Ep. 110 - Why Every Successful Business Owner Needs These Collaboration Skills

Let me hit you with some real talk - building a business is lonely as hell. But what if I told you it doesn't have to be?

Meet Tanya Fox, a powerhouse entrepreneur who started her first business before Google even existed (yeah, you read that right). She's built and sold multiple successful businesses, and today she's dropping gems about why collaboration is your secret weapon to leveling up.

In this raw, unfiltered conversation, we dive deep into:

• Why trying to do everything alone is killing your business growth
• How to handle the emotional toll of being "the boss"
• The truth about finding the right partnerships (and knowing when to let go)
• Real strategies to build a team that amplifies your success

Here's the thing - whether you're just starting out or running a million-dollar operation, this episode will change how you think about business relationships. Tanya shares stories from her 25+ years of entrepreneurship that'll hit home and give you actionable steps to stop playing small.

Ready to transform your business journey? Let's get it.

Connect with Tanya: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-fox-64b46b6a/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoxTalksBusiness/ Instagram: @foxtalksbusiness TikTok: @foxtalksbusiness

Follow her at Fox Talks Business for more no-BS business advice and real talk about entrepreneurship.

As always we ask you to comment, DM, whatever it takes to have a conversation to help you take the next step in your journey, reach out on any platform!

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DISCLOSURE: Awards and rankings by third parties are not indicative of future performance or client investment success. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All investment strategies carry profit/loss potential and cannot eliminate investment risks. Information discussed may not reflect current positions/recommendations. While believed accurate, Black Mammoth does not guarantee information accuracy. This broadcast is not a solicitation for securities transactions or personalized investment advice. Tax/estate planning information is general - consult professionals for specific situations. Full disclosures at www.blackmammoth.com.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction & Tanya's journey
• 5:10 Breaking through entrepreneurial stigmas
• 15:35 The collaboration blueprint
• 25:50 Building genuine business relationships
• 30:15 Final thoughts & action steps

Transcript

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 0:00

Welcome back to another year of No BS Wealth. Hello. We're here. And what we're talking about is collaboration with Tanya Fox with Fox Talks Business, because collaboration is key to success, both building a team for you personally, but also definitely in business. And so we really want to hit upon that earlier in this year. So that way you can work on it now and reach your goals by the end of the year. But Tanya, welcome aboard. I'm glad to have you and why don't you give us a brief background of how you became How you got to where you're at and why you're running businesses. Cause you know, it's not the easiest thing in the world.

Tanya Fox: 0:37

No. And I don't come from an entrepreneurial family at all. Like I had the one uncle who did all the crazy, get rich. There's always the one crazy schemes. Yeah. And never got rich on any of them, but he tried. So it really wasn't something my mom worked for the government. My dad was in the military. So it was very like, go to school, get a job, work that, get a pension, die. That was your path in life of what you needed to do. So I did do that path. I went to university, I got my degree in accounting and I remember still very clear, 25, 26 years later of sitting in the office the day that I was like, God, I don't want to do this for 40 years. This is, it's just not my thing. I felt very pigeonholed. I wanted to be more creative. I was working in a government job at the time, which creativity is not. And so I just, I was, young and stupid enough at the time in hindsight to go, I'm just going to drop everything and start my own business because how hard can it be? So I want to preface this by saying this was 1998. So you couldn't Google like how to start a business. I actually started my business before Google started. So it was like, trial and error, digging holes for yourself and, but I loved the ability to be able to create my own path. I loved the ability to change my mind and be like, I don't want to be this anymore. Like I can just choose to be something else. And so that is how You know, of course, when I started my first business, I did it in accounting because that's where my experience was. That's where my knowledge base was. But over the years, I started to discover that I could transfer my knowledge to do other things. So I started, diving into franchise businesses and wanted to start a retail business and really wanted to experience all of the different opportunities that were out there and then decide where do I want to land? Cause I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I haven't gotten there yet. And I'm very happy with that.

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 2:38

There's nothing wrong with that. I don't think we ever should. That's why we continue to be children. That's what we get to do.

