Nurturing Emotional Intelligence in Business and Family

Paul Stonick, a seasoned executive and father of two teenagers, discusses the intersection of business and parenting in this episode of the Bringing Up Business podcast, hosted by Kaila Sachse. 

Paul also recaps the challenges of balancing a demanding career with family life, the importance of empathy in leadership, and the evolution of workplace culture regarding parental leave. He shares insights from his journey in starting his consultancy, KICK, and emphasizes the need for creativity and emotional intelligence in both business and parenting. The conversation highlights the significance of nurturing relationships, setting boundaries, and the importance of active listening in both personal and professional settings.

More About Paul Stonick

Paul is a seasoned executive leader with a proven track record of driving transformative business outcomes through strategy and Design Thinking. With over two decades of “tra-digital” experience in design, product development, and a strong entrepreneurial mindset focused on outcomes over outputs, Paul has a deep understanding of how to build empowered teams, leverage human-centered principles, and deliver the business value of design. Paul is a sought-after advisor, mentor, and speaker, regularly featured on industry podcasts where he brings depth and authenticity to discussions on design, leadership, team culture and innovation.

Paul also coaches and mentors the next generation of design leaders in his work with Amazing Design People (adplist.org). ADPList inspires powerful conversations and collaborations among designers worldwide so together we can change the world with creativity. He is also a founding cohort member of Punks & Pinstripes -- a private network of transformation executives. Find us at punksandpinstripes.com.

Paul currently resides in Atlanta, GA, has been married for 29 years and is the father of two teenagers. 

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Transcript

Kaila Sachse (00:03.476)
Hello and welcome to the Bringing Up Business podcast, where we dive into the worlds of business and parenting. I am your host, Kayla Sashay, toddler mom and owner of a creative agency called Umari Digital. Today's guest, Paul Stonick, is the father of two teenagers and has been married for 29 years. That's impressive. He is a sought after advisor, mentor and speaker, regularly featured on industry podcasts.

Paul Stonick | KICK (00:25.41)
Thank you.

Kaila Sachse (00:33.322)
where he brings depth and authenticity to discussions on design, leadership, team culture, and innovation. Paul is a seasoned executive leader with a proven track record of driving transformative business outcomes through strategy and design thinking over two decades of tra-digital experience in design and product development.

He has a strong entrepreneurial mindset focused on outcomes over outputs and a deep understanding of how to build empowered teams, leverage human-centered principles, and deliver the business value of design. Paul also coaches and mentors the next generation of design leaders in his work with an organization called Amazing Design People. ADPList inspires

powerful conversations and collaborations among designers worldwide so that together we can change the world with creativity. He is also, on top of everything else, he is also a founding cohort member of Punks and Pinstripes, a private network of transformation executives. Paul, wow, we have so much to chat about. Welcome to the show.

Paul Stonick | KICK (01:55.138)
Thank you, thank you very much Kayla for having me tonight. And wow, I want to be that guy. That was some introduction. That was amazing.

Kaila Sachse (02:00.783)
Yeah, I mean that's all you. You did that. You did all of that work to get up to this point today. I'm just so excited for all the gems that you're going to be sharing with people who are looking to get into business and then also people who are trying to plan out their family or maybe they already have kids and they're just trying to figure out how to make it all work. I know you are the go-to guy. So please, let's start us off. How did your...

and your parenting journey come together. So which came first for you?

Paul Stonick | KICK (02:34.99)
My career came first. had kids a little bit later in life. So my first was born at when I was 37. And so that was 2007. And I was really in my early mid-level career at that time working for Bloomingdale's, part of a startup team of five people that was building Bloomingdale's e-commerce site and experience. And at that time, things were a little bit different. So trying to get paternity leave was nearly impossible. I basically had to burn through all of my vacation.

