Episode 32 - Learn Key Leadership and Growth Strategies with Cory Bettinghouse

[00:00:00] Everybody, it's Libby again with Fearlessness. So what's Fearlessness? It's that underlying grit that empowers us to forward ahead, even when hope seems distant. It's the courage to walk through those fires of hell knowing that we're

[00:00:12] going to come out better and stronger on the other side. Stay tuned and learn how to get Fearlessness. I'm your host, Libby DeLucien, and we have an amazing guest today, Cory. Do you want

[00:00:23] to go ahead and introduce yourself? Yeah, I'm Cory Bettinghouse. I'm located in Reno, Nevada. We have a lawn maintenance company and do everything on mainly the residential maintenance. Been cash, been doing it since college as a side gig and then turned it really into business in

[00:00:44] about 2012. Still don't really take it too seriously into about 2016 and and then from there have been growing pretty rapidly since then. So we do everything from regular maintenance to clean up to fertilization weed controls. I have a part irrigation to have a part of it and yeah, currently

[00:01:05] about 57 employees right now. Yeah, and it's been a lot of people and that's one thing that's been super successful is building the leadership team around that because if not, I definitely know how to manage 57 people by myself. So yeah, so we've been doing and also a part owner

[00:01:24] in a local bar with some buddies and been trying to build that up in an area called Ranchara and figuring out what that world's about, having no clue what to do but it's been a fun entrepreneurial

[00:01:35] itch to scratch going from that baseline of you know, having no clue what you're doing again and just not yeah we'll figure it out. Let's go for it. So that's kind of me and a quick little nutshell.

[00:01:45] I've been married for 15 years this year. I've got three kids, or at least as my list turned in 10 inch a lie in Emory's 8 and Fisher my son is 6. So they're just at this perfect

[00:01:59] amazing golden age where you just, you know, they're they're old enough that you don't have to change diapers and get them in the car and do all that stuff and they're not old enough where

[00:02:09] they're talking back to you so it's such a awesome especially yeah not yet. So that's kind of a little baseline about me. Awesome so you know Corin I met it's been a while we were in

[00:02:24] service autopilot Academy and it leaped together, have the opportunity to go to your bar if that's the same bar you're talking about. Yep there's. Yeah I've been there and then Corin actually

[00:02:34] introduced me to EO as well which has been great because that's a whole another topic we could talk about and that's really helped me personally as like as far as business and family EO is great

[00:02:49] if you don't know what it is. I highly recommend entrepreneurs organization to look into it. But I want to talk about something that you brought up I have a lot of questions. Yeah.

[00:03:02] But I think as entrepreneurs we all get that itch itch to do something else right like because we always have all these ideas and you had said you know 57 employees I built up a great leadership team because

[00:03:17] I had no way I could have managed those 57 which also know where you could have went and played in another sandbox right done. So tell me like tell us some key things that you learn

[00:03:30] building that great leadership team like what were some of the things that you went through I'd love to hear about it. Yeah I think the two parts of that question is and one thing I'm learning and still navigating myself was that first part of the question

[00:03:45] is saying like you know having that itch and entrepreneurs and what you do and so like I mean things have been crazy busy here for I mean for years and part of that development is allowed

[00:03:55] more freedom and it got me to place gosh last November. I want to say October November where I was just getting I was actually getting kind of bored and so that's where at the bar as a silent owner

[00:04:06] I was like hey if you guys want to help you know we've been running break even a little bit of profitable after a year and which is great but again the whole purpose of this is to make money

[00:04:16] doing it not just to have a fun place to go with your buddies from college and so I was originally getting into that I was like hey let me help out with some marketing and that was at the same time

[00:04:25] where I signed up for EO board and I volunteer for all these extra things because it's actually booked that just listen to great book by back your time was just like even as entrepreneurs like

[00:04:35] you seriously if there isn't a problem you're gonna find a problem or you're gonna create one just because that's kind of what you do so unfortunately I pendulum swing from superboard to way

[00:04:47] over committed and so I'm like still in life really trying to find that balance of where is like a good healthy spot where you're not just spread so thin and you're doing things you know

[00:04:58] I mean essentially like half ass like you're like just checking in and all the stuff but like and that is around that I'm still trying to figure out except if you're like I'm either

[00:05:07] pendulum swing to board or pendulum swing to over committed and frustrated right now like it's it has been saying no I think in that book he also is saying like if it's not a FES then it's an F no

[00:05:20] you know and like that's just kind of it like unless you're 100% sold don't just get yourself you know busy work so that's kind of part one that I would say of like getting into that realm

[00:05:31] is that I created that space so as part of the leadership team it has been a journey I think from you know mentor of you know yours mind Jonathan and hearing stuff that he had said like you

[00:05:44] know it's just finding that hiring and always being hiring for the the A players and if they're not you know if you're slow to hire and you're quick to fire and that's always been a theme you know we've