Tanya Fox: 2:44

Exactly. Exactly. And I think, over the years in just like trying different things and expanding my knowledge base and just being also okay with going, I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to do this business anymore. It was great. I had quite a few that were successful, but I was like, it's just, I don't have a spark for it anymore. I want to try something else. And so learning to be with, okay, that people were going to be like, you can't do that, and I still hear it today. People, will say, have you are you thinking of getting a job? And I'm like, Two decades, over two decades, a quarter of a century I've been doing this. Can you stop asking me this question? But I think it's something that you just have to set in yourself as go, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I want to be an entrepreneur and I want to experience as much as I possibly can. And when it's time to move on, it's okay. I'm allowed to, no different than somebody changing a job. There's this mentality that's okay. If somebody has a dream to go bigger or do something, changing a job is fine. But doing that as an entrepreneur still has that stigma that no, you got to stick with this till the day you die. And it's just not true.

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 3:53

No, it's not. And let's be real. Everyone thinks that entrepreneurs are crazy. They don't really have a job. Like they're figuring things out. Does everyone realize that we are all in sales? Every one of us is technically an entrepreneur. When you work for someone. Yeah. You might be guaranteed a paycheck, but don't, what happens if you don't perform, you don't show up, you don't have effort. Guess what? You're fired. It there's no difference that when you're owning your own business, you still have to show up, you still have to perform, you still have to be successful. Just your paychecks coming from somewhere else. There's also about a hundred different shit ton hats we have to wear. Yes, absolutely. But besides that, it's very much the same and I think that stigma is huge in our society of where, yeah, when I work for someone I'm safe and it's guaranteed. It's not. It's not.

Tanya Fox: 4:38

And we don't have that guarantee anymore. Years ago when I first started out that was still there, but it was starting to shift a lot where people were staying with the same company for, 40, 50 years. Like they, they were starting off, in the mail room and then they worked up to CEO president. And so that was still a thing, but that shift was starting to happen. And we're not seeing that these days, the loyalty just isn't there on both sides. On employee's side and on the business owner's side. It's just, we're just not in that world anymore. Because I think people are starting to be more adventurous. They are realizing that it's okay to change. Like it's okay, I can do this differently. And so I think that's something that people just need to remember. But I think as business owners we also have to stand up and stand in ourselves. And be like, I'm not playing at this. This isn't, I'm serious about this and I am the president of a company. Make your title and stand behind it. Because I think that's the only way that people will go, okay, this isn't just, I'm not just doing this on a whim or I'm not just doing this for some extra cash. This is, I'm taking this seriously, no different than any large corporation that's out there.

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 5:50

How did you overcome the stigma and suspicion? of your female. So your job is to get a job, get married, have kids, raise the kids, retire, etc. How did you emotionally, mentally get through that stigma to walk out into this world and say, you know what? I am going to do what I want to do and I don't care that I'm supposed to follow step A through Z in the proper way.

Tanya Fox: 6:15

Yeah, it was, to be honest, it was a really difficult thing. And sometimes, now that I get older, I find it doesn't, I don't allow it to come up as much, but I remember numerous times sitting I remember once walking into a boardroom, I was doing a huge presentation, and there was this stereotypical old white guy sitting in a suit, and he said, Oh sweetie, can grab me a coffee? This is what I want in it, don't screw it up, kind of thing. And I said, Oh, okay. And I thought, there's two ways I can deal with this. And I very much, have lived my entire life by the tagline of I need to have fun and not take myself so seriously because otherwise, why am I doing this? And I thought, I'm going to go get this guy a coffee. So I did, I went, I made it exactly the way he wanted. I came back in, I put it in front of the table and then I stood up and said, thank you guys all for coming today. I'm really excited to be presenting to you. And the look on his face of shit, what did I just do? Was like, I still remember it to this day. And so I think for me, I really, took it from a humor standpoint of going, I can be that person who like yells and screams and tries to teach everybody a lesson, or I can do it in something that I feel is going to stick a little bit more. And, just also returning the question to them. As an example, oftentimes people will say to me, Is it tough for you to go? I, did speaking tours and stuff and they would be like, is it tough for you to be away from your kids so long? And I would be like, are we asking the male panelists this as well? Because it was a question that I would get and I'm thinking they're away from they have kids too. So it was really just being more aware of going. I don't want to come at this with anger because I don't feel like that helps anything, but just more. Can I bring awareness to the fact that this is a dumb question for you to be asking me. And it doesn't really relate to, to what the topic is on hand that we're supposed to be talking about. So I get that a lot, or I would get, the other typical question that I usually get asked is, is your husband threatened that, make more money, which is always a funny one to me because I'm like I don't like stab them with the money when I come home. Like it's not, what do you mean threatened? I've turned this into a knife and now I'm jabbing you with it. I'm like, no who you're in a bad relationship. There's other stuff at hand if that's what's going through. So again, it was just trying to, find the humor in it. Yeah. As also to not take it so seriously myself and realize that sometimes this isn't coming from the place of that somebody's just being ignorant or rude, that sometimes it's just a place of just not knowing. Those are questions we've constantly asked over and over again to women. So it's like saying, Hey, how are you? And not really ever listening to the answer. So I try not to take it too seriously, but sometimes you just have to stand up and be like whoa, hang on a minute. Why are you asking me this question?

