Guest Profile: Sandra VanSickle​Sandra VanSickle is a respected figure in the window coverings industry, known for her extensive expertise spanning over three decades in custom window treatments. She owns and operates Sew What's New, LLC, a prominent wholesale studio and training center based in Apex, NC. Sandra excels in creating high-quality window treatments and shares her wealth of knowledge through online courses, hands-on workshops, articles, and speaking engagements.In addition to her studio work, Sandra co-owns the Craft Your Creative Life Retreat, a unique event that blends sewing skills, business strategy, and wellness for industry professionals. She also serves as Director of IWCE's Artisan Atelier, where she organizes and facilitates two days of training sessions in the exhibit hall, helping attendees enhance their skills and stay ahead of industry trends. Sandra also produces the "Live With Sandra V" show, where she offers training and insights to a broader audience.Sandra's dedication to education and leadership continues to inspire and shape the window coverings community.Other Notes/Links:To learn more about Sandra Vansickle visit:Sandravansickle.compssst.... want to be a guest on the show?Listen to other episodes

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TranscriptWill Hanke – WTMP (00:00)All right. Hey, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Marketing Panes. My name is Will Hanke. This is the go -to podcast for window treatment and awning business marketing. Each month, we bring you insights from industry experts and fellow business owners sharing tips, tools and strategies to boost your online presence and drive growth. My guest today is Sandra Van Sickle. She’s a respected figure in the window coverings industry.known for her extensive expertise spanning over three decades in custom window treatments. She owns and operates So What’s New, LLC, I love that, a prominent wholesale studio and training center based in Apex, North Carolina. Sandra excels in creating high quality window treatments and shares her wealth of knowledge through online courses, hands -on workshops, articles, and speaking engagements. Sandra, you’re quite busy.In addition to her studio work, Sandra co -owns the Craft Your Creative Life Retreat, a unique event that blends sewing skills, business strategy, and wellness for industry professionals. She also serves as director of IWCE’s Artisan Atelier, where she organizes and facilitates two days of training sessions on the exhibit hall, helping attendees enhance their skills and stay ahead of industry trends.If you’ve ever been to IWCE, they’re right in the middle and they’re always busy. Sandra also produces the Live with Sandra V show where she offers training and insights to a broader audience. Sandra’s dedication to education and leadership continues to inspire and shape the window coverings community. Sandra, thank you so much for being on today.Sandra VanSickle (01:45)It’s great to be here. Thanks for having me.Will Hanke – WTMP (01:47)Yeah. So I’ve seen you many times at, like I said, at IWCE. There’s always a busy little section there and people learning stuff. And I love all the different things that you teach. Tell me a little bit about your background. And I know that you kind of transitioned from corporate America to running a successful custom draperySandra VanSickle (02:06)Yes, again, well, thank you for having me here. It’s really exciting. I’m usually the one doing the interviews and like you, I said, where is Will? I need to meet him in person. So it’s wonderful. But yes, first let me start off real quick by saying that sewing has always been a true passion of mine. I started at the age of five. I have a grandmother who was a master seamstress and I bucked the crap out of her until she taught me how to sew. And that’s all it took. Off I went.Will Hanke – WTMP (02:16)yeah.Sandra VanSickle (02:33)I always wanted to be a fashion designer. But however, sometimes life takes you on a different path. And so I got a degree in human resource management as a single mother of two daughters. I entered corporate America more out of necessity at the time. I always sewed. Every spare moment I had, I was sewing. And even my colleagues in corporate America, that’s how they…They knew me as the seamstress, you know? But I think to answer your question, the transition really came probably in the late 90s whenever I faced some downsizing at work. And I will tell you that if you’ve ever had to face something like that, that it’s a bittersweet event, but mine happened to turn out to be the catalyst that I needed to make a significant change that has led me to what I do today, whichI say it’s all my dream jobs. And after leaving the corporate world, I took sew -what’s -new to a full -time capacity back then. But it was mainly sewing garments. And the window treatments was kind of a side gig to that. Then I remarried my husband and I. You may know him, Ken Vansigal. He’s an installer in the industry. We moved to Raleigh, the Raleigh area. And he was hoping I would go back into HR.a lot more money in that than window team at the time, you know, but it was again something that just fell into place. I got here and was looking in the paper for HR and I don’t really want to do that anymore. And there was an ad in the paper for a workroom manager for a high end workroom. And I thought that is my job. And so I took the job, know, I,accepted the position and after a few years in that role, I realized it was time to pivot and I wanted to run my own business. That was ultimately my goal all my life. I fell in love with window treatments and I took all my skills that I had as a general manager. I was a recruiter, a trainer, know, all the HR things, open and closed stores, along with my passion.and my experience in window treatments and finally pulled the trigger and took, so it’s new, full -time and only window treatments. So yeah, was, you know, it’s where my joy passion is.Will Hanke – WTMP (04:40)Okay.That’s awesome. You chose a niche and went after it,Sandra VanSickle (04:46)Mm -hmm. Yeah.Will Hanke – WTMP (04:47)That’s great. So who is your target audience? I know you’re doing a lot of different things. You probably got a lot of different audiences ultimately. But how could you defineSandra VanSickle (04:55)I do.Well, I know I would say mainly if we know we keep on the window treatment business side or the workroom side. My ideal client was the interior designer. I wanted to be wholesale to the trade. And it really, with the different designers, the press are different beginners, they’re different stages themselves. it really, that didn’t really matter to me at the time because I felt like as long asthat they were respectful, open to suggestions. And with my background of running businesses, that I could definitely work with them. And early on, I ruled out retail work because it became clear to me quickly that my true strengths and passions lay in the studio, not working directly with homeowners. And bysticking to what my skills were, where my passion was. know, it really allowed me to focus on what I do best and really ultimately, like I said, brings me joy.Will Hanke – WTMP (05:56)Yeah, yeah. As the as like a workroom owner, how did you position yourselves in the eyes of your of the designers?Sandra VanSickle (06:05)Well, think that, of course, when you’re good at what you do and they find out about you, they start to reach out. I think it was, I want to say it was kind of, it always starts off with that passion. And I stuck to the customer treatments. And I consider myself a very creative person. to have that,behind you is great because you can be a little bit more flexible and and whatever they can where their creativity may stop your start and you can collaborate with them, you know a lot more. And then on top of it, you know, I had a staff. I don’t have the staff any longer. I’m rewired and not not retired. But, you know, we always deliveredknow, high quality treatments. We’ve really paid attention to the details. We, you know, to ensure that every project would meet the high standards. I think that my, you know, my training, you know, in corporate has taught me great communication skills where I can work with others to make sure we have clear expectations, defining the parameters and outcome of each job, you’re transparent.And you can say, yes, I can do this. But here are my parameters. So they know exactly where you’re coming from. not saying, yeah, I can do that job. And in the back of your mind, you hear a lot of times, fake it till you make it. Well, we kind of did that. But we would say, here are our parameters. So you’re clear to them. You’re not saying, yeah, I can do that. And then you can’t. But I think, again, with mybackground in HR and working with people, my passion and expertise within the fabrication realm really helped a lot of that. it was important that we met deadlines, of course. again, having a team at the time that was enthusiastic, I’ll say that word, along behind me.And they were ready to, you know, embrace challenges whenever they came along. I mean, you we don’t want to be bored just making panels all the time. And there are jobs that can come along that you do need to be out of the box for. And if you’re up for it, you know, having that, you know, that kind of reputation gets around and they go, my God, go to her, she can do anything, you know. Now, there are some jobs that we probably…could have said no to and today if we would have had it to do over because we’ve already done it we’ve said we don’t want to do it anymore then they’re done that but because we were willing to do that and and good communication skills so yeah.Will Hanke – WTMP (08:42)Yeah, the other side of that is also true. Having a workroom that wants to think outside of the box gives the designers a

