Engineer Your Success

Welcome to Engineer Your Success Podcast with Dr. James Bryant.  Karen Morgan, PE is the Owner, Lead Strategist, and Content Creator at DOTomation Consulting. Karen spent the first half of her 20+ yr engineering career as a project engineer and project manager on rail and roadway design projects. In the second half of her career, she works as a professional marketer for engineering firms. In 2016 she started her own engineering marketing firm. At DOTomation, their goal is to help engineering firms grow their business through on-call proposal coordination, website, and social media marketing, and training is done for you by successful, experienced engineering technical and marketing professionals.    [00:00 - 07:33] Let’s Welcome Karen Morgan! Karen Morgan is an engineer and farmer who also owns a marketing company, DOTomations. Karen's journey from an engineer to marketer was unexpected and she found it to be a more natural fit than her previous career path. Karen transitioned from project management to marketing when she became exposed to proposals for the first time and found that the market spoke right -  her clients were small to medium engineering firms that were looking for help with high-quality product proposals.   [07:33 - 15:10] Tips for Writing Proposals That Wins! The challenges that marketing departments face are universal. Technical professionals often struggle with writing and need training or guidance to be able to do so effectively. The solution is to provide value to the community and focus on what the client wants rather than trying to sell them.   [15:10 - 22:48] How to be a successful business owner in the marketing space Karen coins Karen Donald Mason “Staying in front of your customers” By doing this you are not just providing helpful information and solutions, but also being available to help when needed. Being a person of integrity is key when it comes to marketing proposals, as it can help build trust and credibility. Creating a proposal schedule that works for you is important, and being able to stick to it is key to success. [22:48 - 25:14] Closing Segment Follow Karen  links below Parting Notes   Resources Mentioned:  How Good Humans Sell: The Proven Path to B2B Sales Success You can learn more about Karen Morgan by connecting with her on LinkedIn or by visiting www.DOTomation.com   Sponsors:   Banowetz Marketing: Growing a business is hard. Banowetz Marketing provides an action plan and expert help so your family business can thrive. BanowetzMarketing.com/James Coupon Code: JAMES to get 3 FREE hours of logo design or redesign work with the purchase of any other product. If this content impacts you, please subscribe for more access to the empowering conversations from me and guests working to help you engineer your success! Use this link to drop a question or a topic that you would like to see covered on a future episode: Questions or topic suggestions. Let’s connect! Find me on my LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. I’d love to hear from you. You have the strength of a hero within you. Check out my website https://betteryou4u.com/ and learn how to unlock your potential and achieve success both in business and in life.   Important Resources to Note:   Click here https://sleekbio.com/jbryant for important resources mentioned on this podcast Tweetable Quotes:   “You're investing in the community you're providing value and when a person has a problem that you're uniquely positioned to solve. You're gonna be top of mind.” Dr. James Bryant   “When you say that this schedule works for you, then stick with it. If it doesn't then just be a person of integrity and be able to say, gosh, I know that this is supposed to fit on my schedule right now and it doesn't. So let me try to find somebody else for you that I think can fill that gap. If you can consistently be that person that can be a straight shooter.” - Karen Morgan

 

Welcome to Engineer Your Success Podcast with Dr. James Bryant.  Karen Morgan, PE is the Owner, Lead Strategist, and Content Creator at DOTomation Consulting. Karen spent the first half of her 20+ yr engineering career as a project engineer and project manager on rail and roadway design projects. In the second half of her career, she works as a professional marketer for engineering firms. In 2016 she started her own engineering marketing firm. At DOTomation, their goal is to help engineering firms grow their business through on-call proposal coordination, website, and social media marketing, and training is done for you by successful, experienced engineering technical and marketing professionals. 

 

[00:00 - 07:33] Let’s Welcome Karen Morgan!

• Karen Morgan is an engineer and farmer who also owns a marketing company, DOTomations.
• Karen's journey from an engineer to marketer was unexpected and she found it to be a more natural fit than her previous career path.
• Karen transitioned from project management to marketing when she became exposed to proposals for the first time and found that the market spoke right - 
• her clients were small to medium engineering firms that were looking for help with high-quality product proposals.