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 9:05

Yeah. And I think there's the read the room type situation, right? Yeah. Being a black male in the wealth industry our numbers are lesser than women. So I get it a lot. Sometimes you just have to nip it in the butt there, depending on where it's coming from.

Tanya Fox: 9:19

Yeah.

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 9:20

I know in our industry that a lot of it's com competitiveness and they're always trying to talk down on one another, and so I'll nip it in the butt then. But if it's a generic question that or, Hey, you grew up in this community type situation yeah. Is where you you, you laughing off. But I think some of that is also a mechanism. For us mentally and physically to overcome those scenarios.

Tanya Fox: 9:42

Yeah.

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 9:43

Yes, we can use that. We can do that. We all do it. And sometimes we reflect back and said. I should have said something more yeah,

Tanya Fox: 9:49

that was a dumb question for me to ask, or why, why did I say that,

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 9:53

know, but how do you deal with the backside of that? So you go through this and it's an emotional drain, regardless of your answer. What do you do to help yourself over that emotional drain and to get back to yourself, because it takes a toll. When those keep happening, especially at conferences or something like that, it's just,

Tanya Fox: 10:10

yeah. And I would like to say that it goes away. That the older you get, it it, it disappears and it goes away, but I don't think it ever does. I think it's always there. It's still hard to this day because you're my God this is, decades. I've been dealing with this. Are we ever going to get over this? And so a lot of it is just really, I literally will stand and stare at myself in the mirror and be like, am I going to be who they think I am? Or am I going to be who I want to be? And so it's really just, Verbally, out loud, usually in a hotel room, saying to myself, Stop believing what you think they're trying to tell you. I, it does not matter what another person thinks of me or my success. Because it doesn't truly, at the end of the day, affect them. Am I going to allow this to continue to affect me? Because they're going on with their life. They're not remembering anything that's happened, right? But if I harbor it, then I'm taking on, all of this pain, and they're living like a happy life, because it doesn't mean anything to him. So it's really re centering myself and going, Okay, who is it that I want to be? What do I want to stand for myself? And who is it that I know that I'm deep down? Because that's non negotiable for me. And I get it because I'm a very strong female. And I will say it like it is. So I get a lot of times that people Sorry, bad language. Okay. You're good. Okay.

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 11:34

Podcast is called No Bullshit.

Tanya Fox: 11:36

I thought so, but, like I will be like, standing in there and being like, Okay, who the fuck are you? Who is it that you want to be? And, I will get those people that go, Wow, she just walked into this room and she just took over. What a bitch. And so for the longest time I would be like, Oh, maybe I really am being mean. And I'm like, I'm not going to take that on. I don't know. If you have a problem with the fact that I say stuff as it is. Your feelings are not my responsibility. And I have to tell myself that over and over again, because otherwise I censor myself and I go I'm not going to say what I really think in this meeting or with this client because I don't want to offend them. Or I just do not have time in my life or in my business anymore to cater to what everybody is going to get offended to. And it's just been a lot easier and a lot happier. Now I'm not, saying go guns blazing and insulting people and knocking people down. But when you're just saying it as it is. That's okay. And there will always be people who take offense to that. I understand that. And I respect that too. If somebody's you are way too intense for me, that's okay. I can leave, I can walk away from the conversation. I don't have a problem with that anymore. But I have to constantly remind myself not to, okay, are, am I censoring myself? Am I not speaking my true self because I'm trying to, be what everybody else wants me to be. And I still go through it. Sometimes I'll go through my social media feed and I'll be like, wow, I was really tame and not, that is not, it's what I think, but it's not truly what I think. Because again, we all get stuck in that game of, am I being too offensive? Is, and it's hard when you get those keyboard warriors who come at you and are like, this is ridiculous. Why would you do this? And, so I think it's just. Constantly looking at yourself in the mirror and reminding yourself of who it is that you want to be, how you want to feel and just holding onto that and allowing everybody else to feel however they want about you. What other people think of you is never any of your business.