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Guest Profile: Kathy Pace​Kathy Cragg Pace is a megawatt beacon of growth, expertly guiding window treatment sales professionals into the world of thriving they deserve. In a sea of sales sameness, Kathy helps design sales pros fearlessly find their success with her Modern Sales Way, encouraging them to throw out everything we’ve all been taught about “closing a sale,” replacing it with the brightness of human connection and learning how to deliver an irresistible selling experience.Her specialty is helping businesses look at their existing sales process and implement her Modern Sales methods quickly and painlessly, so they can finally move beyond the most common objections without any of the "salesyness" so often taught in traditional training. You’ll learn the art of “the stretch to connect” so you can thrive in design sales.Throughout her extensive career, she’s led her own award-winning design franchise, real-estate and custom home-building companies, a North American network of large and small window-covering business owners, and a nationwide sales team of in-home design professionals. She’s worked with the biggest names in the industry, and influenced $450 Million dollars in sales. This pro knows!Kathy’s Modern Sales Way includes a course, sales tools, and coaching, available for the first time to entrepreneurial businesses. She guarantees results, and she generously shares thought-provoking insights, memorable selling stories, and free downloadable guides.Other Notes/Links:To learn more about Kathy Pace visit:KathyPace.compssst.... want to be a guest on the show?Listen to other episodes

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TranscriptWill Hanke – WTMP (00:00)Welcome to the next episode of Marketing Panes. My name is Will Hanke. This is your go -to podcast when it comes to window treatment and awning marketing. Each month we bring you insights from industry experts and fellow business owners sharing tips, tools, and strategies to boost your online presence and drive growth. Excited about my guest today, we’re going to be talking about sales.And in today’s environment, that’s probably something we need to be paying attention to a little bit more than we have maybe in the past couple of years. My guest is Kathy Cragg Pace. She is a megawatt beacon of growth, expertly guiding window treatment sales professionals into the world of thriving they deserve. that sounds really good. I like that. a sea of… Yeah, not surviving. You’re right. Thriving. Great. In a sea of sales sameness,Kathy Pace (00:45)Not surviving. Thriving.Will Hanke – WTMP (00:52)Cathy helps design sales pros fearlessly find their success with a modern sales way, encouraging them to throw out everything they’ve been taught about closing a sale, replacing it with the brightness of human connection, and learning how to deliver an irresistible selling experience. That sounds fantastic so far. Cathy’s specialty is helping businesses.Look at their existing sales process and implement her modern sales methods quickly and painlessly so they can finally move beyond the most common objections without any sales enos so often taught in traditional training. You’ll learn the art of the stretch to connect so you can thrive in design sales. So we’ve got some things to dissect here, Kathy. Thanks for being on today.Kathy Pace (01:43)You are so welcome. I’ve been so excited to share with you and your audienceWill Hanke – WTMP (01:49)Awesome. Well, it’s great having you on. I’m curious about some of the things that were in your intro. And I guess we’re going to get into those as we go on. So tell me with the audience how you got started in the sales industry and what led you to design or led you to focus specifically on in -home design services.Kathy Pace (02:10)Right? Because who would choose to be a salesperson or a sales specialist? know, everybody avoids a salesperson unless we absolutely have to talk to them. But early in my career, it wasn’t design sales. was actually mortgage sales. And yeah, mortgage sales. And I. Caught what the bug thatWill Hanke – WTMP (02:13)Hahaha.okay.Kathy Pace (02:34)was actually, my gosh, unlimited opportunity. If you can stomach it, know, commission sales is what really caught my eye. And I had a fantastic mentor, person that I worked for. I literally was his assistant. And he, like all the other assistants, sat outside in the bullpen, let’s call it, but he moved my desk into his office so that I heard everything he said.everything he did. And I was like, wow, this guy really connects with people. And because he wasn’t afraid to share his secrets, the things that had been made him successful, I learned and between the two of us, we became a powerhouse. I was able to put a down payment on our first home in California, mind you, from one commission check. So that’s when the bugWill Hanke – WTMP (03:29)wow.Kathy Pace (03:31)having your income related to what you can sell and how well you can sell it really sunk in. But mortgages was not exactly all that sexy. It wasn’t really what I wanted to do. I’d always loved and studied design. And so, but now I really needed to earn money at it. So anyway, I bought a design franchise.which was a significant investment, which meant I needed to earn money. I didn’t want to just design for fun. I needed to have a profitable business. And so that’s kind of how the two came together. bought a, actually I bought a decorating den franchise and that is taking all your samples, come to their door, sell.Will Hanke – WTMP (04:18)Okay.Kathy Pace (04:23)in the home because that’s where people make decisions about those kinds of things in their home. And so I made in -home design sales my specialty. That’s how came toWill Hanke – WTMP (04:37)Okay, wow, okay. And that world is still pretty much the same from the standpoint of getting an appointment, getting into the home and making the sale. But I think over the years, the sales environment has probably changed drastically in our business. Tell me what you think aboutKathy Pace (04:54)I think as anything, the environment goes up. When you’ve been around for a while, you have seen the sales environment go up and down and sideways and forwards. The thing that I think has most drastically changed, I’m just going to say in the last year oris the motivation behind what is making people purchase and how to get people to buy. But before we launch in on that, I think we have to kind of talk a little bit about why people don’t buy. Because why people don’t buy, those reasons that people don’t buy, they’ve been the same.forever and ever. Your listeners hear them all day, every day. They know them. They could listen. There’s really maybe four. They could list them off on their finger just like me. You know, okay, let me think about it. I got to talk to somebody else about it. It was more than I thought it was going to cost. I’m getting other estimates. I’m comparing. Those reasons why people don’t buy, but the one, the thing that justbreaks the heart of the every person, every, no matter how strong a salesperson you are, is when your client closes the door and says, okay, I’ll get back to you. And that’s really the beginning of, I’m gonna say the road to my sales success.Will Hanke – WTMP (06:26)yeah.Kathy Pace (06:36)You know, I have mentioned to you, I think before we did a little back of napkin calculating and $450 million in sales track record, not me personally, but the teams that I lead and the methodology. But the road to $450 million was not paved in glamour. It was paved, I’m going to call itI’ve told the story so many times and I think everyone listening will hear a little bit of themselves and the selling situation that we’re in right now in this story, even though I’m going to start with August 1990.leaving my client’s house after they’ve just closed the door and said, I’ll think about it and get back to you. And I’m walking down the driveway, that client, I’d been in her home, it was summer, it was hot, she didn’t have air conditioning. I was wearing my lucky sales outfit, which wasn’t very lucky that day, by the way. So I was sweaty and sticky and mad.And I was lugging my samples back to the van and I put them in and I went around on the driver’s side where she couldn’t see me through the window and literally I just lost it to some extent and I took my bag. I can remember this. I just slammed it down in the street in this fit of frustration and I’m like, fork.this, fork this. I cannot do this anymore. I am so tired of proposals that don’t go anywhere and quotes that people say they’ll get back. I’m just so tired of this. And literally I got in the van and I drove away and I did I’m not happy toit didn’t get much better. You know, I’m getting more frosted and more mad at myself and I’m angry and I’m irritated and I’ve got chapped lips because when I threw my bag on the street, literally, I can remember watching my chapstick roll out of the bag and under the van and end up in this muddy puddle and it was just like perfect. So that kind of, I’ve had it.Will Hanke – WTMP (09:15)Course.Kathy Pace (09:20)I’ve had it is so challenging when you’re in a market when people are hesitating or when you don’t know how to get people to just say yes. Just say yes. So, you know, I drove away. The air conditioning, thank goodness, is on in the van.The van, which was my everyday ride now because I had mortgaged my house to buy my franchise. I’d sold my nice car. I was now driving the colorful store that comes to your door. This great big, very large signed wrapped business vehicle. Our second car, we’d sold the other one because it hadCar payment too. So our second car was one we could afford. It was so embarrassing to drive. It was this Toyota Tercel and we called it the Turd and I’m gonna never was a name more fitting. so anyway, I just was thinking I gave up my career....

