Latest / The Scene Projects / Melissa Dotson on Rieke Interiors, Workspace Design, and Leadership Fulfillment

Transcript

Melissa Dotson on Rieke Interiors, Workspace Design, and Leadership Fulfillment · The Scene Projects

• 0:22
  Welcome in to another exciting episode of Real Biz.
• 0:25
  I am your host, Bubba Sartz.
• 0:27
  And today, I'm joined by business culture and work place expert and the owner of Reiki
• 0:32
  Interiors, Melissa Dodson.
• 0:33
  Melissa, welcome to the show.
• 0:35
  Thank you for having me.
• 0:37
  I'm so excited for this one.
• 0:40
  I have to give a huge shout out to mutual friend of ours, John Morris, right off the top.
• 0:44
  Without him, I don't know that I would know you.
• 0:47
  I know that he's helping you with your budding podcasting career.
• 0:51
  So, we're gonna talk about the podcast in a little bit, and we're gonna get into some deep
• 0:56
  dives on, interior design and furniture and all kinds of exciting stuff that everyone loves
• 1:02
  talking about, obviously.
• 1:04
  But before we do that, Melissa, I wanna just give you an opportunity to give us a little bit
• 1:09
  of your backstory.
• 1:11
  So yeah.
• 1:11
  So I, you know, office furniture wasn't my passion in the beginning.
• 1:15
  I actually started as the accountant here twenty eight years ago.
• 1:19
  I'm a CPA by trade, but I have, a thirst for knowledge.
• 1:24
  So I just learned everything I could about the business, sales, manufacturing, design, all of
• 1:30
  that, and then, bought out my partner in 2019.
• 1:35
  And now I'm, very excited to own it and take it to the next level.
• 1:41
  And I tell people, well, you can buy office furniture from, you know, anybody.
• 1:45
  Really, that's not what I sell.
• 1:46
  What I sell is your environment and a great foundation for you to build your business and
• 1:52
  have wonderful employees, have a great place to thrive.
• 1:57
  I think that's something that's often missed, when people are building a business and you're
• 2:02
  just trying to go to, you know, a a big box store or something and buy furniture to fill
• 2:06
  in, but you miss out on an opportunity to really bring people into your world and to let
• 2:13
  your, you know, your own personality and the personality of your business to speak as soon
• 2:20
  as people walk in the door.
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  So I think while it's often overlooked, I think that it's extremely impactful, the work that
• 2:26
  you're doing.
• 2:28
  Yeah.
• 2:28
  It's very passionate of me because, I mean, I love business.
• 2:32
  I love winning.
• 2:33
  I'm competitive.
• 2:34
  So if I can help another business owner win and if you have a great space that matches your
• 2:40
  culture, matches your brand, it can really bond your employees to your business and have a
• 2:46
  really good foundation for you to just grow, inspire each other, brainstorm, and have a good
• 2:51
  place for everybody to bond and really want to win with your business.
• 2:57
  Right.
• 2:57
  And I was thinking from the consumer side, like a customer walks into an office building or but
• 3:04
  for the environment and the culture of a company, especially, to walk in and and feel
• 3:11
  like you work in the coolest place on earth is extremely important, especially with a
• 3:16
  competitive, you know, workplace market that there is now, and I think people moving jobs a
• 3:21
  lot more than they did in decades past.
• 3:24
  Yes.
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  There's a lot more competition for, really good talent.
• 3:28
  And if you can get a really good culture, you know, that's what really matters and really
• 3:33
  helping your employees get personally fulfilled.
• 3:36
  And I just believe that that starts with your space, and then you build from there as you
• 3:39
  have a good foundation to build from.
• 3:42
  Well and what's interesting about your specific company is that you are not just design and
• 3:51
  you're not just manufacturing and you're definitely not pulling things out of a box and
• 3:56
  just assembling them.
• 3:58
  You are everything from floor to ceiling, I I do believe is how you put it.
• 4:03
  Can you kinda walk us through it?
• 4:05
  And I know you didn't found this company, but what is the, you know, the lifeblood of the
• 4:11
  company, and and why was it so important to kind of take it from an empty room to fully
• 4:18
  designed and built out?
• 4:20
  Yeah.
• 4:21
  Well, I really just believe in, in energy.
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  So a space actually has an energy, and the people that go into the space have an energy.
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  And our job is to pull out of the business owner that we're working with.
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  What do they want that energy to be?
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  You know, some people want it to be a homey feel.
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  Some people want it to be a techy feel.
• 4:41
  You know, some people want a sterile feel.
• 4:44
  There's all different ways that you want your employees or your customers to feel, and it's
• 4:49
  our job to pull that out of the business owner that we're working with and then to bring that
• 4:53
  to life in all aspects, you know, lighting, window treatments, accessories, artwork, the
• 4:59
  furniture, the flow of the business.