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 13:37

I literally just got an email before we recorded this about like I sent an email 24 hours ago. You're no wonder you're so bad at business because your attention to detail is so poor. Four hours ago. Yeah. Awesome. Yeah. Just waiting on you, hun.

Tanya Fox: 13:53

Yeah. I love those ones. And I reply to those a lot. So anybody who like spams or sends stuff out usually gets a pretty nasty email, but I'm like, let's play, let's riddle this out. Let me tell you why this shit's not working. Exactly. Yeah. Awesome. Yeah, so it's always, and there is a give and take with stuff, but for the most part, it has definitely been less exhausting the older I've gotten and the more experience I've gotten in business to let that go of trying to be everything to everybody and just being like, if you don't like me, it's okay. You don't have to, we don't have to be friends. I don't have to be friends with everybody. I am nice and kind to everybody, but we don't have to be friends.

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 14:33

No, and we don't need everyone as a client either. Everyone think about that. They're around your area, let alone the globe. There is millions, hundreds of millions, billions of people that you don't have to have everyone. No one, everyone has to like you. No one has to buy all your stuff.

Tanya Fox: 14:47

And that's a hard thing for. That's a hard thing for people. Like, when I first started in business especially doing bookkeeping, I took everybody, right? Because we do that, right? We just need money. Take everybody. But what I always say to people is, make sure you're sitting down and analyzing each client you have. What is it? What is it that I really like about this person? Or what is it that's really annoying me about this person? And then dig into those. Why do I like this? And why is this annoying me? Because then you can start creating who it is that you truly love to work with. But sometimes you have to go through some bad clients to go, okay, this is why I don't take these people. And I just had one last week where I took one and I was like, I've got to let this client go because I fell into an old pattern. And I was like, Oh, now I remember why, because I, this is a person who feels and thinks that they need somebody who's going to be like a drill sergeant, was how they came at me. I need a coach who's going to be like, like a drill sergeant. And I was like, the red flags were waving there. I ignored them. And I just went back to her and I said, look I don't think that this is going to be healthy for you. And, referred her to somebody else that I think would be a little bit more, fluffy for her that would help her a lot better. Now, I have the capacity to do that because I'm not like, I need this person to eat. So we do all have to go through that struggle, but just remembering to use it and really analyze who do, why do I like this or why do I hate this or why does this annoy me all of the time? Because sometimes it annoys us because we're doing it. Like I remember the first client was like, Oh my God, this person constantly messaged me and like, where's this. And when I realized I hated that because I felt micromanaged, I realized the problem was, is I was over promising all the time. And that's what I was really mad at the end. I was saying. Absolutely. I can get that to you in a couple of days. And they were like, Hey, where is this? Because a couple of days had passed. And so when I went, it's me. Hi, I'm the problem. I'm the problem. It was, then all of a sudden this client turned into a fantastic client. Cause I realized, okay, so maybe all I need to do is double whatever I say. So I started doing that for a little bit. And then I realized, Hey, this is a great client to have because they keep me on my toes. But I have to make sure that I can't do stuff in two days, right? We forget how long it takes us to do stuff. So I would say four days, it's going to take me four days to do this. And they were always okay with it. So sometimes it is that reflection. They're not a bad client. I was being, I was, it was bad on my end. I was the one who was being bad. So sometimes there's that unfortunate gut check that we always have to take.

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 17:26

There is let's transition to the meat, the collaboration part. You had said something in that, in the last little conversation of. They didn't fit you. So you were able to send them or partner with someone to hand them off to someone that would fit them. One, I've been trying to push that in my industry so much because not everyone should have the same type of financial planner. It's just impossible thing. I believe everyone should have one. Absolutely. But I believe that certain people fit different people. It's a vibe check, right? If I vibe with you, let's roll. If not. I think someone else is going to vibe with you. Let's start with the basics of what collaboration is. Go back to what, when you first started and going through all this. How did collaboration come about for you?

