has coffee, tea, and hotchocolate in it. Yeah.
I think that appealing to thesemultiple senses really matters.
So that's another part of thestrategy is Rise and Wine is
something you can listen to.Mhmm. Transcripts of Rise and
Wine are blog posts, so peepbecause some people prefer to
read than to watch something.
Dane Shoemaker (25:46):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (25:47):
We have audio things that people can listen
to, and we have the physical,the the marketing pieces that go
up quarterly that they canphysically think that it's a
tangible thing.
Dane Shoemaker (25:57):
Yeah. Yeah. It's really about being there when
people need you as well.Marketing is kind of just a a
constant thing. As soon as youstop doing it, though, it can be
you'll just you know, peoplemight forget about you or
something like that.
The the rise and wine piece isvery interesting to me. I'm I'm
very impressed. You know, it'sit's, you know, tell me a little
(26:17):
bit more about that. I mean,it's weekly. I I see them on
YouTube all the time.
So when they pop up
Dr. David Weiman (26:22):
Yeah. A lot
Dane Shoemaker (26:22):
of times, they're just like, you know,
they're, you know, they'reshort, a minute and a half, 2
minutes long. Where do you findthe inspiration for the things
that you talk about in the Riseand Wine?
Dr. David Weiman (26:34):
The way that it started is we were not doing
anything on video. And acolleague of mine who still
works with us, Kendra Prescott,said, hey. You know, like, when
you're walking around the officeand you say, I I just remember
this scene from The PrincessBride, and it talks about going
back to the beginning. And andsometimes in life, I think if
(26:55):
we're just, like, not reallysure where we should go, maybe
going back to the beginningmatter. Like, maybe like like,
what's our foundational purposein life?
Dane Shoemaker (27:03):
And Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (27:03):
And she said, you know, when you do that, you
should record that. Because alot of times, they were just
spontaneous thoughts that I had.And if Kendra was around, I
would share it with Kendra, orwe would talk we worked together
in the same office for a while.And I said, oh, well, should I
have a tie you know, a title andcredits? And she says, no.
(27:25):
She said some of the mostpopular videos right now coming
from people like you are they'retalking about something as if
there's another person there.Yeah. And I said, so no
captions? She said, no. And nomusic and no.
She said, just the way you do itin the office where you just
start talking about something.That's it. And I had a mug
(27:45):
that's over there on my deskthat was given to me as a Secret
Santa gift by the publisher whowas my first client,
Dane Shoemaker (27:51):
Joe Red. Wow.
Dr. David Weiman (27:52):
And Joe, it was he thought it was funny
because it said Rise and Wine, wh I n e, on it. And I had it for
years. I loved the mug. And Ithought, I'm just gonna call it
Rise and Wine, and I'll holdthat mug up at the beginning of
each video. Yeah.
And it's paradoxical because I'mnot a whiner. I'm a super
optimistic person. But otherthan that, it there was no
reason for that title. Yeah. Andthe very first one, I noticed
(28:17):
something on the back of acoffee packet that said it was
nutty and bold.
And I thought, well, that's agreat way to be in life. And so
the very first video was metalking about that that thing,
the back of that coffee packet.
Dane Shoemaker (28:32):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (28:32):
And I remember showing it to my mother who
passed away 2 years ago, and mymother was an actress her entire
life. And she was prettycritical, and she looked at that
video and she said, I don'tknow. Like, the camera's
pointing up at your face. That'snot a very, you know, good
angle. But she gave me a lot ofgood constructive criticism for
it or feedback.
(28:52):
And so I just raised the cameraup, and I showed her the next
video. She said, that's it. Andso with the support of your mom,
particularly Yeah.
Dane Shoemaker (29:01):
Let's see mom. Some action.
Dr. David Weiman (29:02):
Yeah. And, up until the, you know, the the the
the end of her life, I wouldshow her rise and whine on my
phone each week. And she was agood gauge for me of, was it
interesting? Would it createquestions in someone's mind? Did
it have the impact, that I waslooking for?
But but the origin of it wasKentra suggesting it. The market
(29:26):
was the people who had seen mein seminars, but I hadn't been
in touch with a while. Okay. Andthe purpose was was to remind
them of what it was like to havea conversation like this. Yeah.
And we get a lot of feedbackthrough email of or messages
from people saying, I loved it,and I'm not the kind of person
who publicly comments on things,but here's what it meant to me.
(29:48):
That whatever that particulartopic is. Yeah.
Dane Shoemaker (29:50):
Now it's really great. I mean, I you know, it's
just the fact that, you know,it's every week you're
consistent about it. It's nothigh quality, you know, but it's
like, it's something is betterthan nothing. And honestly, for
a lot of people, you know, Iit's always cameras and mics and
lights. It's kinda overwhelmingand, like, that can be an
impediment because Right.
You know, if you think you needto have a nice mic and a camera
(30:12):
and all this stuff, it kindabecomes, oh, I don't feel like
setting all that stuff up. Andand you're and really, at the
end of the day, it's more aboutthe content and the and the
substance of what's in a video.And, you know, so I I saw it. I
just kudos
Dr. David Weiman (30:26):
to you. Oh, thank you. And Yeah. Kendra was
really the main the driverbehind it. And I remember saying
to her, well, when I do like,when when we take one of my
seminar videos and create aproduct out of it, it's edited,
and we use a production houselike yourself Yeah.
To do that. She said, no. No.And I said, well, what if I make
(30:46):
a mistake? She said, well, thenyou made a mistake.
Yeah. And she gave me theexample of somebody she really
liked who would do theseimpromptu informal videos, and
she said, like, if his cat walkson the sofa you know, the top of
the sofa behind him, that's inthere. So I'm like, so I don't
edit like, I still was havingtrouble getting my head around
it. She showed me an example ofwhat she was talking about. But
(31:08):
but to your point, it's notnormal for people to never make
a mistake or say or say thewrong word.
Dane Shoemaker (31:14):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (31:14):
So to some degree, her instincts were right
about connecting with peoplewithout it being a a a a edited
product Yeah. Because that takesaway the kind of the informal
connection to it.
Dane Shoemaker (31:26):
Yeah. And I think, you know, authenticity
has become kind of a buzzwordlately, I think. But but really,
that's it's authentic becauseit's it's you. It's talking to
you know? And even, you know, weall have we all have cameras in
our pockets now.
So, you know, just it's a matterof just doing it and rather than
not doing it. Right? And justgetting your thoughts out when
(31:46):
it when it when it's timely.
