Breaking Through Biz

On today’s podcast we spoke to Christen Griffin. Christen is the founder and CEO of two very new companies that only started earlier this year. One is called Ethos Streaming, and the other is Juvenile Minds Entertainment. Both are platforms that provide young, underrepresented filmmakers with a place to showcase films that address many issues such as poverty, black on black crime, and mental health. According to Christen, many small businesses are lacking in the social media department. In order to receive customers, you have to be known and social media can help with that. He created a screen writing program that provides tiers for each step in filmmaking from writing the script itself all the way to producing the film. The user can then learn and use each tier to produce a finished product to express their creativity and message.

Christen’s advice for small and newly starting businesses is to not be afraid to utilize up and coming employees such as college students who might be learning the trade and have some knowledge to offer. Hiring professionals in the beginning stages of your business can be too costly and can in turn hurt the business instead of helping it thrive.

Christen also says that when a business uses social media to tell their story make sure they think about their audience and gear it towards them. Depending on the product or service they are trying to sell will determine the kind of content they put into their social media message.

Key Takeaways:

“It’s all about presence”. – Christen Griffin

Contact Information:

Instgram-@Juvminds_ent and @Therealethoscg

Juvminds_ent

[email protected]

On today’s podcast we spoke to Danyal Timmermann. Danyal is the owner, founder, and lead instructor at Boom Pilates in Creve Coeur. She is also the Director of Internal Support at Timmermann Group, a marketing company founded by her husband Rob. Timmermann Group has been implementing EOS now for a couple of years, so Danyal has also been able to carry some of those aspects over to Boom as well.

Danyal went to college and majored in Fashion. This led her into retailing, which she did for several companies over the course of 17 years. Branding was her background and she enjoyed it. When her husband started Timmermann Group in 2003 they used her corporate background in talent and recruitment to really get the business up and running.

Her journey with Pilates began in 2012 after a C-section delivery of her son left her without any abdominal control. After taking a Pilates class she immediately felt her core strengthen and began taking classes regularly. She then became certified and taught at various studios throughout the St. Louis area as well as held classes in the basement of their home. When that became too much, she knew she needed a studio and in 2019 Boom Pilates was born.

These days Danyal has a staff of eleven who all help delegate different aspects of the studio so she can also devote time to Timmermann Group and to her family life. She plans her weeks out, sometimes six weeks in advance. Having structure and routine is something she loves and by doing so it brings balance into her very busy life.

Key Takeaways:

“Manifesting is a powerful resource for our mind.” – Danyal Timmermann

“Structure gives you freedom.” – Tabetha Sheaver

Contact Information:

Visit their website at www.boompilateslife.com

In today’s podcast we spoke with Tom Ruwitch. Tom is the founder of Story Power Marketing where he helps clients create interesting and captivating content so to attract potential customers into purchasing their services. In 2001 he founded an email service provider company that had software that created, delivered, and attracted campaigns. He expanded the business into a full-service marketing agency by the name of MarketVolt because he saw too many companies using the same boring content to deliver their services without getting results. Tom wanted to provide better, more exciting alternatives to market their services in order to help them change that.

In 2019 he sold MarketVolt and doing what he had already been doing he started Story Power Marketing in January of 2020. Continuing with his mission to help companies tell their stories through interesting and captivating marketing, Tom created a concept he calls “The Plan Framework”. The word “plan” is a mnemonic device that means promise, lesson, anecdote, and next step. Each of these concepts is incorporated into every email, webpage, or piece of content that Tom creates for a company. He believes that there are two things you should always have in your content. One is to always entertain, and the other is to sell. Both are equally important. Tom’s interesting and innovative way to market a company has made Story Power Marketing the success it is today.

Key Takeaways:

“We began to help our clients, before I sold the company, to power up their creative content, to transform their content from prospect repelling to client attracting.” – Tom Ruwitch

“Copy is not written. Copy is assembled.” – Eugene Schwartz

Contact Information:

Storypowermarketing.com

Get a free download of his e book at this link: https://get.storypowermarketing.com/tabetha

On today’s podcast we spoke with Jenn Whitmer. Jenn is a sought-after keynote speaker and executive coach. She does team building and leadership development. She also has her own podcast called Joyosity. She is lovingly referred to as “The Chief Joymaker”.

When Jenn is working with a company and the people of that company, she prefers to use a personality framework assessment called the Enneagram. It is built a little differently because it helps us see deeper. It answers the question “why”. What are the motivations behind how people see the world. It explains the components of their lives, how they think, feel, and act. It honors the complexity of people which then shows them how they can do things differently.

One component she addresses with companies is called toxic positivity. It is something that is not helpful in a company and can cause damage if it is unaddressed. Toxic positivity is when people ignore the bad by saying everything is going to be fine. They tend to push things aside and by not trying to resolve the issue creates negativity in the work environment.