[00:05:55] been around but there's many years that wasn't the case and now I've been seeing way more the simplicity of that and then just like always recruiting always building that bench and trying to

[00:06:06] do it like I mean we do interviews every single I mean we're fully staffed right now and we're doing interviews every single day you know that that come in through the door because you never

[00:06:15] know when something might change in your business you know somebody you could be injured it could be move it could be just like wow that person was great for 30 days and now they suck

[00:06:25] and you've just got that bench to somebody that you've you know you've done 30 interviews in the last week can you know like sweet that one was the best of those 30 interviews let's get

[00:06:33] him into tomorrow and start training and then it's pretty seamless so that would say is like a lot of the the general workforce and it's been an amazing year this year with our field staff and the people

[00:06:45] we've hired and the culture we're building as far as the leadership team went I would attribute a lot I mean a lot of the EOS stuff you know reading through traction and rocker fuel and stuff like that

[00:06:56] like you you get some of those fundamentals and you figure out kind of what that organizational chart looks like for us at I mean the main business being Cory's launch service is you know so we have

[00:07:07] myself and Nicole is our general manager and and then we just have each one of the divisions so each of the divisions has a manager that's over it so you got office manager our maintenance manager

[00:07:20] our fert and weed our irrigation manager and then our shop and fleet so building that team and just having organizational structure where like who's been able to report to who's and some of those

[00:07:32] only have like one or two people in their department but at least they're the person that's coming to the table and we're talking more than just the day-to-day work and I think it's been really awesome

[00:07:44] this year my gentleman manager Nicole she's been fantastic and I think I hired her she told me if I forgot but I think it was like 2017 2018 where it was just kind of like this like hey I

[00:07:57] might have part-time work for you and now she's she's running the whole ship and it's been really cool because we do have like our level 10 meetings which is just Nicole myself and TJ so three of us

[00:08:10] that are in that but we do the separates this is a little off from EOS stuff but we do a little separate department managers so they'll be the six or seven of us in that and a little abbreviated

[00:08:21] of a level 10 meeting and then it's just more focused on like kind of our leadership skills it's growth like it's an accomplishment sending out you know even um I think this week she'll send out

[00:08:31] either like YouTube videos or podcasts or books and so like this last week was uh Bernab Brown on vulnerability and so like just talking about with that and like you know so we're just getting

[00:08:41] vulnerable and being open and like how we can grow as leaders how we can grow as just humans and just kind of investing into one another to build that team that it's just core and solid

[00:08:51] and it's not just hey go get this work done go have that conversation with this person hey we're behind on this but actually developing you know those leadership skills. I love that it's funny

[00:09:03] you just brought up by back your time when I went Jonathan shut down the elite group I went to go look for another mentor I went to go look for someone else to like get what we had

[00:09:16] and um so we're a solid pilot elite and I ended up in Dan Martell's program which is who's the author of by back your time and he was also Jonathan's coach and I had no idea

[00:09:28] I didn't know that either. Yep that was Jonathan so when Jonathan was would always talk to us and elite and he talked about boardroom and he always referred to boardroom that's Dan Martell's group

[00:09:38] who is the author and by back your time the world is so small. That is that's so crazy yeah no idea yep and I was just in Denver all week with Dan Martell okay um yep but it's um it's such a small

[00:09:53] world and um I love being in that room because I see like parts of Jonathan learned coming from him it's been really great and it's a great book oh yeah. Hi they were going to end it to our listeners if you

[00:10:05] haven't read it yet oh yeah and it's cross it's cross you know platform like I mean there's anything like there are so many things and or one thing and that now makes a lot more sense because I was like

[00:10:16] listening to that book and I'm just like well okay well good I'm doing something good on here and you know human mentions about Colby's and I'm like yeah we do that oh we do this and I'm like sweet

[00:10:26] I'm kind of on the same page of this and that's because our mentor Jonathan right you know he grabbed it from him so so that makes a lot more sense now um you know to go through that but I mean one thing I learned

[00:10:37] I felt like I felt about that book was it didn't matter if it was a solo person that's just getting started off and probably less than a hundred thousand dollars in revenue or you know my size business

[00:10:48] or bigger like I mean there were applicable like things to take away from that book at any level which was freaking awesome yeah absolutely I couldn't agree more in love that book and so I loved hearing

[00:11:01] like you know the EOS the journey and we too run slightly modified versions of EOS it's a heavy read and for our listeners like if your just not there yet you can always run

[00:11:15] a modified version something that works for you if you feel like your team is too small like or you just said sometimes there's only one or two people in some of these department meetings or the

[00:11:24] L10 meeting so I love that feedback as far as you know EOS and so how is the new project going like you went from Corey's law and service to then running operations for the bar

[00:11:39] how was that different like it brings it back to ground level like I mean and that's the thing like I'm saying the boredom at here that I was feeling like last August again we were starting to come