Dr. David Weiman (31:48):
It helps that it's on a schedule. And Yeah. I
actually use a separate videocamera for it
Dane Shoemaker (31:53):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (31:54):
And a tripod set up with the exact height
every time. And, but other thanthat, when I sit down to record
it, what I do is what goes out.And I really appreciate from
your awesome professionalbackground feedback because it's
it's helpful.
Dane Shoemaker (32:09):
Yeah. Yeah. I think more more more business
owners, especially serviceproviders, consultants, they
could take a page out of out ofyour business. So, so I guess,
you know, just a couple closingthoughts. I mean, you know, in
your career, I mean, what aresome what are some key, I guess,
advice that you would give to,you know, just specific to your
(32:30):
your niche, you know, and andtalent assessment, leadership
coaches?
What are some common things thatyou've come across, that maybe,
you know, you can help with or,people can just find out on
their own?
Dr. David Weiman (32:41):
I think that in terms of what I feel is a big
value that we provide,oftentimes, people are at work
every day like the owner of abusiness, and they're getting
the job done, and they'reworking hard to do that. And
they might not realize a noble Icall it a noble quality they
(33:02):
have Mhmm. That, like, alwaystaking care of people. You know,
when they spot an employee whoneeds something and hasn't asked
for it, but they notice itoffering something to that
person. Maybe it's a day off,like, hey.
I know, you know, your yourkid's not feeling well. Take
tomorrow off on us and and justhandle that. I see that as
noble, and sometimes the personat the top isn't getting
(33:26):
feedback from other places inthe organization. So I try to
notice the noble things aboutour clients
Dane Shoemaker (33:34):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (33:35):
And share that feedback with them because I
think they're they might nothave been they might not see it
as noble because to them, it'sjust part of getting the job
done, or they might not haveheard that before. Like, nobody
pointed it out, but when you do,they go, woah. Like, I do that,
and that is important to me.Yeah. So I think sometimes
(33:57):
focusing on those values thateven they might not be aware of
is something that's a particularthing I try to do.
I know Lauren tries to do thesame thing in our work with
clients. We're really there tohelp people who are good get
better. Yeah. So for example, wedon't work with somebody. If it
(34:17):
if somebody if if anorganization says this person
isn't a good fit, they're notperforming well, we're having
trouble motivating them, and butfor coaching, we would fire
them.
That's not a good role for usbecause we're not. It's possible
that it's just not a good fitbetween that person and the
organization. Yeah. And we don'thelp companies fire people.
(34:39):
That's not what we do.
Right. Right. But if somebody Iguess it's like the old joke,
how many psychologists does ittake to change a light bulb? And
the answer is 1, but the lightbulb has to want to change. If
somebody wants to change, ifthey wanna get better, if
they're open to feedback, that'san excellent fit for us for
coaching and leadershipdevelopment.
(35:00):
Mhmm. If a company says, I'vebeen telling this person for 5
years, whatever it is they'vebeen telling them, and I we need
someone else to tell them, we'renot really the right Right. For
that because we're we're verymuch about helping people
identify and capitalize onstrengths, not not criticize or
(35:20):
make people feel cruddy.
Dane Shoemaker (35:22):
Yeah. They're not you're they're not checking
a box, an HR box when they'rehiring. Yes. Yep. However, Just
kind of in general to, you know,your entrepreneurial journey
starting Wyman Consulting,anything any particular things
that you were able to overcomeor think that, you know, you
might have advice for peoplethinking about going out on
(35:43):
their own or
Dr. David Weiman (35:44):
There is a it it can be lonely doing an
entrepreneurial role. Whenyou're in an organization, even
if it's a smaller one, there isa sense that there's backup and
there's systems and there'sprocesses. And those things,
that kind of structure helpssomebody feel psychologically
safe and comfortable within theorganization. Know your the
(36:07):
degree to which you needstructure and things like that
and strategy, because for me,having a business plan really
mattered. Having a method ofmanaging projects, like project
management method, reallyhelped.
I benefit from that structure. Alittle more kind of loose in
some ways. Lauren is much moredetail oriented. So having
(36:30):
somebody in the business who hasqualities we're both empathic
people. We both wanna helppeople.
We're skilled at that. Buthaving somebody whose style
complements yours or who talentsand gives whose talents and
gives complement yours helps.And the other thing and I
mentioned and I mentioned thisbecause it came up also, in a
recent podcast that you did withGlenn Amoral, who's a mutual
(36:53):
friend and colleague of ours, ishaving kind of your personal
board of directors. Yeah. So Imentioned Dave Frias, who was a
mentor.
He was one of the people who washelping me with the move from
working for someone else togoing out on my own. I also had
an accountant who I talked toabout the financial piece of it.
(37:13):
My cousin is a businessattorney. I had her help me with
understanding what's thestructure of this going to look
like. With that, even though I'mone person in the business at
that time, having that personalboard of directors, and Glenn
mentioned this in in the priorconversation, helped me feel
less alone, and it helped mehave people to bounce ideas off
(37:36):
of and to pressure test things.
Maybe, I had this wonderful ideathat somebody would say, yeah.
That's probably not an idea youdo right away as an
entrepreneur. Why don't you useyour time in a different way or
focus on something else? So,those that was super helpful.
Dane Shoemaker (37:52):
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, both things you bring up
is just really about identifyingwhere your strengths and
weaknesses are and figuring outhow to Yep. You know, complement
that through people, throughsystems. Yeah.
Well, this is a lot of fun. I Ireally appreciate it.
Dr. David Weiman (38:08):
I'm really glad we got together today. This
was awesome.
Dane Shoemaker (38:11):
Ton of ton of value here, you know, for
organizations or individualslooking to learn more about
leadership coaching, executivecoaching, leadership
development, you know, talentassessment. How how can they
find you?
Dr. David Weiman (38:22):
Wyman Consulting,
weimanconsulting.com, hasservice list, has blog posts,
has ways to contact us, byemails and frequently asked
questions. There's videofrequently asked questions
there. Although those, I amwondering how they would pass
muster with you, but that onewebsite, WymanConsulting.com, is
(38:44):
the best way to find out how toget in touch with us.
Dane Shoemaker (38:46):
Perfect. Or
Dr. David Weiman (38:46):
to get in touch with us.
Dane Shoemaker (38:48):
Yep. Absolutely. Great. Well, doctor Wyman, thank
Dr. David Weiman (38:50):
you very much. Thanks for having me.
