Culture of Creation w/ Tiffany Gholston | Ep. 71

In this episode David and Gary chat with Tiffany Gholston, CEO of Gholston Consulting Group LLC. They talk about creating a culture of systematic excellence one innovation at a time.

Links:

www.gcghrmanagement.com

https://zapier.com/blog/disagreement-at-work/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffanycgholston/

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David Baxter - CEO of Big Pixel

Gary Voigt - Creative Director at Big Pixel

The Podcast

David Baxter has been designing, building, and advising startups and businesses for over ten years. His passion, knowledge, and brutal honesty have helped dozens of companies get their start.

In Biz/Dev, David and award-winning Creative Director Gary Voigt talk about current events and how they affect the world of startups, entrepreneurship, software development, and culture.

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Transcript

David: 0:05

Hi, everyone, welcome to the biz dev Podcast, the podcast about developing your business. I'm David Baxter, your host, and I am joined by Hot Topic reject Gary Voight. How's it going, man?

Gary: 0:17

Hot Topic. Are you referring to the retail store? Yes.

David: 0:22

Come on, you know,

Gary: 0:24

I'm a reject. That means I'm not trendy enough. Okay, so I'll take that.

David: 0:28

You'll take that you absolutely shopped at Hot Topic. No, absolutely. No. Spencer's, no,

Gary: 0:36

no, I, most of my retail shopping was from like skate shops or surf shops or stuff like that.

David: 0:42

Never home and I thought I had just dialed in right there.

Gary: 0:45

I was not I was not a mall rat, sorry.

David: 0:49

Today, we're speaking to Tiffany gholston, the CEO of Goldston Consulting Group, they are a HR firm. And we're going to talk to her about all sorts of HR II stuff in just a minute. But first, much to Gary chagrin. I'm going to talk about time management again, because I'm trying to get consistency here. It's called a series Gary, we are talking to a few of our guests about time management, because I am constantly fascinated by how leaders manage their time because it's different than other people. And so I find, sometimes leaders are good time managers. I probably am in the Met category. But I find some that are really bad. And it's it affects their ability to lead. So I'm curious, how do you manage your time? And what does your day to day kind of look like?

Tiffany: 1:38

Oh, boy, well, well, time management, you know, it has to be up front top and center for a business owner. But before that, I am a mom. And I'm a wife. And so I've learned time management when my son joined the family years and years ago. I live and die by my calendar. So I've got everything mapped out by the week on the calendar, wake up. Six 630. You know, do some meditation time, some time for myself a little bit of reading. He's up and going at seven o'clock. We're out of the door at 740. I drive across town 45 minutes to get him to school back in the office about 9am. So that's when I start my quote unquote, workday. Right. And that goes throughout the day. But yeah, it's really about, look, what gets done are those things that are your top priorities that are important to you? I'm very visual. So it helps me to have it on the calendar, even lunch, breakfast, dinner, pickup time, read time, stretch time, all those things are on my calendar. And I'm pretty disciplined. Become very disciplined over the years. So I stick to that schedule.

Gary: 2:52

Yeah, kids will definitely force you to become a time management guru. But absolutely hard part. And I noticed you said you even schedule like lunch and reading time. So yeah, the hard part is losing track of the time for yourself throughout the day. Yeah, that many things you have to take care of. And then after you even start your day and prioritize all that and you get to work, then you get a whole nother list of tasks that you have to manage. Absolutely. Absolutely. And it's about priority.

David: 3:20

Diving in a bit. On the practicality side, do you have a physical calendar? Are you one of those people who busts out an old school book and pens it out? Are you purely electronic.

Tiffany: 3:31

So I'm purely electronic from the calendar thing, but I'll tell you, my mom bought me is a scheduler for 2023. So you should see me trying to go back old school way with the book, the actual book, and I haven't used those in years. But I'll tell you, these, these calendars and schedules are so snippy nowadays where they've got nice quotes in there and your wins for the week. So I do use it in that space. But I'm much more to the book when I'm using the electronic calendar.

