Latest / WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas / 8. Scaling and Hiring: Letting Go of Control to Scale with Jenny Jones
Transcript
- 0:00SPEAKER_00: Hey legacy makers, I am so excited because we're going to talk about something that's difficult for a lot of entrepreneurs, letting go of control to scale.
- 0:10SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to have my own operations consultant, Jenny, come in, doing an interview with her, and we talk about why systems are important, talk about how to create those SOPs, those three letters you hear all the time, the tech around it, and more important, how we can make sure that you are building a business around your lifestyle and energy.
- 0:36SPEAKER_00: And as a business coach for Women of Color and Allies, my focus is to help you align and purposely pivot your business or career to have a more sustainable and equitable future.
- 0:46SPEAKER_00: So be sure to go grab your coffee, tea, and or boba.
- 0:51SPEAKER_00: And let's call your dreams to create your legacy.
- 1:11SPEAKER_00: And your host for the Color Your Dreams podcast.
- 1:16SPEAKER_00: So you most likely have a successful career you've built, right?
- 1:20SPEAKER_00: A great career or business, but what you've built may no longer feel aligned.
- 1:28SPEAKER_00: And in the Color Your Dreams podcast, I'm here, as well as my guests, to support women of color and allies like you to purposely pivot their business and career while collectively creating a sustainable and equitable future.
- 1:47SPEAKER_00: We'll have a real talk on the deep inner work to create lasting transformation and the tactical strategies to create a sustainable business and career while truly enjoying your life.
- 2:07SPEAKER_00: We both know you have a vision, roots you're proud of, and a legacy to create.
- 2:14SPEAKER_00: Now it's time to do things your own way, on your own terms.
- 2:20SPEAKER_00: So let's get started.
- 2:22SPEAKER_00: Go grab your coffee, tea, and or boba, and let's call your dreams to create your legacy.
- 2:44SPEAKER_00: And I'm excited to have my own operations and system consultant, Jenny Jones.
- 2:51SPEAKER_00: Jenny, welcome to the podcast.
- 2:54SPEAKER_02: Hey, Elaine, thanks so much for having me.
- 2:56SPEAKER_02: I'm so excited to chat with you today.
- 2:59SPEAKER_00: So right before I hit record on this episode, I was telling Jenny, I'm like, I'm just so grateful that you've helped me go to yoga, big room yoga, five times a week.
- 3:11SPEAKER_00: That's why you are so successful.
- 3:13SPEAKER_00: And that's why I've asked you to come to the podcast.
- 3:15SPEAKER_00: I want to teach all of you how to go to yoga five times a week.
- 3:18SPEAKER_00: I'm just kidding.
- 3:20SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's what we all want, you know, just more time to do the things that we want to do every day.
- 3:25SPEAKER_02: I know.
- 3:26SPEAKER_02: Don't I sound so LA?
- 3:28SPEAKER_00: We're gonna teach you how to go to yoga five times a week.
- 3:30SPEAKER_02: We yes, we go to yoga every day.
- 3:32SPEAKER_02: We're so fit.
- 3:35SPEAKER_00: But the real title of this episode is Systems and Hiring, Letting Go of Control to Scale Your Business.
- 3:42SPEAKER_00: And I couldn't think of any better person than Jenny.
- 3:45SPEAKER_00: So, Jenny, can you tell us more about what you do?
- 3:50SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
- 3:51SPEAKER_02: So, like you said, I'm a systems and operations consultant.
- 3:55SPEAKER_02: So think of me as like your in-house DOO.
- 3:58SPEAKER_02: I'm your chief operating officer.
- 4:01SPEAKER_02: I'm here to prioritize your time, identify those gaps in your business that are holding you back.
- 4:07SPEAKER_02: And just really my ultimate goal is to optimize your business so that you have more time to make more money and you're spending less time in the weeds.
- 4:17SPEAKER_00: And I will say, Jenny has gone through my systems, done edits, and it's interesting.
- 4:22SPEAKER_00: She would ask me questions and like, I didn't think of that.
- 4:26SPEAKER_00: That is so simple.
- 4:28SPEAKER_00: And it would just save so much time.
- 4:31SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and that's exactly it.
- 4:32SPEAKER_02: I mean, you you're in it every day.
- 4:34SPEAKER_02: So you need that outside perspective to just be like, hey, did you think of doing it this way?
- 4:40SPEAKER_02: And, you know, just easy fixes.