Dane Shoemaker (38:54):
Thanks for listening today. Shoemaker Lab
is an original production byShoemaker Films LLC. If you
enjoyed today's content, pleaseconsider subscribing on YouTube,
Spotify, Apple Podcasts, andwherever you get your content.
Follow us on Instagram atshoemaker.films. And if you're a
business that's eitherinterested in our video
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(39:17):
get in touch by using thecontact form on our website,
shoemakerfilms.com.
Hi. This is Dane Shoemaker with the Shoemaker
Films podcast. I'm here withdoctor David Wyman. Pleasure to
be with you. How are you doingtoday?
Dr. David Weiman (00:09):
I'm well.
Dane Shoemaker (00:10):
Good. Executive coach, management consultant,
doctorate of psychology,entrepreneur. Why don't you tell
us a little bit about WymanConsulting.
Dr. David Weiman (00:20):
Not a heck bad baker Yeah. Of cookies. Wyman
Consulting is a leadershipconsulting firm.
Dane Shoemaker (00:28):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (00:29):
And that's sort of vague and and maybe
intentionally, but there's 3core services we provide.
Dane Shoemaker (00:35):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (00:36):
And it's sometimes it's helpful to give
an example of each as I go alongYeah. Which I can do. So
Perfect. The first part istalent assessment. And, we have
clients who are technicallyscreening senior executives and
senior staff who they'rebringing on, but they wanna get
a sense of how good a fit isthis person for our culture, and
(00:57):
the way that we work.
What are the strengths and thedevelopment needs they might
lead in a leadership role thatwe can find out in advance?
Yeah. So in an example of thatmight be a real estate
investment firm is looking for achief financial officer, and
they have 3 finalists. And allof those 3 can do the job, but
they're looking for the degreeof fit with the firm, the
(01:19):
culture, and what they'vecreated. Okay.
And and even saying real estateinvestment firm, now that I
think about it, there could be 5different firms that operate
very differently. So we look
Dane Shoemaker (01:29):
at Right.
Dr. David Weiman (01:30):
The firm and the person and give them a sense
of how good that fit would be.So that's an example of of the
talent assessment service, andwe do an assessment of the
person using some structuredquestionnaires and interview,
and then we feed that data backto the client, usually with a
quick phone call, and then wehave a full report
Dane Shoemaker (01:51):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (01:51):
Of what we found. Okay. The second bucket
is executive coaching. Okay. Andthere, this we could either be
hired by a company to provide itfor a leader, or sometimes we
have leaders or people who ownentrepreneurial businesses Yeah.
Who are looking for thatthemselves. And we also have
just private people who wantcoaching, usually for business,
(02:16):
you know, business leadership orRight. You know, they're they're
in a company, but they wanna payfor it privately. And in all of
these examples, we're usuallydoing an assessment first and
some interviewing to find out asmuch as we can about the person
and the, like, various aspectsof strength or maybe some
(02:36):
development needs that they haveRight. Prior experiences.
And then we give them somefeedback, create a plan, and
start the coaching. And thethird area is leadership
development, and that has twokind of subparts to it. 1 is an
organization may want to developan entire team.
Dane Shoemaker (02:55):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (02:55):
And so we might assess that group and give
some suggestions for how theycould improve, or they might be
looking for a seminar of somesort. And I enjoy doing them,
but also they're very helpfulfor getting a team to have the
same kind of information at thesame time.
Dane Shoemaker (03:14):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (03:15):
So it might be a 90 minute seminar on conflict
resolution as an example, or itcould be a 3 day program on
different leadership tools thata company wants all leaders at a
certain level to have.
Dane Shoemaker (03:28):
Right. Right. Okay. So out of those 3, I mean,
are you focused more on onearea? Is it kind of equal?
You know, where do you think
Dr. David Weiman (03:36):
most of your question
Dane Shoemaker (03:37):
is most of your time and energy goes towards?
Dr. David Weiman (03:39):
It's almost evenly divided among those 3,
and I think that some of theseservices lead to other services.
So for example, if a companyhires us to do a 360 degree
assessment, which is sort ofwhat it sounds like. It's an
assessment that focuses on oneperson, but their boss, their
peers, and their direct reportswill be solicited for feedback,
(04:02):
and that all goes into onereport about them.
Dane Shoemaker (04:04):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (04:05):
It's very natural after that. We've
already gotten all this datatogether and given them
feedback. Coaching programs area natural follow on to that. Or
if we do a seminar on a topicaround a certain kind of issue
that might benefit a team, thatmight lead to us then doing
talent assessment to make surethat they get the kind of people
(04:25):
that they want on that team. Sothese we we get sort of I call
them follow on services Right.
To a primary service that weoffer, but even that's a super
long way of saying, yes. Butit's kind of evenly divided.
Dane Shoemaker (04:39):
Yes. I mean, it makes sense if you've been able
to build the trust
Dr. David Weiman (04:42):
and Yep.
Dane Shoemaker (04:42):
Show show the value of your services. It makes
sense. So, that's it'sinteresting. How did you how did
you get started in this? I mean,you know, what what does your
career look like?
Dr. David Weiman (04:51):
I never had a psychology class in high school
or college.
Dane Shoemaker (04:54):
Oh, really? It was
Dr. David Weiman (04:55):
a total career change for me. My undergraduate
degree was in religion, and Iwas very interested in
marketing. So the first jobsthat I had were in marketing.
And if you think about religionbecause I got this question a
lot when I was interviewing tobe a copywriter. They say, well,
I see a 1,000 English majors.
You're the 1st religion majorwho's ever walked in here. And
(05:19):
if you study like, religion issomething that people make, in
some cases, the most importantthing in their lives. It's very
central.
Dane Shoemaker (05:27):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (05:27):
But they don't get a guarantee for it. They
can't possess it. They can'treturn it. So if you can
understand how religious leadersconvey that kind of importance
to people, you kind of know alittle bit about marketing.
Right?
And so Sure. Started out as acopywriter, then began working
for a publishing company rightdown the road here in Devon, and
(05:49):
I became the vice president ofmarketing of that publishing
company, but always had anemphatic desire to help other
people. So my late twenties,went back to graduate school,
got a master's degree from Pennin counseling psychology, and
then another master's and adoctorate from Widener in
clinical psychology. I wasworking part time the entire
(06:09):
time I was in graduate school. Iwas still working at the
publishing company.
