Latest / The Heart-Led Business Show / Petroleum to Pilates: Leslie's Leap with Leslie Hocker
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker: Welcome to The Heart-Led Business Show, where compassion meets commerce and leaders lead with love.
- 0:09Speaker: Join your host, Tom Jackobs, as he delves into the insightful conversations with visionary business leaders who defy the status quo, putting humanity first and profit second.
- 0:20Speaker: From heartfelt strategies to inspiring stories, this podcast is your compass in the world of conscious capitalism.
- 0:29Speaker: So buckle up and let your heart guide your business journey.
- 0:36Tom Jackobs: Welcome to the Heart-Led Business Show.
- 0:38Tom Jackobs: Today we have the incredible Leslie Hocker in the spotlight, a globe trotting entrepreneur with success stories as vibrant as her travels.
- 0:48Tom Jackobs: From pioneering Pilates in Houston to leading heart-centered brands with her husband.
- 0:54Tom Jackobs: Leslie's journey is a blend of passion, purpose, and perseverance.
- 0:59Tom Jackobs: Join us as we dive into her remarkable experience of nurturing a business with heart and helping others craft lives that spark joy.
- 1:07Tom Jackobs: As she says, a life you won't want to take a vacation from.
- 1:11Tom Jackobs: Leslie, welcome to the show.
- 1:13Leslie Hocker: Hey, Tom, thank you so much.
- 1:15Leslie Hocker: I'm excited to be here I love the whole theme of your podcast of, of leading from the heart.
- 1:22Tom Jackobs: Well, thank you and I'm so happy to have you on the show as well.
- 1:27Tom Jackobs: And especially I love your saying of live a life that you don't want to take a vacation from, and I think that's such a good way of living.
- 1:35Tom Jackobs: I'm also really excited to talk a little bit more about your Pilates experience in Houston, but we'll get to that in a second.
- 1:42Tom Jackobs: But first, what's your definition of a heart-led business?
- 1:47Leslie Hocker: I've given that a lot of thought because it really is about people.
- 1:52Leslie Hocker: It's people first, and that's a phrase that a lot of people use.
- 1:58Leslie Hocker: But what that really means is, I came from a corporate background.
- 2:04Leslie Hocker: Which was win lose.
- 2:06Leslie Hocker: I figured out when I got to the executive level for me to win, someone else had to lose and I really was looking to create a life where I could win and others could win.
- 2:20Leslie Hocker: That really is teamwork, leading with the heart serving.
- 2:25Leslie Hocker: Helping other people because I don't know if you're familiar with Zig Ziglar?
- 2:31Leslie Hocker: My husband actually knew Zig.
- 2:34Leslie Hocker: And I always butcher his quote, but it's helping enough other people get what they want and you'll get what you want.
- 2:41Tom Jackobs: It's absolutely true.
- 2:43Tom Jackobs: And and you, your corporate experience was oil and gas, is that right?
- 2:47Tom Jackobs: Mine too.
- 2:48Tom Jackobs: So that's where I started in corporate is oil and gas.
- 2:51Tom Jackobs: That's really funny.
- 2:52Tom Jackobs: But it's interesting that you're talking about for you to win, somebody else had to lose.
- 2:58Tom Jackobs: And that was my experience in corporate America or in oil and gas, I should say.
- 3:02Tom Jackobs: Specifically it was a very much a win-lose situation, and that's just no way of treating people.
- 3:10Leslie Hocker: Well, and for me, I'd like the fifth or sixth female to get the degree that I have, which is a specific degree for the petroleum industry with engineering, geology and law.
- 3:21Leslie Hocker: And I really worked hard to get to the executive level, and then when I got there, I was like, I don't know this isn't fitting.
- 3:32Leslie Hocker: I love relationships.
- 3:33Leslie Hocker: I love meeting new people, connecting with people, so that just wasn't happening.
- 3:39Tom Jackobs: So you left that, and then, so tell me about the Pilates in Houston, because that's where I had my fitness center in Houston for 20 years, so I'm sure we know the same people in the same areas.
- 3:49Leslie Hocker: Oh my goodness.