 

[07:33 - 15:10] Tips for Writing Proposals That Wins!

• The challenges that marketing departments face are universal.
• Technical professionals often struggle with writing and need training or guidance to be able to do so effectively.
• The solution is to provide value to the community and focus on what the client wants rather than trying to sell them.

 

[15:10 - 22:48] How to be a successful business owner in the marketing space

• Karen coins Karen Donald Mason “Staying in front of your customers”
  By doing this you are not just providing helpful information and solutions, but also being available to help when needed.
• Being a person of integrity is key when it comes to marketing proposals, as it can help build trust and credibility.
• Creating a proposal schedule that works for you is important, and being able to stick to it is key to success.

[22:48 - 25:14] Closing Segment

• Follow Karen
• •  links below
• Parting Notes

 

Resources Mentioned: 

How Good Humans Sell: The Proven Path to B2B Sales Success

You can learn more about Karen Morgan by connecting with her on LinkedIn or by visiting www.DOTomation.com

 

Sponsors:

 

Banowetz Marketing: Growing a business is hard. Banowetz Marketing provides an action plan and expert help so your family business can thrive.

BanowetzMarketing.com/James

Coupon Code: JAMES to get 3 FREE hours of logo design or redesign work with the purchase of any other product.

If this content impacts you, please subscribe for more access to the empowering conversations from me and guests working to help you engineer your success!

Use this link to drop a question or a topic that you would like to see covered on a future episode: Questions or topic suggestions.

Let’s connect! Find me on my LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. I’d love to hear from you.

You have the strength of a hero within you. Check out my website https://betteryou4u.com/ and learn how to unlock your potential and achieve success both in business and in life.

 

Important Resources to Note:

 

• Click here https://sleekbio.com/jbryant for important resources mentioned on this podcast

Tweetable Quotes:

 

“You're investing in the community you're providing value and when a person has a problem that you're uniquely positioned to solve. You're gonna be top of mind.” Dr. James Bryant

 

“When you say that this schedule works for you, then stick with it. If it doesn't then just be a person of integrity and be able to say, gosh, I know that this is supposed to fit on my schedule right now and it doesn't. So let me try to find somebody else for you that I think can fill that gap. If you can consistently be that person that can be a straight shooter.” - Karen Morgan

Welcome to Engineer Your Success Podcast with Dr. James Bryant.  Today’s episode talks about Marketing and Messaging and how to clarify your message to the point where it can grab the attention of your audience. Dr. James also shares their Success on Ramp session for tonight, and invites you to join future Ramp events! And how this helps you be prepared and precise in marketing your product to your customers.  [00:30 - 07:31] How to Clarify Your Message to Capture Attention The Success on-ramp event is a complimentary event where like-minded people can achieve their goals. This week's episode is focused on marketing and messaging and how to concisely communicate the value proposition or problem to the audience. The next few week's episodes feature interviews with three business owners in the marketing space. Such as Karen Morgan, Kate DiLeo, Sarah Banowetz The goal of this episode is to help individuals succeed in business and life by learning to tell their stories or talk about their products in a way that grabs attention. [07:32 - 14:44] Marketing materials that focus on the customer's problem instead of the product's Dr. James shares how he enters the marketing space. A few years ago, Dr. James, went through some training to get a business coach certification. As part of that certification, one of the things that we went through was building, a storied brand marketing framework. This framework is built around inviting your customers into a story where your customer is the hero. Your company is the guide that comes alongside the hero and helps them.  [14:45 - 22:05] The 60 Second Solution to Being Memorable Dr. James attended the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials Committee on Maintenance. At this annual meeting, there are representatives from across the country who come to discuss highway maintenance. The vendors and sponsors are given time to talk about their company to the whole group. One company nailed it by using their time to describe exactly who they were, what they provided, and why you needed to use their product. Giving you an idea of their solution as they addressed the problem and the value that you received with their product. [22:06 – 24:57] Closing Segment Parting Notes Follow us! Links Below Sponsors: Banowetz Marketing: Growing a business is hard. Banowetz Marketing provides an action plan and expert help so your family business can thrive. BanowetzMarketing.com/James Coupon Code: JAMES to get 3 FREE hours of logo design or redesign work with the purchase of any other product. If this content impacts you, please subscribe for more access to the empowering conversations from me and guests working to help you engineer your success! Use this link to drop a question or a topic that you would like to see covered on a future episode: Questions or topic suggestions. Let’s connect! Find me on my LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. I’d love to hear from you. You have the strength of a hero within you. Check out my website https://betteryou4u.com/ and learn how to unlock your potential and achieve success both in business and in life. Important Resources to Note: Click here https://sleekbio.com/jbryant for important resources mentioned on this podcast Tweetable Quotes: “It's not just about your product, but it's about your customer and the issues that your customer face and the customer's view of your product.” - Dr. James Bryant