David: 4:07

I got you I've gotten into writing notes with a pen. And that has I find there is something I know there's science behind this, but I can't quote it or anything. There's something about physically writing that connects it to your brain in a more significant manner. And I am finding that to be true even for me. So I'm gonna I'm in a meeting now I actually bring a pen and paper which for years I never did years and years. And so I'm wondering if calendar and scheduling would follow with somebody like I'm electronic as well, when it comes to that. It's funny on my calendar, like I have no idea what tomorrow is. I know what today is because I checked, but someone will say hey, who's on the podcast? I have no idea. Who when is your next meeting? I have no idea if it's not today. It's it's it's on my calendar. It will get done. But I have no idea when when it's coming. So The last thing I want to talk about time management is as a leader, are you still in the technician phase? Meaning you're doing a lot of the work? Or have you moved past that? Or are you in the middle of transitioning? Which which Where are you on that?

Tiffany: 5:14

Well, it's interesting. That's one of the things that we're going to talk about today in regards to some of the important roles that an entrepreneur has to play. I was lucky. Early on, when I first launched the business, I was connected to a mentor who had a an HR consulting business for over 20 plus years. And he directed me to a great book that talked about those three hats that an entrepreneur has to play. And I'll tell you, when I, when I started, I was strictly technician. But I have learned David to to take myself out of that space and to distribute my time between the entrepreneur, the manager and the technician, based on the work that has to come up, you know, and the clients that I'm working with the technician place, you know, I was I was good in that space. Most folks who come from corporate America are very good in that space, because you have to be right, you are a specialist in that area. But my sweet spot has always been the entrepreneur. So that was normally where I wanted to spend the most of my time. I'm very futuristic, big picture thinking. So I'm learning to spend more time in the manager area, believe it or not managing the business, getting the books done is tax season now. So it's, we're in the midst of that. But yeah, I've learned to back my stuff out of the technician and better distribute my time between those three roles that you have to play,

David: 6:39

I find that when it comes to giving away your job, which is a unique thing the founders do, that the hardest thing to give away is the thing that you're really good at. Because that's near and dear to your hearts. Have you been able to give away that? And do you ever find yourself grabbing it back? Because you feel you could do it better? I mean, I'm the certain. I certainly have done a lot of that over the years where I'm like, Oh, I could totally develop that better. Let me just do that for you. Right. For years I did that. And it's a horrible way to run a business. But it's so human. Right? So do you are you still finding yourself doing some of that?

Tiffany: 7:14

From time to time, I am always and I've always been this way since a kid growing up. I've always been a dreamer. Huge imagination, which means I'm never really in this space in the here. And now I'm always a couple of days ahead and what's to come. That's the piece that I really love holding on to. So it's been very hard yeah, to delegate more of that space. So I can spend more time in the here and now with what's going on in the business here. And now, today versus what's coming.

David: 7:45

We're good. So I want to transition a little bit and I want to take a step back. Tell us about your company, how long you been there, how big you are, what you've been up to. And then Gary's got some, some deep dives that are specific for you.

Tiffany: 8:00

All right, ghostin Consulting Group, we are a leadership development firm. We sell transformation, workplace culture transformation. So I help small and mid sized business owners, transform their people, managers into people leaders through systemic change within their organizations. And it's been, it's been quite a journey. I launched the business April of last year. So we are approaching one year with the business. But as we're growing and acquiring more clients, it has been, it's been very interesting to see the light bulb come on with business owners when they they see the process of work, and they start seeing that culture transformation within their businesses. Do you

Gary: 8:48

consult with any businesses that are remote? Or are they all you know, are most of the workers in house in office?

Tiffany: 8:58

Remote, I've got some remote clients that some folks who are here in this area but others that we basically over 90% of the time we are talking by video

David: 9:08

store in my life right there. Have you found so most people who start a business including myself, the first year is a nightmare. You are coming, come and landing this plane after your first year. How was your first year?