- 3:50Leslie Hocker: So what happened was when I got to the executive level, I was at a very young age.
- 3:55Leslie Hocker: I was in my mid late twenties because of timing.
- 4:00Leslie Hocker: And one day I said, okay I am not going to be going to work in the dark, coming home in the dark and working weekends in my fifties.
- 4:09Leslie Hocker: I need to start a business.
- 4:11Leslie Hocker: So really there wasn't too much thought into it.
- 4:14Leslie Hocker: And I always laugh because with a business degree, they teach you how to work for someone else.
- 4:21Leslie Hocker: Not for yourself.
- 4:22Leslie Hocker: So I really was clueless and hence the Pilate studio because I think a lot of people start businesses where they find something that they love.
- 4:34Leslie Hocker: So I was an athlete.
- 4:36Leslie Hocker: Graduated college, had 16 inch neck.
- 4:40Leslie Hocker: I was, you you know, big bulk up.
- 4:43Leslie Hocker: And the Houston Ballet had a Pilate studio for the public, and it helped me immensely with getting back to a normal size.
- 4:53Leslie Hocker: But when they closed, I thought, well, everybody would love this exercise.
- 4:58Leslie Hocker: Okay.
- 4:59Leslie Hocker: So
- 4:59Tom Jackobs: Yeah.
- 5:00Leslie Hocker: timing in business is everything.
- 5:04Leslie Hocker: And this was in 1984.
- 5:08Leslie Hocker: And no one had heard of Pilates.
- 5:10Leslie Hocker: I think it, I made it about six months and then just turned it into a regular exercise studio for women.
- 5:17Leslie Hocker: 'cause it was a small space but that was my first experience with, oh, there's more to business than just starting a business, and just because you have a business degree doesn't mean you know what you're doing.
- 5:32Tom Jackobs: I know that was exactly the same experience that I had, I thought, managing millions of dollars in budget for a major oil and gas company, I should surely be able to run a small business.
- 5:44Tom Jackobs: And boy was I wrong with that.
- 5:48Leslie Hocker: Yeah, same here.
- 5:49Tom Jackobs: It's crazy.
- 5:50Leslie Hocker: I managed multi multimillion dollar budget and like, it was like, woo, quite an education.
- 5:57Tom Jackobs: So what was that shift like going from the cutthroat oil and gas in the eighties environment to then a small business for yourself?
- 6:06Tom Jackobs: Like what was that like?
- 6:07Leslie Hocker: Well, was an interesting experience because one thing you can say about corporate America is if you set an appointment, someone showed up.
- 6:16Leslie Hocker: But, in the fitness industry, people would set appointments and never show up, and then you had employees.
- 6:22Leslie Hocker: So I in a way, I created another job for myself.
- 6:27Tom Jackobs: Well, that's what some people say.
- 6:29Tom Jackobs: It's you trade a 40 hour a week job working for a bad boss for an 80 hour work week, working for an even worse boss when you start your own company.
- 6:41Leslie Hocker: Well, and that's, uh
- 6:42Tom Jackobs: And you think, for less pay, as well.
- 6:45Leslie Hocker: It's interesting because around the same time my next door neighbor shared with me a business model, which most people know I call it just share the love marketing, but it's like an affiliate marketing where you could have a turnkey business where I could dictate my own time and my own schedule, and was more dependent in the beginning on me showing up and working rather than, than other people.
- 7:13Tom Jackobs: Yeah.
- 7:14Tom Jackobs: Now, how did that align, with the heart and just your people person personality and all that, going from a profit-led business into a heart-led business, what was that like in terms of just emotional change and heart-led change?
- 7:31Leslie Hocker: Working with people to help give value.
- 7:34Leslie Hocker: Working with products that give value and helping people set as an athlete I was very blessed.
- 7:44Leslie Hocker: When I started my journey towards being an entrepreneur was when I realized all the lessons I had l learned as an athlete.
- 7:56Leslie Hocker: I was a swimmer in at AAU and in university and all those lessons I had learned about setting goals, competing against myself, working to be a little bit better.
- 8:12Leslie Hocker: That whole slight edge.
