November 6, 2025 • 34 mins
Many business owners and nonprofit leaders are overwhelmed by the day-to-day tasks of running their organizations. From bookkeeping to HR, social media to project management, these critical functions can consume valuable time and energy. In this episode of the Business Roundtable Podcast, host David W. Carr speaks with Marney Lumpkin, President of Strategic Management & Logistics, about how outsourcing the right tasks creates clarity, capacity, and confidence for leaders.
Marney shares her journey of building a flexible, U.S.-based team dedicated to helping solopreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofits scale without burnout. Together, David and Marney explore:
Connect with Marney Lumpkin:
Website: https://strategic-management-logistics.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marney-lumpkin
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/business-roundtable--6049255/support.
Watch more episodes on YouTube and subscribe here:
https://www.youtube.com/@steward_your_business
Connect with Steward Your Business:
Website: https://stewardyourbusiness.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidwcarr
Marney shares her journey of building a flexible, U.S.-based team dedicated to helping solopreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofits scale without burnout. Together, David and Marney explore:
- Why outsourcing is the bridge between DIY and building a full internal team
- How Strategic Management & Logistics supports clients with bookkeeping, HR, social media, websites, cybersecurity, and more
- Why transparency, accountability, and flexibility are essential for building trust
- How nonprofits benefit from discounted, values-driven support
- Why letting go of the right tasks is a growth strategy, not a weakness
Connect with Marney Lumpkin:
Website: https://strategic-management-logistics.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marney-lumpkin
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/business-roundtable--6049255/support.
Watch more episodes on YouTube and subscribe here:
https://www.youtube.com/@steward_your_business
Connect with Steward Your Business:
Website: https://stewardyourbusiness.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidwcarr
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Welcome back to the Business Roundtable podcast. I'm your host,
David Carr. Founders Through your Business. We bring people together
to accomplish great things, aligning people, process purpose for confident
and scalable growth. That's why I have a brand new
guest this week, Martie Lumpkin. She's the president of Strategic
Management and Logistics. So get that management logistics. Her team
(00:33):
provide a wide range of support from bookkeeping, hr project management,
social media, grandwriting, even cybersecurity, a lot of different things,
and we're gonna unpack it. She works with solopreneurs and
small businesses, nonprofits really to help address the burden of
the day to day task that maybe you should not
be focusing on. We're going to get into that. So
(00:53):
if you're a business owner, maybe a nonprofit leader, feeling stretched, stuck,
maybe doing too many things, you're going to get a
lot of value out of this conversation today. Welcome to
the podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Marnie, Thank you, David, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
I'm excited, absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
You and I met through different networking groups, which is
fantastic and I love that. And when we were talking,
I said, Manie, you got to come on the podcast.
Because your insights, your perspective is very much needed. I
as a solopreneur, and I've worked with any of the
business owners have got stuck in the minutia to our own,
you know, disadvantage, and so I want to get though.
(01:31):
I want to have you share a little bit about
what brought you to creating SML and helping people get,
you know, out of that minutia of the logistics and
all of this other things that you know, they probably
shouldn't be doing and they've been doing for too long.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
That's for sure. Yeah, yeah, let's see for me. You know,
I I've had a couple of different career paths along
the way, different degrees, you know, but I'm finally using
one of them for the business, which I love and
I think, you know, I have finally found my passion
what I want to do. And it's so amazing to
(02:09):
be a small business owner supporting other small business owners.
That's what's awesome about it. And also the ability that
I have that I brought together a team of individuals
so I'm able to allow them to shine as well
with their aunties of knowledge. So that's what it's all about,
just helping each other out you know, it can be
something larger, it can be something small, it doesn't matter.
(02:31):
We're we're all here to help each other out.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
I love that, Marnie, and that's why I want to
have you on the podcast because as we're a meeting,
I saw that, Okay, there's different areas that you can
help folks and focus on growing their business. And with
your background he mentioned, I know you have a varied
background in HR and education and and you know, I
feel like you know, pulling from those things and then
bringing these people together to help particularly solopreneurs, are those
(02:58):
small businesses even larger business I know you can help
in different aspects of that, but get out of their
own way because you know, my passion with Steer your
Business is the people side and incorporating that and helping
build that leadership team. And I think you know there's
a place where you have people outsourced and there's a
place where when do I switch and actually have an
employee and all of that, Right, Minie, you've seen that
(03:19):
journey with the business owners.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yes, yes, and it can be a little Daunte. We
all have small small business owners. We just we wear
all the hats. That's what we get right, especially when
we start off. That's just how the magic's going to happen.
And you know, on the other side, it's kind of
difficult sometimes to let go. You know, it really is,
I'll admit it myself. You know, even when I first
(03:44):
brought on my first team member, I was like, you know,
oh my gosh, I hope this works. And you know,
you can only prepare so much before you just have
to let it go and hope that you brought on,
you know, the right individual you've premared possible and mentor
and work with them collaboratively in order to make magic happen.
(04:06):
You know, I really do understand that. For me, you know,
it is important to work with solopreneurs, small mid sized nonprofits.
We're even into some federal and state subcontracting, which is
very exciting myself personally because I never thought I would
be in that space. But work and meet new people
(04:27):
and becomes keep getting certified. I'm able to pursue some
different opportunities, which is great. But my bread and butter
really is all of my private clients. And the beauty
is we're virtual industry agnostic. I mean, we are a
very eclectic team and we have a very eclectic group
of clients, you know, so we are never bored here
(04:48):
at SML. I love the variety, you know, showing that
we can help different people. The majority of our clients
are very long term and across different support areas. Others
they may just need help with a project or one text,
and that's okay too. You know, we never want to
say no. If we can help. It doesn't matter how
(05:09):
small it is or how long term of an engagement
it is. If we can help, want to help. And
I think you know, part of the draw, at least
for us, is that once you're a client, you're kind
of always a client. Come and go as you need to.
There's you know, you don't have to we don't have
to sign this huge contract and you know you have
(05:31):
to give us fifty hours a week you know to work. No, No,
we are just here to help and we can scale
up or down whatever you need at that time, you know,
because we all know sometimes the budget is just not there.
That's just small business man's that's what it is.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Reality. Yeah, and it's okay to.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Come to us and say we just need to hold off,
but can we come back later. Absolutely, you send me
an email and we can start right back up again.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
That's fantastic. I love that.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
I love that flexibility, and I'm the same way, Marnie.
I think that's why you and I connected. It's like
when I'm looking at leadership and development, there's sometimes there's
more of the team and sometimes you know, it's just hey,
we just need to work with this individual or just
me as a one on one, and sometimes there's a pause,
and you know, there's different things, cash flow, there's lots
of different issues that come up right in the business.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
But you've been there, Marnie. That's the good thing. You've
been there.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
And one thing I wanted to highlight too, is that
correct me if I'm wrong here? But as I was
working in a website, everything everybody is at US based.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yes? Everyone is US based and they are background checked
confidentiality agreements anyways, if the client request it, absolutely because
that's just and you know, everybody has their own vibe,
everyone has their own way of running their business. But
that's just the way I wanted to is to make
sure and you know, everyone on my team is no
(06:48):
more than a second level connection out so I know
them personally or that person knows them personally. You know.