SummaryIn this conversation, Will Hanke provides updates on the industry trends and offers tips to offset the decrease in leads. He discusses the current trend of leads being down and attributes it to factors like the economy and the election. He mentions that paid ad costs, particularly on Google ads, are increasing. Will suggests exploring other platforms like Nextdoor and Yelp for advertising. He also talks about the importance of utilizing social media platforms, building a YouTube channel, optimizing Google Business Profile, and sending out monthly newsletters. Additionally, he mentions the benefits of content marketing, purchasing additional content credits, and using the City Blitz system to improve local rankings.Takeaways ​Leads in the industry are currently down, possibly due to the economy and the election.​Paid ad costs, especially on Google ads, are increasing.​Exploring other platforms like Nextdoor and Yelp for advertising can be beneficial.​Utilizing social media platforms, building a YouTube channel, and optimizing Google Business Profile can help reach a broader audience.​Sending out monthly newsletters and focusing on content marketing can generate more leads.​Purchasing additional content credits and using the City Blitz system can improve local rankings.​Chapters​00:00 Introduction​02:25 Increasing Costs of Paid Ads​04:19 Utilizing Social Media and YouTube​06:16 The Benefits of Content Marketing​07:17 Improving Local Rankings with City Blitz​09:41 Conclusion​

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Guest Profile: Jonathan MastJonathan Mast - Pioneering AI Prompting Mastery for Business and Marketing ExcellenceSince his digital debut in 1995, Jonathan Mast has been a visionary in integrating marketing and business operations with AI. Founder of the seven-figure digital marketing agency Valorous Circle, he has collaborated with over 400 clients, demonstrating his ability to scale businesses online through proven marketing strategies. Now at White Beard Strategies, Jonathan focuses on AI prompting mastery, helping professionals save time, increase profits, and deliver exceptional value. A dynamic speaker, he demystifies AI concepts and offers practical strategies that drive immediate results. Committed to community growth, Jonathan's contributions extend beyond the digital realm, fostering innovation and mentorship. Dive deeper into his journey and AI-driven strategies at Jonathan's Linktree and White Beard Strategies Linktree.Other Notes/Links:To learn more about Johnson Mast visit:Whitebeardstrategies.compssst.... want to be a guest on the show?Listen to other episodes