• 5:02
  You you'll go to places sometimes.
• 5:04
  I noticed it a lot, like, in a doctor's office area or in in a medical facility where the
• 5:11
  nurses are complaining like, oh, this is not in the right place, and this doesn't flow, and
• 5:15
  this is, you know, messing with my, you know, productivity.
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  And so I'm always like, oh, man.
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  I wish I could have helped them, you know, because we try to really help with that.
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  It's really about the design, the look, but also the function.
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  You want it to be able to flow, and you want your employees to be more productive.
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  And if your space is properly set up, they can be more productive.
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  It can flow better.
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  It can foster better conversations, better brainstorming, a good place to to be.
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  It's where feng shui and ergonomics come together.
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  Right?
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  Yes.
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  For sure.
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  What and now you came from the accounting room, which I don't think in itself is a is a rare,
• 5:58
  trajectory inside of a company to then be at the very top of it.
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  What are you most passionate about now?
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  Is it the design side?
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  Is it the relationships that you're forming with these, you know, owners and, you know,
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  founders inside of their spaces to really guide them?
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  Because coming from my own personal experience, I'm not an interior designer nor do I really
• 6:21
  know.
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  So does it start with the founder and kinda getting a feel for who they are?
• 6:27
  And, are you getting a little bit of pushback maybe, you know, from the room to take their
• 6:33
  vision?
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  Right?
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  Looking at the space and listening to them and going, yeah.
• 6:36
  The this isn't going to work.
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  So you're kinda having to guide them through the process to say, this is I like what you
• 6:42
  have there, but let's try to envision this a little bit differently.
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  Yes.
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  Well and I really, yes.
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  We do that for sure.
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  We wanna get, you know, we actually have a survey that goes out to all employees so that
• 6:55
  we can get, you know, their, you know, mindset.
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  And, you know, I'm a firm believer is that all leaders really should listen to the people on
• 7:03
  the floor because they're the ones actually, you know, in the trenches.
• 7:07
  The leaders are more visionaries.
• 7:09
  They're up in, you know, the sky, and the people that are down actually doing the work in
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  the, you know, in the weeds and in the trees as they say.
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  It's really important to listen, to what they have to say.
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  Because if you're not, I don't really think you're being a great leader.
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  And then, you know, two, it makes the space not function.
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  And I would think that most business leaders would want their space to function well.
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  They would want their employees to be happy, personally fulfilled so that way they're more
• 7:38
  productive.
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  They're, performing better customer service.
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  They're also, gonna help.
• 7:45
  If that's all helping and they stay longer, your bottom line's gonna grow.
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  So then everybody's really in it for the same, you know, reasons, for the growth, you know, to
• 7:55
  get more market share, to have great customers, to get more sales.
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  And then, hopefully, the business is making more money.
• 8:01
  Hopefully, then, employees could have bonuses.
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  My really big, big passion right now, and I'm doing actually a lot of speaking now.
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  I I'm, two things have happened in my life here at Ricky.
• 8:15
  Well, many things have happened.
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  I've been here twenty eight years.
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  But more recently more recently, I have an amazing executive team.
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  So I have to just say if people could at least just hire the right people, hire people smarter
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  than you, hire people that are better at different things than you are, really know what
• 8:35
  you're good at, and delegate everything else, your business will be better off for sure.
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  I tried to do everything before.
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  I actually was the CFO, the president, the sales manager, and the design manager all at
• 8:48
  once.
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  Not a good way.
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  We weren't really making money.
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  We weren't doing a good job because everything I was the bottleneck, and everything had to run
• 8:57
  through me.
• 8:58
  Now that I actually have the best executive team ever and a very amazing staff too, Things
• 9:05
  run the day to day mostly without me.
• 9:07
  So now I'm being able to work on my passion project of speaking to business owners about
• 9:13
  personal fulfillment.
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  That's the other reason why you had mentioned before that I'd started a podcast as well
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  because I'm really passionate about people just living a life, not a personal life and a work
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  life, just a life.
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  And I believe that work should personally fulfill you, and you shouldn't be waiting for
• 9:31
  retirement or waiting for the weekend to feel good about yourself or feel good about your
• 9:37
  week.
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  And I think that, as business owners, we could help our employees with that, you know, with
• 9:44
  the space.
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  And then once the space is done, then what are you doing?
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  How are you helping them grow?
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  How are you pushing them?
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  What are you doing to, you know, work with them and help them be personally fulfilled?
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  Because if you are personally fulfilled, you just show up better.
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  You show up happier.
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  You show up happier at home.
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  You show up happier at work.
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  And then when you show up happier, you're more productive, and then the whole thing works out
• 10:08
  better, and you have a better team.