[00:11:51] into the offseason and you know things have just been run-in smooth and so I mean it's a great place to be it's just I think that's that can be really bad for entrepreneurs if if you just sit at

[00:12:02] I don't and just not where our mindset is at right like your like you said if there's not a problem you're going to go create one unfortunately and that was that was that where you're just like you

[00:12:12] get the itch and that one this the circumstances of the bar had a little bit different scenario where we had a bar manager that was like we knew was going to be temporary great dude was doing a

[00:12:24] fantastic job but it wasn't like his passion and he just had he was in between two jobs he's like oh I can fill in and then we have one of our operators that just life had gotten crazy for him and

[00:12:35] he just I mean we just had a heart to heart he's like guys I can't do this anymore so it would have been all on like one of the owners just a hundred percent and he you know he and I both have full-time

[00:12:45] jobs that's why jumping into it but jumping into that scenario what was crazy is it brought back this grind I guess you would say you know it's been cool to develop stuff at Corrize Law service where

[00:12:59] you're like I mean it on a weekly basis which I mean is my probably my last thing to get done outside of like a sales and marketing chair is just payroll so I'd say payroll is my only weekly thing

[00:13:11] that I still have to do you know like the business will not run if payroll is not paid which I have to do immediately after this call but but that's the only thing and so like and

[00:13:23] everything else runs really smooth I mean we're like we're hiring we're firing people that go and like I mean realistically they'll be you know are walking on our Monday all hands meeting and I'm like

[00:13:33] there's you know two new people and you're like oh hey I don't recognize you like what was your name you know so it's such a cool place to be but again because you're so distant not distant but so like

[00:13:44] out of the day-to-day operations it was really cool and frustrating to get back into the day-to-day operations on multiple levels like because you're going and you're you're cleaning and you're ordering and you're talking with our bartenders you're figuring out products that you don't know about

[00:14:01] like even start in the mowing stuff it the reason I started this is because my parents moved into a retirement community and they're like oh we thought the HOA would be mowing all the grasses and they're

[00:14:10] not and I'm like oh I can figure out how to mow grass like I mean that's how it started and so then you just figure those things out so the bar is kind of like I can figure out the change of k's now

[00:14:20] our bar is itself servo one so there's a lot of technology like it's not just tapping a k and going it's like auditing the you know the flow meters it's uploading all the all the different things

[00:14:31] it's like figuring out all these things that go between but it became a new challenge that was like oh I'm back using my hands trying to figure what this was and it was a cool thing you know the

[00:14:42] emergency call or like oh crap like I've got to go down at you know 10 o'clock at night because that's why it's easy happened and so it was interesting to get back to the basics again and remember

[00:14:55] those frustrating things that I'm like I felt with Corey's law service that I have now built out and built teams to manage or processes to manage like in and like now to get that view of like okay

[00:15:07] now what are the teams that we need to build here or what the processes need to be put in place so you don't you know because you've solved it one time so like how do we get back to the ground floor

[00:15:17] and figure out how to solve that again so that's been an interesting again totally different realm like we don't have anywhere close to Mount Staff or no because it's brick and you know it's

[00:15:27] brick and mortar you're not sending out a bunch of people but then how do we make it you know getting more in touch with what our clientele was we originally started thinking like

[00:15:36] hey we're a bunch of dudes at like beer let's put a 30-tap beer wall that people can sell served and have a giant screen for games but then you realize that your location is a bunch of

[00:15:46] like women that come in shop and they will go to the bakery and they love that and you walk around like dang we missed the mark we've got a re-adjust and so now like because it's like the women is a

[00:15:57] demographic so like the guy we hired like we're okay we gotta get cocktails on and we've got to push forward the cocktails cocktails on tap a lot of these things you know to be able to read just yeah

[00:16:06] why we have three wines on tap now which you know so it's just I think that was the fun part and again frustrating because man it was me going back at 10 o'clock at night into a place and be like

[00:16:18] this tap blue and we've gotten event tomorrow morning you know so we've got to make sure that set because we don't want to be doing it before that event starts um so but you know still like now in

[00:16:29] the in the the heights or not behind site but like looking what the possibility of the future could even look like for the bar because I've experienced it now with building out Corey's Law Service

[00:16:41] I am you know running to a lot of entrepreneurs who want to start another business or they start another business or another location or another vertical but I think for a lot of people they don't

[00:16:51] realize that you're starting the business from like infancy you have the experience and you're trying to apply it what you still have to like clean the bathrooms and take out the trash and it's hard

[00:17:02] for a lot of people to go back to hey man I didn't have to do that anymore I don't want to do that I want it I want to be at the level I'm at with my other business and you know we experience

[00:17:13] that we launched a couple locations of organized it and we were like holy crap this sucks you're trying to do things we're trying to do things and we were making it difficult and we were like

[00:17:24] trying to implement strategies at the level that our original location was at and it was failing and we were spending money instead of we said you know what we have to start back to the basics

