Latest / The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson / Bringing in Industry Experts to Go Further Faster with Jy Maze

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Bringing in Industry Experts to Go Further Faster with Jy Maze · The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson

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Not having an expert in bringing in someone who doesn't have a knowledge, it's like putting an
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untrained soldier on the front line of the war.
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Everybody's going to get killed because he has had no training.
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So in order for your business to thrive, you have to have industry knowledge.
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I mean, industry knowledge and industry experts to come in and help you.
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Let's go.
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Ending small business failure.
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Welcome to the small biz chat podcast.
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With the number one small business expert, Melinda Emerson.
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Melinda's goal is to end small business failure.
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And she'll give you the information you need to succeed and live the life you dream of.
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Now here's your host, the small Biz chat lady herself, Melinda Emerson,
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Welcome back to the Small Bizchett podcast, and we are now gonna be talking with an expert
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who's gonna talk about what all of us need to consider using industry expert in our business.
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Let me introduce My next guest, her name is Jai May.
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She is a speaker author, a community advocate.
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She is the CEO of maze Freight Solutions, a third party logistics services based in
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Overland Park, Kansas, Mace Freight Solutions provides logistical services including 1 or
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more elements of commercial procurement, supply chain management, and fulfillment activities
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for all sizes and categories of enterprises.
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Jay wanted to change the lack of diversity in the logistics industry, which led her to start
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her business maze Freight solutions in 2017.
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Jai, welcome to the small bizchett podcast.
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Thank you so much for having me, and I'm glad to be here.
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Alright, Jake.
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You know how I do it.
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You gotta tell me.
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How did you get on this journey that we call entrepreneurship, how did you get your sort of,
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like, expertise and to decide you wanted to do it for yourself?
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Well, you know, I watched my parents growing up.
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My mother was a singer, and she had her own group was a Christian group.
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And so as I was a child, my my father was her manager, and my father was blind.
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And so I always wondered how is a blind man managing my mom and how's my mom letting this
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happen?
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Because she's so you know?
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And so there's a gospel group, and we toured a lot around the country.
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She got thing for Jesse Jackson.
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She got to sing with Earth when in fire.
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She did certain commercials.
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She had 4 albums that came out and I just watched how they were moving.
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And, also, I have a godfather who is also blind, and he and my father went into finance
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together.
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So I was kind of I can't say groomed, but I had a great examples in front of me.
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Great examples that You can't let disabilities or setbacks, set you back.
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And so I've always my mother told me she said when I was I used to get her briefcase, and I
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used to put our heels on.
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She's I I always want to be a businesswoman.
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Of course, you know, is is young adults.
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We look up to Oprah, and we look up to other women like, oh my gosh.
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This is what I wanna do, and this is how I wanna be, but we don't have a road map to
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really show us and tell us where to go.
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And so I put my hand in this, and I put my hand in that, and I went into retail, and I went
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into beauty, the beauty industry, and it just wasn't working for me.
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So, you know, my father would say, you know, try different things and the one that's your
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niche, you'll know which one it is.
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And so I did.
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Well, I ended up in corporate America.
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And was I happy at corporate America?
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I was.
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Because I was starting to learn.
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I was starting to learn camaraderies, be around people, and just to learn the different pyramid
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of a corporation.
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A girlfriend of mine told me she says, hey.
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There's this new company that's out.
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They're the bomb, and they're very family oriented.
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And it's in freight transportation.
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And, of course, I've had uncles and cousins who drive big rig trucks, but it the light bulb
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never came on to say, you could be the person behind the scenes controlling the truck
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drivers.
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It never hit me.
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So I did I applied for the job, and I got the job.
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And the job that I want, the position that I wanted was not available.
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But I told the lady in HR, I said, you just put me in customer service.
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I'll work my way up.
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I really will.
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I wanted it that bad.
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You know, if you're going to go work, for a huge investment firm.
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You just wanna get your foot in the door, and you can work your way up.
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You know, you can grab a network and maneuver and get to where you wanna go.
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But I didn't just wanna grow fast.
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I wanted to learn as I grew.
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So I started working for this transportation company.
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And lo and behold, the CEO saw something in me that I did not see in myself, and he took me
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under his wing and a lot of the c suite executives also I was not afraid to ask.
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I was not afraid to ask what is a SWAT analysis.
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I was not afraid to ask for managerial skills.
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I was not afraid to ask for steel building advice.
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I wasn't afraid of any of that, and I was never afraid to say, hey, what does that position
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pay?
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How can I get there?
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So what I ended up doing is going into sales.
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And in less than 5 years, I was top sales in my out of 700 no.