• 10:10
  Yeah.
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  It's so a big full circle between the the work and the home life being heard and something you
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  touched on there with your survey is when someone's able to, at work in any kind of small
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  way, feel like they're being listened to, that's so massive.
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  I it's a major reason why I left the workforce, you know, working in the factory that I was
• 10:36
  that I just everything that you said just fell on deaf ears.
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  You never felt heard heard.
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  You never felt understood by anyone above you.
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  And I I just got tired of not feeling like it was going anywhere.
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  I didn't see any vision for that, and it created, I don't wanna say a toxic work
• 10:56
  environment, but for myself, it was.
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  I wasn't happy going to work and coming home, and it was taking more and more time away from
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  my family.
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  You know, a few occasions of being like, okay.
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  Yeah.
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  It's Thursday.
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  We're working mandatory Saturday because we're behind on that.
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  And then I was like, my kid's got a ballgame.
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  Like, I I don't care what punishment you're going to dish out to me, a point system or a
• 11:22
  doc.
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  Like, I'm not money motivated enough that I'm ditching my son's little league playoff game to
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  be here for you because you didn't do something right and you're behind on stuff.
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  Like, I'm sorry.
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  I'm just not that way.
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  But had they listened at some point and maybe there had been some goodwill on their end
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  besides, well, you get a paycheck for giving us your time during the day, that maybe I would
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  have been more inclined to stay.
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  Right?
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  And I think that is I mean, that's pretty ubiquitous through any industry that you work
• 12:00
  in.
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  And I think the work that you're doing, with Beyond the Role and with your speaking
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  engagements are really fixing those toxic work environments around the country, you know, one
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  one founder at a time or many, while you're able to get out there.
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  And as the podcast continues to grow in popularity, which I hope it does, for you, I
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  just think it's so important in that space.
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  And another thing I wanted to touch on there was it's not just about, you know, where your
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  butt's sitting while you're working or the tables that you're working at, but also the art
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  that may be on the wall like that beautiful picture that's behind you.
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  A little bit of something to put a smile on your face is never a bad thing in any kind of
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  environment.
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  And I think it it just it gets overlooked time and time again that, you know, walking into
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  what eventually feels like a prison cell, it it is going to have a negative effect on your
• 12:59
  employees.
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  There's just no way which is going to negatively infect, or, you know, affect the
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  culture and infect your workplace with negativity.
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  And it's such it's crazy that it gets overlooked as much as it does when the fixes, I
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  I think, are really quite simple.
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  Are they not?
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  Yes.
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  They are.
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  And, really, again, like, listening to your employees, what do they need, you know, what
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  spaces do they need, as well as, you know, the owner.
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  Obviously, the owner needs to have, you know, their, you know, flare on it for sure.
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  But it really is about the employees because the employees are the ones that are there every
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  day, you know, working eight to ten hours in that space.
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  So I would think that most people would want the space to be good for their employees so
• 13:50
  that they could actually, get the benefit from that.
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  Are there ever any moments where you have to temper the flare down from?
• 13:59
  I just As soon as you said flare, my my mind immediately went to the old movie waiting where
• 14:06
  they had a thousand buttons on their shirt and
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  their Yes.
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  Oh, yeah.
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  For sure.
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  We did have one.
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  I was like, okay.
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  This looks like a Vegas showroom.
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  Wow.
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  Okay.
• 14:19
  That might be a little much.
• 14:21
  We gotta tone things down just a little bit.
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  Like, we're not trying to rain on anyone's parade here, but it's also raining sequins from
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  the ceiling.
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  Exactly.
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  So, yeah, there there does need to be a little bit of, like, some peace involved in that.
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  How cool.
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  I just I love that you guys kind of do it all.
• 14:42
  The manufacturing thing to me, is such a thing because so much, especially in the furniture
• 14:48
  world, is made overseas.
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  You don't have very many, American made products on that side at all.
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  That really, intrigued me, and that was something that I didn't know about your company
• 14:59
  coming in.
• 15:00
  Now has that been from the beginning of the company that it's been that way?
• 15:04
  Almost.
• 15:04
  Well, when we very, very first started out, we were just selling used furniture.
• 15:09
  Then we started refurbishing that furniture.
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  Then we started manufacturing our own furniture.
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  Now we do full custom capabilities of manufacturing.
• 15:18
  I'm very proud of my staff and their continual, like, improvement of their skills and all the
• 15:25
  things that they're learning.
• 15:27
  From the time we started doing, you know, manufacturing, you know, twenty five years ago
• 15:32
  compared to now, it's, like, unbelievable.
• 15:35
  I'm like, I'll go back there, and I'll look at some of the stuff that they're working on.
• 15:38
  And I'm like, oh my god.
• 15:40
  We did that?
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  I'm like, that looks amazing.