Tiffany: 9:22

Yeah, it's been it's been a learning lesson, David furniture in the first couple of months, as you said it's awful because I'm still in a technician mode. And I don't understand why I'm not getting the business that I'm seeking because I'm a technician. I'm great at this in this work. And when I was able to to change my mindset in that space and really do in the network. I'll tell you one thing that I learned and I wonder if it happens to a lot of folks who are making that transition from Corporate to entrepreneurs space. So I learned I didn't have a huge network outside of the organizations that I was a part of. And once I was able to expand my network, I'll tell you all of my business right now all of my clients are through referrals. So yeah, you pull the data and you do the market research and all that good stuff. But I get calls from folks who know something about me or have worked with other people who know me and want to learn more about what I do. And that's how I want to grow my business is through the referral process, actually. So that part, once I was able to find my groove with that, and incorporate the importance of building a system into my business on a day to day system of this is how it works. When I'm taking in these client intake calls. This is how it works, documenting that quantifying what I'm learning out there in the market, things start to be and run a little bit smoother.

Gary: 10:57

We've heard from a lot of founders and entrepreneurs, what David was referencing that first year and how it's difficult. And then when you were referencing finding clients, the networking is the strongest way to get going. Everybody has been saying that the first thing they do is either contact friends and family or people they knew. And then, you know, ask them nicely to contact anybody that they might know who might need their services just to get the ball rolling. So transitioning from the technician to almost in a sales role, in a way, you know, via networking. Yeah, that's, that's a tough transition that a lot of people have, as I've mentioned before on the show, but it isn't necessarily one as well.

David: 11:35

When we mentor startups and new companies through our tech side of things, mainly, but the business side comes up as part of that. We call that having your own gravity. And when you start out a business, that's why the first year sucks, right is because you have no gravity, no one cares, you're yelling at the top of your lungs, because you're the best. And no one cares, right? That's now your job as the founder to make them care. That's the first year and it's really hard. And then you start to then there's a shift. And the first year, you're probably if I were to guess, it's been the last couple few months that you've started to see that shift. Because that first year, the first 689 months, you're just yelling into a wall and no one cares, and you're getting really frustrated. And then there's something that changes and somebody calls you for the first time and says, someone told me about you or I heard good things about you and your whole world changes. And that's when your gravity starts. Now when you get really big. You have tons of gravity, and you have to worry about this anymore. But what I have found so weird will be 10 in March.

Tiffany: 12:37

Ah, congratulations. Thank

David: 12:39

you. It's what we have found is it's cyclical. So I got to the point where I was yelling and screaming, and no one cared to having a little bit of gravity and we got busy, right. And we started hiring up and we started growing a bit. We're not large by any stretch. But we started growing some. And I thought I nailed it, boom, got this sucker. I've done I've done with all that sloggy stuff, we got it. It's been a really hard to get. He's been very helpful in this reminding me he's very rude about it. But he reminds me that we're not done. We are referral business too. We are very much a referral business. No one does custom software without a referral. It's just kind of how it works. But I thought I was done with the networking thing. And I have done now in the last six months ish. I'm back out. And part of that was a pandemic, but part of it was coming back and realizing and having to swallow my pride because I was like, I thought I was past this. I thought I was beyond this. I thought I was gonna have other people do this for me. No, no, the answer to that is No, I don't think that will ever and especially for our business. But it was it was a rude awakening for for me personally to say no, you've got to get back out there and start like, like you're a brand new company again. You never ever stopped marketing.

Tiffany: 13:58

I think what happened for me. And what was a blessing for me was, was getting the nose upfront. Because when you're when you're good at what you do in another life, when you're working for a company, you're not used to that very often, right? You're used to hearing the praise, you're used to hearing the yeses, the great, great getting great performance reviews. And I'll tell you that first no was good. But this business, this service, it can help your organization and what I've learned you talk about the networking. What I've had to do was change my mindset around it and say, you know, it's for me, it is about relationships. I had a very small circle within my network because authentic relationships are so important to me. So when I'm talking to those CEOs, I see it from a pain of perspective of they think they know what they want and what they need, but they really don't and so I'm trying to help them because in their subconscious They don't know. And so I'm trying to find that pain point and show them how I have the solution to help to make your life a whole lot easier moving forward for the long term.