Welcome to Engineer Your Success Podcast with Dr. James Bryant.  Today’s episode talks about Marketing and Messaging and how to clarify your message to the point where it can grab the attention of your audience. Dr. James also shares their Success on Ramp session for tonight, and invites you to join future Ramp events! And how this helps you be prepared and precise in marketing your product to your customers. 

[00:30 - 07:31] How to Clarify Your Message to Capture Attention

• The Success on-ramp event is a complimentary event where like-minded people can achieve their goals.
• This week's episode is focused on marketing and messaging and how to concisely communicate the value proposition or problem to the audience.
• The next few week's episodes feature interviews with three business owners in the marketing space.

Such as Karen Morgan, Kate DiLeo, Sarah Banowetz

• The goal of this episode is to help individuals succeed in business and life by learning to tell their stories or talk about their products in a way that grabs attention.

[07:32 - 14:44] Marketing materials that focus on the customer's problem instead of the product's

• Dr. James shares how he enters the marketing space.
• A few years ago, Dr. James, went through some training to get a business coach certification.
• As part of that certification, one of the things that we went through was building, a storied brand marketing framework.
• This framework is built around inviting your customers into a story where your customer is the hero.
• Your company is the guide that comes alongside the hero and helps them. 

[14:45 - 22:05] The 60 Second Solution to Being Memorable

• Dr. James attended the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials Committee on Maintenance. At this annual meeting, there are representatives from across the country who come to discuss highway maintenance.
• The vendors and sponsors are given time to talk about their company to the whole group.
• One company nailed it by using their time to describe exactly who they were, what they provided, and why you needed to use their product.
• Giving you an idea of their solution as they addressed the problem and the value that you received with their product.

[22:06 – 24:57] Closing Segment

• Parting Notes
• Follow us!
• Links Below

Sponsors:

Banowetz Marketing: Growing a business is hard. Banowetz Marketing provides an action plan and expert help so your family business can thrive.

BanowetzMarketing.com/James

Coupon Code: JAMES to get 3 FREE hours of logo design or redesign work with the purchase of any other product.

If this content impacts you, please subscribe for more access to the empowering conversations from me and guests working to help you engineer your success!

Use this link to drop a question or a topic that you would like to see covered on a future episode: Questions or topic suggestions.

Let’s connect! Find me on my LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. I’d love to hear from you.

You have the strength of a hero within you. Check out my website https://betteryou4u.com/ and learn how to unlock your potential and achieve success both in business and in life.

Important Resources to Note:

• Click here https://sleekbio.com/jbryant for important resources mentioned on this podcast

Tweetable Quotes:

“It's not just about your product, but it's about your customer and the issues that your customer face and the customer's view of your product.” - Dr. James Bryant