[00:17:35] like keep it simple go back to the basics because we have to learn how to build it again from the ground up yes we have our experience but you can't just go in and apply that level

[00:17:46] of where the other location is you have to kind of start from zero so I see a lot of people struggle with that especially like wanting to do things because it's convenient for them but it's not

[00:17:59] what the business needs and it's because that's where they were at and that other business they weren't in the day to day they don't want to be in the day to day with a new business typically my

[00:18:08] answer is if you don't have the money to buy your way out you have to do it yeah no and that's so true and that's where like and and that's what has been all I mean it's also crazy to like look at the

[00:18:20] difference of revenue where I'm like you know and I'm not getting right I mean still not getting paid a dime for the stuff at the bar you know I mean it's like trying to bring that back up so again

[00:18:29] that's going back to the days where you're sacrificing your paycheck to try and grow this excessive something you know because you want to be able to implement the new things that's where

[00:18:38] you want to put your money I mean and I think there's times and places for that like I mean we you know entrepreneurs can business owners can also like fail on the opposite side you know where

[00:18:47] they're not paying themselves what they should be but like this I knew the spot we would be at and so but it is like you said it's a lot of that grind and you got to be willing to do it so

[00:18:57] and I think it was super frustrating at the first part of it but it has also become exciting because of that knowing what the future could entail you know knowing what you could build and I

[00:19:09] think that's the exciting part about that but I mean you definitely've got to be that willingness to grind because you can't just go and say well here it is you know I mean for me I could

[00:19:18] hey you know in our level 10 meeting at Corise Law Service let's let's think through this let's set up a process let's you know IDS it and get a plan in place but at the end of the day it's more

[00:19:28] like I'm there then to oversee and make sure the people are doing it and if it's at the bar it's you're you're doing it hands on like you might be able to grab one another person to help you out

[00:19:38] implement but at the end of the day like it's getting back grind back on so if you're not willing to do it or you can't buy yourself out of it then then like that's a good thought of like this I

[00:19:48] you know in this bar ID even starts like this would be a fun thing with my buddies and it's like we are super naive you know like you're talking about with your business and going to another one

[00:19:56] oh we'll just start another you know another location it'll be that easy and you're like crap this is a lot of work and it's frustrating I mean you know and you picked the hard industry I'm owned

[00:20:09] a bar so I've been in the bar business never do it again ever. I've learned a lot but you know I love hearing struggles and I hear you know some entrepreneurs you know I want to know

[00:20:22] are you guys bored like for our listeners do you feel bored in your business and look at those times that you feel bored I was coaching someone and I told them I said oh my god like you're creating

[00:20:33] so much chaos and you were you're setting everyone up to fail on your company by doing these things I said they can't they're not going to succeed but there's much chaos and she goes well I'm

[00:20:44] fine with it I like it and I said yeah because that's what we thrive on that's what we like it's because you're bored right now and you're looking for that chaos we are chaos in adrenaline

[00:20:55] junkies as entrepreneurs we will do things on purpose like maybe make bad investments maybe start other locations and we may now and we may know that it's going to fail or maybe we know it's a bad

[00:21:09] or you know or maybe they're great ideas but at the end of the day it's the I think we do these things so that we feel alive yeah and that is I think that and that's what I'm still learning

[00:21:21] like very much in this realm of where you've got you've got a business that's going super well it's it's cruising you've built up a good leadership and then you're just like okay I'm a

[00:21:31] little bored because I still even agree like I still put that that idea like it's one of our core values here of course like it's simple like I mean is I mean our acronym is tennis which is

[00:21:41] teamwork efficiency, neighborly industry industry leader and simple so like even when we IDS stuff like we're like wait is this simple so like that is a huge factor in the simplicity but

[00:21:52] I still haven't figured out how to do that in my life like I can keep the core value at work but when it comes to my life I'm like this isn't simple like core you like you you know you

[00:22:02] make the chaos and like so I think it's it's really cool to now see that pendulum swing and knowing it at least identifying in my head so I feel like when that next time comes up like

[00:22:13] like where Dammore tells us is like if it's not an F yes like if your brain isn't like I'm all in I'm ready to go I'm ready to grind I got the finances for it F yes I'm in

[00:22:23] it needs to be an F now like it needs to be a hey like you know I think that's awesome and it sounds good but it's it this needs to not happen I cannot do this right now so that being said let's

[00:22:36] move into you know how do you work at building horizontal and surface building the bar you know building your businesses with a holistic approach to you know your life and your values

[00:22:50] how do you incorporate those together hmm um I think that there is I mean a big part of it is a combination I mean you got it you know three kids and I got a family and um I also

[00:23:03] great wife by the way she's awesome yes no she yeah I try I'd be way more of a hot mess there wasn't for her so it was like the thing is is fine still finding that balance and I started it