Jenn addresses three other kinds of toxicity when coaching a company. One is called misalignment. This is where the question of do the words match the actions comes into play. The values of the company need to match their actions. Another form of negativity is called triangulated communication. We call this gossip or venting, but instead of addressing the person there’s an issue with this negative conversation behind the scenes only creates more animosity and nothing gets resolved. The third one is very intuitive. It’s more of a feeling that something is off. It can be an uncomfortable feeling in our stomachs or maybe a tingling at the back of our neck.

Values are so important because they are going to come out whether a company wants them to or not, so companies need to be intentional. Your values determine how you choose to behave and how you choose to behave determines your results.

Key Takeaways:

“And toxic positivity ignores the grief and just tries to be almost like cotton candy which eventually makes you sick.” – Jenn Whitmer

“That misalignment of values obviously can just be super detrimental to any organization.” – Tabetha Sheaver

Contact Information:

[email protected]

On today’s podcast we spoke with Jenn Whitmer. Jenn is a sought-after keynote speaker and executive coach. She does team building and leadership development. She also has her own podcast called Joyosity. She is lovingly referred to as “The Chief Joymaker”.

When Jenn is working with a company and the people of that company, she prefers to use a personality framework assessment called the Enneagram. It is built a little differently because it helps us see deeper. It answers the question “why”. What are the motivations behind how people see the world. It explains the components of their lives, how they think, feel, and act. It honors the complexity of people which then shows them how they can do things differently.

One component she addresses with companies is called toxic positivity. It is something that is not helpful in a company and can cause damage if it is unaddressed. Toxic positivity is when people ignore the bad by saying everything is going to be fine. They tend to push things aside and by not trying to resolve the issue creates negativity in the work environment.

Jenn addresses three other kinds of toxicity when coaching a company. One is called misalignment. This is where the question of do the words match the actions comes into play. The values of the company need to match their actions. Another form of negativity is called triangulated communication. We call this gossip or venting, but instead of addressing the person there’s an issue with this negative conversation behind the scenes only creates more animosity and nothing gets resolved. The third one is very intuitive. It’s more of a feeling that something is off. It can be an uncomfortable feeling in our stomachs or maybe a tingling at the back of our neck.

Values are so important because they are going to come out whether a company wants them to or not, so companies need to be intentional. Your values determine how you choose to behave and how you choose to behave determines your results.

Key Takeaways:

“And toxic positivity ignores the grief and just tries to be almost like cotton candy which eventually makes you sick.” – Jenn Whitmer

“That misalignment of values obviously can just be super detrimental to any organization.” – Tabetha Sheaver

Contact Information:

[email protected]

In today’s podcast we spoke to Marc Metz. Marc is the owner of Optimus Sales Group which is powered by Sales Xceleration. They are a company that helps small to medium-sized businesses with their sales growth and accountability. Marc is also a founding member of a group called Inner Circle.

In his 35 years of sales experience, Marc has owned and sold a company and worked for several engineering businesses building their sales processes and teams. Once the company’s sales were up and running Marc found that he wanted to move on and do it elsewhere. In 2016 Marc realized he wanted to help companies not have to go through everything he did and that’s when he discovered Sales Xceleration and joined them in 2017.

There are several challenges owners face when hiring. Typically, they try finding someone that reminds them of themselves or someone that they like. Instead, Marc says they need to find someone who is very good at sales and then hire technical people to help back them up. There are assessments out there, including one on Marc’s website, that will help with recruiting very qualified salespeople.

Marc also stresses the importance of reaching customers. Not only do you need a good sales team you also need to have good marketing. Both play their parts in driving up business, but at the same time there needs to be a good blend of the two. Marketing and sales need to be on the same page in order to generate customers, which is a very important part of the whole process.

Key Takeaways:

“If everything’s in alignment the customers get a good feeling about you.” – Marc Metz

“I heard the most simplified process I’ve ever heard for sales so….pain, power, vision, value, and close.” -Tabetha Sheaver

Contact Info

In today’s podcast we spoke to Adrian Bracy. Adrian spent half of her career as a senior financial executive in the NFL. Today she heads up David Stewart’s Family Office. She is most passionate about empowering women through coaching in both business and personal aspects. She is a speaker and an author. In 2018 Adrian wanted to retire as CEO from the YWCA where she had been for 12 years. She knew she wanted to do something different and writing a book and becoming a leadership coach interested her. She also wanted to do public speaking and having a book would be a great avenue for that. In 2020 she wrote Halftime, Learning to Pivot as a Leader and Identify Your Next Step. She used the halftime reference for her title because of all her years in the NFL. It initially speaks about making changes and looking at different paths throughout your career. She also highlights the 3 P’s: passion, purpose, and potential. Having these three aspects in alignment and their importance.

Adrian sees talent as the greatest challenge business owners are facing these days. Some are just hiring people, but they are not really fit for the team. She suggests business owners should be a part of a professional group. One that has others that might not necessarily be in their industry, but one where they can still encourage, learn, and network from one another.

These days Adrian has found harmony working at the David Stewart Family Office where she is able to enhance and inspire the lives of women and young girls through her true passion of being a coach.