- 4:43SPEAKER_00: So I would love for you to share before we go into the tips and tricks that people can do to implement and integrate in their own businesses.
- 4:50SPEAKER_00: What client results do you want to share of how you've been able to help your clients?
- 4:56SPEAKER_00: AK, I want to make sure listeners know that they're listening to an amazing expert and to bring out a pen and paper to take notes.
- 5:03SPEAKER_00: So, what results do you want to share from your own clients?
- 5:06SPEAKER_02: All right.
- 5:06SPEAKER_02: So, one of my, I will say it's definitely one of my first clients, I can call him that, is my husband.
- 5:13SPEAKER_02: He owns an electrical contracting company.
- 5:16SPEAKER_02: And when I started working with him, he was he was making six figures, but he wasn't, he was kind of hitting an income ceiling and he just wasn't able to scale.
- 5:25SPEAKER_02: And really the reason was he just didn't have any systems in place.
- 5:29SPEAKER_02: Things were being run out of his text messages, his inbox, and out of his head.
- 5:34SPEAKER_02: So I was able to work with him to put systems in place to run his operations so that he wasn't in the day-to-day all the time.
- 5:42SPEAKER_02: And we were able to scale to multiple six figures, like over 500K in the next year of business.
- 5:48SPEAKER_02: That was huge.
- 5:49SPEAKER_02: I mean, and that was really what brought me into becoming a system and operations consultant because of that huge result I was able to give to him.
- 5:58SPEAKER_02: And I just thought, like, wow, I can do this for other people.
- 6:02SPEAKER_02: And I mean, with my other clients, one of my clients, she, you know, I just started recently helping her with onboard new team members.
- 6:10SPEAKER_02: So she's gonna be taking, it's gonna be taking away maybe 10 to 20 hours in her week of creating content because she is a content producer and it's it's gonna be transformative, just the amount of time she's saving in her day-to-day.
- 6:28SPEAKER_02: I mean, you know, so it's not just the monetary, it's also the amount of time and energy that you're spending in your business that systems can help you with.
- 6:36SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
- 6:37SPEAKER_00: And like I said earlier, we were talking right before I hit record, and I was telling Jenny just the changes in my business.
- 6:41SPEAKER_00: And it's like that makes absolute sense.
- 6:43SPEAKER_00: You know, it's seeing everything, it's really nice to have someone with an outside perspective.
- 6:48SPEAKER_00: So I'm just very grateful for you to give me five hours of yoga and just really pausing to delegate.
- 6:56SPEAKER_00: And also, your husband is a lucky man, very jealous of him.
- 7:01SPEAKER_00: I will say I met Jenny when I was out in Baltimore doing a VIP day with my own business coach.
- 7:07SPEAKER_00: And I've been stalking Jenny.
- 7:08SPEAKER_00: I was like, let's me.
- 7:10SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Oh my God, you're my yin to my yang.
- 7:14SPEAKER_00: You are everything I need that is not me, and you love it and enjoy it.
- 7:20SPEAKER_02: It's so funny because like our conversations together, but you just remind me of, you know, the like my husband, he is very visionary, he's the high energy idea person, and I'm the one that balances the energy out, just like with you.
- 7:35SPEAKER_00: Thank you to your husband for sharing him, like for sharing you, I mean to me.
- 7:40SPEAKER_00: But I'll I'll let I'll let just so you guys know, we will go through tips and tricks, but I want people to understand the perspective.
- 7:46SPEAKER_00: Like, what was your past experiences and skill set that led you to have your own business to do systems and operations?
- 7:54SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I come from a super diverse like corporate background.
- 8:00SPEAKER_02: I know most people definitely do not have the experience that I have.
- 8:03SPEAKER_02: So I started in finance and then I pivoted into supply chain and operations and then into product marketing.
- 8:11SPEAKER_02: So I was working in Fortune 500 companies.
- 8:13SPEAKER_02: I was, you know, when I was in supply chain, I managed a$400 million product portfolio.
- 8:19SPEAKER_02: I managed a$160 million new product launch.
- 8:23SPEAKER_02: I was a product manager for two global household brands.
- 8:27SPEAKER_02: I mean, my experience from corporate, it was just having that insight into the systems and processes that gigantic Fortune 500 companies implement to be successful and to in order to scale to the growth that they've had.
- 8:42SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I I want everyone to hear because I tend to have a community and audience who had a prior life before having their business.