Tanya Fox: 18:12

So initially it was out of a desperate need. I didn't know what I was doing at first. All I knew is that my company on paper looked phenomenal. But in the bank, not so much because I was going through that weird phase where I was growing really fast. But as fast as I was growing and as big as the company was getting, I was also putting more money out because of course, then we were bringing new staff in, like we had, an intake of five brand new staff. That's a lot of money that kind of goes out. So I was cash poor at the time, but needed to do advertising because I needed clients. to get these, to be able to pay for all these people I brought in and to give them work. So I was in this weird, that we all get into, right? I was in this weird, where I was like, I need to spend money, but I don't have the money to spend right now. And I'm trying not to like, go into massive amounts of debt. And so at first it was just going to my local newspaper, because again, remember Google wasn't a thing anymore. Like social media was not out.

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 19:14

Okay.

Tanya Fox: 19:14

And going to the newspaper and being like, I need help. And at first I thought I was just going to get a job with them to bring in some extra cash. And so I started doing a collaboration with them afterwards and said, Hey, I'll do this work for you if you run an ad for me. And then I started learning about the newspaper business and getting into it. And then I was like, I got to get myself out of the situation now. Cause I got stuck into this collaboration, but they loved me. And I was like no. I don't want to stay here forever. So I started to build people that were in the same service industry as me, but had different skill sets than I did. And so that I could take myself out of the situation and plop somebody back in who, who would want that. And like you said, it also came that I was getting clients who would come to me, but they weren't as willing to be as daring as I wanted to be in business. They wanted to play it a little bit safe. They wanted to, play exactly by all of the rules. And then some. And so I, it wasn't that I, didn't think they were a good person, didn't think they were going to do good in business, but they needed somebody who was going to handle them differently than what I was going to. But what I discovered is if I could have that sort of role, now I'm dating myself again, if I could have that Rolodex of people, if I could have that list, then that would make me the go to person. Because I started to realize that even though I was sending people away, they were still coming to me first because they were like, if she doesn't know, she'll tell us who. And so I started playing with it even when I opened my retail store, if I didn't have an item, I was like constantly going around and finding who had what. And then I'd be like, Oh, I don't have it, but you know what? Let me call Jane at her store and see if she has an, I'll get her to put it on hold for you. And so by doing that, people would be like, that's weird that you're sending people away. But that same customer would always come back and be like, Hey, I want to do this now, and I still get it to this day that people will call me and be like, past clients that I had ever, I'm looking for somebody, to help me with social media right now. Who do you have? So that connection stayed there. And then at some point they might be ready to turn into a client for you. for me. So it just helped me to, start to build that list by just finding other people that were in my industry that I could be like, you know what, I think you'd be a better fit with, Steve, or I think you'd be, a better fit with this, with Rachel over here. I don't do that, but I know somebody who does. I think that is the easiest way to also let a client go and not say, I don't want to touch you with a 10 foot pole, because you can't really say that, right? But to go, I think this person has skill sets that you really need that I can't offer you. Then clients are like, that's fantastic, so much. That's so generous. As opposed to going, what do you mean there's something wrong with me? What do you mean you don't want to work with me? When you're just like, I can't. It's not you, it's me.

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 22:02

Yeah.

Tanya Fox: 22:03

I just, and I still use that to this day, right? I just, I think there's somebody else who has a skill set that you need right now. And then, let's circle back, to maybe working together. But I think you really need this. And sometimes in my head, I'm like, I don't want to deal with you. You're just not, there's too much hand holding. for me or too much. Like I have to tell you, you're pretty a lot. And I use it as an excuse. Like I just don't have time to sit there and be like, you're pretty, you got this, you can do this. I really am that drill sergeant. He was like, okay, have you cried enough? Let's move on. It's time. I'm over this now.

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 22:34

A common theme that's been across my podcast since the beginning going now four years is majority of my guests and the ones that are successful, the ones that are talking exactly what you're talking is because you care more about the people than you do the money.

Tanya Fox: 22:47

Yes.