And I had a manager, unfortunately, who wasn't very lenient when it came to that type of work. So I had to burn all my vacation and figure out what I was going to do. so paternity leave wasn't really a thing back then. So I took two weeks off, which is really a nanosecond in the lifetime of being with your child. And it's unfortunate because I was commuting to the city back and forth for two hours each way from New Jersey to New York City.

Kaila Sachse (03:24.2)
Right.

Paul Stonick | KICK (03:32.694)
And what I tell everybody is that that first year is actually a blur. I really don't remember a whole lot from that first year because I was working so much. I was commuting to the city, trying to take care of a baby, staying up late. There wasn't a whole lot of sleep. My son wasn't a great sleeper at all and still isn't a great sleeper at 17 years old. And the running joke is that I actually haven't slept in 17 years, which coincidentally is the same age as my son.

Kaila Sachse (03:47.579)
Mm.

Kaila Sachse (03:56.456)
Hahaha

Paul Stonick | KICK (03:58.388)
So it was really a balancing act of making sure I was delivering on my work, but also I was being there for my family. And the first year I don't really remember.

Kaila Sachse (04:04.818)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, my goodness. I can only imagine. you only got to take two weeks off and that was because of the vacation time. There was zero paternity leave. What was, if you can remember back when, what was maternity leave like for your wife?

Paul Stonick | KICK (04:27.432)
Well, she was stay at home mom, right? So for her, that was, actually worked out for us. Fortunately, we were in a position where she was able to stay home and take care of the kids. And she essentially retired from personal training shortly after the kids were born. She's gone back into it recently in terms of aqua fitness and personal training as well. But we were in a position where she was able to stay home with our son in the early years and our daughter when she followed in 2010.

Kaila Sachse (04:55.065)
Okay, okay. So thankfully she didn't have that pressure to get back to work. But wow, that's still really, really hard and I empathize. I can only imagine how much weight she was carrying after you had to go back to work because you had to. You didn't have that choice with your career at that point. And then I can only imagine for you, you're commuting four hours a day back and forth while...

while working and then coming home to a young family and a wife who all need you. So that's a tremendous load to carry.

Paul Stonick | KICK (05:33.55)
Yeah, agreed. back in 2007, things in communication were a lot different. Mobile phones weren't where they are today. So there was a little bit of that disconnect as well. So we were able to communicate with each other, obviously, but it wasn't like it is today. So it was much different. Fortunately, I had a great group of guys that I rode the train with that were all roughly my age, all had kids of various ages and levels.

Kaila Sachse (05:40.817)
Right.

Paul Stonick | KICK (05:57.762)
we were able to connect that way. So I think that kept me sane in a lot of ways in terms of bonding with these guys and making the time go quick. And then I would say history repeated itself several years later while I was working at Avon and I had my daughter Emma in 2010, same thing, paternity leave wasn't a thing. And I had to burn through vacation, take two weeks off and she was actually born early only by a couple of weeks, but she was cooked and ready to come out and.

So she was delivered a couple of weeks early, so I had to adjust things and scramble around. Again, it wasn't as easy and seamless as it is today. But again, paternity leave didn't exist. So fortunately, companies have become more progressive in that area, and now you're seeing men being able to take off three months, in some cases, six months as well too. So I am glad a lot of that has really advanced. You could probably say with the advance of some of the fang companies, more progressive design-led companies as well too.

That's now more accepted in the workspace as well. And that's so important as you think about the 21st century now that you have to lead with empathy. Empathy is the skill of the 21st century. And if you're not leading with empathy, especially when kids are born and parents, that's a big problem when you think about retention and you think about growth and opportunity. That's so important right now.

Kaila Sachse (07:15.59)
Right. Right. Gosh, there's so much to chew on. I'm so glad that yes, businesses are, and policy in general is headed in the right direction and it has become more widely acceptable. We have to acknowledge that there's still a very long way to go and there are many, especially the smaller businesses who don't have to comply with certain policies.