- 8:50SPEAKER_00: But I, and it's like, I'm starting from scratch, I'm starting all over.
- 8:54SPEAKER_00: But I want to remind folks, those past experiences and skill sets lead you to what you're meant to do right now and also be open if it's going to change.
- 9:03SPEAKER_00: Like my past experience was a fundraiser and grassroots organizer.
- 9:07SPEAKER_00: I knocked on doors, did phone calls, and those experiences have led me to what I do now because I just really connect, like doing this podcast.
- 9:16SPEAKER_00: I am connecting with Jenny.
- 9:18SPEAKER_00: Mind you, I will let you know at this stage in business, I'm almost at five years of business.
- 9:23SPEAKER_00: I'm not doing everything in my podcast.
- 9:25SPEAKER_00: I hired a podcast manager for that.
- 9:27SPEAKER_00: With that being said, it's a good transition of systems and hiring, letting go of control to scale your business.
- 9:33SPEAKER_00: So, what tips do you have for this Call Your Dreams family to listen to?
- 9:39SPEAKER_02: Yes, so this is the juicy stuff.
- 9:41SPEAKER_02: So I want to first say that I feel like most business owners are intimidated by systems because most of the time your thought is, it's a mess, or I just don't know how to do that, or you know, things are working kind of just fine the way that they are right now.
- 9:57SPEAKER_02: I don't need to really worry about systems.
- 9:59SPEAKER_02: But, you know, systems are so important to help you scale because they are the foundation for you to, like you said, hire and delegate to a team.
- 10:10SPEAKER_02: And that's what's going to help you reach that next level of income.
- 10:14SPEAKER_00: I want to kind of give an example.
- 10:16SPEAKER_00: For me, while working with you, was one of the big tasks was sending reminder emails to my clients.
- 10:23SPEAKER_00: Uh, I have both my aligned legacy mastermind, which is for starting entrepreneurs, and my legacy life solvener circle, which is for for scaling entrepreneurs.
- 10:31SPEAKER_00: And sending those emails would take me, not even kidding, 90 minutes a week.
- 10:37SPEAKER_00: And Jenny gave me a simple solution.
- 10:40SPEAKER_00: Why don't you just put that into your email marketing?
- 10:42SPEAKER_00: What if we just put templates?
- 10:44SPEAKER_00: I'm like, oh yeah.
- 10:45SPEAKER_00: And then now I have my amazing virtual assistant, Caitlin, who does it.
- 10:50SPEAKER_00: It saved me, saves me 90 minutes a week, and I'm doing yoga.
- 10:55SPEAKER_00: Like that one task saved me so much time.
- 10:58SPEAKER_02: You just this exactly.
- 11:00SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
- 11:01SPEAKER_02: And and I also want to clarify it's not just, you know, active campaign.
- 11:05SPEAKER_02: It's like you found a system that works for you because you had a process of you know, how you create your emails and how you send them to your clients into your list, but we just found a way to better optimize it and streamline it and work for you and save you time.
- 11:22SPEAKER_00: I love that you mentioned that because I think when people hear it online systems, they think automation, so it's zappier, it's email marketing, it's scheduling.
- 11:32SPEAKER_00: That's not what systems are.
- 11:34SPEAKER_00: Those are tools to help you.
- 11:37SPEAKER_00: But a systems is going from you know, A to Z.
- 11:40SPEAKER_00: What are the different steps?
- 11:42SPEAKER_00: I mean, when when we did our intake call, you're asking me so many questions of every single stage, like creating the charts.
- 11:49SPEAKER_00: It's like, oh, I didn't even know because everything was in my head.
- 11:53SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
- 11:54SPEAKER_02: So that's going to bring me to another big tip.
- 11:56SPEAKER_02: Like when you're starting with your systems, don't overcomplicate it.
- 12:01SPEAKER_02: Just do a step-by-step process of like what you do from start to finish.
- 12:06SPEAKER_02: And I'll take client onboarding as a big thing.
- 12:09SPEAKER_02: A lot of business owners, like Elaine had trouble articulating, you know, what is my entire process, but you literally just need to go from start what happens next, what happens next, what happens next.
- 12:23SPEAKER_02: And that is your system.
- 12:25SPEAKER_02: And you don't need to worry about adding in the fancy automations just yet.
- 12:29SPEAKER_02: Like you already have a system in place.