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  And because we allow them to use their creativity as well.
• 15:46
  So, you know, anybody here, if they have an idea to come up with a new product, we'll try
• 15:51
  it.
• 15:52
  We'll do a prototype on it.
• 15:53
  You know, we're a custom shop.
• 15:55
  All of our stuff is manufactured to each individual job, which is very exciting for us.
• 16:00
  And we run our company about continual improvement process.
• 16:04
  So we're always like, okay.
• 16:06
  What's the next thing we can do?
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  If we already have a great customer, what else can I help them with?
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  We're all about helping people.
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  And so for us, it was like, okay.
• 16:17
  We did the furniture.
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  Well, now we can do the flooring.
• 16:19
  Well, now we can do the interior design.
• 16:21
  Well, now we can do the wallpaper, and we can do the, window treatments and the artwork and
• 16:27
  all of that as well as the plants or anything else they need because then it's one stop shop.
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  One person to call, one person, you know, to instead of coordinating with three or four
• 16:38
  different companies to try to get all of this worked out, we handle the whole thing from
• 16:42
  beginning to end.
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  And most people, when they're, you know, redoing their space or renovating, they've
• 16:48
  never done it before, or maybe they've done it once before.
• 16:51
  And, usually, the person that gets stuck with the job already has a full time job, and then
• 16:55
  they're here.
• 16:56
  You're gonna, you know, be in charge of our move too, and you're like, wow.
• 17:00
  Okay.
• 17:00
  Thank you.
• 17:00
  I have no idea what I'm doing, but sure.
• 17:02
  I'll add that on to my full time job I already have.
• 17:05
  So our job is to make it as peaceful and as smooth as possible for whoever it is that's in
• 17:11
  charge of, you know, making it happen on on their side because it is a lot of work, and
• 17:16
  it's a lot you know?
• 17:17
  So we wanna be able to be the professionals in that and help them along the way and, really
• 17:24
  let them know, like, okay.
• 17:25
  Wait a minute.
• 17:26
  You need to make these decisions first because this is gonna make a difference, you know, on
• 17:30
  this other thing.
• 17:31
  A lot of times people forget, oh, electrical.
• 17:34
  They're like, oh, I wanna have this cool thing over here.
• 17:36
  And I'm like, how are getting electric over there?
• 17:38
  Oh, I I I don't know.
• 17:40
  And you're like, okay.
• 17:42
  That's why I'm always trying to tell people, if you just call us first, just call us first
• 17:46
  before you get the contractor, even sometimes before you get the architect because the
• 17:50
  architect really works on the outside of the building and a little bit on the inside.
• 17:54
  But we are really experts on the inside, And we deal with the end in mind first.
• 17:59
  What is the flow?
• 18:00
  What how do you wanna have this?
• 18:02
  What do you wanna work on?
• 18:03
  And then we work backwards, like, okay.
• 18:05
  Then you need the color theme.
• 18:07
  You need the lights here.
• 18:08
  You need the electrical here.
• 18:10
  You know?
• 18:10
  And it saves money because if you're, like, all of a sudden want something, and you're like,
• 18:14
  oh, there's no electrical there.
• 18:15
  Now you have to have a whole change order, run new electric, figure all that out, or you just
• 18:21
  make compromises and go, okay.
• 18:22
  Well, then I'm not gonna do it because it's gonna cost too much money.
• 18:26
  Yeah.
• 18:27
  Or it's just gonna be hard to work around, which cost you productivity in the long run as
• 18:31
  well.
• 18:32
  And, you know, trying to retrofit everything, isn't necessarily a and being reactive instead
• 18:38
  of being proactive.
• 18:39
  Like you said, call Ricky first.
• 18:41
  We'll come in.
• 18:42
  We'll help you, hold your hand as much as needed and to take you through that.
• 18:48
  In this day and age of a fully customizable world, right, everything about our world
• 18:54
  essentially is good, To have a interior design that can bring all of that to fruition.
• 19:00
  And like you said, one stop shopping.
• 19:02
  Hey.
• 19:02
  We can do that.
• 19:03
  You want a, you know, a kidney bean sized and shaped table, we can make that.
• 19:09
  You're not having to go out and and fit your world around what already exists.
• 19:14
  You're able to create that world.
• 19:16
  And I think that's a really fun process for everyone to get to go through as well.
• 19:21
  And it becomes something else to get excited about instead of, like you said, usually, it's
• 19:26
  someone getting stuck doing it and it becomes a drag on their life and an extra stressor.
• 19:31
  This can actually become a fun project, which I don't think, you know, interior design and fun
• 19:36
  get put together enough.
• 19:38
  Right.
• 19:39
  Yeah.
• 19:40
  And it's very fun for us too when we get to see at the end.