Some policies just don't exist in certain areas. So we do still have a lot of growth to do as a society in supporting young parents. But yes, like we definitely are headed in the right direction and thank goodness, because that's everything. Especially with the rise of, I don't know if you've seen this, heard about this, but the rise of postpartum depression in both moms and dads. so that's something that, and that's just one disorder that can happen.

Paul Stonick | KICK (07:42.744)
Sure.

Kaila Sachse (08:12.633)
due to the immense pressures of pregnancy and postpartum. it's just, we have to support our younger parents.

Paul Stonick | KICK (08:20.462)
A thousand percent and that's the way I've been coaching my teens for the last 15, 18 years is look, take the time you need, be with your families because you're never going to get it back. That time is you're never going to get it back and I learned the hard way. So I make sure I enforce that with my teams like go dark. need to go dark. Take care of your kids when you need to take care of your kids. Take the time off that you've earned and the work will get done because the work is never going to end. The work will never stop.

Kaila Sachse (08:45.712)
Yeah. Yeah.

Paul Stonick | KICK (08:47.298)
but trust your team to do what we need to do. You go take care of what's more important, which is your family and your health.

Kaila Sachse (08:52.441)
Yes, that's so beautiful. That's a perfect, so tell us about the start of KICK and what that was like. You were a dad at that point. How old were your kids when you started KICK?

Paul Stonick | KICK (09:05.678)
Yeah, so Kik is really not that old. Kik is about eight months, so it's still a newborn in a lot of ways, and it's kicking and screaming and figuring itself out, but it was really after 30 years in Fortune 500s, gritty startups, senior executive design roles. It came out of frustration, where I really got tired of legacy thinking, toxic leadership, poor culture. I was like, look, I'm at an age right now, like I said earlier, I had my kids later in life.

Kaila Sachse (09:09.38)
wow, yeah.

Paul Stonick | KICK (09:34.382)
At 55, salary, age, and experience are all liabilities. So I need to go out and do something to protect myself and make a better life for myself. And that's how Kik was born. And Kik's mission is to ignite creative culture. So it started in October 2024, which was a terrible time to start a business. You're going right into the holiday season and you're going right into an election season. So everything is a 2025 problem. The good news is that it allowed me to stand up my brand, architecture awareness, and really

Kaila Sachse (09:53.73)
Right?

Paul Stonick | KICK (10:01.752)
think about what my unique selling proposition was going to be. So almost took a design sabbatical to figure out what Kik was going to, it's going to be. And now I'm still refining that eight months later and saying, okay, these are the things that Kik is really good at. And these are the things we should be focusing on, which is design strategy, fractional leadership at a C-suite level, AI literacy, brand strategy. That's the type of work we're doing. So really excited about it. And I think it's got a great shot.

Kaila Sachse (10:04.826)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (10:25.423)
Yeah.

Paul Stonick | KICK (10:29.498)
And I see a lot of my peers doing the same thing that are about the same age as me or had the same career trajectory as me. They're going out and doing the same thing. They're a lot happier. They've got their own hours. They control their destiny and they're making a lot more money.

Kaila Sachse (10:43.045)
That is so beautiful. So at this point, you've had eight months to refine your USP. What is it looking like today? Your unique selling point. What is that looking like today?

Paul Stonick | KICK (10:54.562)
Yeah, so again, our mission is to unlock teams creativity. We dare your creativity to stand out, but our value proposition is that we unlock creativity through design and co-collaboration. You can solve anything through design. It's just really understanding the problem to be solved. So the worst thing about design thinking is that the word design is in the title. So when you bring it to a strategic level, that's where you really start unlocking creativity, bringing teams together and...

through those methodologies I was talking about earlier, that's where you can really start teams to think, where you get companies to think differently about what they're doing and solving problems. We delivered our first project back in March and it was probably some of the best work I've done in 20 years in terms of delivering a platform that really creates a safe space for people to have great conversation about public discourse through art, wellness, health, social impact, social justice. I mean, it was an absolutely wonderful project.