Key Takeaways:

“Hire slow, but fire fast when it’s not the right team.” – Adrian Bracy

“It was all for a purpose, it was all for a reason and I wouldn’t be who I am now, and I think it makes me a better coach because I can be more empathetic, and I can understand things that people are going through.” – Tabetha Sheaver

Contact Information:

Adrianbracy.com [email protected]

In today’s podcast we spoke to Chris Fox and Matt Carlson. They are the owners of Fox Home Innovations based out of Manhattan, Kansas. The business specializes in design, remodeling, and new construction. Chris and Matt met at K State while attending college. Chris started by doing small handyman jobs for people in the area. As time went on the jobs became bigger and not being a fan of heights, he brought Matt on, who at the time was a firefighter, to help with those type of projects. After that, because of their similar thinking and collaboration their friendship grew into a professional relationship as well. That was over 15 years ago and that is when Fox Home Innovations became a business.

Early in the business Chris was taking on everything in the business, and then Matt began helping as their responsibilities grew with the business. This is when they realized the need for structure in order to form leadership roles and positions with titles became necessary in order to guide the company. When they came across EOS and Traction, they knew that was what they needed. During the process, both fell into their roles naturally without much thought. Chris, being the natural salesperson, became the Visionary and Matt as the Integrator.

Their relationship both as friends and as business partners has had its ups and downs. Both realized this early on and learned that together they have a good balance and that their trust in one another is most important. Not all integrator and visionary relationships are business partners and bridging that gap can be difficult. Luckily for Chris and Matt, having that and learning what works for the two of them has made their company strong and successful.

Key Takeaways:

“Before we even knew what those terms were we used to call ourselves the gas pedal and the brake.”-Matt Carlson

“I think it’s important to find someone that can challenge you. With trust brings conflict, and conflict creates results.” -Chris Fox

Contact Information:

Foxhomeinnovations.com

Also, on Facebook and Instagram

In today’s podcast we spoke to Debbie Portell Morris. She is the owner of Integrity Training Systems which focuses on personal training and nutrition. She started the company over ten and a half years ago. Debbie thought her path after college was to become a financial planner. Working long hours, she came home one evening and passed out in her garage. She was taken to a hospital and spent the next two years and twenty-two different doctors later to come up with the diagnosis of an autoimmune disease. She had signs that her health was declining but ignored them believing it was the hard work she was putting into her job. Debbie then took it upon herself to do an elimination diet where she would try different foods to see which ones made her feel okay and those that didn’t. From there she really began studying nutrition, which landed her where she is today.

In addition to owning Integrity, Debbie and her husband, John, of ten years also own Sophie’s Bakery. When they first got together his daughter was a year and a half old. By the time she was three she had chronic allergies, eczema, and other gut issues that pediatricians could not explain, and by the time she was five it turned excessive. This is when Debbie started changing her food. She removed all dairy and gluten which seemed to help. Not wanting Sophie to miss out on treats at school she began baking and sharing her treats with people at the gym. The demand for her baked goods became too much for her to do on her days off so she turned it into a delivery or pickup bakery business.

Being in the fitness field for over twenty-five years Debbie’s advice to anyone is to get up and move even if it’s ten minutes here and there. Take time to breathe through stretching or a few yoga moves. Hydrate and balance your food and most importantly make sure you rest. All of these things in combination can help you lead a healthy and happy life.

Key Takeaways

“The food, I think, is the catalyst to the change in the beginning. So if you can put the emphasis on the quality nutrition first, you will supply yourself with the desire and with the energy that you need to make a commitment to more movement.”- Debbie Portell Morris

“If we really look at the caring matrix we have to take care of ourselves first and then our employees and our families and then we can go change the community and then we can go change the world.”-Tabetha Sheaver

Contact Information

Integritytrainingsystems.com

636-299-2208

Sophiesbakery.com

In today’s podcast we spoke to Lisa Nichols. Lisa is the CEO of Technology Partners which she cofounded with her husband, Greg, who is the President and COO of the company. Technology Partners is a certified women business enterprise that provides IT staffing and solutions to companies all over the United States. Lisa is also a blogger, speaker, and a podcast host of “Something Extra”.

Both Lisa and her husband started out in the corporate world with companies such as McDonnell Douglas, Edward Jones, and Master Card. They did that for ten years. Lisa had the accounting/financial side where Greg had the technology background, and with that they started Technology Partners in 1994. They started small and scaled very slowly, but steadily.

Around 2006 they opened five offices across the U.S because they saw their competition doing this. Realizing the St. Louis office was the only one that was sustainable on its own they closed all the others and directed all their focus and expertise on it.

According to Lisa there has never been so much data as there is today, so you need a data strategy plan. This plan will help with collecting the data which then needs to be turned into information to give you an insight into your business.

Key Takeaways

“One of the challenges for me is to be able to scale back and say no, let’s focus on what we’re really good at.”- Lisa Nichols

“The less is more, pick one thing, become experts in that area.”- Tabetha Sheaver

“Don’t go and try to be like everyone else.”- Lisa Nichols

Contact Info

Technologypartners.net

[email protected]