• 19:43
  Like, we had a problem that somebody is trying to solve, and then, we come in at the end and,
• 19:49
  you know, see the results and get to hear from our customers, how it did help with
• 19:54
  productivity and how it did help with flow or brainstorming or inspiration.
• 19:59
  That fills me up because I'm like, oh, yay.
• 20:01
  I'm like, you know, and I tell all my employees that they're all part of this, even the person
• 20:06
  that's in the back putting a screw in a storage cabinet.
• 20:09
  You know?
• 20:09
  If that screw goes in wrong, then they're messing up, you know, the job or it can, you
• 20:15
  know, affect somebody in their, you know, work space.
• 20:18
  And we're not just like, oh, okay.
• 20:20
  I gave somebody a place to sit.
• 20:21
  No.
• 20:22
  I'm giving a a person a place to actually, like, have their dreams come true, be inspired,
• 20:28
  you know, do different things, and use their brain in a different way.
• 20:31
  So we're helping companies not just supply furniture and the person in the back that's
• 20:36
  just, you know, wrapping up the product to put inside the truck.
• 20:39
  No.
• 20:40
  You're a part of part of a bigger thing.
• 20:43
  You're not just doing your tiny little job.
• 20:45
  So we have, all company meetings once a quarter, and we go over, like, here's all the
• 20:51
  great jobs that we did.
• 20:52
  Here's great things that our customers said about us.
• 20:55
  We applaud everybody for the great job that they're doing because everybody's touching the
• 21:00
  customer whether they are touching the customer or not in some way.
• 21:03
  And we're all part of this as a big team, and it takes the whole, you know, departments, all
• 21:10
  the departments.
• 21:11
  I keep I do an analogy about we're all pieces of a car.
• 21:15
  So you can't just have the car with tires.
• 21:17
  You can't just have the car with a seat.
• 21:19
  You can't just have the car with, you know, a steering wheel.
• 21:22
  We have to have all the pieces, you know, including the gasoline to make it run.
• 21:27
  And we all provide a different role in that, but it all comes together to deliver for our
• 21:35
  customers.
• 21:36
  Yeah.
• 21:37
  And then some people like you during the course of their career get to be all the parts at one
• 21:42
  time or another,
• 21:44
  which I don't which I don't recommend.
• 21:48
  I I know the feeling all too well right now as you were talking about all the all the hats you
• 21:53
  were wearing at one time and how, inefficient it was that I feel that as especially as our,
• 21:58
  you know, media company has grown that that we're in that.
• 22:01
  But because we're not, you know, to the point where we can afford to pay other people to do
• 22:06
  things for us, you kinda have to.
• 22:08
  Right?
• 22:08
  A lot of, you know, a necessity right now, but you're also one decision away from everything
• 22:15
  changing rapidly.
• 22:16
  So we've been building a team around us, much in the same way that you've built out your
• 22:21
  team.
• 22:21
  It doesn't happen overnight, and finding the right people, can be challenging at times.
• 22:28
  For sure.
• 22:30
  I I love the, you didn't necessarily say this, but you don't sell tables and chairs.
• 22:35
  You sell dreams and creativity.
• 22:38
  Right?
• 22:38
  Yes.
• 22:40
  Yeah.
• 22:40
  It's all about, like, winning in business.
• 22:42
  You know?
• 22:43
  And it takes a lot of different things to win in business.
• 22:46
  And I am a very competitive person, and I'm just like, I like to win.
• 22:50
  I like to help others win, and whatever we can do to play a small part in that of helping
• 22:56
  people win is very fun.
• 22:59
  I would love to dig in a little bit more, on your podcasting journey.
• 23:03
  I know it's still relatively new to you, but how much fun have you been having doing the
• 23:08
  podcast?
• 23:10
  That has been a lot of fun because I'm getting to interview some amazing leaders that are out
• 23:15
  there, and I'm getting to help other leaders learn from the leaders that I'm interviewing.
• 23:21
  And it's really that, like I said before, the passion project for me because and that's why I
• 23:26
  named it beyond the role because I wanna know what other people are doing to lead from beyond
• 23:32
  just the job title.
• 23:34
  You know, I believe that leaders are there for more than just, okay.
• 23:38
  Push that button.
• 23:39
  Put that screw in there.
• 23:41
  Do this.
• 23:41
  You know, I really am more inspired by leaders who help their employees grow and challenge
• 23:48
  them and, you know, want them to do better for themselves and better for the company.
• 23:54
  So, yeah, so I'm interviewing a whole bunch of great leaders and learning how they are leading
• 24:00
  and how they're developing their cultures and what they're doing to create the best work
• 24:06
  environment for people.
• 24:08
  Yeah.