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TranscriptEpisode 35 Jonathan MastWill Hanke (00:00)All right. Hello everyone. Welcome to episode 35 of marketing panes. This is the podcast where we talk to professionals, window treatment owners, and we just talk about different things related to the industry, how we can help you grow in different ways, what other people are experiencing. Today, I’ve got a fantastic guest that I think you’re going to be very excited to hear. And because our topic today is all around AIProbably the biggest buzz of the last 12 months at least has been AI and how it’s going to maybe replace people or is there ways to use it. So we’re going to talk to a lot of those things today. But Jonathan Mast has been a visionary in integrating marketing and business operations with AI. Founder of the seven -figure digital marketing agency, Valorous Circle He has collaborated with over 400 clientsdemonstrating his ability to scale businesses online through proven marketing strategies. Now at Whitebeard Strategies, Jonathan focuses on AI prompting mastery, helping professionals save time, increase profits, and deliver exceptional value. A dynamic speaker, he demystifies AI concepts and offers practical strategies that drive immediate results. Committed to community growth,Jonathan’s contributions extend beyond the digital realm, fostering innovation and mentorship. Jonathan, thank you for being on today.Jonathan Mast (01:28)Well, thank you for the invitation, Will. I’m excited to be here and as you know, I’m excited to talk AI.Will Hanke (01:32)Yeah, yeah, we’re excited about this because it’s everybody’s talking about it. Everybody’s worried about it. Everybody’s, you know, thinks the thing certain things are going to happen. So we’ll kind of talk about some of those today. But before we kind of like jump into everything, just give me the 10 ,000 foot view of what whitebeard strategies is and what youJonathan Mast (01:53)Well, we’d be happy to. So essentially, we’re an AI strategist. We work with businesses to help them figure out how to bring AI into the business and leverage it. And as you said, kind of in the workup, by the way, thank you for that. That was very nice of you. But I think we really try to help people figure out how do we save time because AI can save a tremendous amount of time. And I don’t know any business owner that has more time on their hands than they want. So that’s a big deal. Can also help with the teams.That leads to better profits and better margins, which is super important. And ultimately, it even delivers and or I should say moves on to deliver better value to our clients. And we all know as business owners, especially with the economy the way it is today, if we went to the grocery store, everything’s more expensive. If we can figure out how to deliver more value without having to charge more money, that really can set us apart from our competition and really helps us keep that business and grow our business.Will Hanke (02:47)Yeah, I love that. So can you go ahead and share an experience where integrating AI into a business process hasJonathan Mast (02:54)Absolutely. One of the things that I think probably has proven to be most effective for many businesses is just learning how to use it from a basic communication standpoint as business owners, as team members. And by the way, we really are big proponents of teaching the team how to use AI as well, Will, because it’s one thing for the owner to know it as we were talking, Kevin, the pre -call, but the team needs to understand it as well. And one of the best examples is just in writing emails to clients. So often.We’ve got an email we need to write to a client. We know we need to say something. Maybe we can’t agree with the client or they’ve made a request and we want to say, well, you can’t do that, but we want to do so in a way we’re not putting them off too bad and be professional. Those emails, at least for me, they take not just minutes, but sometimes tens of minutes to write or even a half hour sometimes. And I don’t have that kind of time. And then they don’t always sound right or I said something I didn’t mean to.AI is a great tool for that because we literally can take that request email from the client. We can paste it in and say, here’s what I want to say, please rewrite this to make it sound more professional, to make it easier to read, easier to comprehend. And literally often in less than 10 seconds, AI will write an email that’ll get us 95 to 98 % of the way to completion. And then we just have to edit it real quick and press send. It’s now off our mind as a business owner, so we’re not thinking aboutWe’ve dealt with it and it always can do so in a way that, again, especially when you proof it, is very professional and makes the right points because it’s got like the perfect words for everything we want to say. So that’s one of many. Another big one, and I’m sure your audience runs into this, standard operating procedures. We know how important it is to give our team standard operating procedures and checklists so that when they’re worth a client, everything gets done the same way, the same.for every client and we have that consistency. But it’s hard to keep those up to date. Even if we wrote one a year ago, things have changed, maybe we don’t have a checklist with it. With AI, I literally can take existing SOPs or in my case, I can take brand new ones, give it an outline and say, here’s the things I want to cover, here’s the task we’re doing, I want you to create a standard operating procedure. And again, in about 10 to 20 seconds, we’ve got a really well thought out standard operating procedure that’s probably 95 % of the way there.And then one of my favorite features, and my team loves this, instead of just giving them the SOP to follow, we then can have AI create a checklist that corresponds to that, that now our team can go out and go on site and go, okay, did we do these steps in the right order? And then that checklist gets returned back to your operations manager, your office manager, whomever, and you can validate, hey, know, yeah, we did do everything the right way, we covered everything. And if not, we can identify what happened and make sure that we’re prepared.So in the future, let’s say that customer comes in and says, why did this happen with my window coverings? Now you’ve got your checklist to go, well, we didn’t do this because of the following reasons or because you requested we didn’t. So those are just two areas that I think AI can be hugely beneficialWill Hanke (05:50)I love that. saw an example of AI for somebody had received a one -star review and what they did is their van, their installer had backed up the van into a car. And so they got a one -star review. So they went to AI and said, here’s the situation, help me write a really nice reply to this review. And it was anything, it was better than anything I could have come up with for sure, right?Jonathan Mast (06:10)Mm -hmm.Exactly, exactly. And it’s not emotional. We know when we’re emotional, that’s not the time for us to be writing them. Let’s say maybe a customer gives us a negative review, like you mentioned, may or may not be deserved. But how can we respond to that? And maybe more importantly, how do we reach out to the client to address that? We recently had a scenario with one of our clients, very similar, where the crew went on site. When they went in, didn’t clean their shoes off well, and they tracked all over the carpet.And the homeowner understandably was ticked off. they gave them a one, while the job got done right and everything was happy, they were, they gave them a one -star review because they ended up tracking mud onto the carpet. Good news is, is they found out about it and we actually used AI to write the email back to the client and then it followed up with a phone call. And the nice thing there is that the owner is like, I’m not sure what to say. We used AI to help give them some bullet points, hear the things.Essentially, they reached out, they said, wow, we’re so sorry, that’s not what’s supposed to happen. What I’d like to do today, if it’s okay with you, is I’d like to send my carpet cleaning crew over and have them clean your carpets at my expense. And would that be okay with you? And the client was like, yeah. By the end of the day, that was all done. And guess what? That one star review now turned into a five star review and not just the five stars, but a long explanation, all very positive that told the story of, hey, you knowwere human, things happened, but this company stands behind it, they fixed it, and I would never use anybody elseWill Hanke (07:39)Love it. Yeah, that’s great. And it’s the what is it called the Pareto principle,...