Yeah. And I thought, are theyeventually gonna say, like, what
why do we have a psychologist asour marketing director? But it
worked really well because themore I learned about psychology,
the more I thought about how toreach people and connect with
them over wants and needs thatwere important to them. Yeah.
And eventually took the stepthat I think a lot of
(06:32):
entrepreneurs have to deal withat some point, which is I had a
full time job, then it was parttime when I was at graduate
school, then I started my ownshop.
Okay.
Dane Shoemaker (06:41):
Yeah. I mean, just going back to psychology
and market I mean, marketing andsales is really all psychology
if you
Dr. David Weiman (06:46):
if you
Dane Shoemaker (06:47):
if you if you look at it.
Dr. David Weiman (06:48):
But our our entire lives were I I don't mean
this like, a a great colleagueof mine, Dave Fries, says, now
we're sort of marketing all thetime. So if if I was at a
friend's house and they toldtheir daughter she couldn't have
dessert unless she finished herdinner. And at 6 years old, I
saw her out negotiate these twopeople, one of whom was a
(07:09):
Wharton graduate. Like, shedidn't finish her meal, and I
had brought dessert which these,like, giant brownies. And she
totally negotiated her.
Like, she was a brilliantmarketing salesperson because
although she didn't conform tothat request of theirs, she did
wind up with dessert andprobably had the biggest brownie
of the 4 of us.
Dane Shoemaker (07:29):
So Nice.
Dr. David Weiman (07:30):
Yeah. But I think throughout life, we're
doing that. You know, we'repersuading, and so he doesn't
mean Dave doesn't mean sales andmarketing in a negative way at
all. But Yeah. But we'repersuading all the time.
Dane Shoemaker (07:40):
Yeah. And I would say a 6 year old I have a
5 year old. He's verymanipulative, you know, for
better or for worse. So
Dr. David Weiman (07:47):
But it's a if you think about it, it's a way
of getting what we need from theenvironment. Mhmm. And so at
that age, just sort ofnegotiating back and forth with
adults, particularly in a in ahome environment where you're
safe, is a great way
Dane Shoemaker (08:02):
to learn.
Dr. David Weiman (08:03):
Like, yeah. What happens when I say this or
that? Or what if I don't dosomething I'm asked to do?
Dane Shoemaker (08:08):
Yeah. We're all running little experiments all
Dr. David Weiman (08:11):
the time
Dane Shoemaker (08:11):
to see what the reactions are.
Dr. David Weiman (08:12):
And I think the world of work is the same
way. Yeah. You know? Yeah. SoYep.
Dane Shoemaker (08:17):
Just the religion component. Were were
are you a religious person? Wereyou did you have goals of
Dr. David Weiman (08:22):
I think going into Yeah. I I liked
Dane Shoemaker (08:25):
the I Gotta know that. Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (08:26):
Yeah. I liked, in in undergraduate, the study
of what was ultimately importantto people.
Dane Shoemaker (08:33):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (08:33):
Like, that felt important to me. And, so I
I think I'm a spiritual personmore than a religious person. K.
But definitely what was ofultimate concern to people but
it was very attractive to me tostudy that and, to sort of see
how religions are similar allover the world and what kind of
(08:53):
connects people potentially.
Dane Shoemaker (08:55):
Yeah. Yep. One of the things that I noticed
about you is I I think you're areally good storyteller. Would
would you
Dr. David Weiman (09:03):
agree with that? I I hope so.
Dane Shoemaker (09:07):
Yeah. I I think just you know? And even just
doing some research on this, I Iwent on your LinkedIn earlier
this week, and a lot of peoplejust have their resume with
bullet points. And and you havea really nice intro to, you
know, when you got a first got aphone call Yep. You know In
college.
In college about going to, youknow, do you know, the your
first for the publisher was themarketing For Wendy's. Yeah. For
(09:29):
Wendy's. Right. Right.
Dr. David Weiman (09:30):
Sort of a child prodigy in marketing, and
so I was the marketing directorfor all the Wendy's in South
Jersey when I was still incollege.
Dane Shoemaker (09:37):
Yeah. That which that that must be an interesting
story there as well. But, butyou did it really well where,
you know, kind of, you know,bring it back to what you're
doing now and, you know, kindalooking at the pain points of
what your clients are that youwork with now, you know, I
forget exactly how you wordedit, but, you know, if you you
know, I'll take your call, youknow, for that. So I just think
(09:59):
you're really good at writing.
Dr. David Weiman (10:00):
Thank you.
Dane Shoemaker (10:00):
And, the way you present yourself is great. So
very much. So so when did youstart Wyman Consulting? When did
you know, you took that leapfrom, you know, into
entrepreneurship. And what wasthat what was that experience
like?
Dr. David Weiman (10:14):
Even in graduate school, I wanted to be
prepared when I left for whatthe business would look like.
Mhmm. And I jotted down ideasfor what I wanted to look what
what what I wanted it to looklike and kinda kept that in a
file as I was going along. Andas I was meeting other
professionals, if I liked theway that their practice was set
(10:34):
up or I liked the way that theydid different things, I would
keep notes about that. And sowhen I left, I was employed by
the publishing company
Dane Shoemaker (10:44):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (10:44):
And I had a few part time jobs. And that
gave me the time to sort of puttogether a business plan, and I
showed it to colleagues in andoutside of psychology. Okay. And
I had one mentor in particularwho I mentioned, Dave Fries, who
said, like, eventually, you haveto let go of the main part time
(11:07):
job for the publishing companyif you wanna move forward with
that, business. So it was inJanuary of 2,001 that I was
ready at that point because Ihad talked to my boss at the
publishing company and asked himif could I do this work instead
of as a part time employee?
(11:28):
If I were to create my ownbusiness, would you be willing
to be a client? And it madesense to him because the costs
of having me as a part timeemployee would go away, but we'd
still have this connection. AndI at that point, I had worked
there 12 years, I think
Dane Shoemaker (11:42):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (11:43):
Full time and continued for 8 years. So
understanding that they wouldbecome a client gave me the
confidence to go out on my ownin January of 2001, and it was
really executing the plan that Ihad been creating for years
prior to that. So thisdefinitely wasn't like a sub
moment where
Dane Shoemaker (12:00):
I was
Dr. David Weiman (12:00):
like, yeah. I'm mad as hell, and I can't
take an hour or whatever thephrase is from the movie
network. But I had all all andin fact, it was now that we're
talking about this, it was amentor of mine at Wendy's who
asked me if I wanted to foregomy senior year of college to
work there full time, and I saidno. And he said, I was asked to
(12:23):
ask you that, but I'm glad yousaid no. And, also, I feel like
in the future, you won't workfor someone else.