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 22:49

And that's what's powerful with any collaboration partnership or business in general. If you care more about people and you focus on them and helping them get to where they want to go in that relationship and just being a human, the money will come. That's going to happen because you're doing things that are great and are good for the betterment of them. What, and I think, and I would love to get a psychologist on to go through like why I see that more from women and minorities than I do just the, old white dudes. Because it's very interesting. However, with that in mind, the next step to this is, yeah, that's great. But like, how do I start a collaboration? What do I look for? What do I ask? Like, how does this even go? Cause. Yeah, you're not going to go back to the paper and do it anymore. What does that look like

Tanya Fox: 23:35

today? Today, it is a lot easier to do it these days because we just have access to frankly, a larger circle of people like the entire world. Anybody who has an internet connection, we have access to. So what I usually tell people is if you're like, Man, I'm so tired of doing this alone. That's usually when people come to me, right? They're like, I just, I feel like it's just, I'm always in this struggle by myself and it's just me. Everything is on me. Then collaboration is going to help you get out of that. So the first thing to do is sit down and just do a simple list of what is it that you're really good at and everything. If you are fantastic at vacuuming carpets and making lines show up. Write that down on the list. It doesn't mean you're going to go and do it for somebody, but you just never know. And so write down everything that you're good at and all of the stuff you hate doing. So as an example, for me, coming up with ideas, or like new events or whatever is super easy for me. That, that always goes on my list. Filing, although I am very good at it and very fast at it. Thank you to working in the government where I used to have to do that. I do not like doing it, so I'm good at it, but I don't want to do it for anybody. But this gives you an idea. Then I look at that list of stuff. I'm like, I don't like this. I don't like doing this or I'm no good at doing this. And then I try to find somebody who will fit that role. So who else maybe has that on their list that they're like, Oh my God, I love filing. That's the person I want to collaborate with. Oftentimes we try to collaborate with somebody who likes the same stuff as we do, but we don't do that in relationships either. We want somebody who has different skills than us. So it's, make that list for yourself and then search for somebody who likes doing that. Ask the question simply, if we use the filing as an example, I'm looking for somebody who's going to come into my house and, and file paperwork for me a couple of times a month do you know anybody who might be interested in that? And just put feelers out because you, I've had single moms come in, do filing and office work. And, they're there for a short time, but they've been an at home mom for a really long time. They're a great worker. They just need to get some experience so they can start working again. And would I have ever thought that'd be where I went to, to look for somebody on a mummy's page? No, but it worked and it was really successful for, quite a few years. I still do it to this day. So I think it's just really sitting there and looking who is directly around you. Who is it that you talk all to all of the time? Is there another business owner or a friend that you have that's an entrepreneur as well that you run ideas back and forth on? Think of something that you can do together. With collaboration, the thing that I hope everybody hears, you do not have to figure out the next cure for, making a million dollars. It can be as simple as having somebody come and clean your house and you do the books for them. Or it can be something as small as writing an article together because, maybe they have more connections. doesn't have to be this huge, phenomenal, big, giant thing. Start really small, get your feet a little wet, see what it's like to work with other people, and then you can grow from there. And for those people who are like, I'm not creative, I can't think of that. I give you the challenge to walk around your house and look for things that you are using right now just in your home that aren't what they're supposed to be. So the biggest example is do you have a cup, a drinking glass that maybe you have pens in? That's thinking outside of the box. So we all do it. We just don't think we do because we're like, no, it looks like a pen cup holder. No, it's for drinking, not for holding pens. We do this all of the time, or even think back to your college days. Like I remember using a fitted sheet as a curtain, a milk crate as a coffee table. Oh my God, if you could find a spool from the big wires oh my God, you had a dining room table, a coffee table. Like it was all those things that at the time, It was out of necessity, but I realize now, God, I used to think outside of the box a lot. And just once you start to realize it, then all of a sudden it becomes easier because then you start picking it out everywhere, right? You start seeing it more.

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 27:50

The underlying tone of what you just said is something we all harp on and continue to harp on. You cannot do life alone. No. You can't do business. No one successful, rich, wealthy, whatever terms you want to use person that's done it all themselves. It's just not possible. It is impossible. Do this in a way correctly to be successful if you do it alone, whether that's, you're collabing with people and working back and forth your own team, both personally and professionally or actual partnerships, legitimate partnerships. You have to have this team. You have to have this ability to collab or be creative to be where you want to go. And I'm going to say it again, no wealthy person has done it themselves. Don't care what they say or what you hear on the internet. It is impossible to have a team doing something. They're not doing everything. So yeah, I think through that, when you listen to that last little clip from Tonya do I have a team or am I really trying to do every piece by myself?