- 12:31SPEAKER_02: It's just getting it out there on paper and documented.
- 12:35SPEAKER_00: So putting a step-by-step process of everything, don't offer overcomplicate it.
- 12:39SPEAKER_00: Okay.
- 12:40SPEAKER_00: So step one was no, it's a process, not necessarily a thing.
- 12:44SPEAKER_00: And then two, step by step, what other tips do you have for folks?
- 12:48SPEAKER_02: So again, to kind of build on that.
- 12:50SPEAKER_02: So when you are ready to like take your business to the next level, and I mean hiring team members to help help you with those tasks that are not in your zone of genius, creating SOPs or standard operating procedures are going to be key.
- 13:06SPEAKER_02: So I know that's a very intimidating word, and people are like, oh no, I don't have time to create this really detailed document.
- 13:16SPEAKER_02: I also want to say, I want to preface it by saying you can create it by just doing a screen recording of what you do step by step as you do something.
- 13:26SPEAKER_02: And then you can have your VA create a documented process for you from that video recording.
- 13:33SPEAKER_02: So I feel like if you're if you really want to start like getting those processes out of your head and you just don't feel like you have the time to sit down and write things out, I really suggest using like something like Loom to screen record yourself and talk through your process as you're going through whatever process that you're doing in your day-to-day.
- 13:55SPEAKER_00: Before we go to the next tip, and yes, to creating SOPs, before I just didn't want to do all the step one, step two, step three.
- 14:03SPEAKER_00: I just did a video because I was doing it anyways.
- 14:06SPEAKER_00: Can you share why having systems is even important?
- 14:10SPEAKER_00: Because you know, as an integrator and me as a visionary, we get into business because we love what we do.
- 14:18SPEAKER_00: We love doing the service or selling the product, but we're never like, ooh, I'm so excited to look at those PLs and create SOPs and pay for taxes.
- 14:28SPEAKER_00: And I always give the comparison to having a business is like owning a car, right?
- 14:35SPEAKER_00: We buy a car because of that feeling, driving through the mountain ranges by the ocean because I live in California.
- 14:42SPEAKER_00: We think about that feeling, but we're never like, I'm so excited to change the oil.
- 14:48SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited to put gas.
- 14:50SPEAKER_00: Yay, my tire is flat.
- 14:53SPEAKER_00: I need to go change that.
- 14:54SPEAKER_00: We're never excited about the maintenance of it, but I always joke around.
- 14:58SPEAKER_00: You want to have like a Toyota or Honda car where it's you're maintaining it so that the car could last a long time and it also protects you because you could get into an accident.
- 15:08SPEAKER_00: So that's one.
- 15:09SPEAKER_00: And two, it is the fun driving stuff.
- 15:11SPEAKER_00: It's it's both.
- 15:13SPEAKER_00: So can you explain to folks why having systems and operations is important?
- 15:18SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
- 15:18SPEAKER_02: So issue I see like most business owners running into is, you know, like I said, you're getting into a place where you're stuck like with your income ceiling.
- 15:27SPEAKER_02: Like take my husband, for example.
- 15:29SPEAKER_02: He he was stuck kind of at this one income level and he couldn't break through that.
- 15:34SPEAKER_02: And he was limited by his growing potential because there is only one CEO.
- 15:39SPEAKER_02: There's only one you in your business.
- 15:42SPEAKER_02: So when you're the one doing all the client work, all the admin, all the things that it takes to run your business, you're not going to be able to scale because everything is either in your head, it's not documented, and those things are really important to be in place so that you can pass it on to somebody else on your team.
- 16:05SPEAKER_02: So, really, systems are just so important to help you grow your business and just be able to take on new team members, be able to work with more clients, but also not being in the day-to-day, not being in, not having your hands in every single thing that goes into running your business.
- 16:22SPEAKER_02: Sorry, I'm kind of going on a rant because systems are.
- 16:26SPEAKER_00: It's okay.
- 16:27SPEAKER_00: You're clearly in love.
- 16:28SPEAKER_00: You're clearly in love with systems.
- 16:30SPEAKER_00: That's why I hired you.
- 16:32SPEAKER_02: I know.
- 16:33SPEAKER_02: I'm so passionate about it, just because I mean, I feel like I just want you guys to understand that you really can't produce the same results repeatedly over and over at a greater level with have without having systems in place.
- 16:47SPEAKER_02: And that's what they allow you to do.