Key TakeawaysMindset is crucial to business success as it allows for personalized approaches and decision-making that align with individual strengths and goals.​Self-sabotage is a common barrier to business growth and can manifest as fear, imposter syndrome, or a lack of trust in oneself.​Steps to reverse self-sabotage and grow a business include self-awareness, challenging limiting beliefs, setting clear goals, and taking focused time for reflection and planning.​Daily practices, such as writing down three major tasks for the day and being honest with oneself about progress and challenges, can help cultivate a positive mindset and drive business success. Building new habits requires reminders and self-awareness.​Books like 'Atomic Habits' and 'Tiny Habits' offer valuable insights on habit formation.​Self-sabotage can hinder success, but awareness and mindset shifts can help overcome it.​Stress management is crucial for overall well-being and productivity.​Networking and learning from others in the industry can be beneficial for business growth.​Guest Profile: Else JohnsonElsa Johnson brings a unique perspective to the world of business and mindset coaching. Her background includes:Experience in the financial sectorSuccessful transition to entrepreneurship as the owner of a window covering businessExpertise in mindset development and overcoming self-sabotageCEO and mindset coach, helping other entrepreneurs achieve successJohnson's diverse background allows her to understand the challenges faced by business owners from various angles. As she explains, "What I do, what a lot of other coaches do in my space, we all come from the same philosophy, right? It started out with Socrates and Plato and all these great ancient philosophers, but with all of our individual experiences, we all of a sudden see new connections, new ways of opening up, new ways of seeing it."Her personal journey as an entrepreneur with an immigrant family history adds depth to her insights, particularly in "understanding what it takes for an immigrant with an immigrant family history to create a business in the US."Other Notes/Links:To learn more about Else Johnson visit:Morethanjustfine.compssst.... want to be a guest on the show?Listen to other episodesThe Power of Mindset​Johnson emphasizes that mindset is the cornerstone of business success. It's not just about having the right skills or strategies; it's about cultivating a mental approach that aligns with your goals and strengths. As she puts it, "Mindset is what we're going to talk about. And that's something that has drastically changed my business."Overcoming Self-Sabotage​One of the key topics discussed in the episode is self-sabotage, which Johnson defines as "putting up barriers to getting what you want." Common manifestations of self-sabotage include:Imposter syndromeFear of making decisionsLack of trust in oneselfTo combat these issues, Johnson recommends a multi-step approach:Develop self-awarenessChallenge limiting beliefsSet clear goalsTake focused time for reflection and planningBuilding Effective Habits​Johnson emphasizes the importance of daily practices in cultivating a positive mindset. She suggests:Writing down three major tasks for the dayBeing honest with yourself about progress and challengesUsing reminders to help build new habitsFor those looking to dive deeper into habit formation, Johnson recommends books like "Atomic Habits" and "Tiny Habits."Stress Management and Self-Care​Recognizing the toll that entrepreneurship can take, Johnson offers a free download of her "Five Easy Stress Busters." She emphasizes that managing stress is crucial for overall well-being and productivity.The Value of Networking​Drawing from her experience in the window coverings industry, Johnson highlights the importance of networking and learning from others in your field. This collaborative approach can lead to new insights and opportunities for growth.Taking Action​Perhaps the most important takeaway from the conversation is the need for action. As Johnson states, "The biggest thing about building a new habit is the reminder, right? To help yourself do better." She encourages listeners to move beyond self-sabotage and take concrete steps towards their goals.In conclusion, Elsa Johnson's insights offer a roadmap for entrepreneurs looking to harness the power of mindset. By addressing self-sabotage, building positive habits, managing stress, and embracing networking opportunities, business owners can set themselves up for long-term success.Remember, as Johnson reminds us, success is not just about what you know, but how you apply that knowledge. So, take a moment to reflect on your own mindset and consider how you can implement these strategies in your own business journey.Chapters00:00 - Introduction: The Power of Mindset04:41 - Chapter 1: Overcoming Self-Sabotage11:22 - Chapter 2: Common Barriers to Business Growth14:17 - Chapter 3: Steps to Reverse Self-Sabotage17:55 - Chapter 4: Cultivating a Positive Mindset24:23 - Building Effective Habits: Reminders and Self-Awareness25:16 - Overcoming Self-Sabotage: Awareness and Mindset Shifts29:54 - Taking Action: From Self-Sabotage to Success31:38 - Stress Management: Five Easy Stress Busters42:27 - Understanding the Window Coverings Industry: Networking and Learning

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TranscriptWill Hanke (00:00)Hey everyone, Will Hanke here from Window Treatment Marketing Pros. We’re here with another exciting episode of Marketing Panes. I’m very excited about today’s guest. The big reason that I’m excited to talk to Else today is really because mindset is what we’re going to talk about. And that’s something that has drastically changed my business. I was in business for 20 years before I decided to give myself permission to succeed.And just the last seven years have really exploded for my own business. And it was purely because of mindset. So I know a lot of you are probably struggling with very similar things, self -sabotage, all that kind of stuff. So we’re going to dig into some of that today with Else Johnson. Else, how are you today?Else Johnson, Mindset Expert And CEO (00:45)I fantastic, I’m so grateful to be here with you today.Will Hanke (00:48)Cool, thank you. So let me read your quick bio here and then we’ll jump into some questions if that’s all right. So Else Johnson is a mindset expert who successfully transitioned from the financial world to running a thriving high -end window covering business. Her experience in this industry has exposed her to the personal sacrifices and challenges of achieving success while maintaining well -being and happiness.Now she empowers others like you to find alignment and genuine happiness through her coaching practice, leveraging her extensive knowledge and skills. I’m so excited to have you on today.Else Johnson, Mindset Expert And CEO (01:25)I said, I’m so excited. I can talk about this all day and with somebody as big as a witness as you, it’s even more thrilling to me. And to share it with your listeners is just a treat. ThankWill Hanke (01:26)Yeah.Cool, cool, I’m excited. So let’s jump in. Tell me a little bit about your background, what led you into kind of focus on the mindset coaching piece of it, especially for business owners.Else Johnson, Mindset Expert And CEO (01:48)Sure. So from my name and probably also people would recognize from my accent, I am an import to the US. I’m born and raised in Denmark. When I came to the US, I worked for a lot of small entrepreneurial companies, know, one to up till 35 employees. And I was always on the operational side of that running the business because as you mentioned before, I come from a financial.Then in the late 90s, I fell into a window coverings business. I’ve sewn since I was a little girl and you you start sewing and people say, can you make this for me? Can you make this for me? And before you knew it, I woke up one day and had a window coverings business. And then I just went from there. And you know, I knew the financials. I was smart, I’ve had sales training. I had all these things.yet there was something that just fell off in my business. My husband and I also, because he was in a corporate career, we were relocated a couple of times. And the last time was in 2014 when I ended up in Scottsdale, Arizona. Thought like always, hey, I’m just gonna do this, I’m gonna start. But something in me was saying, this isn’t right. And I started focusing in on saying, where is it that things are off for me?and I started understanding a couple of things happening in my personal life that really woke me up and saying also.This is up to you and everything you, you are smart. You can do all these things, but you’re not thinking about it, right? You are just not thinking about it, right? And it was a really wake up lesson to me or wake up call because I had my whole life, my whole life decided, thought that I could handle myself. You know, not only had I moved on my own when I was 17, took and taking care of myself.But I had moved 6 ,000 miles away from family and was thriving, but I wasn’t really thriving, I was justWill Hanke (03:43)Yeah, yeah, yeah. It really resonates with me because I was in a very similar situation, still in the same business, digital marketing, but it was 20 years for me. It 20 years of kind of just wandering around and wondering what am I missing? So what were some of the personal challenges that you faced? You know, it kind of helped you understand your approach to mindset.Else Johnson, Mindset Expert And CEO (04:06)Well, I think the first one that I faced, and I think many in the design, not only in window coverings, but in design industry, know, graphics design, architectural design, any kind of design is the big comparison trap. my God, they do so much better than me. They can do all these things....