Welcome again to another episode of Engineer Your Success! Our Guest today is Chaz Weaver In this episode, Chaz shares that there are different levels of learning for managers and that managers have a responsibility to cultivate the development of the people around them. But also associates engineers should also start to allow themselves to be trained.    Chaz Weaver is the District Materials Engineer at the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).  He has a passion for helping young engineers grow and thrive.   Let’s know more about Chaz! so with no further ado Let’s dive in!   [00:31 - 07:00] Opening Segment Chaz Weaver is a materials engineer with VDOT in the Stanton district. Chaz talks about his journey to becoming an engineer, including his interest in math and want to work on big projects. He went to Virginia Tech and got his BS in civil engineering. When it came time to look for jobs, VDOT was one of the top choices because of its range in Virginia. Chaz focuses on materials when he joined VDI as a trainee   [07:00 - 13:38] Trainees learn to communicate with different clients Trainees will get a summons to come to the office for a month of training. Some people will literally give you the spec book, sit you in a corner and say, "read that they don't have time to do this right now, but here read this manual." Managers have a responsibility to cultivate the development of their employees, and often don't have the training or experience to do so. Trainees need to have their own motivation and take initiative to learn what they need to learn, but it's also important for managers to be able to communicate with their employees in a way that   [13:39 - 22:00] Success Principles for Engineers The key to a successful career is understanding people and taking the time to be curious. Success principles for engineers include hard work, initiative, and open and honest communication with managers. Being an author means the speaker has taken the time to write something meaningful.   [22:01 - 25:14] Closing Segment Follow Chaz  links below Parting Notes   Resources Mentioned:  The Valley Baseball League: A History of Baseball in the Shenandoah Valley You can learn more about Chaz by connecting with him on LinkedIn    Sponsors: Banowetz Marketing: Growing a business is hard. Banowetz Marketing provides an action plan and expert help so your family business can thrive. BanowetzMarketing.com/James Coupon Code: JAMES to get 3 FREE hours of logo design or redesign work with the purchase of any other product. If this content impacts you, please subscribe for more access to the empowering conversations from me and guests working to help you engineer your success! Use this link to drop a question or a topic that you would like to see covered on a future episode: Questions or topic suggestions. Let’s connect! Find me on my LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. I’d love to hear from you. You have the strength of a hero within you. Check out my website https://betteryou4u.com/ and learn how to unlock your potential and achieve success both in business and in life.   Important Resources to Note:   Click here: https://sleekbio.com/jbryant for important resources mentioned on this podcast Tweetable Quotes:   “For young engineers that are coming through, do not be afraid to ask questions just as we are talking about, the managers have to be empathetic in understanding the situation. The associate or the young engineer is in, it's also important for that young engineer to have some concept of what that manager may be going through and what they're doing because having that may help you better engage as you develop in your career.”   - Dr. James Bryant   “The initiative that you have to take as an engineer associate to get the most out of the program,  whether you're in a program or not, I hate to tell you your parents are right. There's really no substitute for hard work. If you're, just going into a situation assuming people are gonna do things for you.” - Chaz Weaver

 

Welcome again to another episode of Engineer Your Success! Our Guest today is Chaz Weaver

In this episode, Chaz shares that there are different levels of learning for managers and that managers have a responsibility to cultivate the development of the people around them. But also associates engineers should also start to allow themselves to be trained. 

 

Chaz Weaver is the District Materials Engineer at the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).  He has a passion for helping young engineers grow and thrive.

 

Let’s know more about Chaz! so with no further ado Let’s dive in!

 

[00:31 - 07:00] Opening Segment

• Chaz Weaver is a materials engineer with VDOT in the Stanton district.
• Chaz talks about his journey to becoming an engineer, including his interest in math and want to work on big projects.
• He went to Virginia Tech and got his BS in civil engineering.
• When it came time to look for jobs, VDOT was one of the top choices because of its range in Virginia.
• Chaz focuses on materials when he joined VDI as a trainee

 

[07:00 - 13:38] Trainees learn to communicate with different clients

• Trainees will get a summons to come to the office for a month of training.
• Some people will literally give you the spec book, sit you in a corner and say, "read that they don't have time to do this right now, but here read this manual."
• Managers have a responsibility to cultivate the development of their employees, and often don't have the training or experience to do so.
• Trainees need to have their own motivation and take initiative to learn what they need to learn, but it's also important for managers to be able to communicate with their employees in a way that

 

[13:39 - 22:00] Success Principles for Engineers

• The key to a successful career is understanding people and taking the time to be curious.
• Success principles for engineers include hard work, initiative, and open and honest communication with managers.
• Being an author means the speaker has taken the time to write something meaningful.