And so that was really meaningful. So for me, if we can keep doing work like that, and there's a couple other things in the fire that I'm really excited about that I can't talk about that kick, like I said, kicks got a really good shot and I'm proud of everything that we've done in the last eight months. It's been very liberating. That's the word I've used ever since I opened up the business back in October. When I went to go register the company with the state of Georgia, the first thing I thought was liberation.

And that's what rock and roll is all about. Rock and roll is all about liberation and that's the theme that runs through Kit Consultancy in my lifetime.

Kaila Sachse (12:10.339)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (12:17.438)
man, that is a common word. It's really a synonym for what I typically hear. Freedom, flexibility, the ability to just live a life of meaning that actually fits in alignment with the entrepreneur. Because I hear a lot of people who have felt stuck and then they turn to creating their own path via their business and sometimes through their families and that's where they find

their sense of purpose. that's, I'm so excited for you to have created that for yourself. And that's the key word, create, right? It didn't happen to you. You had to actively go out and make it happen.

Paul Stonick | KICK (13:01.262)
Agreed, you know, I had to go out on my own and do it. If I don't do this now, I'm never going to do it. So I had to take the risk. I had to take the chance. And I'm not in a position to go on forever, right? So it's got a very short runway to succeed. And I'm proud of everything that we've done so far. There's more to do. And that's where basically being the Chief Everything Officer is part of what's being a kick as well. It's that I'm responsible for business development, intake, problem solving, et cetera, execution.

I basically have an Avengers model where I bring in people based upon the project and scope and say, okay, I need you, you, and you to come in and work on this particular thing that we're building for this company. So it's a lot of responsibility, but like I said, I feel liberated in doing it. And it's probably some of the best work I've done in years.

Kaila Sachse (13:47.564)
That's so cool. Generally speaking, who are your typical clients and what are the typical problems that you're solving?

Paul Stonick | KICK (13:55.918)
Yeah, so it's really director level and above. So I'm targeting people that are a director, SVP, EVP, C-suite, et cetera. Really people that are involved in design, product engineering, marketing, operations, supply chain. In a lot of ways, our company is agnostic in who we work with because like I said earlier, you can solve anything through design. It's finding the right person that can actually make a decision, that is involved in change, that can create policy.

that can make a difference. That's the person I want to talk to that can write the check and say, yes, we're going to move forward in terms of working with you to help solve this particular problem. And really it's a number of things that we're solving, like anywhere from social justice to brand architecture, to brand strategy, to team optimization and teams working together. So those are really the top things I'm being asked about. And in addition to AI literacy, which is really caught on as something that KIT can really provide in a very special way because

I'm working with top educators from local schools in college in Georgia that are able to come through and deliver this particular course in a way that's not just some Joe Schmill coming off the street and say, hey, I'm an AI expert. You're getting it from qualified educators who have been teaching students about AI and the future of AI in a very authentic and meaningful way. So the running joke for me is that you know what the difference is between a snowboarder and a snowboarder instructor? About six weeks. It's about six weeks.

Kaila Sachse (15:15.425)
Right.

Paul Stonick | KICK (15:19.246)
And that's what you're seeing now. You're seeing people come out of the woodwork and say, I'm an AI expert. And so I have a strong point of view on AI. I know enough to be dangerous with AI. I've used it in my workflow for the last two years, but I'm not at a point where I should be educating people about it as well too. So that's where I've got professionals coming in and teaching the course. So we're starting to see a lot of that traction as well about companies coming to us about running a workshop, whether it's a one day, two day or four day customized course.

about upskilling teens because that's about retention and that's about evolution.

Kaila Sachse (15:50.081)
So tell us about the importance of that retention with our teams. And so, you on a basic level, I could tell you, but I'm curious to hear Paul's point of view. Why should we care so much about our teams within our businesses?