I think that helps kind of with the feel of SML,
is that I really know each other, we really do collaborate.
I may be the head of the company, but the
boots on the ground for me are my team.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
I know that.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
You know. It's a very collaborative, open, welcoming environment, and
we try to be that way towards our client as well,
because we really do want to be you know, people
always say it, but we really do believe it. We
really do want to be a member of that client's team.
We want to be a trusted resource, you know, even
if it's not maybe transactional right away, maybe it's just
(07:33):
helping each other out with networking or a request or
a recommendation or a connection. That's what matters, you know.
I always say good people know good people, and that's
what it happened. You know.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Well, I love that.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Marnie and I remember we were talking about when we
were thinking about the podcast, and one of the things
I asked you was like, to that point, you know
these people, you're you're finding the right people because I'm not.
I know I in the past I've used a different
service and they said, you know, I was kind of
felt like I had to pick. They didn't give me
a lot of options and that wasn't the best bit
(08:11):
and I had They were in a different time than
in the US, was it not. I mean, I'm in there,
we're on the East coast, West coast, but now they
were like in a totally different time. It was challenging
and I think we're how to hear you say, a
Marnie is finding somebody that can help meet you where
you're at and not make you jump through more hoops.
Almost it's like, man, I feel like I'm having to
do even more to get this person to quote help me.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yes, that's that is not advantageous for anyone, because that's
the other thing. You want to be able to bring
someone on board into your team as a virtual business
support person that's pretty much already up to speed right
on the platforms that you need different skills, and it's
not just about skill, it's also about personality as well. Yes,
(08:56):
I have that personality match in order to make it
really successful, and that that personal understanding and for me,
you know, that's just really an essential piece of it.
And you know that's what makes the clients keep coming
back or even recommending us or referring us to others
is because they know they're going to get something very
(09:18):
authentic from us. You know, we've got you know, pretend
that we are something we are not. You know, we
are very clear also about where where our expertise ends.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
You know.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
As an example, currently we're bringing on a CPA partner,
but currently it's not official and we have bookkeeping services,
but we're not going to say we know how to
do CPA. We know, you know, because we try to
be really honest and helpful to the individuals and for us,
(09:50):
that's that's a key component, is that you can say
I do this great, these are our areas, and we
can knock it out of the park for you right away,
become integrated very quickly. Other things, it's okay, it may
not be a perfect match, and we're not you're not
interested necessarily in making it more challenging for the client
(10:11):
or us on that at right, it's not a match.
It's not a match.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
I appreciate that, Marnie as a business owner sometimes because
I get pitched every day. I'm sure you do too,
selling me something and they're like, how do you know
you're a match? You're just trying to You've got something
you want to sell and you're just like trying to
find anybody. I'm like, that's not the right way, Aback.
I like how you said not just the technical skills,
but you know, we and I talked about the five
Voices as one of the tools. I use the frameworks,
(10:37):
and I know myself, I am not about the day
to day minutia kind of the checklist right the being
very detail and I'm very future oriented. I'm visioning. I'm
doing that which I need both, I need all of it.
And to point your point, if and I and you,
I think Marnie, when you when you're figuring this out,
when you're working with a potential client, identifying with them too,
(10:58):
like you said, if this is going to be a
good or not, you're like, maybe I don't have the
right I mean, yes, they could do that technical skills,
but personality wise and the way the approaching is in
the way that you're presenting yourself and if they're really
really rigid, You're like, I don't know that that's going
to be a recipe for success.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
Is that you have to do that sometimes?
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Well? Yes, And you know the other thing is there
also could be you know, any number of reasons why
maybe that doesn't work out. The positive is that I
have a full team, so there's always another individual who
may be presented that could backfill the role if for
(11:36):
whatever reason, the first match isn't successful, or you know,
if they're outsick, or you know, on vacation. It's okay.
The rest of the team is still here, so you're
never really you know, without support in any of those areas,
which is I think is very helpful as well.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Well. You bring up a good point as you're saying that. Mania.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
It just made me think even if you have an employee,
let's just say, because I work at a couple of companies,
they have some amazing employees, Marny, but that employee kind
of knows everything, and if something happens to that employee,
you're in trouble. Right, So if they're sick, they got
to take maternity leave whatever, right, you know, I've had
sick parents, whatever the case might be. That might be
(12:18):
a great, great case in Marney to reach out to
somebody like you and saying, hey, I'm going to have
an employee out. I want to bring them back. I
know they will come back. But I don't want to
see hire another you know, I don't want to have
hire another person. Could they come out to you, MANI
and say you can help them uncover, like here's what
all needs to be done.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Yes, Yes, that that that is a perfect example of
a short term engagement that we could absolutely support in
any number of ways. And you know, we're just very
we're very interested in becoming a member of the team
I keep you know, I know I keep sick.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Yeah. Absolutely, It's so.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Important because it could be a short term engagement, but
you never know what could happen in the future. Yeah,
how you can help each other out, or you know,
you just meet some other amazing people or another amazing
organization and you don't know how that could you know,
go down the road. What if someone else is looking
(13:13):
for that amazing organization. You already know it and you
can certainly recommend and have it. Just keep the good
feelings flowing, you know.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Oh I love that.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
I mean honestly, and I'm going I've been through the
life cycle and you have two of businesses. So maybe
you're offsetting their accounting part time. They finally hire an accountant,
but then they need mother help.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Maybe some other aspects of the business.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Maybe it's a cybersecurity or some Yeah, I don't you know,
there's another element right that they're growing. You're like, okay, great,
you got that position filled. Fantastic, what other problems or
hopefully as it goes this is growing. You can do
the short term engagements, you can do augmenting them where
they're at, and I thinks others you need to think
a little bit more strategically. It's not all or nothing
of like, it's either all this one person to do
(13:57):
everything or how can I you know, think a little Usually,
so you walk me through a little bit, Marnie about
when you talk with you know, a new potential client.
They might have one idea of what they think they need,
but it might not be the biggest, you know, bang
for their bucks, so to speak.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
You know, they come to you and say, hey.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
This is what I really I think I need this,
and you're like, well, how do you unpack that and
identify the real Like, here's why I feel like it's
going to be the most impactful help for you know,
augmented staff team member to come in Yeah, for sure, for.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Me when I speak to a potential client, you know,
I try to really kind of get to know them
and connect on different levels. You know, you have a dog,
I have a dog. You know you want to you
want to know that, you know, just a little bit
of like hard within the business conversation, and that strengthens
that relationship, you know, because you work with people you like, Yes, absolutely,
(14:54):
And you know, when I speak to a client, they
may expe ress what they think they need, and usually
they're pretty on top of it, they know their business.
But I often go through my list of services with
them during the conversation and that kind of seems to
perk up different ideas that they may have them Oh well,
(15:17):
I didn't know you knew how to do this that.