 

[22:01 - 25:14] Closing Segment

• Follow Chaz
• •  links below
• Parting Notes

 

Resources Mentioned: 

The Valley Baseball League: A History of Baseball in the Shenandoah Valley

You can learn more about Chaz by connecting with him on LinkedIn 

 

Sponsors:

Banowetz Marketing: Growing a business is hard. Banowetz Marketing provides an action plan and expert help so your family business can thrive.

BanowetzMarketing.com/James

Coupon Code: JAMES to get 3 FREE hours of logo design or redesign work with the purchase of any other product.

If this content impacts you, please subscribe for more access to the empowering conversations from me and guests working to help you engineer your success!

Use this link to drop a question or a topic that you would like to see covered on a future episode: Questions or topic suggestions.

Let’s connect! Find me on my LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. I’d love to hear from you.

You have the strength of a hero within you. Check out my website https://betteryou4u.com/ and learn how to unlock your potential and achieve success both in business and in life.

 

Important Resources to Note:

 

• Click here: https://sleekbio.com/jbryant for important resources mentioned on this podcast

Tweetable Quotes:

 

“For young engineers that are coming through, do not be afraid to ask questions just as we are talking about, the managers have to be empathetic in understanding the situation. The associate or the young engineer is in, it's also important for that young engineer to have some concept of what that manager may be going through and what they're doing because having that may help you better engage as you develop in your career.”   - Dr. James Bryant

 

“The initiative that you have to take as an engineer associate to get the most out of the program,  whether you're in a program or not, I hate to tell you your parents are right. There's really no substitute for hard work. If you're, just going into a situation assuming people are gonna do things for you.” - Chaz Weaver

Welcome again to another episode of Engineer Your Success! Our Guest today is Jeff Perry   Jeff is the founder of More Than Engineering and serves as a leadership and career coach for ambitious engineers and technology professionals who want to create great careers and lives they love! Through his personalized programs, he helps individuals and teams get clarity, upgrade their mindsets, and take decisive action towards meaningful goals.   Let’s know more about Jeff with no further ado Let’s dive in!     [00:30 - 08:24] More Than Engineering: How to Stay Connected and Fulfilled as an Engineer Jeff is a career coach and engineer who has had success transitioning into a new career. He discusses how he became at a career plateau and decided to make a change, which led to him founding more than engineering. Jeff's shirt says "I'm an engineer, but I'm more than that." Jeff shares that the early days of his company were challenging due to a lack of experience and not knowing what to expect.   [08:25 - 16:45] How to Overcome Resistance to Selling Jeff shares that he had to connect with the "why" behind his goals in order to overcome challenges and achieve success. He shares that one tool he uses to do this is the "five whys." Jeff identified an area where he needed to do some work and that he tried to get to the root cause of reluctance to sell or other barriers.   [16:45 - 24:38] Jeff's Top 3 Success Principles for Engineers Jeff has been successful in his engineering career by developing a mindset of being people first and focusing on relationships and mutual success. One success principle that Jeff recommends is having an outward mindset, which means seeing people as people and caring about their success. Jeff also recommends being transformational, not transactional, in all relationships.   [24:39 - 32:07] Being Intentional and proactive in decision making Be Intentional about becoming who you want to be and what you want your career to look like Tools to help with this include defining your career goals, filtering opportunities based on those goals, and setting up a system for collecting data to assess the impact of changes Continuous improvement process that leads to achieving results that are aligned with your goals   [32:08 – 34:18] Closing Segment   Parting Notes   Resources Mentioned:   Designing Your Work Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness at Work     You can learn more about Jeff at morethan-engineering.com or connect with him on LinkedIn    Sponsors:   Banowetz Marketing: Growing a business is hard. Banowetz Marketing provides an action plan and expert help so your family business can thrive. BanowetzMarketing.com/James Coupon Code: JAMES to get 3 FREE hours of logo design or redesign work with the purchase of any other product. If this content impacts you, please subscribe for more access to the empowering conversations from me and guests working to help you engineer your success! Use this link to drop a question or a topic that you would like to see covered on a future episode: Questions or topic suggestions. Let’s connect! Find me on my LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. I’d love to hear from you. You have the strength of a hero within you. Check out my website https://betteryou4u.com/ and learn how to unlock your potential and achieve success both in business and in life.   Important Resources to Note:   Click here https://sleekbio.com/jbryant for important resources mentioned on this podcast     Tweetable Quotes:   “We continue to improve. It's a continuous improvement process where you're implementing changes. You're assessing the impact of those changes on the results you want. And then from that observed outcome and the observed inputs, you start to make changes.”   - Dr. James Bryant   “What are those criteria that you can use as a set of filters that can run opportunities and different things through so that when they come your way, you can say, Hey, does that meet the criteria? Whether that's the values you wanna live by or the things you want to learn, or the areas you want to spend your time in. Because if you don't have those things defined. Then you'll just be reactive to things coming your way.” - Jeff Perry