David: 15:12

I love that when you know you have their best interests at heart, and you know, you have the right solution, and they don't care. There's nothing more frustrating than that. A lot of times they don't care because of budget. And that's fair, that's a fair idea. You just can't afford me totally fine. We will part as friends. But when you know, you have the budget, and you just don't get it, like you see their future. I tell this to potential clients all the time, I'm going to tell you your future. And when I'm right, man, I will sell that sucker every almost every time because they're like, whoa, this guy gets it. Sometimes I'm wrong. And then we don't get that. But, but when you when you do it, it's so powerful. Because you're like, I know where you are like in your world, you're like, if you're going to have a time where someone in your company is not be reaching their potential, they're going to do something stupid from an HR perspective. And we can prevent that we can get them to be a better person. I'm telling you your future right now. Nah, we don't need you. And inevitably, I don't know if it's like this in your industry. But inevitably, they'll go their own way. And sometimes they'll come crawling back.

Gary: 16:18

And that is validation there. Yeah,

Tiffany: 16:21

it is validation. Validation feel good. It feels great. It feels great, because it gives you the opportunity to help them because I focus on Look, we're not talking about our vision and our mission, my vision is to help individuals reach their fullest career potential. I've been an employee, I understand how it feels to be in an organization where, like me can be so much better. But these people are overtaxed, overburdened, the HR department is too lean, it has no budget. They're too tactical. And so I was able to just take all of that, and what really, really showed me the way I know for years, I was going to be a consultant, I was going to have my own business. But when I saw what happened to to companies, most definitely small and mid sized companies during the pandemic, I mean, 2020 How that exodus of employees just crippled a lot of organizations took a lot of businesses out. And I said, there's a better process, there's a system, if you have the right system in place, and you see your organization as a franchise, where think about what where you go into a Chick fil A, every Chick fil A that you go in, you know the formula that you're gonna get, and I love it. Because we as human beings, we like predictability, we like order. And so I know what I'm going to get from any Chick fil A that I go in, and I'm not talking about the food, I'm talking about the service, because they have a system in place that every new employee comes in, goes through that system, this is how we do the work. And so so many times organizations feel that they have to get este expert people in and in some you do, right? You look in the healthcare industry, I want the best surgeon working on me operating on me. But in other industries, you don't need top experts, you need people with potential, and people would drive who want to do a good job. And you connect them with the right systems, expert systems, and they can get the job done. And so I said, Look, you can't depend on having these people, they're not going to stay with you forever, that's going to be okay. But if you have the right systems in place, and you're disciplined to those systems, where you get the same output, that you can bring people with high potential entities, organizations where they have systems that support them that can help them do the work, you're going to have a great culture, you're going to turn that culture around. And so you have to sell the dream to them. Right. But they have to be open seeing that as well.

David: 18:57

So how do you take someone who agrees with you? They're nodding as you're giving that presentation? What's the practical side of creating that system? Because clearly using Chick fil A as the example? Clearly it's not easy to do, because McDonald's still isn't doing it right. Very few of these fast food places who are all their competitors. No one's doing it. Most of the time you go into a fast food place, the person is half dead on the other side of that counter. Right there is. So what is it that allows a company to how do you create that system to allow them to stand up?

Tiffany: 19:32

Yeah, well, you talked about the person who's half dead. So I'd say where did you get this person from? What's your criteria for selecting that person? You know, I'm working with a client right now in the hospitality industry. And when I met with the owners, I said so tell me about your business. What do you do? And they describe to me about the food that they sale. I said the food is the commodity the product is the experience that you sell to every customer that comes into your restaurant is the experience and they said, well, we want to treat everyone here as if their family as if you're going to a family dinner I said, Okay, so when you're looking to hire folks, tell me this your front of house and your back of house folks, do they know every ingredient that's in the food that you make? will know well why they should? Because when think about it, when you go into a restaurant you've never been in before, what are you asking the server's? What do you recommend? What's good. And so every person needs to understand what these are the fresh ingredients that go into this food because this is a higher end restaurant. And so if we're going through, if I'm dealing with inflation, right, and and I have to be very careful with how I'm spending my hard earned money, there's got to be something practical, but coming into your restaurant, and I want to spend my money there. Well, I need your folks to know how that food is made. I want to see a clean restaurant, I want to see peppy people behind those registers. So it starts there. And then they get the AHA, okay, so we're not selling the food. That's the byproduct, we're selling the experience when they walk through the door. So every person that you hire, you got to teach them? How about that experience, starting with how you make your food, it's those types of things that you have to do.