- 8:14Leslie Hocker: Philosophy, the consistency and persistency.
- 8:19Leslie Hocker: And then so I had an aha moment one day and I went, oh.
- 8:23Leslie Hocker: 'cause I had left all of that behind me because I wasn't identifying as a swimmer anymore or an athlete.
- 8:32Leslie Hocker: But then I realized, as an entrepreneur, being heart-led, then looking back at all your experiences and pulling those forwards and taking the best pieces and making those work.
- 8:46Leslie Hocker: So I learned to make a plan, set goals, figure out where I wanted to go, and that came from my background as an athlete.
- 8:55Leslie Hocker: Thankful for my parents putting, all five of us in swimming to keep us out of trouble.
- 9:02Leslie Hocker: So we weren't on the street doing drugs or anything like that, literally.
- 9:08Tom Jackobs: Wow.
- 9:09Leslie Hocker: It's funny how things, work out.
- 9:10Leslie Hocker: That is why they put us in swimming to keep five kids out of trouble.
- 9:14Tom Jackobs: Yeah.
- 9:15Tom Jackobs: Well, you know some type of extracurricular activity.
- 9:20Tom Jackobs: You need that.
- 9:21Tom Jackobs: a, as a, as a kid.
- 9:22Leslie Hocker: Well, with five kids there's always someone to get in trouble with.
- 9:25Leslie Hocker: Really, we're all like two years apart.
- 9:28Leslie Hocker: My, my mom.
- 9:29Leslie Hocker: You know, bless her.
- 9:30Leslie Hocker: Who knows how she managed that, but a lot of laughter, my father was in the petroleum industry and that's how, ended up there.
- 9:37Leslie Hocker: But one day he came home and they're more common now.
- 9:41Leslie Hocker: But he came home with a plaque.
- 9:42Leslie Hocker: He loved it.
- 9:43Leslie Hocker: He was laughing about it.
- 9:45Leslie Hocker: This was someone who's highly recognized, when he retired by the petroleum industry and had legislation with his name on it, and the plaque said, anyone who could remain calm in the midst of all of this, simply doesn't understand the situation that that was our house.
- 10:04Tom Jackobs: Yeah.
- 10:04Leslie Hocker: Lot of fun, a lot of laughs and a lot of lessons with five kids.
- 10:09Tom Jackobs: Yeah.
- 10:09Leslie Hocker: And I think I took lessons also from my parents managing five children.
- 10:16Tom Jackobs: Yeah.
- 10:17Tom Jackobs: So, so tell us like how you look at businesses now in terms of, heart-led and what you're doing now in terms of having your heart-led business.
- 10:27Leslie Hocker: What I'm doing now is I find and grow a business that fits their lifestyle, that will help them either get a little bit of extra cash flow into their life or a lot as a friend of mine calls it gangster money.
- 10:45Leslie Hocker: So,
- 10:45Tom Jackobs: Okay.
- 10:46Leslie Hocker: You know, compared to corporate.
- 10:47Leslie Hocker: And so what I'm doing is I'm helping people find and grow a business, which really means grow themselves.
- 10:56Leslie Hocker: Because what I've learned along the way is your business will never, and really your life will never be any bigger than you are.
- 11:05Leslie Hocker: So it's a journey of, working to be a little bit better myself with my skills, with AI, with technology, et cetera, so that I can help the next level.
- 11:20Leslie Hocker: For a number of years actually worked as a next level growth coach.
- 11:25Leslie Hocker: 'cause we all have a next level Tom.
- 11:28Leslie Hocker: That's when you realize we all have a next level.
- 11:32Leslie Hocker: Then it makes the journey easier, because what tends to happen is as humans we set goals.
- 11:44Leslie Hocker: And then, when we get to, we don't get to that goal, then we beat ourselves up instead of looking at what we've accomplished instead of measuring against where we started and where we are now.
- 12:01Leslie Hocker: That we look at that gap.
- 12:04Leslie Hocker: I didn't make it, I didn't get there.
- 12:06Leslie Hocker: And in stead of looking back.