[00:23:16] even you know about two years ago I would say when things were still a little bit chaotic you know it's easy to say now I mean I would say in the last two weeks I've bailed from work because

[00:23:27] everybody calls up he's like hey I need a fourth for this golf tournament I'm a big golfer and so I'm like hang on let me just reschedule this meeting and yep I'll be there I'll see at the course

[00:23:35] in hour like being able to do that last minute and having the freedom that I'm not like yeah are their responsibilities I should have done that day absolutely but can they wait another day

[00:23:44] and I've created that freedom that is that is a thing but two years ago things would be more chaotic but it was still realization that that your body your mind needs to even needs to be able to

[00:23:54] sap it needs to be able to have a rest and my family needs my attention and myself needs my attention you know it's like I like so it would be the mentality you know I think on the initial

[00:24:06] start would be this regimen of a like I know Monday through Thursday I'm gonna grind I've got a bunch of stuff that I gotta get done but in the last it is like it like I was trying to protect

[00:24:18] as much as I could for my Friday my Friday I'm gonna come in I'm gonna check in I'm gonna deal with any last minute stuff and then I'm gonna get out on the golf course and that's

[00:24:27] gonna start my weekend and that gives me a little time for myself any of the buddies that I want to hang out with for the week any of those extra things that I was like at least created a time

[00:24:36] from that I could do it in Saturdays and last there's well I mean the problem is the kids are now at an age where you got birthday parties that is ideally our family day and it does and gosh times

[00:24:47] the season it involves running all over the place for sports and for kids birthday parties but that's not a day that daddy works that's not a day I plan on golfing there's a handful of

[00:24:56] tournaments in a year that yes I will or conferences and things like that but our normal week to week Saturday is kind of like our family Saturday like if we can and then Sunday is like a

[00:25:07] plan I've big and like also largely involved as a lay pastor at our church and so with that like there's a lot of church activities that that go with that in meetings that are on Sundays

[00:25:18] but then if you know that whatever extra time is still built in with a family so it means it's amazing like even you know something that I would love and want to do like friends

[00:25:26] would be like hey I got it you know tea time on Saturday let's hang out let's do this I'm like nope that's my family day that's not gonna happen you know definitely the age of the kids we are still

[00:25:35] running around and doing activities but we're doing it all together you know that is our family day that you know that we're we're trying to keep precious so I guess you would say like when it's

[00:25:44] trying to find that balance and you know it it also health stuff like has a huge part to do with that too which you know I mean like I got into like a good regimen my wife and I work out together

[00:25:57] on a regular basis in the afternoon after work so that's the thing like workshops down you get home you crush a workout in you get to dinner family you do the bedtime routine so like all that

[00:26:07] stuff from 5 30 in the morning till 9 30 at night like it is pretty built in Monday through Thursday Friday able to get some personal time family day Saturday and Sundays like church and family

[00:26:18] stuff as well so I think it's you know and damn our tell gets into that as well like I mean not to just like like pump this this look up but I'm like I'm thinking you know when you have the calendar

[00:26:29] in at least there's still gonna be chaos in it but when you can formulate what that calendar looks like there's freedom in it because then you can open those times or you know those times for me to look

[00:26:40] forward to like I'm looking forward to that Friday I'm looking forward to that Saturday so we can hang out as a family and then I know I'm back at it on Sunday with meetings and church and you know

[00:26:49] if there is extra time then great let's go let's go out for walk let's do you know bike ride with a family in the evening because by chance or wasn't something up yeah I am I've been

[00:27:00] using the perfect week which is one of Dan's frameworks for the last three years probably and that's why when people say like Libby you're everywhere so you're doing everything it's strategic I'm using time as a tool right instead of instead of trying to manage it

[00:27:17] I'm using my time as a tool to get what I want versus constantly chasing it and so if you have not seen the perfect week I've done some slight teachings on it it's in Dan's book it is a great

[00:27:31] framework but then we go even further than that and I practice the pre-loaded year so we can pre-load our entire year of travel a family first maintenance comes in like maintenance on

[00:27:43] on me then family travel and then like what speaking or convention things and my going to do and how do they fit in to my perfect week and so that has really helped me be able to achieve more

[00:27:59] but then also have more time to myself is I am super religious about my calendar and structuring it and then if something's on my calendar it trumps anything else that comes so that's why it's so important to load your calendar with those important things and then that's that's

[00:28:18] spot a secret and I and I hold it and then I know what to say yes to and I know what to say no to and because I had this problem of saying no to stuff I would at least just say yes oh help you yeah

[00:28:28] let's jump on a call like and I'm self-stabotaging yeah but now with that I don't feel bad saying no oh I can I that's my family time or that's you know ever since I started doing this me and my

[00:28:42] husband go to Sunday brunch every morning and I drink a mimosa on Sunday brunch like some fancy lady because it was just something I've always wanted to do and I never did it until I put it in that