Guest Profile: Georgiana SchwandtGeorgiana (Georgi) Giese Schwandt, founder of Incredible Windows, hails from central Illinois where she imbibed the values of hard work, compassion, and dedication. A former educator with 28 years of experience across four school districts, Georgi now leads her team in covering thousands of windows in the greater Madison, WI area. Her commitment to serving clients with kindness and respect remains unwavering.Other Notes/Links:To learn more about Georgiana Schwandt visit: https://www.incrediblewindows.com/pssst.... want to be a guest on the show?Listen to other episodes

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Transcript[0:02] Alright.[0:02] Hello everyone.[0:03] Welcome to another episode of marketing pains.[0:05] My name is Will hanky.[0:08] This is the podcast where we talked with real window treatment and Awning business owners about their successes and struggles related to marketing their business today.[0:18] We’re on covering success.[0:20] This is episode 33 and I’m excited to have Georgiana Schwandt who we called Georgie with us from Madison, Wisconsin.[0:30] She has been a client of ours for probably around I think nine or ten months now and we’re excited to have Georgie with us today.[0:38] And let’s Jump Right In Georgie.[0:40] How are you?[0:41] I’m good.[0:42] Well and you doing fantastic so excited to have you on today?[0:47] Thank you.[0:47] I appreciate the opportunity.[0:48] Well, yeah.[0:50] Well, let’s Jump Right In tell me a little bit about your business.[0:53] It’s called incredible Windows.[0:55] You’re in the Madison Wisconsin area.[0:58] Tell us a little bit more.[1:00] Well, so my story would I give him a very abbreviated version when I meet with a customer is this simply this is my retirement business.[1:11] So I had a real job for 28 years as a high school educator and I retired relatively young in as far as Retirement term door speaking and I needed something to do and look around for about two years trying to figure that out.[1:27] Try different things including real estate appraisal.[1:30] I hated it took the courses got certified and I don’t like this.[1:34] So I thought well, let’s look for something else and I went out for lunch or someone who is selling window treatments in Northern Illinois.[1:42] And she said you had to do what I do.[1:43] I said I think you’re right and it was about that quick.[1:47] So that was in 2006 and here I am almost 18 years later selling window treatments on a part-time basis as I shop at home.[1:56] I’ve never had a storefront.[1:57] I never will and I I’m enjoy great success.[2:03] Wow, okay, so you don’t like the storefront idea tell me more about that.[2:09] Well, there are a couple reasons I decided that first of all, I was a high school principal in Madison for eight years managing lots and lots of people including students and staff and parents and you know legislators and being involved and I wanted a simple business model that was manageable.[2:31] I didn’t want to have the expense of the storefront and I have no regrets.[2:36] I know it took me a while to get started.[2:39] Of course, it wasn’t easy, but I feel like I’ve done it and I was still learning and I still when I do grow.[2:48] Good good.[2:49] So your business model is get the lead go to the home pitch the pitch the installer.[2:57] Whatever the product do you get the payment right then or do you go back and do a proposal and then of course do the install later?[3:08] Well, it works in different ways.[3:11] Ideally what actually the ideal situation happened yesterday where indeed I meant with a customer.[3:19] She did a remodel over 30 year old home and was when a new window treatments.[3:24] I we went in and talked about her needs and what she wanted and if it’s a she’s doing it in two parts.[3:30] So we did the bedrooms and baths first and if it’s a relatively small project meaning 10 12 15 blinds, I can do a quote pretty easily in the home and then I can present it to her and discuss it and I said, are you ready to move forward you want to think about?[3:48] Thought she said I’ll get my credit card.[3:51] Okay that one place in the home if it’s a more involved proposal.[4:00] Like I just did one actually a Monday just 38 hardwired roller Shades why I wanted to think about that a little bit.[4:08] I got to sign proposal this morning.[4:10] So, you know, it just differs on mature situation.[4:14] Sure Okay, it definitely makes sense.[4:17] Yeah.[4:18] Another one has to address throw that into where I’m at with it.[4:21] Mmm and no customer who’s building a new home and it’s you know, they’ve done the groundbreaking and all that.[4:28] So we just with a fine-tooth comb and through every room and discuss needs so it’s a process for some others.[4:36] It’s quick and easy.[4:37] Yeah.[4:37] Yeah.[4:38] So tell me about that mix new home construction versus people that are already, you know embedded in their home.[4:48] I Yes, well, I would encourage people if they’re building or remodeling a new home to contact a window treatment providers quickly as possible because too often they don’t think about things that we can help them with for example a popular door in Wisconsin today and that perhaps is Nationwide is a full glass or a partial glass on the as a window on the door.[5:16] Well people don’t often.[5:18] Think about the fact that that might need some privacy.[5:22] So if indeed a blind is needed they need to think about the door handle.[5:26] So can I get a blind behind that door handle and if it’s one of the you know, the lever door handles very popular today at new construction and remodels that’s more difficult.[5:38] It can be done but it’s more difficult.[5:40] So this I can point out simple things or another window treatment person can’t find those things out or simply the molding and the placement of the windows.[5:48] And do you really want that high window?[5:50] There’s a octagon, you know it just you know, as people are beginning to think about a remodel or build.[5:57] It’s important to bring in that window treatment person.[6:01] Sure.[6:02] The other thing we can help them with in that situation is talking about if they want to do power house that blank going to operate.[6:09] Is it going to be a hard wire?[6:10] Is it going to be batteries?[6:11] Can you reach it plus the whole budget issue?[6:17] If they wait till the very end, it’s often like oh my gosh.[6:20] I didn’t realize custom window treatments were so much money.[6:24] But if we can help them with that to understand the value and the class upfront it behooves all of us.[6:33] Yeah.[6:34] Yeah makes that conversation a little easier than he does.[6:37] Yeah, I mean fortunately I’m going to be able to offer financing shortly to which will help them those bigger projects.[6:44] Yeah, yeah, that’s going to be a big game changer 24.[6:48] Yeah.[6:48] I’m looking forward to having that option for customers.[6:51] That’s awesome.[6:52] That’s great.[6:53] So we’ve been talking kind of about your ideal customer.[6:56] What about commercial?[6:58] Do you guys do any commercial work or is it mostly all residential we do some commercial work the one I just told you about the 38 hardwired rollers is a commercial project.[7:08] But the way I get the commercial projects is typically because I’ve done the customers home.[7:15] and they’ve you know, we’ve had the camps to work together and this one I mean they they didn’t do any shopping that I mean, I’ve helped them multiple times in multiple projects and they just fortunately like to work with me and I gave him a fair price and I’ll forego so I only do small commercial projects and then a lot of Culver’s in the Madison area some smaller instruments offices and not a couple of wineries, but not the big not the big High-rise residential Halls on campus and I’m not doing that kind of work.[7:51] Very good.[7:52] Okay, very good.[7:53] Cool.[7:54] All right, so we talked about your story a little bit or who you are talked about kind of who your target market is.[8:03] Let’s let’s talk about the part that I really like, which is a marketing piece.[8:09] So tell me about your marketing mix.[8:11] I mentioned that you are one of our clients.[8:14] So you’ve got a digital marketing piece kind of tell us about the mix of what you’re up to.[8:19] Well, let me back up a little bit.[8:22] Well, you know as being in business 18 years the marketing has evolved significantly over the years, you know, I started long ago spending too much money on paper advertising.[8:34] Okay, you know I had some result now I’m talking like between 2006 2010-11 whatever peel that away because I wasn’t getting any well not any but the results I was looking for.[8:49] You’re talking about Direct Mail type stuff.[8:51] So I’m talking about this is really going to date me yellow pages.[8:56] Okay paper newspaper ads, you know those kinds of things.[9:01] I don’t even think there’s a yellow page book out there anymore.[9:04] I don’t know for sure.[9:05] I don’t have one.[9:06] That’s for sure.[9:07] But anyway, so that brings me no through the course of time to working with you.[9:13] Well, I’ve learned the value of the internet and Google my business and having a great website and consequently when we reached out to you you’ve helped me with all of that just yesterday somebody calls that hey week.[9:31] I called you because you’ve got a great website and I saw what I was looking for and when can we get together?[9:36] So and it’s going to be a great job great Polly told me over the phone so that Google My Business Connection the SEO that has been able to boost my business has has been tremendous.[9:50] So that’s what I’m relying on mostly today.[9:53] Okay, as far as As I’m getting the name out there about incredible windows.[10:01] I was doing I was doing social media for severa