And here at SML, you know, we very much do
a soft cell. We're not gonna won't keep pushing, you know,
you keep getting the emails and LinkedIn like, but look
at me, I don't you know, you know how many
emails I get David that say hey, are you interested
in virtual support? Look? But you know we know we
(15:44):
all get.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Them, and it's just yeah, I just I don't know,
you know, So for me, when when I speak to
them and kind of go through that list, it kind
of gives them an overarching idea and them as speak.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
More could be that there's a different support areas. They're like,
wait a minute, maybe I need to get caught up
on this or focus on this first, and then we
could move on to the others. And for me, I
create a support outline for the clients that say, you know,
this is what we discussed, this is what the budget
will look like. About how many hours anticipating all the details,
(16:20):
and again we scale up or down. You know, it
could be that we start with bookkeeping, but after a
while they're like, okay, our social media is a methed
out now we need to focus on this. And it's okay.
You know, I include everything in the support outline, but
it's not on your clad. We don't have to do
everything all at once. That's just honestly not really realistic. Yeah,
(16:45):
you want to focus on the few key areas that
will be the most advantageous and impactful for the business,
you know, because that's what you want to focus on,
not the fluff. The fluff. Can you know, can I
even do that my own business? You know, I have
all these these great ideas, I really do. I'm always
(17:06):
chatty with my team, and I'm like, what about this,
we should do that? They're like, great, Marty, what about
the other ten things they need to be a priority. Yeah, these,
But that's why I have my team. They gott to
balance me out.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
That's that's that's so important to have a side source
of folks kind of giving you a reality check, Marnie
if we don't. And I think that's why I love
when you and I met with in the networking groups
that we have. You're coming in, you're meeting with other
business owners, You're hearing what's going on. I think that's
so important. But sometimes speak to a little bit maybe
about the business owner that might be self isolating or
(17:42):
not knowing when to outsource, because they're just you know,
for those that are listening hopefully, and maybe they're like,
what are clear signes, like hey, you should probably be
considering this.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
What are you experiencing?
Speaker 1 (17:52):
I mean, because sometimes when we're in the pressure, Marnie,
I don't even think we realize how much pressure we're in.
It's like we don't we're like kind of blind to it.
And until we step out and we start talking about
it and getting some outside insight and perspective, it's like, oh, man,
I didn't. I didn't realize to a degree, I've had
that happen to me. And I love to be in
a spaces where we talk and open up things. I
(18:13):
remember being in the networking group, even with you. I
still remember some conversations that you were facilitating and bringing
out and like.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Oh, I didn't. I didn't think about it that way,
you know, Yeah, because you're right.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
I mean, everyone has thrown perspective. That's what makes it great.
You don't want to be in a room with people
who just think like you all the time. That's not
going to help you grow as a business owner or
as a person, right, I mean you want to hear
outside thoughts and ideas, and I do think that's really
really essential for a business owner and for me. You know,
(18:47):
I often find what I'm mostly hearing from my clients
and from my own self is you know, the triggers are, Hey,
have you been sitting at your desk the majority of
the day and have no idea what you've done? We're accomplished.
I know I've done that ten days, right, You're just
I swear I was working all day, but I had
(19:09):
I got nothing done that was actually real you know,
for the business and or when you are wearing all
the hats and it's stopping you from really growing your
business and learning new things and just trying to expand it,
(19:30):
versus you're just like, great, you know, now I have
to I don't know, my calendar is the best. Now
I don't know how to do now. Now my cybersecurity
is failing, like you're just putting out little fires all
day long, versus getting ahead of the game a little bit,
you know. And I think oftentimes you know the issue
(19:50):
or the challenge. Sometimes it's finding the right type of support,
because that is important. You know, it depends what your
budget is, what's your area of interest. Are you looking
you know, for someone who speaks different languages, you know,
in a different locale, you know what, what are you
looking for? And you have to marry that with what
(20:12):
are the possibilities because if you don't even think a
little bit outside the box, you may be missing something great.
You know. That's not just with support, that's just with
right platforms at everything. You know, you just you could
be missing out. Yeah, So you know that's what's kind
(20:32):
of cool about it, and we just like able to
jump in and help and we always try to ease
ease in you know that are just a little a
little shy about it because it's right, I mean, especially
even the budget aspect. You know, we we now for
many of our clients have put in this is your
(20:54):
monthly budget. Although it's not a retainer, it's a budget,
so it's a guarantee. We are just going to be
doing work to do work about how it should be
respecting that client budget and we get close. If they
come up with something great for us to work on,
we are all about it, but we make sure are
(21:14):
you sure because this is going to max out the budget?
Speaker 1 (21:18):
You know, because you want to have that proactive about it, Martie,
you're advising them to They're like, oh my goodness, I
didn't realize you were doing all this thing and went
way beyond what I originally envisioned or my budget up.
You know, I was eating up by this and I thought, oh,
I thought we were going to be able to get
to this. And you're like, well, that's about being proactive
project management, absolutely, Marnie.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
You know, showing that respect. You know, on both sides,
you wouldn't want someone to do that to you, you know,
no Minisoda wants to get a bill. It's just like
at all, right, you know. And the other thing is
you like, even with nonprofits, we give an additional ten
percent off for each and it's for nonprofit because we
(22:01):
love them and they're out there doing great work.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
Right.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yes, you want to find a company or a support
group that shares the same overall values with you, right,
that's the other thing, you know. If and it's a
gut feeling too. I don't know how else to explain it.
But when you talk to someone right, you either connect
(22:29):
or maybe this isn't the right person for me. M
You know, there are times when we've met with clients
maybe it's not a great match for us, but we
can we can certainly recommend them to others, right, Because
you don't want to just not help somebody. You want
absolutely you know, you know, wave in the wind like that's.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Not I mean, that's why that's why I have business
found Why have you on here and put all the
show notes the ways you guys can connect with her
and the SML team. But I think to your point, Marni,
I have different voices on the podcast, some things that
say they manage sound that the first blush, Oh, they
(23:11):
did the exact same thing. But then when you dig deeper,
it's like, oh no, they've got a unique perspective on
it and take on it in their experience. And so
you know, go and find out. That's what this whole
podcast is about. Taste and see, learn a little bit
more about you money. And I love that you also
focus on nonprofits and everybody does that and and I think,
you know, helping them because I think sometimes they don't
(23:32):
always think.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
I'd love to get you this a little bit.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
I think nonprofits don't always think as a businusiness, but
it is still as a business. It's just not making
profits specifically, but it still needs to be run. Speak
a little bit about your help for nonprofits and the
impact you're making there.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Yeah. For for us, for nonprofits, it typically falls within
a few support areas that come up over and over again.