[00:28:53] calendar and you know you live by that calendar yep now and I mean there is there is so much more freedom in it and I need to get so this is also another thing because I know I know you are a lot more

[00:29:05] yourself personally is a lot more organized I mean it's kind of in your name like you're more organized and regimen and discipline than I ever have been like I mean this is new for me in the last few years

[00:29:17] and I'm still sporadic I'm like a squirrety amount of times in our level 10 meeting that my general manager has to be like Cory like squirrel like I mean it's literally just the code word because I'll just like go that way

[00:29:28] you know and so I it has been learning but even for that like I mean I recently just got her first you know uh a general manager and I are splitting an executive assistant and so like just because

[00:29:39] oh I was good recommend you should get an assistant to help me stay on the stuff like and then he I was just me and we were still funny I was meeting with her right before this and she's like Cory you've got five

[00:29:47] minutes and she put up on the screen like the video oh yeah you know because she is helping manage that calendar helping keep me accountable and then also like goodness the amount of times

[00:29:57] and you know that I would not get to inboxes so now it's the most important things that need to go like and she's been fantastic to be able to have those that organizational part for me as like definitely

[00:30:09] has a person that is the scattered brain that wants to do the fun that wants to just go out and do all those things that I could be self sabotaging she has really helped and I like just was

[00:30:19] very upfront with her when she got hired it's like I'm going to let you know like and I need to know if I'm frustrating you because I am like this is the person I want to be and I've seen

[00:30:28] the success in it but my tendency is to go like this and so it's really helpful that like Nicole that's now known me for seven years like she's able to speak into like the like to help me any and

[00:30:39] just say hey yes this is how the kind of person he is but even many and such a short time has been able to be like hey like let's focus let's get on this nope you don't want to cancel that because

[00:30:48] that was what you told me was a core priority might oh yeah almost and I mean I'm not a dummy but like sometimes I do feel like I need to be talked to like a child like I need somebody to just be like

[00:30:59] that's not what you're going to do you're going to go do this and they're like okay yes that is that is a true statement let's do it. This is a great topic because I went through three

[00:31:08] assistance before I found the one that was works for me and it was all my fault right I didn't have the proper expectations or training it was my fault right I've hired the wrong people

[00:31:20] and so now like Marilyn is my executive assistant and I'll be on a zoom call and she'll like chime in if you have five more minutes like I'll someone will ask for a meeting and I'll say like sure she

[00:31:30] goes well frankly I don't think it's worth your time. I'm like yes man. I know right it's still I mean it's awesome having between man and Nicole like that is so much or like nope

[00:31:40] I'm like okay yeah thanks thanks because if not we want to do all those things we want to help people we want to you know grow ourselves but there are times like we're again if in that calendar

[00:31:51] you can you can get that in there and and budget that time and have it planned then yes like I mean I had a meeting yesterday with a guy from from church and I knew that it was going to be

[00:32:02] you know be a tough it was going to be a tough meeting but I knew again it was that's where I've been trying to do like my wife works usually either just on either just on Mondays or on Thursdays

[00:32:12] and that is usually the time that I'm like great we have a nanny that's at home with the kids this isn't opportunity for me to like budget a happy hour like who is the who are the person I need to

[00:32:22] catch up with and there was one that even canceled on monday I'm like nope this is my time to do this and like called up somebody else like let's plan this for this time but you also know like

[00:32:33] wall that is filling in a small way it's also really draining like it's really draining to have some of those meetings and some of those conversations but we want to do it to either help the

[00:32:43] person out you want to just you know catch up you want to make sure people are doing well and like or you know I mean that one was half talking personal family and business like he's a small

[00:32:52] business owner video videographer photographer and like he's just you know he's like how do I get to that next level I'm like well I don't know your world but as I can tell you the most amount

[00:33:03] of conversations I've had with guys that are solo and what I remember is our argument is always like well what I do is so specialized or what I do needs really needs my attention and needs that

[00:33:13] I'm like no it doesn't like like you know from if for him I was like what is one biggest time circles like editing videos is like oh my gosh I bet you could go on to up work right now and

[00:33:24] I was like well then there's all these things I'm like just create a loom video and do it 10 times and have them try you can still edit it but I was like you've got to start you know

[00:33:34] yeah I got to create a playbook for that yep um you know I love that topic because right now we do this occasionally we're doing time audit sheets through the whole group recruitment organization I done it with organize it another like last quarter or two quarters ago

[00:33:52] we're doing it now and I just came out of one of the quarter one of the 10 meetings this morning and someone's feedback was like maybe in that time audit sheet was really eye-opening to how much

[00:34:05] time I'm spending on stuff and this was just someone that works within the marketing department and for someone like your friend do a time audit sheet it's so enlightening it's going to teach you

[00:34:17] so much about yourself like I'm even doing one and I spent one hour yesterday looking for something and never found it I was looking for a picture of an example of the time audit sheet