You you'll work for yourself.And to be told that at 19 or 20
was really powerful because thiswas a super successful person.
Dane Shoemaker (12:37):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (12:38):
And Julian Oskowitz was the name of that
supervisor. So that kind of gotthe idea in my head, like, what
is it like to be on your own torun your own business? I I also
think that just in terms ofstyle, I liked the idea of
having my own thing, creating myown the you know, my own
assignments and and serving myown clients.
Dane Shoemaker (12:59):
Yeah. Yeah. I certainly think that's a not a
goal for everyone, but a lot ofit's a human, desire to build
something and then, you know,provide for people around you.
So so that that, at that point,was that your first client? Did
they move forward with you beinga client, your former employer?
Dr. David Weiman (13:19):
They did, and I had already prepared a a
letter of agreement about thatclient relationship.
Dane Shoemaker (13:27):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (13:28):
And I had it on my desk in my office. I went
over to see the publisher, andhe agreed. And the very first
thing he said is, why don't youdraw up a letter of agreement
that explains what we justtalked about? And I said, I
think I can do that. So I walkedback to my office.
I waited a couple of minutes,and then I brought in the letter
that I had already prepared.
Dane Shoemaker (13:48):
That was quick. Yeah. Yeah. So what I mean, what
was that like, that relationshipthen, You know, because it's a
different dynamic. It's less of,David, can you do this?
Then it's more of consultative.I mean, you're now a contractor
or a consultant. Right? So
Dr. David Weiman (14:05):
I've it's funny now that we're talk a lot
of things are occurring to methat haven't occurred to me
before in talking about thisfrom your questions. But one of
the things that I think is a away of feeling when I have a
really good connection with aclient now
Dane Shoemaker (14:21):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (14:21):
Is like I'm part of that organization. And
there are some clients where ifI've worked with them enough,
it's in order for me to haveaccess to files or connect with
other people, I might have anemail address with that company
or a way of accessing files ordocuments.
Dane Shoemaker (14:39):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (14:40):
I might go to their company events, and it
feels like more collegial thanclient and provider of a service
or consultant. So I think itjust felt like an extension of
that relationship, and I thinkthat our job security is kind of
a perception of our jobsecurity. Like Yeah. Because we
(15:02):
can always be fired from acompany. So in some ways, it
felt a little more securebecause I couldn't be I wouldn't
be I wasn't worried about beingfired, not that that's something
that was on my mind all thetime, but it felt like there
were ways to enhance thatrelationship with what else I
could provide beyond what mypart time job was.
And that turned out to be thecase. So it was a really good
(15:23):
really good relationship.
Dane Shoemaker (15:25):
And things that are more in your control, right,
than if you were just workingfor them, you're kind of at the
mercy of what their budget is orwhatever is going on.
Dr. David Weiman (15:33):
Right.
Dane Shoemaker (15:33):
You know, macro. Yeah. That's great. What what
were the next couple years likein building Wyman Consulting? I
mean, did you have a next coupleof critical clients or other
milestones that
Dr. David Weiman (15:47):
I I really believe strongly even now in the
the kind of the social groupthat we're in as a source of
referrals. So the very firstthing that I did was I created 3
seminars that I offered to do atno charge, and I called them,
like, lunch and learns orsomething like their lunch and
(16:08):
seminars because I had so manyfriends in business, and I
didn't wanna impose on them ormarket to them.
Dane Shoemaker (16:14):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (16:15):
But I said, I have these 3 programs that I'll
do at at no charge, and they'llhappen over lunch so your
employees aren't gonna miss anytime. But it was a way for me to
get accustomed to meeting newpeople Yeah. Getting in front of
a group and learning about whatissues they were having. And so
the very the next the secondclient, or the first one that I
(16:38):
was getting outside of thatpublishing company, asked me to
come in and do the one of theone of the seminars was on
conflict resolution.
Dane Shoemaker (16:46):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (16:46):
And I was asked to come in and do it, and
as we were picking a date, shesaid, I really think we might
need you to work with this team,not just talk with this team.
Yeah. And can you do that? Andthat started a long term
relationship. I mean, it's a 20year relationship it turned
into.
Mhmm. So the gateway project washelping that team, manage
(17:11):
conflict in a more, sort ofproductive way. I mean, to a
certain degree, you wantdiversity of thought and ideas,
and you want people to debate ina team. Yeah. And this when it
goes over the line from beingconstructive to destructive,
that's where it could be helpfulto have someone outside of all
of that, come in and help withit.
(17:31):
But Yeah. That was the very nextkind of that method of offering
something of value withoutexpecting any I did not expect
anything in return. It wasreally helping me refine my
public speaking skills, whichwere rusty at that point, and
getting accustomed to doingseminars. But, at the publishing
company, they also startedhaving me get in front of
(17:54):
groups. Okay.
So some of my programs were onthe psychology of marketing and
selling handcrafted jewelry, andthat helped me kind of learn how
to put together a program,deliver it, get feedback, and
react to that feedback.
Dane Shoemaker (18:10):
Okay. So that that jewelry marketing videos
that are up on your YouTube,that was stemmed from the
publishing. Got it. I was tryingto figure out where that fit
into your career a little bit.Yeah.
Yeah. That is fascinating. Andthey're really interesting too.
Dr. David Weiman (18:26):
Oh, thank you.
Dane Shoemaker (18:26):
Yeah. Yeah. So, that's great. And you mentioned,
you know, just I would say that,you know, what you're what you
did in those early days, doingdoing free seminars, lunch and
learns, providing value, that'sreally, you know, I just and
from what I see in building mycompany, Schumacher Fellows, I
mean, doing free stuff. We'vedone a lot of free work for to
(18:49):
free videos for for companies,and that tends to come back, you
know, you know, and we're doingthis, you know, in a way that's
I'm not expecting anything tocome back.
Right? But the world kinda has afunny way of rewarding that in a
way. So I'm buildingrelationships, building
referrals. Just from a, youknow, marketing standpoint, I
(19:12):
mean, what are some of thethings that you're doing today?
I mean, I imagine that, youknow, you're in a very
specialized field.