One is HR oh boy OHR yep, the daily operationals
as well as the deeper HR consulting. You know, at times,
you know there's an employee relations issue or you know,
(24:09):
I look at a date or now I want to
start offering benefits to my team, but I have no
idea where to start, you know, all those types of things,
you know, and we do a lot of recruiting and
background checks and all the good stuff in order to
help them because you know, a lot of times they
don't have a huge HR department in order to handle everything,
and it's not it's not a common enough occurrence to
(24:34):
have to have a team in place for it. If
it's just once in a while, it's okay to outsource,
you don't know worries. The other thing is it could
be maybe you have someone doing the HR but they
don't have time right or maybe that particular expertise, and
that's okay. We can jump in and supplement it, you know,
for as long as they need to, and then back
(24:55):
off when they need us to. The other areas are
definitely social media and websites for sure. Bookkeeping is huge
for us as well, because you know, as an example,
I know QuickBooks sort of quick books online, but I
(25:18):
don't know everything. I am not an expert. Whereas I
have someone on my team who is, and they're able
to jump in and quickly acclimate it. They already have
all that nonprofit bookkeeping experience, so they can come in
and even make you know, maybe you guys need to
do this the year'sations here, you know, because you want
(25:40):
to support person that not only is doing the tasks,
but you really have that gut instinct that they're looking
out for you a better way to do something more efficiently,
even if it maybe cuts out some of the work
that we're doing. But that's okay because that's what it's about.
It's about helping the company or the organization, and that's
(26:03):
what we want to what we want to be known for.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
I love that. Well.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
I want to go back to one thing you brought
up earlier was about the values. Do you know you
have the conversation, but I think sometimes businesswmes we want
to move too fast and slow down a little bit.
Get clear on your vision, your mission, your values, because
it's if they want to be able to express that
to you so that you can say, hey, are we
in alignment or we out of alignment?
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Right? You know Manie speaks a little bit to that.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Yes, I mean it's it really is important to have that,
you know, And it doesn't have to be some huge
corporty yeah slogan or verbiage. It doesn't have to be
It can be something very personal, a sentence, or two.
That's it for each thing, just so that you have
a clearer vision. And it not only helps business owner
(26:50):
themselves right as they move forward day to day and
as they grow, but it also helps whoever is on
their team, whether it's an employee or fractional business support.
They need to be able to understand what it is
in order to make the most impact, you know. You know,
for me, you know, it's very important to have that.
(27:13):
Like even here at SML, I am you know, I
send a monthly email to my team and I check
in on them work wise, emotionally, physically. How are you
guys doing? What do you need from me? Are you
taking breaks? Are you taking care of yourself and your families?
You know, because if you're not, if you don't have
(27:35):
all of that, you can't show up fully at work.
And that's that's an important piece to me. And you know,
that kind of value system like do you really care?
Are you talking about caring? Are you showing that you care? Right?
And you know, and that that's an important piece. You know,
(27:58):
It's also just that that friendliness feeling. Are we open?
Are we friendly? If you know, it's one thing to
be professional, but it's another thing too, you know, not
be is outgoing. Yeah, with individuals, you know you have
to you have to open yourself up just a little bit.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
Well.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
I appreciate that, Marnie, because the way you are, you're
explaining that, you know, when I think of the fine
voices frameworks that I use, that you have what I
call a guardian approach, which is making sure everything is
taking care of but also what I call nurturing as well,
so being very present oriented about how people are doing.
And I think sometimes you know, we have to feel
like we have to do all of these things. And
I said, my strength isn't the guardian. But I appreciate
(28:41):
that voice of that person coming in asking me kind
of the tougher questions. But have you thought about this?
Where is this that you know? And and not taking
it so personally, but recognizing they're trying to help me.
And I think, you know, matching up people that, like
you said, I think to be successful in this is
working with somebody like you, Marnie.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Are you coachable?
Speaker 1 (28:59):
Are you being able to to be received feedback and
different than yourself?
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Right? That's important?
Speaker 2 (29:08):
M hm, it really is, you know, and you work
with with us, We work with such a wide range
of clients as well in different industries. It's just it's
really varied, and you have to be able to go
into that and be open, be willing to learn, like
you said, coachable, willing to adjust easily, you know, because
(29:29):
as long as the client is respectful, you should have
no problem adjusting to what they need right now. That
should not be a problem. If it is, then that's
a different conversation. Because constantly growing as a person I am.
You know, there's something new to learn or new platform.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
Absolutely way to do things.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
And you know, if we don't have that, we're just
kind of dead in the water. We need to keep
keep pushing ourselves in our team, you know, to really
believe it and show it.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
I love that, Marnie. I know we're getting close to
the podcast. You've got so many great insights here and
I'm grateful to hear what has made successful clients and
how you've helped them. I so appreciate what your perspective of,
you know, meeting them where they're at and vice versa.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
That they need to be coachable too, and that's.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Where I come into and building that leadership team of
like how do you take care of it goes both ways.
You're helping them, but then I think, as a business owner,
how do I take care of those folks that are
serving me, those vendors?
Speaker 3 (30:30):
How do how am I being aware of that?
Speaker 1 (30:32):
And so those of you that are listening as a
business owner and you want to learn more about that,
I've shared the five voices with with Marnie. You guys
can reach out to me.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
I'm happy to share that with you as well.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
But Marnie, they can connect with you through the Strategic
Management Logistics dot Com website LinkedIn if they've got a
question Marnie and they're like, Okay, I'm hearing this, I
want to get help. What would be the best where?
What number one? Can they reach out to you? What's
the best way to go through your website? What's the
best way to reach you?
Speaker 2 (30:59):
Yes, yes, we would probably be email me directly at
Barnie at v A s mL dot com or LinkedIn
messaging No problem.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
There, Okay, great, great, So that's how you guys, go
ahead and message her directly if you got questions like
I'm not sure where to start. You know, maybe I've
never done this before. There's a lot of people out
there that quote unquote provide this these this but service.
But I'm not sure because they're just pitching me anything
and they're trying to sell me something, and Marnie is saying, look,
I'm not going to sell you something.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
I'm going to find this right fit.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
So if if Marnie they reach out to you or
you know what you know as we wrap up here today,
you know, what would you say if we did anything?
What you know in this journey if you're the if
you're having started, or you're you're you're you're you're thinking
about it, besides reaching out to you specifically, what should
they else should they do?
Speaker 3 (31:46):
Should they consider Marnie in their journey here? As a
business owner, Yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
Would say one is look at kind of what your
long term plan is and what resources you may need
in order to get to that and as a stop
gap if you need resources. And the other thing is
to do research you know, as the as a person,
you know, as a small business owner, I would want
(32:12):
to do my research too. You want to make sure
that you find the right fit for you. Don't let
anyone push you into anything or bully you into anything
that you don't want to do. Not what it's about
it truly be support. And you know SML is full
on back end support. You know, we have twenty three
different service offerings, but you know we're here. We are
(32:36):
here for you guys. But you know, we want people
to do their research and to feel comfortable and open
to the idea of speaking to virtual business support. And
you know, I had a client recently she kind of
was putting off having us start supporting her, and then
(32:57):
she finally emailed and she was like, I'm just pulling
everything up. I'm there's never going to be a perfect time, right,
You're never going to have the full list. You want
to have an idea what you can, you know, work
on and pass off, but it's never going to be
absolutely perfect, right, So you just you know, you just
(33:19):
have to do your research and find the people that
are going to work with you best, because that's that's
what it's all about.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Well, I'm so glad you're here, Marnie. Thank you for
being on the podcast. Uh is it a pleasure having you.