Gary: 21:22

So when you do get a client like that, do you just go in straight from the ground floor, and then take a look at not only their hiring practices, but the people that are on staff and make recommendations based on that moving forward? Or do you try to systemize? What they're already doing, and then slowly turn it into the model that you suggest? I'm just wondering, from your perspective, is it like a, I don't know if anybody's seen the movie Office Space, but when they bring in consultants, and then everything changes? You know, it's kind of a comical? Yeah, so I'm wondering if it's like a situation like that. Or if it's a slow, like molding and shaping from the ground up, that's it takes place.

Tiffany: 22:00

It has to be slow and steady. That's my motto, right? It's slow and steady. Because too much change at one time can create chaos. And most times when you go into these situations, it's already a chaotic workplace. And so you want to be slow and steady with what you're trying to do. And you know, the first thing I do is, let's take a look at your staff, I work with the owners, let's do an assessment because you first need to have a business assessment. How does the business work? How do you make your money? What's your cash flow looking like? And people don't see this as being HR stuff, but it truly is. You just connect the people aspect with the business aspect. Okay, let's look at how you hire your people. I look at their job descriptions and how, you know, they're they're advertising their jobs. And I'm like, Well, this is why you can't get folks who want you know, have potential to apply for these positions. This is a bland blog job description. So let's beef it up a little bit about it right? Do you want to work on a great team, where you're, you know, working with great food, working with great people, those types of things, you're going to get a certain profile of a person to apply for that job. So dancer question slow and steady, I meet them where they're at. And we lay out the framework and different phases of how we're going to really rebuild and shift, you know, this culture to what you need it to be moving forward.

Gary: 23:22

And bringing up culture. Again, culture is one of the topics that we talk about a lot, because we are a remote agency, meaning all of our employees are in different places, we do actually have to put in effort to try to create that culture and make everybody feel like they're included involved in and out on an island just working, you know, like a contractor. Because a lot of our employers were actually contractors at one point that started to fit the culture of our company, and then kind of came together in an organic way. So yeah, when you go into these businesses, I know you just started about the shift, after the pandemic of a lot of companies turning into remote companies and people working from home. Do you have any suggestions or tips to try to, you know, improve the culture of remote businesses?

Tiffany: 24:11

Yeah, so the work that I do with organizations, I focus directly on their leadership, their people, leaders. And so I would first start saying, you know, make sure your people leaders understand why they are there. They understand the business and it starts there because they're the ones that are spending the most time with your employees. They have the greatest impact on your employees, everything it's about driving their behavior. So part of my process is a call it the four habits of effective leaders. It's emotional intelligence. It's active listening is communication, it's flexibility. That's part of the system and I tell them if you've got a leader or people manager with potential they want to learn they want to grow and you teach them those four Work basic habit that's going to cascade throughout your organization. So emotional intelligence, meaning you've got remote employees, you don't see them every day, when you do see them on the screen, you're talking to them about their families, are things going you started off that conversation. And I know it may be a very important business meeting that you gotta have. But hey, how's your daughter? I know that she was sick a couple of weeks ago. Does she make that through? She's? Is she doing okay? How are things but what's going on with the dog and the cat? Are they still not getting along? It's those small things. But you see what it made you do it made you smile. So it made you relax a little bit, right, it made you feel like a more of a human connection to your manager. And so you have to, and people think that this is so touchy feely, but it is true. The new role of people managers has shifted because of the pandemic. And so they have to be not only directing the work, but they have to be coaches to their team. And part of that is being connected to the people on the other side of that screen. And any opportunity that you get to connect with them not only about how the business is doing, but about how they are doing in regards to their performance and their career. And you tie that in to how they're they're doing from a life standpoint, that is culture, because you're sharing that information with those people and showing them that you care about them that the business we as an organization, we care about your well being, you got to come in a couple of days out of the week. But we still care enough about you didn't want to know what's going on with you. You're not in the office. It's doable, it does take time, and it does take care, but it can be done. And it starts with your people leaders.