Paul Stonick | KICK (16:04.908)
Yeah, it goes back to what I was saying earlier about empathy. you simply put, you need to care. You need to care about your people, especially now, especially post pandemic, somebody like myself who went through burnout in January, 2022. What teams want now, what people want right now is trust, empowerment and recognition. Those are the three things that really came out of COVID where remote teams need that type of leadership.

Because now, even with hybrid or back to office, people do not care about cool furniture, dog beds, ping pong tables, BS energy drinks in your refrigerator, free snacks and chefs. That stuff is 10 years ago. Nobody cares about that. Right now it's about trust, recognition, and empowerment. Those are the three things you need to hit on as a leader, and you need to care about your people. Then you're leading. That will retain your people, and then they got skin in the game. They know they got a leader that will go to bat for them.

And they know they've got a leader that will defend them, insulate them, and provide them what they need in a psychologically safe space.

Kaila Sachse (17:07.65)
Right, right. You know, it's so easy to go out and buy the ping pong table and buy the fresh coat of paint for the office and make it look cool and all that. But at the end of the day, if you're not taking care of your team, what's the incentive for them to stick around? Because now the workforce is understanding, hey, I am the one building the business. I am the human behind the business. We cannot do business. We cannot do good work without good humans. So we have to take care of our team.

Paul Stonick | KICK (17:36.928)
Exactly. Yeah. I mean, you could look at that both ways as humans in the loop from an AI perspective, you still need it and you need humans in the loop to take care of their people for retention, for upskilling, for growth, and making sure that the work that they do maps back to the bigger picture and the strategy, especially from a Gen Z mindset as well too. What you're doing better have some sort of value and values of the company as well. Better stand for something and mean something. Otherwise people vote with their feet and they'll go work somewhere else.

Kaila Sachse (17:38.006)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (18:04.705)
So what would you suggest for the business leader who is so used to going out and spending the money and expecting that, spending the money on the office and making that look and feel great when they don't understand the soft skills and behind maintaining a team? what would your suggestion be for that leader who needs to learn those soft skills?

Paul Stonick | KICK (18:28.546)
I think you better book some time with me for some coaching, executive coaching. Simply put, you're talking to the wrong customer and you're solving the wrong problem. That's all nice to have. It's nice to be in a nice place to work and have great furniture. Yes, okay. But you really need to lean into the soft skills and have the emotional intelligence and EQ to read the room, understand what people are feeling and have that response to people when they need you. Because in a lot of ways,

Kaila Sachse (18:31.232)
Yeah. Yeah.

Paul Stonick | KICK (18:55.694)
80 % of the time as a manager, it's behavioral stuff that you're dealing with. So you gotta play part coach, part mentor, part interventionist, part psychologist, and be an active listener. Listen, that is so important when it comes to leadership. It's probably one of the top leadership skills, in addition to trust and emotional intelligence, you have to be able to listen to your team.

Kaila Sachse (19:15.169)
that active listening is so vital not just in our workplaces which I'm so glad that you brought that up because we do need that in our workspaces but also within our families too you know our kids when our kids come to us and they bring they bring an issue or maybe they're not bringing issue

With active listening, feel like we're able to better read between the lines and meet our kids where they're at. Do you have any suggestions for how to best nourish our children and their EQs?

Paul Stonick | KICK (19:49.474)
I think it's the same principle. It's listening and talking to them, but not using business mode. And so it's a different audience you're talking to. It's a different type of EQ that you have to tap into. And it's been very hard for me sometimes to separate that problem solving business mode with my father mode as well too, and saying, look, my son is not a direct report. My daughter is not a direct report. Yeah, there are going to be coaching and learning and teaching moments with your kids, of course.

Kaila Sachse (20:07.091)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (20:11.154)
you

Paul Stonick | KICK (20:16.174)
but you gotta come in at the right altitude and get down to their level and say, okay, this is what I'm trying to say. As long as it's a learning moment and you're showing them empathy, you're showing them love and care and support and you got their back, right? That they trust you as well, that's so important. So there is some connected tissue between the two, but the voice is different in how you approach that.