We hope you come back again.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
That was awesome. Thank you so much David for having me.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Thank you absolutely absolutely, thank you all for joining us
on the business rounding book podcast.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
Of course.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
If you enjoyed this, we love you subscribing and liking.
Leave comments. We'll make sure Marnie can get them she
can respond to them. Share this with others and come
back into and join us on our next episode of
the Business Around Table podcast.
Speaker 3 (33:54):
Thank you so much for being with us. Everybody fine out.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Thank you,
Welcome back to the Business Roundtable podcast. I'm your host,
David Carr. Founders Through your Business. We bring people together
to accomplish great things, aligning people, process purpose for confident
and scalable growth. That's why I have a brand new
guest this week, Martie Lumpkin. She's the president of Strategic
Management and Logistics. So get that management logistics. Her team
(00:33):
provide a wide range of support from bookkeeping, hr project management,
social media, grandwriting, even cybersecurity, a lot of different things,
and we're gonna unpack it. She works with solopreneurs and
small businesses, nonprofits really to help address the burden of
the day to day task that maybe you should not
be focusing on. We're going to get into that. So
(00:53):
if you're a business owner, maybe a nonprofit leader, feeling stretched, stuck,
maybe doing too many things, you're going to get a
lot of value out of this conversation today. Welcome to
the podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Marnie, Thank you, David, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
I'm excited, absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
You and I met through different networking groups, which is
fantastic and I love that. And when we were talking,
I said, Manie, you got to come on the podcast.
Because your insights, your perspective is very much needed. I
as a solopreneur, and I've worked with any of the
business owners have got stuck in the minutia to our own,
you know, disadvantage, and so I want to get though.
(01:31):
I want to have you share a little bit about
what brought you to creating SML and helping people get,
you know, out of that minutia of the logistics and
all of this other things that you know, they probably
shouldn't be doing and they've been doing for too long.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
That's for sure. Yeah, yeah, let's see for me. You know,
I I've had a couple of different career paths along
the way, different degrees, you know, but I'm finally using
one of them for the business, which I love and
I think, you know, I have finally found my passion
what I want to do. And it's so amazing to
(02:09):
be a small business owner supporting other small business owners.
That's what's awesome about it. And also the ability that
I have that I brought together a team of individuals
so I'm able to allow them to shine as well
with their aunties of knowledge. So that's what it's all about,
just helping each other out you know, it can be
something larger, it can be something small, it doesn't matter.
(02:31):
We're we're all here to help each other out.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
I love that, Marnie, and that's why I want to
have you on the podcast because as we're a meeting,
I saw that, Okay, there's different areas that you can
help folks and focus on growing their business. And with
your background he mentioned, I know you have a varied
background in HR and education and and you know, I
feel like you know, pulling from those things and then
bringing these people together to help particularly solopreneurs, are those
(02:58):
small businesses even larger business I know you can help
in different aspects of that, but get out of their
own way because you know, my passion with Steer your
Business is the people side and incorporating that and helping
build that leadership team. And I think you know there's
a place where you have people outsourced and there's a
place where when do I switch and actually have an
employee and all of that, Right, Minie, you've seen that
(03:19):
journey with the business owners.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yes, yes, and it can be a little Daunte. We
all have small small business owners. We just we wear
all the hats. That's what we get right, especially when
we start off. That's just how the magic's going to happen.
And you know, on the other side, it's kind of
difficult sometimes to let go. You know, it really is,
I'll admit it myself. You know, even when I first
(03:44):
brought on my first team member, I was like, you know,
oh my gosh, I hope this works. And you know,
you can only prepare so much before you just have
to let it go and hope that you brought on,
you know, the right individual you've premared possible and mentor
and work with them collaboratively in order to make magic happen.
(04:06):
You know, I really do understand that. For me, you know,
it is important to work with solopreneurs, small mid sized nonprofits.
We're even into some federal and state subcontracting, which is
very exciting myself personally because I never thought I would
be in that space. But work and meet new people
(04:27):
and becomes keep getting certified. I'm able to pursue some
different opportunities, which is great. But my bread and butter
really is all of my private clients. And the beauty
is we're virtual industry agnostic. I mean, we are a
very eclectic team and we have a very eclectic group
of clients, you know, so we are never bored here
(04:48):
at SML. I love the variety, you know, showing that
we can help different people. The majority of our clients
are very long term and across different support areas. Others
they may just need help with a project or one text,
and that's okay too. You know, we never want to
say no. If we can help. It doesn't matter how
(05:09):
small it is or how long term of an engagement
it is. If we can help, want to help. And
I think you know, part of the draw, at least
for us, is that once you're a client, you're kind
of always a client. Come and go as you need to.
There's you know, you don't have to we don't have
to sign this huge contract and you know you have
(05:31):
to give us fifty hours a week you know to work. No, No,
we are just here to help and we can scale
up or down whatever you need at that time, you know,
because we all know sometimes the budget is just not there.
That's just small business man's that's what it is.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Reality. Yeah, and it's okay to.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Come to us and say we just need to hold off,
but can we come back later. Absolutely, you send me
an email and we can start right back up again.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
That's fantastic. I love that.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
I love that flexibility, and I'm the same way, Marnie.
I think that's why you and I connected. It's like
when I'm looking at leadership and development, there's sometimes there's
more of the team and sometimes you know, it's just hey,
we just need to work with this individual or just
me as a one on one, and sometimes there's a pause,
and you know, there's different things, cash flow, there's lots
of different issues that come up right in the business.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
But you've been there, Marnie. That's the good thing. You've
been there.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
And one thing I wanted to highlight too, is that
correct me if I'm wrong here? But as I was
working in a website, everything everybody is at US based.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yes? Everyone is US based and they are background checked
confidentiality agreements anyways, if the client request it, absolutely because
that's just and you know, everybody has their own vibe,
everyone has their own way of running their business. But
that's just the way I wanted to is to make
sure and you know, everyone on my team is no
(06:48):
more than a second level connection out so I know
them personally or that person knows them personally. You know.
I think that helps kind of with the feel of SML,
is that I really know each other, we really do collaborate.
I may be the head of the company, but the
boots on the ground for me are my team.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
I know that.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
You know. It's a very collaborative, open, welcoming environment, and
we try to be that way towards our client as well,
because we really do want to be you know, people
always say it, but we really do believe it. We
really do want to be a member of that client's team.
We want to be a trusted resource, you know, even
if it's not maybe transactional right away, maybe it's just
(07:33):
helping each other out with networking or a request or
a recommendation or a connection. That's what matters, you know.