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Out of a 1000 reps, I was top sales, top 10.
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And so as I was on the sales floor, feeling good, feeling pretty puffed up.
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I noticed that the diversity it was not there.
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It was not you know, there was a little bit of women, but the diversity that I was really
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looking for was not there.
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And so what I did, I I I asked my husband, and I said, do you think I could I could open a a
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company?
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And he's known my background, known my parents.
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You know, I also cover the church background.
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So, you know, your parents and when you're in a church, but I'm a p k.
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So I've been the praise and worship director since I was 6.
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So I'm not afraid of crowds.
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I'm not afraid of speaking.
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I'm not afraid of dancing or any of that because they pushed me in front when I was 5.
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And so he said, I I asked him, I said, do you think you can do this?
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And he said, of course, you can do this.
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And that's what led me to open May's free solutions, 2 things, the lack of diversity, but
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I'm gonna be honest.
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If I had known the information that I know now when I was eighteen years old, I'd be, of
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course, well, a lot further than where I am now.
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Now we are a startup.
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We'll be six years old this year, and god has blessed us exponentially.
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We've seen, you know, extreme growth But if I had have known Melinda, what I knew what I know
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now, of course, we always wanna say, you know, I would have known then what I know now.
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It's always the thing that comes in our head.
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But that's how I got started with Maysbreak Solutions.
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I wanted to help my community.
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I wanted to build my community, and I wanted to offer an alternative that you can work for
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someone, but also have that entrepreneur mindset, and that's what logistics does.
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And also educate everyone that everything that around that is around you that you have on and
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you eat has to be shipped.
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So that's how it gets to your table.
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I love it.
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I love it.
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So one of the things that you're a bit advocate for is people bringing in industry experts so
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that they can go further faster.
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Why do you think that's so important?
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Because we don't know everything.
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We know what we know.
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But we don't know everything.
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And the world is so big and so broad.
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And there's different people in the world that god has given different talents to.
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People research different than others.
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People study different than others.
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Someone's talent might be in another field where your talent is just in here.
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Most entrepreneurs have aids.
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Set focus on what their niche is, and that's where they are.
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And there's some blinders and blockers because boom, this is where they are.
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And if you need to grow or an expand or if you don't know about finance or if you don't know
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about budgeting, if you don't know about quoting or RFPs, If you don't know about
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everything that happens in a corporation to make the wheel run, you have to bring in
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industry experts.
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You know, I joke, but I say, you know, Not having an expert in bringing in someone who
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doesn't have a knowledge, it's like putting an untrained soldier on the front line of the war.
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Everybody's gonna get killed because he has had no training.
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So in order for your business to thrive, you to have industry knowledge.
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I mean, industry knowledge and industry experts to come in and help you.
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What industry experts do is what you can't see they see.
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Which you don't know they know because again, it's a broad mon it's not a broad mind.
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It's just a a narrow mindset that we've learned that we have to do this and that.
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And we also learned that we have to wear many, many hats.
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All of us do.
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Right?
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All of us do.
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We have to wear Michigan.
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Hey.
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Basically taking on 10 to 12 now that went down.
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Basically,
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that's burnout.
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Correct?
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Yeah.
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It it can absolutely lead to that if you're not careful.
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Let me push back on you just a little bit because in this era of Instagram, you know,
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everybody's a coach.
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Everybody's expert.
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So
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I need some guidance about how we should qualify people who say they are experts that
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we're considering spending really good money to get their support.
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Okay.
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Industry professionals deal with industry situations every day and all day.
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They maintain a wealth of information, updates, and insight.
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These insiders speak the industry language too, and as experts, they offer an informed expected
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on trends, governmental rulings, potential downturns, labor situations, seasonal
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challenges, like price fluctuations, by working with industry professionals, owners can remain
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in the note.
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Now, how do you know if you've got a good one?
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Check the resume.
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You check their pedigree.
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Check their resume.
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You look for their testimonials.
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You Google and do all the researching.
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You know what I found though, Melinda, people nowadays they've gotten so tech savvy, they can
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pull up a full resume.
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They've never done anything, but that resume will say that they were in Iraq.
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They were in they were in Desert storm, and they were born.
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In 1975.
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How how
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are you in but they here's what I say.
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Experience.
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Check the resume.
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Look at their reviews.
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Check their track record.
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Look at their testimonials.
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Experience is the key to understand it.
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Test them.
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And I would not I why I would look for results before I would pay the bill.
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That's one thing that I have learned.
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Get the results before you pay the bill, and I've learned that in business.
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I agree.
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So what is the best place to find an industry.