• 24:09
  And I don't know if it's always been like that, but I think a lot of mid level people who have
• 24:16
  worked themselves up maybe into a mid management level or even higher that maybe they
• 24:22
  don't accept the role of mentor that isn't necessarily laid out in the job description,
• 24:28
  but is inherent in their position.
• 24:31
  It it just it it it it is a function of your job to mentor these next people to hopefully
• 24:39
  one day fill your shoes, whether that's you moving up or moving on.
• 24:44
  For sure.
• 24:44
  Yeah.
• 24:45
  There's definitely a difference between a manager and a leader.
• 24:48
  And I do think sometimes as we, you know, promote people that we kinda miss a step a
• 24:55
  little bit in that.
• 24:55
  We just do, oh, they did great at their job.
• 24:57
  Now they'll just be a manager, and it'll be great.
• 24:59
  You know?
• 25:00
  And they'll just lead.
• 25:01
  It'll be fine.
• 25:02
  But sometimes I think we miss the training of the managers and the training of the leaders
• 25:07
  and really letting them know how much influence they have.
• 25:11
  You know, their word actually means something.
• 25:13
  People are looking up to them.
• 25:15
  So the things that they say and the way that they treat people really matters.
• 25:20
  And, I mean, there's been many, many, many studies that people will leave a job over a
• 25:25
  manager slash leader more than they'll leave for money.
• 25:29
  So it's very important
• 25:31
  to
• 25:31
  be a good leader.
• 25:32
  I've left several in the last several years for the same reason.
• 25:36
  It's probably a big reason why I was like, you know what?
• 25:38
  If nobody's gonna make me a boss, then I'll just go I'll do my own thing, and and I can
• 25:43
  lead in that.
• 25:44
  And now I find myself, you know, not necessarily at the head of of all the
• 25:50
  communities that that I'm a part of because it's many, but the head of a few and having the
• 25:56
  people around me come to me for mentorship and for guidance is almost the most rewarding part
• 26:02
  of my, like, job is probably a strong term.
• 26:04
  Well, I'm not really making a lot of money doing it, but, that they are coming to me and
• 26:09
  they do look up to me.
• 26:10
  And often I forget that it's not just in my in a small circle.
• 26:15
  It's on a much wider level as well and that influence now as a as a public figure and, that
• 26:24
  your words and your actions mean so much more on a a lot of different levels.
• 26:31
  And that's something that even recently has been brought to my attention that I I had a
• 26:35
  little bit of a blind spot there because much of my life, was able to fly under the radar,
• 26:41
  and nobody was really looking to me for that.
• 26:44
  But now, especially as a new media personality, which I've, you know, assigned unto myself, it
• 26:51
  it it means more.
• 26:52
  And I need to be more conscious of that, and respecting my role as a leader inside of that
• 26:59
  space as well.
• 27:00
  And, honestly, until someone brought it to my attention, I was completely blind to how some
• 27:06
  of those things were affecting other people even though I I didn't mean it in that way.
• 27:11
  Right.
• 27:11
  Right?
• 27:11
  That that my words and my actions in a moment, not that the action itself was, but the way
• 27:17
  that I was broadcasting it, you know, ruffled some feathers or hurt some feelings.
• 27:22
  Completely unintentional by me, but it because I wasn't really aware and I wasn't used to that
• 27:30
  and being in that position that it just kind of went completely unbeknownst to me.
• 27:35
  It's funny that you said that about, you know, how you were landing on other people and, you
• 27:40
  know, how you were showing up.
• 27:41
  And a lot of times, it is in our blind spot, and it's good that leaders can ask for other
• 27:46
  people.
• 27:46
  Like, how did that land or how, you know, how am I, you know, showing up?
• 27:51
  Because, I think everybody's a leader.
• 27:53
  Like, everybody in my company, I treat everybody in my company as a leader because
• 27:57
  they are.
• 27:58
  They're, you know, leading a customer.
• 28:00
  They're leading a project.
• 28:01
  Whatever they're working on.
• 28:03
  I think everybody should show up as a leader.
• 28:05
  And once a week, I usually send out some kind of inspirational or some kind of thought
• 28:10
  provoking email, and I just sent the one out this week was, how do you wanna show up?
• 28:16
  How do you want to intentionally show up?
• 28:19
  And really being more conscious and paying attention.
• 28:22
  So I asked a bunch of different questions to the employees this week just to get them to
• 28:26
  think differently and just be a little bit more conscientious of how are they showing up and
• 28:32
  how are they landing.
• 28:33
  Because sometimes, like you said, you didn't do it on purpose.
• 28:36
  You just said something or you showed up in a way, and you're like, oh, woah.
• 28:42
  That's not really how I wanted that to land.
• 28:44
  And I'm you know, I I apologize for that, and this is really what I meant.
• 28:48
  And, you know, I think good leaders, being authentic and and apologizing when you make a
• 28:54
  mistake.