[00:34:27] and I never found it and my husband found it in five seconds but I didn't ask him again I thought I was the only one that could look for it yep but there's time audit sheets

[00:34:38] or amazing because it's going to really force you to write down what are you doing what are you spending your time on and I'm the only one can do it someone else can do it or

[00:34:47] anyone can do it or the categories um and you know what we're not as special as we think we are like we're all special individuals but I think you know when it comes to our business the things that

[00:34:59] make our business special or the values of our business not necessarily what our business is how it delivers it yeah and that's one thing I mean it was two two years ago in our

[00:35:11] strategy summit so like our end of the year like hey what's our big focus for for the company is upcoming year was it we just put around the theme that everything we're going to focus on

[00:35:21] is quality people do in quality work so it's like does that mean are we hiring the quality people and you know are we producing the quality work so just as you know as the same idea as you're

[00:35:30] going back to your core values but for a year we realized like hey we've had a lot of quality issues we've had a lot of warranty repairs that went back last year we've got a really figure this out

[00:35:39] and we've also started seeing with doing like a lot more recruiting that if we can build the bench and hire a players but then if you just always go back to that focus quality people do in

[00:35:50] quality work and so this year they love that and we're like what's kind of a theme this year so is the same but then we just and then the last part was held their quality standard so this year

[00:36:00] is quality people do in quality work held their quality standard so I mean for us like doing things like that like so then my operations manager TJ like he just that's his mind his mind's like yours

[00:36:11] he is systems and processes and thank goodness for him and Nicole because that's the other thing if I didn't build this team there's no way any of this stuff would have been done because I

[00:36:20] suck at that stuff I really do and so like yeah most people want to hire a version of themselves yeah oh yeah so that's where like TJ has been great because like we implemented

[00:36:32] train you and using train you will for a lot of those standards and that's like the initial for onboarding and like what would be going and here are our standards and our processes

[00:36:41] and him helping to create some of the scorecards and we call it our tennis sheet again our core values that the acronym tennis so then we we started doing a monthly bonus tennis team within

[00:36:51] a 10 a 10 a 10 is team I don't have a 10 is team but you know so then each one of those many 10 is team no we don't we don't but I used to play that was my main sport in high school

[00:37:03] it's actually 10 is so but like so then we know everything focuses back to that like because we saw that our core values go around quality people doing quality work held and we need to hold to

[00:37:12] quality standard so it's like their attendance is something that they're graded and bonus done you know like for the month like okay if you can hit this like so each employee has an opportunity

[00:37:23] to get an extra $100 at the end of the month based around those core values are you held to a certain efficiency like is your neighbor least score like and that's where we also implemented

[00:37:32] a plot so they have this net promoter scores like that they're they're ranking against are you at least hitting a nine on that NPS score like in it like so then you created something the industry

[00:37:42] leader have you been up to date and doing all the stuff that's on train you'll and then for simple callbacks that's what callbacks was is like you know something that you know so we then create

[00:37:53] that rubric that is around the core values and so it's that's one thing that's been so cool is like you just see from the top down a quality you know quality people doing quality work held

[00:38:01] they're quality standard and then here's this that's how we're going to measure it and here is the team that's going to go then talk to the guys and make sure that they're held to that be like

[00:38:09] holy crap this works like this is insane like how well this works I have one question yes would you say to the people who would say my guys don't care about that stuff

[00:38:24] if they can see that you care about it then they I mean they will care about it and if they don't care about it then that's the wrong people on your team thank you because I know that you know with

[00:38:34] certain some of these things a lot of time we get pushed back whether you're in the cleaning industry lawn care is like oh you know my guys well they don't care about that they don't want to do a training

[00:38:44] you know they're not going to care about a quality score for the same thing in the residential cleaning industry and the commercial but I agree with you said if if they don't care then they're

[00:38:55] the wrong people because if you care they should care yep exactly and that's yeah and that's where you just got to be consistent and do that stuff around yourself and yeah and like because if you can

[00:39:06] do that and they see that you care and they see that's a core your business from the moment and and that initial transition that is going to be hard like if you have you can't go 0 to 100

[00:39:16] like immediately like you can't just lay down the playbook and just say this is the way it is and well you can just know and be prepared that you're going to have 50% exit or 50 or more

[00:39:29] people that you're going to have to fire and you've got to be held to that you can't like kind of come back down it's not being the rule enforcer and being the jerk like you're creating a

[00:39:37] culture and it's going to take time but I would also know that like if you are coming out of the gates and you've had nothing and you lay down the law and you're going to hold to it and you're

[00:39:46] going to hold your team to it you better be ready to hire a bunch of new people that are can start from ground 0 because other people can get away with it too long and they're not going to want to adapt

[00:39:56] and I love that topic because say we go to conferences we go here we go to a mastermind and we get this motivation get inspired we're like oh we're going to do these processes we're

[00:40:05] going to implement this. To me that's the evolution of business we start doing those things some of the people that were with us don't like that and that's okay because that's the evolution