I always say good people know good people, and that's
what it happened. You know.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Well, I love that.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Marnie and I remember we were talking about when we
were thinking about the podcast, and one of the things
I asked you was like, to that point, you know
these people, you're you're finding the right people because I'm not.
I know I in the past I've used a different
service and they said, you know, I was kind of
felt like I had to pick. They didn't give me
a lot of options and that wasn't the best bit
(08:11):
and I had They were in a different time than
in the US, was it not. I mean, I'm in there,
we're on the East coast, West coast, but now they
were like in a totally different time. It was challenging
and I think we're how to hear you say, a
Marnie is finding somebody that can help meet you where
you're at and not make you jump through more hoops.
Almost it's like, man, I feel like I'm having to
do even more to get this person to quote help me.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yes, that's that is not advantageous for anyone, because that's
the other thing. You want to be able to bring
someone on board into your team as a virtual business
support person that's pretty much already up to speed right
on the platforms that you need different skills, and it's
not just about skill, it's also about personality as well. Yes,
(08:56):
I have that personality match in order to make it
really successful, and that that personal understanding and for me,
you know, that's just really an essential piece of it.
And you know that's what makes the clients keep coming
back or even recommending us or referring us to others
is because they know they're going to get something very
(09:18):
authentic from us. You know, we've got you know, pretend
that we are something we are not. You know, we
are very clear also about where where our expertise ends.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
You know.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
As an example, currently we're bringing on a CPA partner,
but currently it's not official and we have bookkeeping services,
but we're not going to say we know how to
do CPA. We know, you know, because we try to
be really honest and helpful to the individuals and for us,
(09:50):
that's that's a key component, is that you can say
I do this great, these are our areas, and we
can knock it out of the park for you right away,
become integrated very quickly. Other things, it's okay, it may
not be a perfect match, and we're not you're not
interested necessarily in making it more challenging for the client
(10:11):
or us on that at right, it's not a match.
It's not a match.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
I appreciate that, Marnie as a business owner sometimes because
I get pitched every day. I'm sure you do too,
selling me something and they're like, how do you know
you're a match? You're just trying to You've got something
you want to sell and you're just like trying to
find anybody. I'm like, that's not the right way, Aback.
I like how you said not just the technical skills,
but you know, we and I talked about the five
Voices as one of the tools. I use the frameworks,
(10:37):
and I know myself, I am not about the day
to day minutia kind of the checklist right the being
very detail and I'm very future oriented. I'm visioning. I'm
doing that which I need both, I need all of it.
And to point your point, if and I and you,
I think Marnie, when you when you're figuring this out,
when you're working with a potential client, identifying with them too,
(10:58):
like you said, if this is going to be a
good or not, you're like, maybe I don't have the
right I mean, yes, they could do that technical skills,
but personality wise and the way the approaching is in
the way that you're presenting yourself and if they're really
really rigid, You're like, I don't know that that's going
to be a recipe for success.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
Is that you have to do that sometimes?
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Well? Yes, And you know the other thing is there
also could be you know, any number of reasons why
maybe that doesn't work out. The positive is that I
have a full team, so there's always another individual who
may be presented that could backfill the role if for
(11:36):
whatever reason, the first match isn't successful, or you know,
if they're outsick, or you know, on vacation. It's okay.
The rest of the team is still here, so you're
never really you know, without support in any of those areas,
which is I think is very helpful as well.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Well. You bring up a good point as you're saying that. Mania.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
It just made me think even if you have an employee,
let's just say, because I work at a couple of companies,
they have some amazing employees, Marny, but that employee kind
of knows everything, and if something happens to that employee,
you're in trouble. Right, So if they're sick, they got
to take maternity leave whatever, right, you know, I've had
sick parents, whatever the case might be. That might be
(12:18):
a great, great case in Marney to reach out to
somebody like you and saying, hey, I'm going to have
an employee out. I want to bring them back. I
know they will come back. But I don't want to
see hire another you know, I don't want to have
hire another person. Could they come out to you, MANI
and say you can help them uncover, like here's what
all needs to be done.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Yes, Yes, that that that is a perfect example of
a short term engagement that we could absolutely support in
any number of ways. And you know, we're just very
we're very interested in becoming a member of the team
I keep you know, I know I keep sick.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Yeah. Absolutely, It's so.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Important because it could be a short term engagement, but
you never know what could happen in the future. Yeah,
how you can help each other out, or you know,
you just meet some other amazing people or another amazing
organization and you don't know how that could you know,
go down the road. What if someone else is looking
(13:13):
for that amazing organization. You already know it and you
can certainly recommend and have it. Just keep the good
feelings flowing, you know.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Oh I love that.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
I mean honestly, and I'm going I've been through the
life cycle and you have two of businesses. So maybe
you're offsetting their accounting part time. They finally hire an accountant,
but then they need mother help.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Maybe some other aspects of the business.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Maybe it's a cybersecurity or some Yeah, I don't you know,
there's another element right that they're growing. You're like, okay, great,
you got that position filled. Fantastic, what other problems or
hopefully as it goes this is growing. You can do
the short term engagements, you can do augmenting them where
they're at, and I thinks others you need to think
a little bit more strategically. It's not all or nothing
of like, it's either all this one person to do
(13:57):
everything or how can I you know, think a little Usually,
so you walk me through a little bit, Marnie about
when you talk with you know, a new potential client.
They might have one idea of what they think they need,
but it might not be the biggest, you know, bang
for their bucks, so to speak.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
You know, they come to you and say, hey.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
This is what I really I think I need this,
and you're like, well, how do you unpack that and
identify the real Like, here's why I feel like it's
going to be the most impactful help for you know,
augmented staff team member to come in Yeah, for sure, for.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Me when I speak to a potential client, you know,
I try to really kind of get to know them
and connect on different levels. You know, you have a dog,
I have a dog. You know you want to you
want to know that, you know, just a little bit
of like hard within the business conversation, and that strengthens
that relationship, you know, because you work with people you like, Yes, absolutely,
(14:54):
And you know, when I speak to a client, they
may expe ress what they think they need, and usually
they're pretty on top of it, they know their business.
But I often go through my list of services with
them during the conversation and that kind of seems to
perk up different ideas that they may have them Oh well,
(15:17):
I didn't know you knew how to do this that.
And here at SML, you know, we very much do
a soft cell. We're not gonna won't keep pushing, you know,
you keep getting the emails and LinkedIn like, but look
at me, I don't you know, you know how many
emails I get David that say hey, are you interested
in virtual support? Look? But you know we know we
(15:44):
all get.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Them, and it's just yeah, I just I don't know,
you know, So for me, when when I speak to
them and kind of go through that list, it kind
of gives them an overarching idea and them as speak.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
More could be that there's a different support areas. They're like,
wait a minute, maybe I need to get caught up
on this or focus on this first, and then we
could move on to the others. And for me, I
create a support outline for the clients that say, you know,
this is what we discussed, this is what the budget
will look like. About how many hours anticipating all the details,
(16:20):
and again we scale up or down. You know, it
could be that we start with bookkeeping, but after a
while they're like, okay, our social media is a methed
out now we need to focus on this. And it's okay.