Tanya Fox: 28:53

And asking for help is the hardest thing. Like I still choke on it, but you need to do it. It's one of those necessities. And I think oftentimes we don't do that, especially with our own teams. And I make a point that I will sit down and go. Who's got ideas? And it's, I get that we have the bigger picture. So sometimes we're like, yeah, but I got 18 ideas from my team and they're not going to work because of blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Or we've already tried it or whatever. That's not the point. The point is the buy in. And sometimes, what I do is I will say, are you still happy doing what you're doing? What would you love to do? And I've moved people around in my team because I was like, Oh my God, I didn't know that you really liked graphic design. Why are you the receptionist? Let's move you over. I never would have known that though. Had I not asked or had I not said, so and so's gone. I really need help with this. Is there anybody here? That can maybe create a poster for me. And it was her who raised her hand. She's I actually really love doing that stuff. And I was like, Oh my God, her work was phenomenal. But again, had I not asked for help, had I just done what sometimes I usually do is go, I'll just do it myself. It's easier. You forget that there's other people that want to be creative. There's other people that want to help. And that's how I've kept my staff as long as I have. I think because I don't just go no. I'm going to tell you what to do. You do it. And then you go home. I go, what do you want to do today? What kind of fun we can have. It's a hard mindset to get out of, because again, we're used to, that warehouse mentality, right? You walk in, you do you type what you're supposed to type, you get up and you leave. So we have to, recreate that with ourselves and, with our teammates. And sometimes that also means going, it's time for you to move on. I do that with teammates and I do that with clients. And I think that's the most exciting thing. And I hope that people start doing that. If a client outgrows me, that's amazing. And I get really excited. I'll send them a cake and I'll be like, Oh my God, we're breaking up. It's so exciting. Like I write it on the cake. Cause I'm like, this is amazing. And I always get confusion, right? I don't. Understand? And I'm like, but I've taken you as far as I can take you. Like, how amazing is that? I can't wait to watch and see what you do. Now, before I, I didn't used to do that. Before I would cry in the closet and be like, Oh my God, this is horrible. I can't have them. Mindset is such a huge thing of going, Oh, this is amazing. This is so exciting to, to watch you grow up and leave the house, leave the nest. It's time for you to fly on your own. And those clients, I tell you, those employees and those clients that I've done that with and been excited about, them going on to bigger and better, I would say, I would be confident in saying, Almost every single one of them, like high, like 98 percent of them have come back and worked with me in some capacity. So whether that be referring me or coming back as a client again, or sending somebody, sending another employee to me or saying, this is a great place to work. It is Always been that, you can call it karma. You can call it whatever you want. It is always come back around. It's just having the patience as an entrepreneur to wait for the circle to happen. And sometimes that's hard, right? Cause like you said, we get stuck in. No, yeah, but my bills are circling faster than karma.

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 32:10

Exactly. As we get to the end of the episode, like always, we always ask our guests, what is one tip item? Concept advice that you would give our listeners that they can now take from this episode and start that first step into their journey or help.

Tanya Fox: 32:29

I would say there's. There's two sort of quotes, and I don't know who they're from, but I regurgitate them all the time. I have to find out who they're from. But the first is that there will always be somebody who cannot see your worth. Never let that person be you. And again, that goes back to what I was saying about talking to yourself in the mirror. And whenever you're doing anything, whether that's, with your team, with yourself, with a client, judge people for how good their good ideas are. Not how bad the bad ones are that's been monumental for me to understand Everybody's allowed to have a bad day and if I can just concentrate on the good stuff It just makes it so so much better and we just have to have fun with it because why would we do it? If we're not having fun

Stoy Hall, CFP®: 33:17

Everyone listening we always end this way, please like share comment subscribe Whatever you want to do not for the algorithm because we don't give a shit about that It's because we want to be able to reach out and have a communication and conversation with you. So DM us. I know Tanya's down for conversation. I'm down for conversation. She has her collabs and network. I have mine. We're here to help you. You're not alone where you're at in your life right now. There is a way out, a way down your path. You just might not see it. We can. So let us help you reach out, have a conversation. I appreciate you. In this brand new year you being the first guest episode, I appreciate everything that you do. And I can't wait for us to collab down the road.

Tanya Fox: 33:59

I'm excited.

Black Mammoth: 34:14

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