• 28:54
  It's okay.
• 28:55
  We're all human, and we're going to make mistakes.
• 28:58
  If you're not making mistakes, you're not trying hard enough.
• 29:00
  You're not pushing yourself out of your, you know, circle of, you know, comfort
• 29:05
  comfortability.
• 29:08
  Well, I I I must be trying plenty then.
• 29:14
  That's a good thing.
• 29:15
  Yeah.
• 29:15
  It's not a bad thing.
• 29:16
  And for me, like I said, I no broadcasting background for me.
• 29:20
  No real sales background unless you count the few months that I was selling magazines door to
• 29:24
  door and me selling myself as a band, which is very service oriented that people were asking
• 29:33
  for.
• 29:34
  Now I'm doing something that really nobody was asking for, but everybody needs.
• 29:38
  Right?
• 29:38
  In the publicity side and especially where I'm at, you know, and and you're in a major urban
• 29:44
  area.
• 29:44
  Right?
• 29:45
  You know, you you are out there in in a world that has plenty of media opportunities and
• 29:50
  things.
• 29:51
  So it may be a little bit different, but I'm in an area where there's not a lot of that.
• 29:55
  And, understanding that there's a major hole that I could be filling for my community, for
• 30:02
  our region, and for a lot of people inside of that.
• 30:06
  And, you know, while I started in the artist world where almost nobody is talking to you,
• 30:11
  you have millions of artists and, you know, like, three publications that, you know, we
• 30:16
  see, you know, a Rolling Stone or something like that.
• 30:19
  Right?
• 30:19
  No MTV anymore to go to.
• 30:22
  That there's this massive hole to fill with all these people, but just as much is the side of
• 30:27
  these small businesses that don't get talked to.
• 30:30
  And and these owners and founders that could be growing their business and building trust with
• 30:37
  customers using podcasts to do that.
• 30:41
  And I think that's what's really cool about, you know, you digging in, and it is so fun,
• 30:45
  isn't it?
• 30:45
  It's so awesome getting to have these off the cuff kind of conversations and the insights
• 30:49
  that I'm growing.
• 30:50
  I've really been getting a master class in how to run a business just by building this new
• 30:56
  platform and having people on and sharing their experiences and, all the insights that I'm able
• 31:01
  to gain.
• 31:02
  And at the end of the day, everyone's like, oh my god.
• 31:04
  I had so much fun.
• 31:05
  Thanks for having me.
• 31:06
  And I'm like, I probably gained more from this than you did, but, you know, you're welcome.
• 31:12
  But I love it because then it's like working both ways.
• 31:15
  You know?
• 31:15
  You're helping each other, which is great.
• 31:18
  No.
• 31:18
  And that's that's the best part.
• 31:20
  I I feel like and I asked the question to another interview today.
• 31:24
  You know?
• 31:24
  Did did you find podcasting or did podcasting find you?
• 31:29
  And for me, it was the latter.
• 31:31
  I was a fan.
• 31:32
  I was consuming podcasts all the time and never once in that, you know, five years of being a
• 31:38
  very devoted listener was I ever like, man, I really wanna start my own thing.
• 31:43
  Right?
• 31:43
  Like, I it just didn't make sense to me until I was promoting my music and I'm getting out
• 31:49
  there and the tour, you know, the media tour was over.
• 31:54
  I was like, I did two podcasts.
• 31:55
  I was on the local news.
• 31:56
  I was on the local radio, and it was over.
• 31:58
  And I was like, okay.
• 31:59
  Like, now I need to do this.
• 32:01
  Right?
• 32:01
  I could be serving my community by just having conversations.
• 32:06
  Please sign me up for that.
• 32:07
  And then very fortunate to just be alive at the right time, as a human being that there's this
• 32:13
  crack right now for independent media personalities like ourselves, although I I
• 32:18
  don't know that you kinda see yourself as that yet, but you will, that we have an opportunity
• 32:25
  to really build something and to build community around ourselves in that.
• 32:30
  And I'm very grateful for it, and I know that you are as well.
• 32:34
  And it's a great way to reach people you would have never reached before.
• 32:40
  You know, you get a bigger reach, and that was the thing that you had mentioned John Morris,
• 32:44
  which is, you know, now one of my great friends.
• 32:47
  He was like, you have to do a podcast because I've just been speaking, you know, to different
• 32:52
  business owners.
• 32:53
  And he's like, you'll get a bigger reach, and you'll be able to, you know, interview people.
• 32:57
  And then they'll they will share and you'll share, and it'll just become, you know, way
• 33:02
  bigger out there.
• 33:03
  And then you'll have a bigger impact, which is really cool because the bigger impact we can
• 33:08
  have towards positivity in this world, I mean, it doesn't really get any better than that, I
• 33:14
  don't think.