You know, I include everything in the support outline, but
it's not on your clad. We don't have to do
everything all at once. That's just honestly not really realistic. Yeah,
(16:45):
you want to focus on the few key areas that
will be the most advantageous and impactful for the business,
you know, because that's what you want to focus on,
not the fluff. The fluff. Can you know, can I
even do that my own business? You know, I have
all these these great ideas, I really do. I'm always
(17:06):
chatty with my team, and I'm like, what about this,
we should do that? They're like, great, Marty, what about
the other ten things they need to be a priority. Yeah, these,
But that's why I have my team. They gott to
balance me out.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
That's that's that's so important to have a side source
of folks kind of giving you a reality check, Marnie
if we don't. And I think that's why I love
when you and I met with in the networking groups
that we have. You're coming in, you're meeting with other
business owners, You're hearing what's going on. I think that's
so important. But sometimes speak to a little bit maybe
about the business owner that might be self isolating or
(17:42):
not knowing when to outsource, because they're just you know,
for those that are listening hopefully, and maybe they're like,
what are clear signes, like hey, you should probably be
considering this.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
What are you experiencing?
Speaker 1 (17:52):
I mean, because sometimes when we're in the pressure, Marnie,
I don't even think we realize how much pressure we're in.
It's like we don't we're like kind of blind to it.
And until we step out and we start talking about
it and getting some outside insight and perspective, it's like, oh, man,
I didn't. I didn't realize to a degree, I've had
that happen to me. And I love to be in
a spaces where we talk and open up things. I
(18:13):
remember being in the networking group, even with you. I
still remember some conversations that you were facilitating and bringing
out and like.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Oh, I didn't. I didn't think about it that way,
you know, Yeah, because you're right.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
I mean, everyone has thrown perspective. That's what makes it great.
You don't want to be in a room with people
who just think like you all the time. That's not
going to help you grow as a business owner or
as a person, right, I mean you want to hear
outside thoughts and ideas, and I do think that's really
really essential for a business owner and for me. You know,
(18:47):
I often find what I'm mostly hearing from my clients
and from my own self is you know, the triggers are, Hey,
have you been sitting at your desk the majority of
the day and have no idea what you've done? We're accomplished.
I know I've done that ten days, right, You're just
I swear I was working all day, but I had
(19:09):
I got nothing done that was actually real you know,
for the business and or when you are wearing all
the hats and it's stopping you from really growing your
business and learning new things and just trying to expand it,
(19:30):
versus you're just like, great, you know, now I have
to I don't know, my calendar is the best. Now
I don't know how to do now. Now my cybersecurity
is failing, like you're just putting out little fires all
day long, versus getting ahead of the game a little bit,
you know. And I think oftentimes you know the issue
(19:50):
or the challenge. Sometimes it's finding the right type of support,
because that is important. You know, it depends what your
budget is, what's your area of interest. Are you looking
you know, for someone who speaks different languages, you know,
in a different locale, you know what, what are you
looking for? And you have to marry that with what
(20:12):
are the possibilities because if you don't even think a
little bit outside the box, you may be missing something great.
You know. That's not just with support, that's just with
right platforms at everything. You know, you just you could
be missing out. Yeah, So you know that's what's kind
(20:32):
of cool about it, and we just like able to
jump in and help and we always try to ease
ease in you know that are just a little a
little shy about it because it's right, I mean, especially
even the budget aspect. You know, we we now for
many of our clients have put in this is your
(20:54):
monthly budget. Although it's not a retainer, it's a budget,
so it's a guarantee. We are just going to be
doing work to do work about how it should be
respecting that client budget and we get close. If they
come up with something great for us to work on,
we are all about it, but we make sure are
(21:14):
you sure because this is going to max out the budget?
Speaker 1 (21:18):
You know, because you want to have that proactive about it, Martie,
you're advising them to They're like, oh my goodness, I
didn't realize you were doing all this thing and went
way beyond what I originally envisioned or my budget up.
You know, I was eating up by this and I thought, oh,
I thought we were going to be able to get
to this. And you're like, well, that's about being proactive
project management, absolutely, Marnie.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
You know, showing that respect. You know, on both sides,
you wouldn't want someone to do that to you, you know,
no Minisoda wants to get a bill. It's just like
at all, right, you know. And the other thing is
you like, even with nonprofits, we give an additional ten
percent off for each and it's for nonprofit because we
(22:01):
love them and they're out there doing great work.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
Right.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yes, you want to find a company or a support
group that shares the same overall values with you, right,
that's the other thing, you know. If and it's a
gut feeling too. I don't know how else to explain it.
But when you talk to someone right, you either connect
(22:29):
or maybe this isn't the right person for me. M
You know, there are times when we've met with clients
maybe it's not a great match for us, but we
can we can certainly recommend them to others, right, Because
you don't want to just not help somebody. You want
absolutely you know, you know, wave in the wind like that's.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Not I mean, that's why that's why I have business
found Why have you on here and put all the
show notes the ways you guys can connect with her
and the SML team. But I think to your point, Marni,
I have different voices on the podcast, some things that
say they manage sound that the first blush, Oh, they
(23:11):
did the exact same thing. But then when you dig deeper,
it's like, oh no, they've got a unique perspective on
it and take on it in their experience. And so
you know, go and find out. That's what this whole
podcast is about. Taste and see, learn a little bit
more about you money. And I love that you also
focus on nonprofits and everybody does that and and I think,
you know, helping them because I think sometimes they don't
(23:32):
always think.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
I'd love to get you this a little bit.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
I think nonprofits don't always think as a businusiness, but
it is still as a business. It's just not making
profits specifically, but it still needs to be run. Speak
a little bit about your help for nonprofits and the
impact you're making there.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Yeah. For for us, for nonprofits, it typically falls within
a few support areas that come up over and over again.
One is HR oh boy OHR yep, the daily operationals
as well as the deeper HR consulting. You know, at times,
you know there's an employee relations issue or you know,
(24:09):
I look at a date or now I want to
start offering benefits to my team, but I have no
idea where to start, you know, all those types of things,
you know, and we do a lot of recruiting and
background checks and all the good stuff in order to
help them because you know, a lot of times they
don't have a huge HR department in order to handle everything,
and it's not it's not a common enough occurrence to
(24:34):
have to have a team in place for it. If
it's just once in a while, it's okay to outsource,
you don't know worries. The other thing is it could
be maybe you have someone doing the HR but they
don't have time right or maybe that particular expertise, and
that's okay. We can jump in and supplement it, you know,
for as long as they need to, and then back
(24:55):
off when they need us to. The other areas are
definitely social media and websites for sure. Bookkeeping is huge
for us as well, because you know, as an example,
I know QuickBooks sort of quick books online, but I
(25:18):
don't know everything. I am not an expert. Whereas I
have someone on my team who is, and they're able
to jump in and quickly acclimate it. They already have
all that nonprofit bookkeeping experience, so they can come in
and even make you know, maybe you guys need to
do this the year'sations here, you know, because you want
(25:40):
to support person that not only is doing the tasks,
but you really have that gut instinct that they're looking
out for you a better way to do something more efficiently,
even if it maybe cuts out some of the work
that we're doing. But that's okay because that's what it's about.