 

Welcome again to another episode of Engineer Your Success! Our Guest today is Jeff Perry

 

Jeff is the founder of More Than Engineering and serves as a leadership and career coach for ambitious engineers and technology professionals who want to create great careers and lives they love! Through his personalized programs, he helps individuals and teams get clarity, upgrade their mindsets, and take decisive action towards meaningful goals.

 

Let’s know more about Jeff with no further ado Let’s dive in!

 

 

[00:30 - 08:24] More Than Engineering: How to Stay Connected and Fulfilled as an Engineer

• Jeff is a career coach and engineer who has had success transitioning into a new career.
• He discusses how he became at a career plateau and decided to make a change, which led to him founding more than engineering.
• Jeff's shirt says "I'm an engineer, but I'm more than that."
• Jeff shares that the early days of his company were challenging due to a lack of experience and not knowing what to expect.

 

[08:25 - 16:45] How to Overcome Resistance to Selling

• Jeff shares that he had to connect with the "why" behind his goals in order to overcome challenges and achieve success.
• He shares that one tool he uses to do this is the "five whys."
• Jeff identified an area where he needed to do some work and that he tried to get to the root cause of reluctance to sell or other barriers.

 

[16:45 - 24:38] Jeff's Top 3 Success Principles for Engineers

• Jeff has been successful in his engineering career by developing a mindset of being people first and focusing on relationships and mutual success.
• One success principle that Jeff recommends is having an outward mindset, which means seeing people as people and caring about their success.
• Jeff also recommends being transformational, not transactional, in all relationships.

 

[24:39 - 32:07] Being Intentional and proactive in decision making

• Be Intentional about becoming who you want to be and what you want your career to look like
• Tools to help with this include defining your career goals, filtering opportunities based on those goals, and setting up a system for collecting data to assess the impact of changes
• Continuous improvement process that leads to achieving results that are aligned with your goals

 

[32:08 – 34:18] Closing Segment

 

• Parting Notes

 

Resources Mentioned:

 

Designing Your Work Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness at Work  

 

You can learn more about Jeff at morethan-engineering.com

or connect with him on LinkedIn 

 

Sponsors:

 

Banowetz Marketing: Growing a business is hard. Banowetz Marketing provides an action plan and expert help so your family business can thrive.

BanowetzMarketing.com/James

Coupon Code: JAMES to get 3 FREE hours of logo design or redesign work with the purchase of any other product.

If this content impacts you, please subscribe for more access to the empowering conversations from me and guests working to help you engineer your success!

Use this link to drop a question or a topic that you would like to see covered on a future episode: Questions or topic suggestions.

Let’s connect! Find me on my LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. I’d love to hear from you.

You have the strength of a hero within you. Check out my website https://betteryou4u.com/ and learn how to unlock your potential and achieve success both in business and in life.

 

Important Resources to Note:

 

• Click here https://sleekbio.com/jbryant for important resources mentioned on this podcast

 

 

Tweetable Quotes:

 

“We continue to improve. It's a continuous improvement process where you're implementing changes. You're assessing the impact of those changes on the results you want. And then from that observed outcome and the observed inputs, you start to make changes.”  