Guest Profile: Kelsey StuartKelsey is a second-generation window covering professional with personal experience for nearly 20 years, both in the field as well as in franchise leadership. As the CEO of Bloomin' Blinds, Kelsey is passionate about the strategic growth and scaling of each franchise business and creating a culture of raving fans. Kelsey leads the corporate franchise team as the example, rather than the exception, and takes pride in a team that interacts like family.Other Notes/Links:To learn more about Kelsey Stuart visit: Bloomin' Blindspssst.... want to be a guest on the show?Listen to other episodes

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Transcript[0:00] Welcome to episode 32 of marketing pains.[0:01] My name is Will Hanke.[0:03] This is the podcast where we talked with window treatment and Awning experts service providers business owners about their successes their struggles related to marketing their business today.[0:15] I’ve got an exciting guest that I’ve known for quite a while Kelsey Stewart from Bloomin’ Blinds Kelsey.[0:21] Welcome to the show.[0:22] Thanks.[0:23] Well, I really appreciate you having me on kind of pretty excited about.[0:26] Yeah excited to have you here.[0:28] We’ve we’ve been working Together in a couple different ways for a while and excited to have you on to kind of bring in something we’ve never done before which is talk to somebody who offers a franchise model for the window treatment industry.[0:44] So a little bit different.[0:44] I’m excited to get your insights since you have insights across, you know, a bunch of different dealers a bunch of different locations and you know, just kind of learn more about how your system works what you guys offer the benefits of doing so and those kinds of things So let’s get started.[1:04] Give me the two-minute elevator pitch about Bloomin’ Blinds.[1:10] Well, so I mean we’re a full-service window treatment company.[1:13] So we’re much like your audience or much like most window covering companies that you would, you know, normally interact with or people that we know in the industry.[1:22] So we were offer the full spectrum of products.[1:26] We do a little bit on the outdoor with the exteriors part of our differentiation or value proposition in the space is we actually like repairs.[1:36] I know that’s a bit different than most would look at the window covering World, but that’s how we grew up.[1:42] We actually as a family business before we franchised we fixed and cleaned blinds before three years before we ever sold a single one.[1:51] Okay, so we choose we just kind of grew up on the maintenance side of things.[1:54] So that makes sense to us.[1:57] Of course.[1:58] The money is made in the sales like we all know that but sure there are some benefits that I enjoy out of the repairs.[2:04] It’s just kind of fun and feels good.[2:07] As a franchise model, we’re a small family business that got to a pretty good-sized family business and then learned that we wanted to expand and grow.[2:21] In different ways than just more stores more locations more cities and we’re a family unit.[2:27] We didn’t want to break up the family unit by sending one to Kansas City and one to Oklahoma City.[2:32] And so we took the path of franchising and teaching other people how to work within the window covering space and then providing a system to support them and help them along the way.[2:43] Yeah.[2:45] I like how you guys embrace the whole family thing to I know that you’re Your annual or somewhat annual meeting is called the family family reunions, right family renewed.[2:55] Yeah, it’s not an annual conference.[2:56] It’s a family reunions.[2:58] That’s awesome.[2:59] I like that.[3:00] So tell me about your role In Bloomin’ Blinds right now.[3:04] Well over the 21 years.[3:05] I’ve been here it’s evolved.[3:08] So my mom started it and I was you know a year after she started it I jumped in so this hats 2002 the current role I play I mean on my business card it says CEO the truth is there’s three brothers that run the company mom’s now retired.[3:29] So I was a I was pretty influential in there.[3:33] Early daydreaming in the pushing us out of our comfort zones and things like that.[3:38] Now I spent a lot of my time in the communication and support of the franchise owners certainly on the executive side, you know, the planning and strategic strategy of building the business, but my day-to-day stuff is working with people who are interested in coming on board as a franchise owner and then guiding coaching helping those that are already in the system.[4:01] So I I’m more of a teacher Now that I do or by far yeah.[4:06] Yeah.[4:06] It’s interesting has businesses get bigger.[4:08] It’s no matter how big we get.[4:10] It seems like we’re always still kind of pulled towards sales in some sort of little way.[4:16] We’re always kind of, you know, still involved in that process.[4:19] We refused to get out 100% I love the chase.[4:24] I love the pic me and they didn’t pick you like that’s exhilarating and it really doesn’t matter.[4:32] What I found is that it doesn’t matter to me.[4:33] Which widget it is, right?[4:35] You know, it could be window coverings.[4:37] It could be that I got the last one on the rack, you know, like haha.[4:40] It’s a great price and I got it, you know, right?[4:43] Yeah, and I speak that I think that speaks to the competitive nature that it takes to build a business.[4:50] I don’t know that I’ll ever get away from it.[4:52] For sure.[4:53] Yeah.[4:53] Yeah, I there’s always like I said, you’re always going to have kind of your at least have your foot in the water a little bit on the sales side.[5:00] So yeah, I think that’s pretty common for for.[5:03] So so you mentioned your mom started it did she just started as one little kind of like Mom and Pop window covering business like like a lot of the people do nowadays.[5:15] Well, so Bloomin blinds is actually like the second iteration of her in the window covering space.