You know, you have probably alot of referrals or business
contacts. You know, what what doyou do? You know, what does that
flow of clients look liketypically? I mean, are you
working with a lot I I know I'mthrowing a lot of questions at
you now, but, like, how manyclients are you working with at
(19:34):
any given time? Is it reallyjust, like, one engagement at a
time, or is it multiple?
It's multiple. Finding clients,
Dr. David Weiman (19:39):
I guess. It can be multiple engagements at a
time. We have some long termwork that we've done with
clients over years and someindividual projects where we're
brought in to do one thing. Wedo that thing, and then that
project stops.
Dane Shoemaker (19:54):
Right.
Dr. David Weiman (19:55):
Coaching engagements, excuse me, tend to
be they start out often as a 6month engagement that can be
renewed. And so that's anexample of a situation where we
might coach someone for 2 years
Dane Shoemaker (20:07):
Oh, wow.
Dr. David Weiman (20:08):
But it started out as a 6 month engagement. The
talent assessment, it we'relike, in my field, there's no
way to plan ahead for thatbecause people call us when they
need that.
Dane Shoemaker (20:21):
Right.
Dr. David Weiman (20:21):
And for the clients who use us regularly for
talent assessment, they've usedus for years. So we have a
system set up when we get thatcall. There's usually some
urgency around it.
Dane Shoemaker (20:33):
Right.
Dr. David Weiman (20:34):
We have we're ready to go within, you know, a
short time of getting that emailand get that started.
Dane Shoemaker (20:39):
Oh, that's great.
Dr. David Weiman (20:41):
So the the overall picture, like we were
talking about at the beginning,tends to be about a third talent
assessment, a third executivecoaching, and a third leadership
development. But, what's youknow, in any given time, what
what pops up we respond to. AndYeah. And I like being when I
(21:02):
say we, I have a colleague, parttime colleague, Lauren
Schechter, who's been with me 5years and just does a phenomenal
job. So we work on theseprojects together, and as things
come in, we have a system formoving them along together, and
that works out really well.
Yeah. With regard to themarketing piece, we have the
sort of, like, the big chunksare a monthly newsletter we do
(21:25):
called leadership update.
Dane Shoemaker (21:26):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (21:27):
And that has a quote that I like and why it's
relevant for leaders. A book I'mreading might be a piece of
fiction, but I try to relate itto leadership. Mhmm. Lauren does
a section on lifestyle, which isactually in when we track the
clicks, most of the clicks comefrom Lauren's lifestyle section.
(21:48):
And those could be holidayrelated, fall cocktails, or,
things to do.
I think one last year was whatto do with the Halloween
pumpkins that you might have. Itwas, like, 24 things to do with
pumpkins. And then I have afeature piece
Dane Shoemaker (22:04):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (22:05):
That's usually we try to keep it, like, under a
5 minute read because ourclients and readers are busy.
Sure. So that's one main thing,and that goes out by email
usually the 1st weekend of themonth.
Dane Shoemaker (22:18):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (22:19):
The second so that's for our mailing list. We
also do a quarterly physical,marketing piece
Dane Shoemaker (22:25):
on a
Dr. David Weiman (22:26):
different topic. We want people to have
something in their hands. I'm alittle old school that way, and,
also, we don't wanna use onemethod of marketing everything.
And we have a weekly videocalled Rise and Whine. Mhmm.
And that has a specific purposeattached to it that's reaching
out to people who may haven'tbeen to a seminar of mine. And
(22:48):
it's a way of them recallingwhat it was like for me to just
talk to them, if that makes anysense. Yeah. So it really had a
specific niche, but, which is onLinkedIn primarily. Okay.
But we get a lot of feedbackabout it from Facebook and
Twitter also
Dane Shoemaker (23:03):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (23:04):
Because those are the other platforms that we
use. And then we have weeklyquote picks or blog. We have a
weekly blog that Lauren You
Dane Shoemaker (23:14):
do have a blog post. Yep.
Dr. David Weiman (23:16):
So it's it's fair there's a steady pulse
across these different channels.The key to all of this to me is
reaching out to people 1 on 1
Dane Shoemaker (23:27):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (23:27):
And making phone calls just to check-in and
see how someone's doing. Yep. Sothat's another component to it
because you don't know what'shappening when you put something
out into the universe, whetherit's social media or otherwise.
But picking up the phone to callsomebody and connect with them
with the real intention of justseeing how they're doing is
(23:48):
impactful. And so my the bestoutcome from one of those calls
is that someone felt listenedto.
Not that I sold them something.It's like what you were saying
before. Not that I got somethingout of it other than they felt
better afterwards just fromsomeone listening
Dane Shoemaker (24:04):
to it. I think people people appreciate that
human connection, you know, andbeing even being face to face as
well, is really great. Youmentioned also the the the
mailing. I mean, I I actually Ireally like that. You know,
we're in digital marketing thesedays, but having something
physical in your hands reallythat's something that people
don't do a lot now.
(24:24):
You know? So it kinda cutsthrough the noise
Dr. David Weiman (24:27):
a little bit. In the
Dane Shoemaker (24:29):
at least in your space, I think, you know, you
know, you're you get thesewindow contractors in your mail
every day or, you know,landscaping or whatever it is.
But I think, you know, somethinglike that is is definitely
unique.
Dr. David Weiman (24:40):
In the pandemic, we sent out in a
packet, a tea bag, coffee thatwas in a, like, a little slim
pouch that you could use instantcoffee and a packet of hot
chocolate.
Dane Shoemaker (24:57):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (24:58):
And the appeal was nobody's meeting in person,
but why don't we have a virtualcup of coffee to your hot
chocolate together?
Dane Shoemaker (25:05):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (25:06):
And a lot of people contacted me and not only
set up those meetings, but madethe coffee, the tea, or the hot
chocolate, and and we talkedover that. So I think that it's
you know, the the more novelways and senses that we engage
people Mhmm. That physical thingmatters. Being able to take
something out of a out of a 6 by9 envelope, padded envelope that
(25:28):
has coffee, tea, and hotchocolate in it. Yeah.
I think that appealing to thesemultiple senses really matters.
So that's another part of thestrategy is Rise and Wine is
something you can listen to.Mhmm. Transcripts of Rise and
Wine are blog posts, so peepbecause some people prefer to
read than to watch something.
Dane Shoemaker (25:46):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (25:47):
We have audio things that people can listen
to, and we have the physical,the the marketing pieces that go
up quarterly that they canphysically think that it's a
tangible thing.