- Dr. James Bryant

 

“What are those criteria that you can use as a set of filters that can run opportunities and different things through so that when they come your way, you can say, Hey, does that meet the criteria? Whether that's the values you wanna live by or the things you want to learn, or the areas you want to spend your time in. Because if you don't have those things defined. Then you'll just be reactive to things coming your way.” - Jeff Perry

 

 

 

Welcome again to another episode of Engineer Your Success! Today, our special guest Dustin DeVries   Dustin has been living and breathing in software development for over 20 years. He is the Co-Founder of Caffeine Interactive Technologies, an agency that focuses on planning strategies and architecture, ensuring that software implementations are straightforward based on clear ways to measure success. He enjoys working with clients to build the right technology, whether it's a multi-tiered mobile app built with React and Laravel or a simple website based on WordPress. He received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from Texas A&M University.   Dustin is proud to work with some of the most talented business analysts and developers in the industry. He is a solopreneur and has grown his company based on a 100% remote team that has been thriving for the last eight years.   Dustin enjoys playing tennis, fishing, reading, gardening, music, hiking, and hanging out with his family in his spare time. He believes that a work-life balance is essential to operate a business, overcoming adversities, and finding a bigger purpose in life. He is eager to discuss the importance of having personal freedom while being a successful entrepreneur in the software industry, working with remote teams, and managing family crises.   Let’s know more about Dustin with no further ado Let’s dive in!       [00:31 - 07:08] How to Sell Like an Engineer: Tips from a Business Owner Dustin DeVries is a software developer from Austin, Texas, who has been in the industry for 20 years. He broke off from his semiconductor job to start a freelance business and then started his own company a few years later.  Selling has been one of the hardest things for him to learn, but he has found some success by focusing on selling to specific customer profiles and understanding their problems.   [07:09 - 14:29] Tips For Growing Your Business You're getting that interest from the beginning and then bringing them along, starting a conversation with potential customers is key to success for a company like ours. No matter what industry you're in, being able to focus on your value proposition and what your customers need will help you stand out. Being able to research your target market and figure out what their problems are will help you create solutions that are valuable to them.   [14:29 - 21:34] How to Build a Strong Remote Team Dustin’s life changed after they decided to become self-employed and work from home.  How Dustin’s relationship with his wife changed and how it was a blessing to be able to be home with his children when they first arrived. Being self-employed has its challenges, including that engineers are people too and that we need to be more intentional about building relationships with our employees.   [21:35 - 28:38] Success Principles for Managers: Journaling, Sticking to One Thing, and Measuring Success Dustin recommends having a one-on-one meeting with employees every quarter to check in on their progress and help facilitate any needed assistance. Success principles that Dustin has found helpful over the years include journaling, setting measurable goals, and focusing on long-term goals.   [28:38 – 30:44] Closing Segment Parting Notes   Resources Mentioned:   Garry Keller - The One Thing   Learn more about Dustin DaVries by following him on LinkedIn or visiting caffeineinteractive.com   Sponsors:   Banowetz Marketing: Growing a business is hard. Banowetz Marketing provides an action plan and expert help so your family business can thrive. BanowetzMarketing.com/James Coupon Code: JAMES to get 3 FREE hours of logo design or redesign work with the purchase of any other product. If this content impacts you, please subscribe for more access to the empowering conversations from me and guests working to help you engineer your success! Use this link to drop a question or a topic that you would like to see covered on a future episode: Questions or topic suggestions. Let’s connect! Find me on my LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. I’d love to hear from you. You have the strength of a hero within you. Check out my website https://betteryou4u.com/ and learn how to unlock your potential and achieve success both in business and in life.   Important Resources to Note:   Click here https://sleekbio.com/jbryant for important resources mentioned on this podcast   Tweetable Quotes: “I look back over a two-week period or a month and see that I've been struggling with some of the same things each and every day. Then that's how I start to identify those blind spots and start to do something to be more intentional about fixing them.” - Dustin DeVries   “Now you're in this hybrid situation, which is a totally different animal because you have people who want to be in the office and are looking at the people who are not in the office. And so you have to develop new strategies to engage your employees and the relationships that you wanna foster. You're not going to totally replace what you had in person, but there are some things that you can do to help build your team, your camaraderie in the lines of communication in this hybrid environment.” - Dr. James Bryant

 

Welcome again to another episode of Engineer Your Success! Today, our special guest Dustin DeVries

 

Dustin has been living and breathing in software development for over 20 years. He is the Co-Founder of Caffeine Interactive Technologies, an agency that focuses on planning strategies and architecture, ensuring that software implementations are straightforward based on clear ways to measure success. He enjoys working with clients to build the right technology, whether it's a multi-tiered mobile app built with React and Laravel or a simple website based on WordPress. He received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from Texas A&M University.