Gary: 26:39

So adding that extra layer of connection is it is has to happen.

David: 26:44

Do you find that most leaders, whether the middle management or the head guy or gal? Are they receptive to this? Or are they like I still think of I'm old, but I think of the big boss is still the guy from Christmas vacation, right? The guy in the big desk and he's stuffy and he wears a suit all the time. And he doesn't care. It's all about the numbers. But in your experience in these companies is that more or less common? Now,

Tiffany: 27:20

with small and midsize businesses? Yeah, but small and mid sized businesses is more common. It's more common, because you talked about it earlier about budget, we got to look, hey, look, we're trying to survive, we're trying to grow. But what I tell them is if you want, do you want to survive, or do you want to grow. So if you want to survive, you can you can keep things going as they are as needed, right. But if you want to grow and compete with these larger organizations, because I want to help you take their talent, I want to I want to help you show to these employees, how we can be top tier even if we're not a multimillion dollar company just yet. If you have top tier people, you're going to get to that place because you're gonna grow. So when you talk, start talking to them from the business aspect of year you're doing okay right now, because again, we talked about cash flow and the p&l. But if you want to grow if you want to compete if you want to get more market share, that you got to learn how to connect with people, because guess what, look outside the world has changed. The workforce is shifting. And just as you shift with the market, and what your your customers looking for, and you have to do the same for your employees as well. So when you tie it to the business, and they start seeing that transformation, they began to get it but initially No way. No,

David: 28:35

it's so interesting. How leadership has changed. I mean, though phrase of it's just business. It's not personal, right? That's been around. I don't even know how long that might be in the Bible. I'm not just kidding. It's just been a long time. And that is now almost the exact opposite of what they're teaching now. It's yeah, it's business is personal. Business is relational. get touchy feely, right? Because that's the only way you're gonna get the best out of your people. If they don't think you care, then they're not gonna have any loyalty, which is an absolute pandemic, for lack of a better term. No one's loyal to their companies anymore. They used to be right. My grandfather worked for 18 T. Until the day he retired, right? 25 years, something like that. I can remember. That's what you did. You were company, man, right? That was the old line. Because the idea was, I give you my time and effort. You take care of me. And that was the agreement that we did. And so there were pensions, and there were all that stuff. And then companies kind of pulled the rug out. And they said, We're not going to do our part anymore. We're not going to take care of you. So that loyalty has died. So but now we're trying to get it again. But we're trying to now do it on like touchy feely stuff. I care about you, so stay with me. Which is it sounds really bad when I say it that way. But you want that loyalty because If you don't have it, then you cannot grow your company because your people are constantly leaving. And you

Tiffany: 30:05

can still hold people accountable. Usually, hey, at the end of the day, we're still a business, right? Yes. So you must hold your people accountable. And that person who's dead behind the calendar, not literally, but you know, just has no life in their eyes, I would I would ever say What are you doing to develop them? Have they been trained? Or are they just not the right hire. And if they're not the right hire, that's okay, let's transition them out. So they can go and live a better life, you can get the right person in. So you can run your business, you still got to run your business. And when I say caring about you cared about me is making sure that I'm in a diverse, you know, situation with other people who want to learn and grow and do their part. And that I have career development, because I'm gonna give you my best, but I expect you to do the same for me. So it doesn't mean that ping pong machines, and we got, you know, rollerskating and we go bowling. Ah, that's okay. You don't have to do that all the time, I believe in rewards. But most top performers, they want to work, they want to do great work. But they also want to be rewarded in the sense of good pay a safe work environment, and an environment where I can grow and develop my career, and then I'll stay with you. And if I don't guess what, it's okay, I'll tell other people about what great company that you are. They want to work with you. And I may come back to you later.