Dane Shoemaker (25:57):
Yeah. Yeah. It's really about being there when
people need you as well.Marketing is kind of just a a
constant thing. As soon as youstop doing it, though, it can be
you'll just you know, peoplemight forget about you or
something like that.
The the rise and wine piece isvery interesting to me. I'm I'm
very impressed. You know, it'sit's, you know, tell me a little
(26:17):
bit more about that. I mean,it's weekly. I I see them on
YouTube all the time.
So when they pop up
Dr. David Weiman (26:22):
Yeah. A lot
Dane Shoemaker (26:22):
of times, they're just like, you know,
they're, you know, they'reshort, a minute and a half, 2
minutes long. Where do you findthe inspiration for the things
that you talk about in the Riseand Wine?
Dr. David Weiman (26:34):
The way that it started is we were not doing
anything on video. And acolleague of mine who still
works with us, Kendra Prescott,said, hey. You know, like, when
you're walking around the officeand you say, I I just remember
this scene from The PrincessBride, and it talks about going
back to the beginning. And andsometimes in life, I think if
(26:55):
we're just, like, not reallysure where we should go, maybe
going back to the beginningmatter. Like, maybe like like,
what's our foundational purposein life?
Dane Shoemaker (27:03):
And Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (27:03):
And she said, you know, when you do that, you
should record that. Because alot of times, they were just
spontaneous thoughts that I had.And if Kendra was around, I
would share it with Kendra, orwe would talk we worked together
in the same office for a while.And I said, oh, well, should I
have a tie you know, a title andcredits? And she says, no.
(27:25):
She said some of the mostpopular videos right now coming
from people like you are they'retalking about something as if
there's another person there.Yeah. And I said, so no
captions? She said, no. And nomusic and no.
She said, just the way you do itin the office where you just
start talking about something.That's it. And I had a mug
(27:45):
that's over there on my deskthat was given to me as a Secret
Santa gift by the publisher whowas my first client,
Dane Shoemaker (27:51):
Joe Red. Wow.
Dr. David Weiman (27:52):
And Joe, it was he thought it was funny
because it said Rise and Wine, wh I n e, on it. And I had it for
years. I loved the mug. And Ithought, I'm just gonna call it
Rise and Wine, and I'll holdthat mug up at the beginning of
each video. Yeah.
And it's paradoxical because I'mnot a whiner. I'm a super
optimistic person. But otherthan that, it there was no
reason for that title. Yeah. Andthe very first one, I noticed
(28:17):
something on the back of acoffee packet that said it was
nutty and bold.
And I thought, well, that's agreat way to be in life. And so
the very first video was metalking about that that thing,
the back of that coffee packet.
Dane Shoemaker (28:32):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (28:32):
And I remember showing it to my mother who
passed away 2 years ago, and mymother was an actress her entire
life. And she was prettycritical, and she looked at that
video and she said, I don'tknow. Like, the camera's
pointing up at your face. That'snot a very, you know, good
angle. But she gave me a lot ofgood constructive criticism for
it or feedback.
(28:52):
And so I just raised the cameraup, and I showed her the next
video. She said, that's it. Andso with the support of your mom,
particularly Yeah.
Dane Shoemaker (29:01):
Let's see mom. Some action.
Dr. David Weiman (29:02):
Yeah. And, up until the, you know, the the the
the end of her life, I wouldshow her rise and whine on my
phone each week. And she was agood gauge for me of, was it
interesting? Would it createquestions in someone's mind? Did
it have the impact, that I waslooking for?
But but the origin of it wasKentra suggesting it. The market
(29:26):
was the people who had seen mein seminars, but I hadn't been
in touch with a while. Okay. Andthe purpose was was to remind
them of what it was like to havea conversation like this. Yeah.
And we get a lot of feedbackthrough email of or messages
from people saying, I loved it,and I'm not the kind of person
who publicly comments on things,but here's what it meant to me.
(29:48):
That whatever that particulartopic is. Yeah.
Dane Shoemaker (29:50):
Now it's really great. I mean, I you know, it's
just the fact that, you know,it's every week you're
consistent about it. It's nothigh quality, you know, but it's
like, it's something is betterthan nothing. And honestly, for
a lot of people, you know, Iit's always cameras and mics and
lights. It's kinda overwhelmingand, like, that can be an
impediment because Right.
You know, if you think you needto have a nice mic and a camera
(30:12):
and all this stuff, it kindabecomes, oh, I don't feel like
setting all that stuff up. Andand you're and really, at the
end of the day, it's more aboutthe content and the and the
substance of what's in a video.And, you know, so I I saw it. I
just kudos
Dr. David Weiman (30:26):
to you. Oh, thank you. And Yeah. Kendra was
really the main the driverbehind it. And I remember saying
to her, well, when I do like,when when we take one of my
seminar videos and create aproduct out of it, it's edited,
and we use a production houselike yourself Yeah.
To do that. She said, no. No.And I said, well, what if I make
(30:46):
a mistake? She said, well, thenyou made a mistake.
Yeah. And she gave me theexample of somebody she really
liked who would do theseimpromptu informal videos, and
she said, like, if his cat walkson the sofa you know, the top of
the sofa behind him, that's inthere. So I'm like, so I don't
edit like, I still was havingtrouble getting my head around
it. She showed me an example ofwhat she was talking about. But
(31:08):
but to your point, it's notnormal for people to never make
a mistake or say or say thewrong word.
Dane Shoemaker (31:14):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (31:14):
So to some degree, her instincts were right
about connecting with peoplewithout it being a a a a edited
product Yeah. Because that takesaway the kind of the informal
connection to it.
Dane Shoemaker (31:26):
Yeah. And I think, you know, authenticity
has become kind of a buzzwordlately, I think. But but really,
that's it's authentic becauseit's it's you. It's talking to
you know? And even, you know, weall have we all have cameras in
our pockets now.
So, you know, just it's a matterof just doing it and rather than
not doing it. Right? And justgetting your thoughts out when
(31:46):
it when it when it's timely.
Dr. David Weiman (31:48):
It helps that it's on a schedule. And Yeah. I
actually use a separate videocamera for it
Dane Shoemaker (31:53):
Okay.
Dr. David Weiman (31:54):
And a tripod set up with the exact height
every time. And, but other thanthat, when I sit down to record
it, what I do is what goes out.And I really appreciate from
your awesome professionalbackground feedback because it's
it's helpful.