[5:20] Okay, so we grew up in Washington state just north of Seattle.[5:26] She ran a one-woman window covering company that did sales Cleaning and Repair as a one-woman.[5:33] Man Show in Seattle for seven years After divorce, she wanted out of town.[5:40] So she moved to Dallas and all of us kind of migrated this way fairly quickly.[5:44] And again, she set off Bloomin’ Blinds with the full intention of being a one-woman show again, like our participation wasn’t part of the plan.[5:57] As opportunity came up.[5:59] We started slowly slowly jumping in the middle brother.[6:03] Chris was the first one to jump in.[6:04] I jumped in almost a year later.[6:06] And then the youngest one Kevin jumped in probably two or three years later and it was more of a function of entrepreneurial nature.[6:17] She’s a Serial entrepreneur as well.[6:19] And so she saw a hole in the market.[6:21] She saw an opportunity something spark their curiosity and without any planning or thinking it through You know off she went like most entrepreneurs, right?[6:31] That’s the old.[6:33] I remember when I was in high school.[6:34] There was a shirt that Nike had I think it was Nike but it was Elevate and then decide me are right right is a basketball similar build the plane while you’re flying.[6:44] Yeah.[6:45] Yeah.[6:45] Yeah, you got to figure it out while you’re going and that’s what entrepreneurs are good at is that nimbleness and that that risk tolerance in the ability to just kind of go because it seems like it’s a good idea.[6:54] You got to test them.[6:55] All right, so she she got to Dallas started blooming blinds as a one-woman show again at that point just offering repair and cleaning and then as we jumped in we still just offered repairing cleaning for a good three years.[7:14] Then we began to see that our customers were asking us like hey while you’re here or hey, you guys did a great job.[7:20] Can I buy some stuff from you and we were constantly sending it back to the retailers that were sending us the repair work because they didn’t want to do the And we are really hesitant to bite the hand that fed us but there was a point in which that’s well or that that volume of interest just couldn’t be denied like Yuki at some point.[7:39] You have to stop pushing away money.[7:40] Yeah, and and we very quietly added sales for about two years before we ever advertised it like we went for a full five years of just advertising cleaning and repair and then it got to a point where we could risk losing.[7:57] Losing that referral from the Retailer’s which ultimately did happen sure because we became a competitor and and then we were just kind of off on you know, then We’re Off to the Races.[8:07] Yeah.[8:08] Yeah on the unique selling proposition.[8:11] You mentioned the repairs.[8:14] I like the idea of that because it gets you in the door.[8:17] And as you say I think most smaller window treatment companies miss that opportunity.[8:24] They they don’t they don’t want to they don’t want the hassle.[8:27] I guess right but there’s some other benefits from doing that besides just hey while you’re here.[8:34] Absolutely.[8:35] Yeah, you can you can get a review right that grows reviews.[8:38] So there’s a there’s a digital marketing side to that.[8:40] Of course that’s always kind of my angle for it.[8:43] But you also mention cleaning.[8:45] Are you guys still doing cleaning as a service now?[8:49] So within the franchise model it’s an approved service, you know franchises if someone’s not familiar with how they work.[8:57] Effectively, we as the leadership decide or build out the business model and franchise owners kind of have to stay within those guardrails.[9:04] Sure.[9:05] So being that we grew up cleaning.[9:07] That’s certainly An approved service also window washing.[9:10] So we have you know,...

Guest Profile: Rory McNeilRory McNeil, born in London to Scottish parents, embarked on his journey in the window coverings industry by hand-staining 2" wood blind slats, when wood slats didn't come pre-finished in the 70s. As part of the family business based in Scotland, he swiftly progressed to more intricate tasks like stapling roller shade fabrics onto wood rollers. He played a pivotal role in the expansion of Eclipse Blinds in Scotland, eventually establishing its US subsidiary in Miami in 1990, which distributed roller and vertical fabrics. Later, in California, he co-founded TechStyles, introducing innovative products like IllumaSheer, RomaSheer, and pioneering manufacturing techniques.Rory's online engagement led to the creation of Window-Pro in 1994, a virtual hub for window covering enthusiasts. In recent years, he founded Shading & Automation Solutions (SAS), rebranded Window-Pro to WindowShading.Pro in 2020, and continues to contribute to the industry's evolution.Other Notes/Links:To learn more about Rory McNeil visit: Window Shading Pro , Advance Textile Expo, and Sun Shading Expopssst.... want to be a guest on the show?Listen to other episodes

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Guest Profile: Anders HallAnders Hall started with Solar shading back in 1993 as a Sales rep for Hunter Douglas. Managed Project Sales for the last 4 years until 2001 when he joined Somfy Nordic AB as Project Sales Manager. 2014 he moved position to Somfy SA (International) as Int Business Developer.In parallel, Anders Hall became active in ES-SO (the European Solar Shading Organization) in 2006 and since 2012 he has been a Board member and Chairman of the Marketing Committee. www.es-so.com.As of Jan 2020, Anders Hall is the president of ES-SO.ShadeAcademy is a private initiative to develop a platform online for the useful sharing of knowledge and experience around Adaptive Daylight Management.Other Notes/Links:To learn more about Anders Hall visit: Shade Academy and European Solar Shading Organisationpssst.... want to be a guest on the show?Listen to other episodes

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