Kaila Sachse (20:35.995)
Interesting, And I imagine the voice changes too within your marriage. That's how you've been able to do 29 years of marriage. mean, that active listening component, that EQ, the way that you're speaking to your wife, I assume that changes too.

Paul Stonick | KICK (20:54.828)
Yeah, well, it's active listening and we joke around that I stopped listening to my wife 25 years ago and that's why we get along so well, right? But you have to put the time and the work in. Marriage is a lot of work and every marriage has its ups and downs as well too. And we've been through the wringer and actually we've talked about going out and doing a TED Talk ourselves that we've had every curve ball thrown at us possible for a married couple for 29 years and we've hit every single one.

Kaila Sachse (21:00.263)
no.

Paul Stonick | KICK (21:23.586)
We got a great batting average, but we know how to manage the curve balls. And I think those are the things you have that you're unprepared for. But if you've got that strong bond, if you can rely, you have that trust, you have that relationship. All of that should be coming to the surface. And frankly, my wife has been my rock and my pillar through all of this in terms of kit consultancy, coming out, building the business, being supportive. She's amazing. yeah, you got to put the time and put the work in and don't let the romance die.

Kaila Sachse (21:50.846)
Yeah, oh, that's beautiful. Yeah, yeah, all the things, all the things. I firmly believe that when we nourish, there's so many components of our life. I look at our life as like a wheel and you have your relationships, you have your living situation, you have your work. There's a whole wheel. But when you...

You want to make sure that every spoke to that wheel is taken care of and polished nicely. It's not rusting away so that you can continue to spin that wheel of your life forward. And so when we take care of our marriage and we take care of our children and our relationships with our children, we take care of our work. For us on this podcast, it looks like our businesses, we can feel fulfilled and whole.

Paul Stonick | KICK (22:21.197)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (22:39.998)
And I don't know about you, but when one of those spokes is starting to get rusty, I definitely feel it in the other aspects of my life as well.

Paul Stonick | KICK (22:50.186)
agreed, know, and marriage, parenthood, it's kind of like sailing the ocean without a map. You know, so with two teenagers now, more curveballs being thrown at you, the pressures of growing up now, so connected, the stuff that we're seeing and the stuff that we hear would make your head explode. And it's amazing that our kids are as square as they are in terms of how they operate, what they're doing and thinking about their futures.

Kaila Sachse (23:01.459)
Yeah.

Paul Stonick | KICK (23:20.12)
There's a lot of pressure and nonsense going on in school, unfortunately, and you have to be prepared and balanced and have those conversations with your kids and be transparent and be present. And it took me a long time to figure out how to separate work from home because work was part of my being and my essence and kind of defined me a lot of ways as well. And it took me a long time to figure out how to separate.

unplug, not take the work home because like I said earlier the work never ends, it never stops. So you got to put a hard line to sand when you get home and say okay I'm unplugging, I'm putting my phone down, I'm putting on Do Not Disturb and you got to lock in and put the time in.

Kaila Sachse (24:01.15)
So challenging. It's definitely something that I'm learning too because I'm a lot like you. I have created a large chunk of my identity with the work that I do because I don't know if that's workaholism or if it's just me genuinely loving what I do. I mean, it's to point where I get to my desk, I start working and I get lost in it. And then I come out the other side, it's time for me to go into mom mode. I'm like,

Whoa, time just flew by. But yeah, putting the phone down and all the other distractions, closing the door to my home office and just saying, okay, that's on the other side now. Now it's time to be a mom.

Paul Stonick | KICK (24:34.691)
Yeah.