- 12:08Leslie Hocker: So that's, so we all have a next level.
- 12:11Leslie Hocker: So it's it's levels of growth.
- 12:13Leslie Hocker: I work to help people know that they should celebrate their wins and that they just keep working towards their goal.
- 12:22Tom Jackobs: Oh, that's awesome.
- 12:24Tom Jackobs: And I can imagine that working with so many different people and helping them find the businesses that bring them joy and all that, I'm sure you've found a lot of both heart-led as well as profit-led businesses as well as people.
- 12:40Tom Jackobs: What can you say about the differences in terms of the long-term success of a company that is heart-led versus one that's more profit-led?
- 12:50Leslie Hocker: In my experience the focus on solely for profit is you're gonna have a shorter lived business.
- 13:01Leslie Hocker: You may make we could sit here probably and talk for hours about examples.
- 13:07Leslie Hocker: But the companies that and though it sounds so cliche when you think about it, but the companies that do focus on growing people, on empowering people, those businesses, people, what is it?
- 13:26Leslie Hocker: People will quit a job or they'll quit a business, but they won't quit a family.
- 13:34Leslie Hocker: And it's there really is so much truth to that.
- 13:38Leslie Hocker: There I don't know how else to describe it except the focus on people first.
- 13:44Leslie Hocker: It's not about being a pushover or being nice, it's about genuinely guiding people and helping people.
- 13:54Leslie Hocker: I've had hard conversations with people and they didn't like it.
- 13:59Leslie Hocker: But what I've always shared is, hey, I'm not big into conflict and truthfully, I'd rather not coach you to this next level.
- 14:08Leslie Hocker: That's my nature.
- 14:09Leslie Hocker: But because I care about you and you're important, I'm gonna spend the time to have this hard conversation.
- 14:17Leslie Hocker: And so thats,
- 14:17Tom Jackobs: Yeah
- 14:19Leslie Hocker: that's the piece that when you help people understand, you're trying to help both of you get to the next level.
- 14:27Tom Jackobs: That totally makes sense.
- 14:28Tom Jackobs: You know that it's coming from the heart and not just, Hey, you need to make your numbers so that the company can succeed.
- 14:34Tom Jackobs: It's, Hey, I really need you to make your numbers so that you can succeed.
- 14:38Tom Jackobs: And you know what, whatever the conversation happens to be.
- 14:41Tom Jackobs: Completely, it's a different way of approaching it.
- 14:44Tom Jackobs: But I'd also like to go back to something that you said earlier about people will quit a job.
- 14:51Tom Jackobs: And that is totally accurate.
- 14:53Tom Jackobs: I would add to that, that they won't quit a purpose.
- 14:56Tom Jackobs: So if they're part of a business that has a strong purpose to it, people staying at those companies and being super effective and efficient in those companies thriving versus, like a big oil and gas company.
- 15:10Tom Jackobs: Yeah, they're making billions of dollars, but how efficient is it, and there's always issues sometimes that come up.
- 15:16Tom Jackobs: So it's like, I'd love to get your take on how companies and why, for that matter, why companies fail at putting people first when they know that is better for the long term.
- 15:31Leslie Hocker: I don't think there's much education on that.
- 15:35Leslie Hocker: I remember when I was in the petroleum.
- 15:39Leslie Hocker: Long distance phone calls cost a lot, and part of my territory was Louisiana, Arkansas.
- 15:46Leslie Hocker: So I was having to make long distance calls to get deal.
- 15:52Leslie Hocker: I worked in exploration.
- 15:54Leslie Hocker: You're talking the company making, millions of millions or maybe spending millions and it wasn't at al l.
- 16:01Leslie Hocker: But I remember it, was one of the accountants came in and gone and talked to my boss.
- 16:10Leslie Hocker: Because like, I don't know, three grand or something like that, and how many hours I had spent on the phone.
- 16:17Leslie Hocker: So I'm in my office negotiating a contract for an hour versus getting on an airplane, flying over there, all of that.
- 16:26Leslie Hocker: I think what happened is you have a board of directors or you have private equity, or you have venture capitalists that are only looking at the bottom line and the problem is they don't understand the working.