David: 31:28

No, you don't want to burn those bridges. Yeah,

Gary: 31:30

building that culture is definitely a good thing. Now, one thing we do ask everybody that comes on to the podcast, I know you've just started and you've only been in this for a year on your own, but still, I'm sure you have some advice. So we're going to ask for three top pieces of advice for any entrepreneur or new business getting started. Since you transition from the corporate life to going out on your own. I'm sure you get some fresh ones. So

Tiffany: 31:57

yeah, number one, I would say you have to understand the three hats we talked about earlier. And so and you have to spend time in each, you have to understand the role of the entrepreneur, that's the visionary. It's why you got to company, right, you've you've thought of a great product or service that you can take to market. There's the manager, this is the doer, this is the person that has to make time on their calendar, to use the CRM, to reach out to leads to do that component of the business, and you've got to be dedicated and disciplined in that space. And then there's the technician, this is the person that wants to do that work, right, this is the doer as well, they want to do the work and you could spend that time, but eventually, that's gonna be a lot of the responsibility that you'll start hiring for, you will be start hiring other technicians so that they can do that work very well. So understanding those three hats. The second is understanding that you are not selling the product and the service that you're providing to your customers is a commodity, what you're selling is an experience working with another business owner, sales candles, like well, what experience do you do you give to the person that these are high end expensive candles? So think of it this way? How does that person who buys your candle? How are they gonna feel right? So maybe I'm burning that candle in the morning, but I'm meditating or praying, or maybe that's my candle that I burned at night when I'm relaxing. And I'm taking a nice warm bath. And I'm saying calculon Take me away. So you see the difference. You're selling an experience to that individual. And so you got to know how to how to market that to that customer's subconscious, because they don't know that they want that candle. And you've got to find a way to sell it to them through the experience. And then the third is run your business as if it's a turn key operation. The reason you see a lot of small businesses that have failed, and yes, this is my first year in but I've worked with a lot of organizations in the past and I've seen it is that they run in chaos is that they don't have the same process that they do every time, every time, every process. They have different business units that work differently that don't communicate, so run it as if it's a turnkey business, make sure that your business is predictable. The processes are predictable, you have the right systems in place. You can quantify your business. I will say this again, because as owners, you can quantify your business, what sales where your sales coming from what market, what are the demographics, why are they buying your product, quantify all of that. So that will help you from a forecast standpoint moving forward. You need the data, and then Document Document Document have your processes documented because as you grow and you hire staff, they need to know how your business runs. And the only way to do that is to have a documented process in place. It's not fun all the time. It takes time but Once you see how everything starts to run and order, you'll be able to compete with those larger organizations that, that get this process right and do it right.

Gary: 35:10

That's good advice. A lot of the process, David made us read a book about a year ago, I don't remember the title of the book. But a lot of book was dedicated. Yeah, traction, it was dedicated to documenting and processes and then refining those. So you have like a, you know, a broad view of everything that goes on in the company. So you can take the company itself as a product and be like, This is how it works. There's no confusion. This is how it goes. And everybody knows the rolling process. So that's good advice. Now, just if anybody that is listening to this podcast wants to reach out to you and ask you about your services. The company name is Golson Consulting Group, LLC Boston Consulting Group. And the best way to reach you would be would it be through your website?

Tiffany: 35:56

Absolutely. The website, you can go through the website, you can also connect with me on LinkedIn, I've got my LinkedIn profile out there as well, Tiffany Goldstein. So reach out this talk.

Gary: 36:05

And the website is g c. G, HR management. And we'll have those links in the show notes as well.

David: 36:12

Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Tiffany, this has been a lot of fun. And I think very informative for people who are struggling in these areas. Because there's I think almost all of us are in some way, whether you admit it or not. And I think this is really great. So I appreciate your time.

Tiffany: 36:26

Absolutely. It's been a blast. I appreciate you, too. Thank you.

David: 36:30

All right, Gary, if they want to get in touch with us, how would they do that?

Gary: 36:33

If anybody wants to ask any questions or leave any comments, they can do that below this video in the comment section or they can reach out through email Hello at the big pixel dotnet. We're also available on all the social media channels, and you can connect with us there. And Tiffany just want to say it's been great talking to you wonderful meeting you and I think the services you're providing are exactly what some of these small businesses need just based on talking to other entrepreneurs in the past and yeah, it seems like the the culture growth is definitely something heading in the right direction.

Tiffany: 37:05

Thank you