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Let's say I need someone to help me, you know, build out a new sales channel in my in my
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business.
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Where where my I find what what what do you think are the best 2 or 3 places to find an
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industry?
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Right now, I wouldn't trust social media.
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Right now, I would trust the network.
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Trust your network, trust your mentors, team up with someone a small business association, and
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they can be able to refer you to industry experts, if you're having issues with cash
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flow.
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Okay.
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I know someone who can teach you about cash flow.
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If you're having issues with learning marketing?
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Okay.
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I have someone who can teach you marketing, but I would not put out the issue on social media
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Because when you're the new kid on the block, the snakes are gonna come out that grass and
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the sharks are gonna they're gonna jump out that water to try to take you under.
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Because they know that you're new.
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So what I would do is I would rely on your network and the referrals because sometimes
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those soft referrals can turn into a really good deal with that industry expert.
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And a really good partnership.
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A really good partnership.
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Correct.
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Now something I seen happened some time.
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Let's say that you've managed to get, like, the dream industry expert, and they decide they're
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gonna work with you and your business.
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How do you, as a business owner, not start to, like, over rely on this person?
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Like, I think sometimes people hire an industry expert You're like, that person will save their
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business.
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Like, you know, and I and and I've seen this.
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I've had this done to me.
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Like, like, I'm a magician.
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You know?
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So I I'm just saying, like, how how can people, you know, bring in an industry expert bus but
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almost have, like, a realistic expectation of what this person
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is supposed to be doing.
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Well, this conversation is to be had right at the forefront of the meeting.
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What that industry experts expectations are and what your expectations are.
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And I like industry experts that put the client to work You understand what I'm saying?
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Because not only are you all building the business together, but the client is learning.
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And what the industry expert is doing is conditioning and positioning them because that
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the the industry expert should already have an exit plan that once we get here, that I'm going
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to pull back.
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And so this should be the expectations of the industry expert, but I understand you it can
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get very comfortable when they're doing all the work.
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But if they're doing all the work, what is the client learning?
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Because once the industry expert goes away, are you going to apply that knowledge?
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Or you're gonna cry and go find another industry expert to try to come, you know, fix
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you back up?
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So I think, honestly, that the industry expert needs to set at expectations and the client
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needs to set expectation.
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And the client needs to know that there is an exit when we're done.
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And this one once we get to this level, I'm going to exit And then you're going to take
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this on your own.
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And if the client cannot take it on their own, there's 2 things.
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Either the industry expert was not good or either client just wasn't paying attention to
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anything that the industry expert was doing, and the client is just they don't care.
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They just want someone else to come in and do it for them.
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Seen both.
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I I've seen both.
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I've seen both of us as well.
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So so what what are some of the con of hiring an industry expert?
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Do you think there are any?
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I don't think there are any cons because when you don't know, you don't know.
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And the best way to find out is to ask.
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And a person who does not ask won't know.
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So I think it's all pros because you're gaining more information.
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I just learned today.
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Honestly, that there is sand mafia.
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There is a sand mafia.
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I did not know that, Melinda?
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I didn't know it either, actually.
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So you and I both learned it today.
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And I learned this from a young lady.
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Who was just talking about it, but then an expert came in and piggy backed what she was
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saying
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and quoted facts.
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Now had I not known that if I didn't have a industry expert telling me this?
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Like, the Bible says, though, how can you learn without a school master?
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How can you learn without teacher.
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Westright.
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That's right.
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And then they also say that when the student is ready, the teacher shows up.
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Okay.
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So I've got one last question for you.
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What is the best business advice you've ever gotten.
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Grow slow and stay in control.
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That's the best business advice I've ever gotten when we first started May's freight.
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It grew, and it grew too fast.
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And when I explained that to you, I didn't know how to handle the growth.
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So I had to pull in an industry expert to help me understand the growth of a business because
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you only know what you know.
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I came from a sales background.
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I did not come from an entrepreneurship background.
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So I had to unlearn and learn something, and I also had to add to my library.
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And the only way I could do that was with industry experts.
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So grow slow and stay in control.
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Love it, love it.
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Thank you so much, Jay Mays.
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You are Just such a breath of fresh air, I have enjoyed you immensely.
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I'm Melinda Emerson Small Bus lady.
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America's number one small business expert and I will leave you with this last thought.
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You never lose in business.
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Either you win or you learn.
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God bless everybody.
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Thanks for listening to the Small Biz chat podcast with Melinda Emerson.
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Subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and join us next Wednesday for more
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fantastic information and interviews.
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You can find more sources and small business success strategies by visiting Melinda's
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website, 6 seed as your own boss.com.
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Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next week.