- 16:40Leslie Hocker: So this accountant did not, he looked at the numbers, he looked at how long I'd been on the phone, like I was chatting, as if chatting about, my gardening or something.
- 16:51Tom Jackobs: Calling a friend for two hours on the company dime.
- 16:54Leslie Hocker: No, it's like really?
- 16:58Tom Jackobs: Yeah.
- 16:59Tom Jackobs: Oh, that's ridiculous.
- 17:00Tom Jackobs: I think it's just
- 17:02Leslie Hocker: not paying attention when you're elevating people to executive positions that they have an understanding of how the business works in its entirety, and that's the danger that you get as the company grows.
- 17:16Tom Jackobs: Yeah.
- 17:17Tom Jackobs: Well, and the education, but just also just common courtesy almost that or just some thoughtfulness.
- 17:24Tom Jackobs: I like, I had the same experience where, again, the accountant comes in and says, well, why is Tom's expense bill?
- 17:31Tom Jackobs: Like, do we see how much Tom is bringing in business versus how much Tom is spending?
- 17:36Tom Jackobs: And so it's always interesting when those conversations happen, when I hear those conversations too.
- 17:41Tom Jackobs: Well, I think a lot of people have that experience, especially if you've been in corporate, that it's just like, why don't you think before you talk or think about the person or the bigger picture really.
- 17:52Leslie Hocker: Or as a questions.
- 17:54Tom Jackobs: Yeah, exactly.
- 17:55Tom Jackobs: Yeah, because, I think that's something that I've seen too from heart-led businesses is that there's more questions that are asked.
- 18:04Tom Jackobs: It's more curiosity versus, like telling people what they're all about they're more about asking the right questions.
- 18:11Tom Jackobs: Yeah.
- 18:12Leslie Hocker: Definitely.
- 18:12Tom Jackobs: So what do you see the future of heart-led businesses in America these days?
- 18:18Leslie Hocker: I have noticed a definite trend towards the culture being very important of community, of people working together to help each other.
- 18:29Leslie Hocker: And that's what I'm very proud that I have developed a community of people that'll work together to help each other have success, whether they are directly benefiting from helping another person or not.
- 18:44Leslie Hocker: So it's that focus of serving.
- 18:48Leslie Hocker: It's how I define servant leadership.
- 18:52Leslie Hocker: 'cause you're leading yourself and then you're helping serve others.
- 18:58Leslie Hocker: And It's that mindset of abundance that there's enough there for all of us to have success.
- 19:07Leslie Hocker: And that's really I've seen a huge focus towards culture and community and helping.
- 19:15Tom Jackobs: Yeah.
- 19:16Tom Jackobs: Yeah.
- 19:16Tom Jackobs: That, and I'm glad you brought that in too, about the community and the culture.
- 19:20Tom Jackobs: 'cause I haven't heard a lot of people talking about that in terms of heart-led businesses.
- 19:25Tom Jackobs: But you're absolutely right that's when you look at businesses, and I think I was listening to a podcast or video where they were talking about the brand and that the community of the brand was super important because that's what kept people coming back for to buy again and again.
- 19:43Tom Jackobs: I like that's really, and then it's very true at my fitness business, we had a great community.
- 19:49Tom Jackobs: Everybody just jelled nicely and clients just didn't churn.
- 19:53Tom Jackobs: They didn't leave because of the community.
- 19:55Tom Jackobs: And of course that they were having fun getting results as, as well.
- 19:59Leslie Hocker: Results are always a good thing.
- 20:01Leslie Hocker: But I think people, when you don't put people first and you're married to the results on the bottom line.
- 20:08Leslie Hocker: So what it, I forget what it's called it's an intangible.
- 20:12Leslie Hocker: Putting people first is an intangible that doesn't show up on your balance sheet.
- 20:17Tom Jackobs: That's right.
- 20:18Tom Jackobs: It does not.
- 20:19Tom Jackobs: But the salary does.
- 20:20Tom Jackobs: And that's what they look at is, oh, this person isn't being productive.
- 20:24Leslie Hocker: And your hour long phone calls do.