It's about helping the company or the organization, and that's
(26:03):
what we want to what we want to be known for.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
I love that. Well.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
I want to go back to one thing you brought
up earlier was about the values. Do you know you
have the conversation, but I think sometimes businesswmes we want
to move too fast and slow down a little bit.
Get clear on your vision, your mission, your values, because
it's if they want to be able to express that
to you so that you can say, hey, are we
in alignment or we out of alignment?
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Right? You know Manie speaks a little bit to that.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Yes, I mean it's it really is important to have that,
you know, And it doesn't have to be some huge
corporty yeah slogan or verbiage. It doesn't have to be
It can be something very personal, a sentence, or two.
That's it for each thing, just so that you have
a clearer vision. And it not only helps business owner
(26:50):
themselves right as they move forward day to day and
as they grow, but it also helps whoever is on
their team, whether it's an employee or fractional business support.
They need to be able to understand what it is
in order to make the most impact, you know. You know,
for me, you know, it's very important to have that.
(27:13):
Like even here at SML, I am you know, I
send a monthly email to my team and I check
in on them work wise, emotionally, physically. How are you
guys doing? What do you need from me? Are you
taking breaks? Are you taking care of yourself and your families?
You know, because if you're not, if you don't have
(27:35):
all of that, you can't show up fully at work.
And that's that's an important piece to me. And you know,
that kind of value system like do you really care?
Are you talking about caring? Are you showing that you care? Right?
And you know, and that that's an important piece. You know,
(27:58):
It's also just that that friendliness feeling. Are we open?
Are we friendly? If you know, it's one thing to
be professional, but it's another thing too, you know, not
be is outgoing. Yeah, with individuals, you know you have
to you have to open yourself up just a little bit.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
Well.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
I appreciate that, Marnie, because the way you are, you're
explaining that, you know, when I think of the fine
voices frameworks that I use, that you have what I
call a guardian approach, which is making sure everything is
taking care of but also what I call nurturing as well,
so being very present oriented about how people are doing.
And I think sometimes you know, we have to feel
like we have to do all of these things. And
I said, my strength isn't the guardian. But I appreciate
(28:41):
that voice of that person coming in asking me kind
of the tougher questions. But have you thought about this?
Where is this that you know? And and not taking
it so personally, but recognizing they're trying to help me.
And I think, you know, matching up people that, like
you said, I think to be successful in this is
working with somebody like you, Marnie.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Are you coachable?
Speaker 1 (28:59):
Are you being able to to be received feedback and
different than yourself?
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Right? That's important?
Speaker 2 (29:08):
M hm, it really is, you know, and you work
with with us, We work with such a wide range
of clients as well in different industries. It's just it's
really varied, and you have to be able to go
into that and be open, be willing to learn, like
you said, coachable, willing to adjust easily, you know, because
(29:29):
as long as the client is respectful, you should have
no problem adjusting to what they need right now. That
should not be a problem. If it is, then that's
a different conversation. Because constantly growing as a person I am.
You know, there's something new to learn or new platform.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
Absolutely way to do things.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
And you know, if we don't have that, we're just
kind of dead in the water. We need to keep
keep pushing ourselves in our team, you know, to really
believe it and show it.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
I love that, Marnie. I know we're getting close to
the podcast. You've got so many great insights here and
I'm grateful to hear what has made successful clients and
how you've helped them. I so appreciate what your perspective of,
you know, meeting them where they're at and vice versa.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
That they need to be coachable too, and that's.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Where I come into and building that leadership team of
like how do you take care of it goes both ways.
You're helping them, but then I think, as a business owner,
how do I take care of those folks that are
serving me, those vendors?
Speaker 3 (30:30):
How do how am I being aware of that?
Speaker 1 (30:32):
And so those of you that are listening as a
business owner and you want to learn more about that,
I've shared the five voices with with Marnie. You guys
can reach out to me.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
I'm happy to share that with you as well.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
But Marnie, they can connect with you through the Strategic
Management Logistics dot Com website LinkedIn if they've got a
question Marnie and they're like, Okay, I'm hearing this, I
want to get help. What would be the best where?
What number one? Can they reach out to you? What's
the best way to go through your website? What's the
best way to reach you?
Speaker 2 (30:59):
Yes, yes, we would probably be email me directly at
Barnie at v A s mL dot com or LinkedIn
messaging No problem.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
There, Okay, great, great, So that's how you guys, go
ahead and message her directly if you got questions like
I'm not sure where to start. You know, maybe I've
never done this before. There's a lot of people out
there that quote unquote provide this these this but service.
But I'm not sure because they're just pitching me anything
and they're trying to sell me something, and Marnie is saying, look,
I'm not going to sell you something.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
I'm going to find this right fit.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
So if if Marnie they reach out to you or
you know what you know as we wrap up here today,
you know, what would you say if we did anything?
What you know in this journey if you're the if
you're having started, or you're you're you're you're you're thinking
about it, besides reaching out to you specifically, what should
they else should they do?
Speaker 3 (31:46):
Should they consider Marnie in their journey here? As a
business owner, Yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
Would say one is look at kind of what your
long term plan is and what resources you may need
in order to get to that and as a stop
gap if you need resources. And the other thing is
to do research you know, as the as a person,
you know, as a small business owner, I would want
(32:12):
to do my research too. You want to make sure
that you find the right fit for you. Don't let
anyone push you into anything or bully you into anything
that you don't want to do. Not what it's about
it truly be support. And you know SML is full
on back end support. You know, we have twenty three
different service offerings, but you know we're here. We are
(32:36):
here for you guys. But you know, we want people
to do their research and to feel comfortable and open
to the idea of speaking to virtual business support. And
you know, I had a client recently she kind of
was putting off having us start supporting her, and then
(32:57):
she finally emailed and she was like, I'm just pulling
everything up. I'm there's never going to be a perfect time, right,
You're never going to have the full list. You want
to have an idea what you can, you know, work
on and pass off, but it's never going to be
absolutely perfect, right, So you just you know, you just
(33:19):
have to do your research and find the people that
are going to work with you best, because that's that's
what it's all about.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Well, I'm so glad you're here, Marnie. Thank you for
being on the podcast. Uh is it a pleasure having you.
We hope you come back again.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
That was awesome. Thank you so much David for having me.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Thank you absolutely absolutely, thank you all for joining us
on the business rounding book podcast.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
Of course.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
If you enjoyed this, we love you subscribing and liking.
Leave comments. We'll make sure Marnie can get them she
can respond to them. Share this with others and come
back into and join us on our next episode of
the Business Around Table podcast.
Speaker 3 (33:54):
Thank you so much for being with us. Everybody fine out.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Thank you,
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