[00:40:15] of business you're going to cycle and then people in and out because as your business grows or as the leaders grow whether it's the owner or leadership grows the business changes

[00:40:27] and that's where the evolution of business comes in and we have to let go of those people because if we keep them that's when we start to have like apathy for our business frustration good people

[00:40:37] start leaving because you know the bad people whatever we're going to call the seed players continue to do it the same way they did it before and well that's not fair you're holding

[00:40:49] them to the same standard yeah and that's when we start to create our own chaos in our business because we're not following our own direction yeah yeah and I mean I'll just give

[00:41:00] one last example that I would just say in that that even happened even with the size that we have gotten so we just switched operation managers like we just announced it to the team

[00:41:11] I didn't go outside I really like I felt like we've done a good job with the people that we hire and if you're going to stay around other than just the seasonal employee then look we're

[00:41:18] going to try and figure out a way to invest into you if you stick around through winter in the hard times then and we see the potential in you then we'll see what other levels of you know in the

[00:41:26] business can be so my operational manager has been it for the last I should want to say two to three years and fantastic guy and I just had to have the hard conversation with you I was like dude I think you're hitting your ceiling man like you just

[00:41:41] the business is getting too big for what you do now there's other departments that are in here that you don't even know anything about or know how to ask the right questions your computer skill

[00:41:50] level isn't like up to snuff now when we were you know 15 20 people it was fine like I didn't have as many processes we didn't keep the score cards all it all what he was great at is

[00:42:00] relational and starting the culture and we've been finding he does a lot of our interviews and heck man the guy freaking was rock solid at the guys he's brought on and he's like

[00:42:10] our culture curator now like and so as I do I don't you are on the right bus and I was like I don't want this to come as a hit but I was like I don't think your your your set to be our

[00:42:19] operations manager anymore I was like you do amazing job when somebody tells you a task that needs to be done and you do amazing job hiring guys and relating to them in the field and

[00:42:29] checking on quality I was like so that is his seat I need to build it because I want you here this core is law service is your place this is your home and he's like 100% I was like

[00:42:39] and I don't want you to feel beat up like that you're that you're switching positions but we have to and that was just again like you said it's a nature of business he was great for a few

[00:42:49] years at the size we needed but when that transformation came and we needed more of the system process he's just not a guy but he still has a seat on the bus because he's freaking great

[00:42:58] at what he does in creating culture love that so we're gonna go ahead and wrap up this was great learned a ton for you thank you so much for being a guest on the Fairlist's podcast and so what is

[00:43:12] next for Corey what can our viewers expect we'll make sure we put your bar course law service any social media handles in the show notes but do you have anything else in the works?

[00:43:23] not on a entrepreneurial side of things right now I think the the main thing in the works is finding finding the balance I'm coming off of coming off of being the membership chair for EO I

[00:43:34] know we didn't get a chance to do that and so that took a lot of time so it is finding this like I'm trying to find go from that boredom to the extreme to finding somewhere in here that's not

[00:43:44] going to be the craziness and kind of recalibrate to see what that next season looks like for me you know it's I've really enjoyed having the conversations with some more of these start ups

[00:43:55] and then getting back into it I don't know if that's necessarily an accouching thing like it's but realistically you know this it's summertime kids are out of school so my immediate need is as getting some vacations in and getting in playing with kids and getting out golfing

[00:44:11] is my immediate thing and figuring out the recalibration. I love that yeah somehow I got suckered into being the forum chair for me oh I'm like yep of course they pick Lvy because she's

[00:44:27] the organized more structured one you're gonna be great for this yeah I'm like I just completed moderator training as well and that is I take over here at our next forum for form moderator as

[00:44:39] well and so or more moderator that's what I am I'm moderated like and so that is it's a new adventure yes and I said you know when I when I J asked me I'm like my husband and my assistant are going to

[00:44:51] kill me because I've committed to another thing yep yep and that's where I'm going to be right now and the organizational part of it is what is gonna be key for the forum but I'm looking forward

[00:45:02] to my team is we had a good retreat that that we were able to visit cast what we wanted and so like I think I got some good groundwork it's just again if I would have not taken on that roll

[00:45:12] if I knew that my assistant would have not been able to be there to help keep me organized and saying have you followed up with these people have they done their one-to-one have you got a deep

[00:45:21] dive coaching you know and so like those things that are gonna be helped like where it's like yeah you just I need somebody help keep you organized yes love this so guys that's a wrap I want to

[00:45:33] thank all of our listeners if you want to find more episodes just visit either libede.com or the fearlessness.com also want to thank our sponsor Woogru for always sponsoring our great episodes here at PureListness and remember every step we take is a new towards our own strength

[00:45:49] encouraged so keep walking through those fires because on the other side lies a version of yourself it's unstoppable and so next time remember to embrace your PureListness stay brave, stay bold and keep pushing forward