- 20:29Tom Jackobs: Yes, at a dollar a minute.
- 20:31Leslie Hocker: I was like, really?
- 20:32Leslie Hocker: I just negotiated us a multimillion dollar contract in that hour long phone call.
- 20:38Leslie Hocker: Are you kidding me?
- 20:42Tom Jackobs: Yeah, that's absolutely ridiculous, but it happens.
- 20:46Tom Jackobs: Leslie this has been just a fascinating conversation.
- 20:49Tom Jackobs: I really appreciate you sharing your wisdom and your insights into the different industries as well.
- 20:55Tom Jackobs: But how can people learn more about what you're doing and contact you?
- 20:59Leslie Hocker: Probably the easiest way, a couple of pages of my favorite things to do every morning is affirmations, or as I call them, declarations, so for all different areas of your life.
- 21:10Leslie Hocker: But the easiest way is if you go to lesliehocker.com.
- 21:16Leslie Hocker: And it's L-E-S-L-I-E.
- 21:18Leslie Hocker: It was named after my father, it's his middle name.
- 21:20Leslie Hocker: So people try to put a"Why?" and all kinds of other things.
- 21:23Leslie Hocker: So it's lesliehocker.com and it's just a simple form.
- 21:27Leslie Hocker: If you fill out your info, then I'll be happy to get that my daily affirmation guidance to you in being a heart-led business and working with people, it's how you talk to yourself is critically important.
- 21:44Tom Jackobs: Yeah.
- 21:44Tom Jackobs: Yeah, absolutely.
- 21:46Tom Jackobs: The way you talk to yourself is probably how you talk to other people too.
- 21:48Leslie Hocker: I always tell people, if you wanna beat yourself up, just call me.
- 21:52Leslie Hocker: I'll be happy to beat you up for you.
- 21:54Leslie Hocker: And of course, it's a pattern interrupted and they laugh and no, really, seriously, talk to yourself like you would talk to me.
- 22:03Leslie Hocker: Not beating yourself up all day long.
- 22:06Leslie Hocker: That's part of helping people be the best they can be.
- 22:09Leslie Hocker: So please look me up on social media.
- 22:12Leslie Hocker: I'm on Facebook as Leslie Hocker.
- 22:16Leslie Hocker: I'm on Instagram.
- 22:18Leslie Hocker: And then of course LinkedIn, but lesliehocker.com and feel free to ask me any question I'd be happy to serve.
- 22:27Leslie Hocker: I'm at a stage in lifetime where I'm looking to give back all the decades of experience and knowledge, and hopefully just one person.
- 22:40Leslie Hocker: So just helping one person.
- 22:42Tom Jackobs: Yeah.
- 22:44Tom Jackobs: Oh, that's awesome.
- 22:45Tom Jackobs: That's great.
- 22:46Tom Jackobs: And thank you so much for being with us today and taking time out of your schedule to share your stories with the audience.
- 22:52Tom Jackobs: I really do appreciate it.
- 22:53Leslie Hocker: It was my pleasure.
- 22:54Leslie Hocker: I enjoyed it and I didn't know we had so much in common.
- 22:58Tom Jackobs: I know it's so crazy.
- 23:00Tom Jackobs: Thank you listeners for watching the show today or listening to the show, depending on what platform you are on.
- 23:06Tom Jackobs: I really appreciate it, and I know Leslie appreciates you sticking around as well.
- 23:10Tom Jackobs: And make sure that you're checking out everything that she's doing down in the show notes.
- 23:14Tom Jackobs: And we're gonna put all those links down there so you can.
- 23:17Tom Jackobs: Click away and chat with Leslie and, get some guidance from her.
- 23:21Tom Jackobs: Definitely get those declarations, the morning declarations as well.
- 23:25Tom Jackobs: That's important to have that good self-talk.
- 23:27Tom Jackobs: So until next time, lead with your heart.
- 23:32Speaker 2: You've been listening to The Heart-Led Business Show, hosted by Tom Jackobs.
- 23:37Speaker 2: Join us next time for another inspiring journey into the heart of business.