Paul Stonick | KICK (24:42.894)
Yeah, I mean, it took a long time to figure that out. And it's also part imposter syndrome as well. I mean, there's five different flavors of imposter syndrome. And the one that I identify with the most is the super person, where basically I think downtime is a waste of time. yeah, so it took me a long time to get away from that and saying, okay, I need to stop thinking like that and really lock in and figure out what I'm doing here. I even got rid of my Apple watch because I couldn't take all the distractions and all the interruptions and disruptions. I went back to analog, I'm wearing a swatch watch.

know, putting my, customizing my do not disturb on my iPhone to make sure that only the people I want to hear from are going to come through. And that's it. So there are, there are barriers, there are boundaries you can put up. But I would say that's probably the most operative word that I've learned in the last several years is just create your boundaries. So that way you can hone in on your time. Cause time is the biggest luxury right now out of everything.

Kaila Sachse (25:32.701)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That reminds me of you mentioning earlier that you only have so much runway left with with kick and Your understanding. Okay, you're 55 now you you want to achieve certain goals With within your lifetime for this business What what are some dreams that you have for the business and well, let's start right there. What are some dreams you have for the business?

Paul Stonick | KICK (25:58.562)
First of all, it gets sustainable, right? So that way that I've got projects in a pipeline book for the next two years. So I don't have to worry about anything, but it gets to the point where the work we're doing is so good and so innovative that eventually I sell the company and we're doing something so unique that nobody else is doing that another agency comes in and decides to buy us and put it into another group that's larger. That would be a wonderful dream. Those are the things I'm thinking about right now. It's like, cause I'm thinking about 10 years from now when I ride off into the sunset.

Kaila Sachse (26:04.273)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Kaila Sachse (26:21.243)
Yeah.

Paul Stonick | KICK (26:28.362)
what does that look like and how do I get there? So if I get bought out, if I get merged, if I partner up, that's wonderful. Yeah, that's a great thing. But I also have to take care of my mind, body, and health at the same time because that was the big difference I learned. Being laid off twice in my career, getting fired once in my career as well too, you gotta take your mind, body, and health seriously because...

those boundaries will start to collapse on you if you don't set them up. So coming out of my last job and going out on my own, I made sure to set up, I'm working basically 10 to 5.30, I go to the gym in the morning, get my workout in, make sure I eat, I take breaks during the day, I have lunch with my wife, and I just figure out those right times or go pick up the kids from school. So working from home has its benefits, but you gotta create the boundaries, because I can still go 12, 13, 14 hours, no problem, in front of the computer.

But that's not healthy, right? Especially now post pandemic.

Kaila Sachse (27:23.204)
Right. Yeah, yeah. I can see a major benefit for you having the shorter runway because now you are making decisions that are sustainable for yourself. It sounds like you're taking care of your physical and your mental well-being, but also you're making decisions for the company with 10-year goal in mind, right? Whereas I imagine if you had started the business

20-30 years ago, maybe there wouldn't have been the same priorities. What advice would you give for somebody who has a longer runway?

Paul Stonick | KICK (28:05.336)
Somebody with a longer runway, I would say, set up what do your goals look like over the next one, three, five, and 10 years? What does that roadmap look like for you? What are those major milestones? What are you trying to achieve? And how are you going to get there? So if I put my product hat on, what is the value of the things you're doing right now? What is the prioritization? And how are you going to get to that 10-year milestone? And what are the processes to do it, the people that you need, the infrastructure?

So give yourself a roadmap, give yourself a timeline, give yourself really good, crisp goals, right? That really go through that smart framework, make sure they're specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-based. Say, okay, I'm actually hitting these goals over the course and I'm actually hitting my numbers. The longest sort of it is keep yourself accountable that you're making good in terms of what you wanna do in your vision.

Kaila Sachse (28:58.477)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I love that. I love that. I have to say personally for myself the R in smart always gets me because I just feel like I can handle everything right here right now and I forget hey I've got a little tiny kid who's relying on me and I have a shortened work day and and that's helped a lot with structuring my daily and also restructuring the goals that I set for myself. But yeah, those smart goals those could be really helpful. Do you have any other advice for a

Paul Stonick | KICK (29:24.483)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (29:27.106)
either a business leader who is looking to get into, who's looking to start their family, or vice versa, somebody who has little kids or older kids and who wants to start a business.