• 33:16
  I've interviewed rock and roll hall of famers, people that should be in there, Super Bowl
• 33:22
  champions.
• 33:24
  Just like, what life is this?
• 33:27
  Right?
• 33:28
  Like, and for me, I I just fresh into the game and doing it, the access for us has been
• 33:35
  absolutely incredible.
• 33:36
  I'm so grateful for the opportunities that that have, become the you know, from, you know,
• 33:41
  podcasting, from a a silly decision to say, oh, I'm gonna you know what?
• 33:45
  I'm gonna quit my job and really do this.
• 33:46
  That's not true.
• 33:47
  I quit my job because I thought I was gonna be a rock star, Melissa.
• 33:49
  I had a bunch of gigs booked.
• 33:51
  I I was on my way, and then I got out on the road, and I was like, oh, I don't want this.
• 33:55
  At thirty thirty eight or 37, however old I was at that time where I was like, oh, yeah.
• 34:01
  I don't want these late nights, five, six nights in a row bad enough to stay out here.
• 34:07
  Why don't we dig into this podcasting thing and now to look back at the last year, really, of
• 34:13
  my life and to be like, okay.
• 34:15
  You've built something.
• 34:17
  And now what's that next step?
• 34:19
  So that leads me to my next question, Melissa.
• 34:21
  What is the next step for you and for Ricky Interiors and for beyond the role?
• 34:27
  And and what's next for Melissa Dodson?
• 34:30
  Yes.
• 34:30
  So just really trying to get out there more and more with the podcast, with the speaking,
• 34:36
  helping business owners as well as other leaders just elevate themselves.
• 34:43
  I did forget that I did write a book too last year, called elevate your greatness.
• 34:49
  So I'm really hoping that, that can help people as well.
• 34:52
  It's just a book of different lessons that I've learned over the years.
• 34:57
  Also has little tidbits of how I learned those lessons as well as, it's a workbook for you to
• 35:03
  learn and learn those same lessons to live a more conscious life, to live a life that's made
• 35:10
  for you.
• 35:10
  So I love that you said that, like, you were gonna be this rock star, and then you really
• 35:15
  realized that wasn't the life for you.
• 35:18
  You know, that's a big decision because you really wanted to do that and, oh, and I
• 35:23
  already, you know, have all these gigs booked and but then you really realize that wasn't for
• 35:29
  you, wasn't for your family, it wasn't how you really wanted to spend your time.
• 35:34
  And even though it looks glamorous to everybody else, they're like, oh, you're a rock star, and
• 35:39
  you're, you know, performing every night.
• 35:41
  And but then they don't realize that you're go back into a lonely hotel room or a bus, and
• 35:47
  you're missing your family and all of those kinds of things.
• 35:50
  So I applaud you for doing what actually mattered to you and not going back to, you
• 35:57
  know, a nine to five job and trying something different for you because that is what I just
• 36:04
  want to preach to everybody.
• 36:06
  What matters to you?
• 36:07
  Not to advertisements, not to your parents, you know, not to the outside world.
• 36:12
  What matters to you?
• 36:13
  Because if you can show up truly authentic to yourself, you are gonna be a better leader for
• 36:21
  everybody in your life.
• 36:22
  You're gonna be a better family member.
• 36:23
  You're gonna be a better leader at work, in your community.
• 36:27
  And I know sometimes people like, well, that sounds selfish, and it's like, it's really not.
• 36:31
  Put your oxygen mask on first before you help other people.
• 36:34
  It's the same thing.
• 36:35
  Do what fills you up.
• 36:37
  Do what, you know, is your passion, and then that just gives you that much more energy to
• 36:42
  give to other people.
• 36:43
  And then you don't give from depletion.
• 36:46
  You can give from abundance, and that's what it's all about, giving and loving other people
• 36:51
  and helping people.
• 36:52
  So
• 36:53
  I think that's a great place to end this conversation, Melissa.
• 36:57
  I wanna thank you so much for taking some time for me today.
• 36:59
  It's been an absolute joy, even more fun than I thought it would be, which is is hard to say
• 37:04
  because I knew it was gonna be a great time.
• 37:07
  Anything else that you wanna plug before, we let you go?
• 37:10
  No.
• 37:11
  Great job, and thank you so much.
• 37:13
  And I'm so glad that John introduced us, and I'm sure that we'll be together in the future.
• 37:18
  Can't wait.
• 37:19
  Well, Melissa, thank you so much for everything that you're doing.
• 37:22
  Congratulations on the book and the new podcast, and, good luck to you and everything
• 37:27
  that you do.
• 37:28
  Thanks for being here, and thank you for being part of the scene.
• 37:31
  Thank you so much.
• 37:32
  I had fun, and I really appreciate it.