Dane Shoemaker (32:09):
Yeah. Yeah. I think more more more business
owners, especially serviceproviders, consultants, they
could take a page out of out ofyour business. So, so I guess,
you know, just a couple closingthoughts. I mean, you know, in
your career, I mean, what aresome what are some key, I guess,
advice that you would give to,you know, just specific to your
(32:30):
your niche, you know, and andtalent assessment, leadership
coaches?
What are some common things thatyou've come across, that maybe,
you know, you can help with or,people can just find out on
their own?
Dr. David Weiman (32:41):
I think that in terms of what I feel is a big
value that we provide,oftentimes, people are at work
every day like the owner of abusiness, and they're getting
the job done, and they'reworking hard to do that. And
they might not realize a noble Icall it a noble quality they
(33:02):
have Mhmm. That, like, alwaystaking care of people. You know,
when they spot an employee whoneeds something and hasn't asked
for it, but they notice itoffering something to that
person. Maybe it's a day off,like, hey.
I know, you know, your yourkid's not feeling well. Take
tomorrow off on us and and justhandle that. I see that as
noble, and sometimes the personat the top isn't getting
(33:26):
feedback from other places inthe organization. So I try to
notice the noble things aboutour clients
Dane Shoemaker (33:34):
Yeah.
Dr. David Weiman (33:35):
And share that feedback with them because I
think they're they might nothave been they might not see it
as noble because to them, it'sjust part of getting the job
done, or they might not haveheard that before. Like, nobody
pointed it out, but when you do,they go, woah. Like, I do that,
and that is important to me.Yeah. So I think sometimes
(33:57):
focusing on those values thateven they might not be aware of
is something that's a particularthing I try to do.
I know Lauren tries to do thesame thing in our work with
clients. We're really there tohelp people who are good get
better. Yeah. So for example, wedon't work with somebody. If it
(34:17):
if somebody if if anorganization says this person
isn't a good fit, they're notperforming well, we're having
trouble motivating them, and butfor coaching, we would fire
them.
That's not a good role for usbecause we're not. It's possible
that it's just not a good fitbetween that person and the
organization. Yeah. And we don'thelp companies fire people.
(34:39):
That's not what we do.
Right. Right. But if somebody Iguess it's like the old joke,
how many psychologists does ittake to change a light bulb? And
the answer is 1, but the lightbulb has to want to change. If
somebody wants to change, ifthey wanna get better, if
they're open to feedback, that'san excellent fit for us for
coaching and leadershipdevelopment.
(35:00):
Mhmm. If a company says, I'vebeen telling this person for 5
years, whatever it is they'vebeen telling them, and I we need
someone else to tell them, we'renot really the right Right. For
that because we're we're verymuch about helping people
identify and capitalize onstrengths, not not criticize or
(35:20):
make people feel cruddy.
Dane Shoemaker (35:22):
Yeah. They're not you're they're not checking
a box, an HR box when they'rehiring. Yes. Yep. However, Just
kind of in general to, you know,your entrepreneurial journey
starting Wyman Consulting,anything any particular things
that you were able to overcomeor think that, you know, you
might have advice for peoplethinking about going out on
(35:43):
their own or
Dr. David Weiman (35:44):
There is a it it can be lonely doing an
entrepreneurial role. Whenyou're in an organization, even
if it's a smaller one, there isa sense that there's backup and
there's systems and there'sprocesses. And those things,
that kind of structure helpssomebody feel psychologically
safe and comfortable within theorganization. Know your the
(36:07):
degree to which you needstructure and things like that
and strategy, because for me,having a business plan really
mattered. Having a method ofmanaging projects, like project
management method, reallyhelped.
I benefit from that structure. Alittle more kind of loose in
some ways. Lauren is much moredetail oriented. So having
(36:30):
somebody in the business who hasqualities we're both empathic
people. We both wanna helppeople.
We're skilled at that. Buthaving somebody whose style
complements yours or who talentsand gives whose talents and
gives complement yours helps.And the other thing and I
mentioned and I mentioned thisbecause it came up also, in a
recent podcast that you did withGlenn Amoral, who's a mutual
(36:53):
friend and colleague of ours, ishaving kind of your personal
board of directors. Yeah. So Imentioned Dave Frias, who was a
mentor.
He was one of the people who washelping me with the move from
working for someone else togoing out on my own. I also had
an accountant who I talked toabout the financial piece of it.
(37:13):
My cousin is a businessattorney. I had her help me with
understanding what's thestructure of this going to look
like. With that, even though I'mone person in the business at
that time, having that personalboard of directors, and Glenn
mentioned this in in the priorconversation, helped me feel
less alone, and it helped mehave people to bounce ideas off
(37:36):
of and to pressure test things.
Maybe, I had this wonderful ideathat somebody would say, yeah.
That's probably not an idea youdo right away as an
entrepreneur. Why don't you useyour time in a different way or
focus on something else? So,those that was super helpful.
Dane Shoemaker (37:52):
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, both things you bring up
is just really about identifyingwhere your strengths and
weaknesses are and figuring outhow to Yep. You know, complement
that through people, throughsystems. Yeah.
Well, this is a lot of fun. I Ireally appreciate it.
Dr. David Weiman (38:08):
I'm really glad we got together today. This
was awesome.
Dane Shoemaker (38:11):
Ton of ton of value here, you know, for
organizations or individualslooking to learn more about
leadership coaching, executivecoaching, leadership
development, you know, talentassessment. How how can they
find you?
Dr. David Weiman (38:22):
Wyman Consulting,
weimanconsulting.com, hasservice list, has blog posts,
has ways to contact us, byemails and frequently asked
questions. There's videofrequently asked questions
there. Although those, I amwondering how they would pass
muster with you, but that onewebsite, WymanConsulting.com, is
(38:44):
the best way to find out how toget in touch with us.
Dane Shoemaker (38:46):
Perfect. Or
Dr. David Weiman (38:46):
to get in touch with us.
Dane Shoemaker (38:48):
Yep. Absolutely. Great. Well, doctor Wyman, thank
Dr. David Weiman (38:50):
you very much. Thanks for having me.
Dane Shoemaker (38:54):
Thanks for listening today. Shoemaker Lab
is an original production byShoemaker Films LLC. If you
enjoyed today's content, pleaseconsider subscribing on YouTube,
Spotify, Apple Podcasts, andwherever you get your content.
Follow us on Instagram atshoemaker.films. And if you're a
business that's eitherinterested in our video
production services or wouldlike to be a guest on the show,
(39:17):
get in touch by using thecontact form on our website,
shoemakerfilms.com.
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