Paul Stonick | KICK (29:39.414)
Right, if you're looking to start a business and you have a family, I think you have to really crunch the numbers. Say, is this actually feasible? Is it realistic? Can I stand it up? And what does my runway look like? So again, set up a crisp timeline and say, okay, based upon what I know from my financials and what I need to get the business started and what my ROI is gonna look like and how am gonna get there, you gotta crunch those numbers. So you gotta do some math.

early on to say, okay, I can actually afford this for the next couple months and these are the amount of projects I want to get. This is my target in terms of revenue. And then say, okay, can I actually get there? So do the math first. And fortunately I was able, it was in a position where it's like, okay, I've got the math, I've got the numbers, I've got some savings, I can figure it out. Now I'm on the other side of that. was like, okay, now I got to fill the top of the funnel in terms of those leads to convert. So that way I am taken care of for the next two years in terms of projects.

So yeah, make sure you do the math before you go. again, take the jump, take the leap, take the risk. And that was the thing I learned the most coming out of my previous job, going on a sabbatical, spending some time with a wonderful design leader, friend of mine in Pittsburgh. And that was really, that was the coaching. It was like, just jump, just do it. What are you waiting for? And I was like, you're right, you're absolutely right.

Kaila Sachse (30:53.466)
Mmm.

Kaila Sachse (30:57.492)
man, what a good friend. What a good friend for being able to tell you that sage and very true advice because yeah, the more that you think about it you try to plan, plan, plan, plan, plan, the next thing you know, five years have passed and you haven't done anything with the idea.

Paul Stonick | KICK (30:59.918)
Paul Stonick | KICK (31:13.3)
Exactly. You put your design and product hat on for a second and just say, iterate as we go. And I got my MVP out pretty quickly, stood the website up quickly, prioritized what I need to focus on, got a board of directors, if you will, in terms of my close friends, like my friend in Pittsburgh and some others to give me some coaching and advice and say, these are the things you need to focus on. You don't need to worry about an intake form. Just get your MVP out and get it stood up. So allow people to give you feedback, truth talk, coaching, keep you honest and accountable.

Kaila Sachse (31:17.945)
Yeah.

Paul Stonick | KICK (31:42.51)
and then you iterate as you go. And that's what I've been doing. So starting kind of here with kick, kick is now kind of down into here, turns out this is what our offerings are, this is our value proposition, and this is how we work. And so it's a tighter, leaner kick, right, but now it's all about filling the funnel.

Kaila Sachse (31:58.177)
I dig it, I dig it. It's like the, it's at the ready, ready aim fire. It's a ready fire aim approach. You're just like, let's just go.

Paul Stonick | KICK (32:07.468)
Yeah, don't let great get in the way of good, right? Stand up your business, get it out there. You'll refine it as you go. You'll make some mistakes and hit some speed bumps. It's never all rainbows and unicorns, but take the leap, but iterate, iterate, iterate.

Kaila Sachse (32:10.136)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (32:21.689)
love it. I love it. Paul, is there anything else you want to share with us?

Paul Stonick | KICK (32:27.756)
Yeah, if you want to connect with me, find me on LinkedIn, Paul Stonick. That's basically where I live in terms of social media. You can follow me on Instagram at Paul Stonick. If you're in the Atlanta area, check me out on Tuesday, June 10th. I'll be making an appearance on live TV with ATLI, which is a morning news magazine show. So you can catch me there. And yeah, thank you for the time today. Thank you for the opportunity. And I love this conversation. Definitely one of the most authentic conversations I've had in a long time on a podcast about

what it really means in terms of business and being a parent. This is terrific.

Kaila Sachse (33:01.816)
Good, thank you. I'm so glad that you see the value in this. I'm just so excited about it. And thank you so much for your time here today. I really appreciate you.

Paul Stonick | KICK (33:10.776)
Thank you, Kayla.