 

Dustin is proud to work with some of the most talented business analysts and developers in the industry. He is a solopreneur and has grown his company based on a 100% remote team that has been thriving for the last eight years.

 

Dustin enjoys playing tennis, fishing, reading, gardening, music, hiking, and hanging out with his family in his spare time. He believes that a work-life balance is essential to operate a business, overcoming adversities, and finding a bigger purpose in life. He is eager to discuss the importance of having personal freedom while being a successful entrepreneur in the software industry, working with remote teams, and managing family crises.

 

Let’s know more about Dustin with no further ado Let’s dive in!

 

 

 

[00:31 - 07:08] How to Sell Like an Engineer: Tips from a Business Owner

• Dustin DeVries is a software developer from Austin, Texas, who has been in the industry for 20 years.
• He broke off from his semiconductor job to start a freelance business and then started his own company a few years later. 
• Selling has been one of the hardest things for him to learn, but he has found some success by focusing on selling to specific customer profiles and understanding their problems.

 

[07:09 - 14:29] Tips For Growing Your Business

• You're getting that interest from the beginning and then bringing them along, starting a conversation with potential customers is key to success for a company like ours.
• No matter what industry you're in, being able to focus on your value proposition and what your customers need will help you stand out.
• Being able to research your target market and figure out what their problems are will help you create solutions that are valuable to them.

 

[14:29 - 21:34] How to Build a Strong Remote Team

• Dustin’s life changed after they decided to become self-employed and work from home. 
• How Dustin’s relationship with his wife changed and how it was a blessing to be able to be home with his children when they first arrived.
• Being self-employed has its challenges, including that engineers are people too and that we need to be more intentional about building relationships with our employees.

 

[21:35 - 28:38] Success Principles for Managers: Journaling, Sticking to One Thing, and Measuring Success

• Dustin recommends having a one-on-one meeting with employees every quarter to check in on their progress and help facilitate any needed assistance.
• Success principles that Dustin has found helpful over the years include journaling, setting measurable goals, and focusing on long-term goals.

 

[28:38 – 30:44] Closing Segment

• Parting Notes

 

Resources Mentioned:

 

Garry Keller - The One Thing

 

Learn more about Dustin DaVries by following him on LinkedIn

or visiting caffeineinteractive.com

 

Sponsors:

 

Banowetz Marketing: Growing a business is hard. Banowetz Marketing provides an action plan and expert help so your family business can thrive.

BanowetzMarketing.com/James

Coupon Code: JAMES to get 3 FREE hours of logo design or redesign work with the purchase of any other product.

If this content impacts you, please subscribe for more access to the empowering conversations from me and guests working to help you engineer your success!

Use this link to drop a question or a topic that you would like to see covered on a future episode: Questions or topic suggestions.

Let’s connect! Find me on my LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. I’d love to hear from you.

You have the strength of a hero within you. Check out my website https://betteryou4u.com/ and learn how to unlock your potential and achieve success both in business and in life.

 

Important Resources to Note:

 

• Click here https://sleekbio.com/jbryant for important resources mentioned on this podcast

 

Tweetable Quotes:

“I look back over a two-week period or a month and see that I've been struggling with some of the same things each and every day. Then that's how I start to identify those blind spots and start to do something to be more intentional about fixing them.” - Dustin DeVries

 

“Now you're in this hybrid situation, which is a totally different animal because you have people who want to be in the office and are looking at the people who are not in the office. And so you have to develop new strategies to engage your employees and the relationships that you wanna foster. You're not going to totally replace what you had in person, but there are some things that you can do to help build your team, your camaraderie in the lines of communication in this hybrid environment.” - Dr. James Bryant