- 16:49SPEAKER_02: Like it'll allow your customer to know what to expect from you every time.
- 16:53SPEAKER_02: Your team is able to be autonomous and function without you and make decisions on their own.
- 16:58SPEAKER_02: And then that just gives you more time to do what you love doing, whether it's doing more yoga or getting on more sales calls or doing more, you know, podcast interviews, whatever it is that you want to do as a CEO.
- 17:12SPEAKER_00: And it goes back to the theme of this episode, right?
- 17:15SPEAKER_00: Letting go to scale your business.
- 17:17SPEAKER_00: And you can hit six figures by yourself.
- 17:20SPEAKER_00: You actually can, but are you gonna really enjoy it and enjoy the life you want?
- 17:26SPEAKER_00: And I remember the first time I hit six figures.
- 17:29SPEAKER_00: I didn't hit multi-six until I let go and hired people.
- 17:35SPEAKER_00: And then I just kind of got addicted.
- 17:37SPEAKER_00: I'm like, oh yay, I could hire people to do certain things.
- 17:43SPEAKER_00: And I also want to share people like I just need someone that does A, Z, negative three, star, unicorn.
- 17:49SPEAKER_00: Like, you can't find that unicorn.
- 17:52SPEAKER_00: What's really important is finding what you really need help with, like the most immediate and hiring the right person that actually loves it.
- 18:01SPEAKER_00: And then once you get that down, you can start hiring other people.
- 18:05SPEAKER_00: Because if you end up hiring a lot of people, that becomes very stressful because you have to onboard all of them at once.
- 18:11SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
- 18:12SPEAKER_02: So that's kind of like a two-part thing.
- 18:13SPEAKER_02: And like I love how you say you can't just expect a unicorn to do everything you want them to do.
- 18:21SPEAKER_02: And I feel like a lot of business owners also run into that trap where they're like, well, I need somebody to do my copy, work with my clients, keep my schedule organized.
- 18:33SPEAKER_02: I mean, those are a lot of different things, and it's kind of not going to be one person's wheelhouse, you know.
- 18:40SPEAKER_02: It is.
- 18:41SPEAKER_00: When would you say is a good time for people to find someone like you?
- 18:47SPEAKER_00: Insert a Dell song, by the way.
- 18:52SPEAKER_02: I mean, I think anybody at any point can benefit from somebody that has an operations mindset to take a look at their business.
- 19:02SPEAKER_02: Even if you're just starting and you, you know, you just don't know where to start.
- 19:06SPEAKER_02: Like there are people that can do audits and help you figure out what systems you need to be putting in place, looking at where the gaps are right now.
- 19:16SPEAKER_02: And that is also something that like you, Elaine, even even if you're just a you're a multiple six-figure CEO, like anybody can benefit from somebody coming in to help them see where they can optimize their business, what they can systematize, what they can streamline.
- 19:33SPEAKER_02: So I will say it is anybody at any time.
- 19:36SPEAKER_00: And I will say, in my own experience, I've actually had my own operations manager when I was at six figures, and that was helpful.
- 19:46SPEAKER_00: But I will say when reflecting, I felt like I was able to really benefit and use like an operations person.
- 19:53SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter what the title is, but you, for example, because I was very clear on what was my signature offers, because I knew it was repeatable.
- 20:03SPEAKER_00: And I will say this, and I'm sure you relate to this, Jenny, not just within your own business, but even with other clients.
- 20:09SPEAKER_00: The first six figures is so hard.
- 20:13SPEAKER_00: It's hard because you're throwing spaghetti on the wall.
- 20:16SPEAKER_00: You are trying everything.
- 20:18SPEAKER_00: The goal is actually not to hit six figures.
- 20:21SPEAKER_00: That's it's not the monetary goal.
- 20:22SPEAKER_00: That's the goal when you're starting.
- 20:24SPEAKER_00: The goal is to figure out what you actually love and enjoy.
- 20:27SPEAKER_00: And even I was telling Jenny this earlier before we hit record.
- 20:31SPEAKER_00: Like, oh my gosh, my business has shifted again.
- 20:34SPEAKER_00: Because it's this awareness of what who do I really love serving?
- 20:39SPEAKER_00: What programs do I really love?
- 20:41SPEAKER_00: And who am I not meant to work with anymore?
- 20:44SPEAKER_00: Not saying that you're too good for people.
- 20:46SPEAKER_00: It's just you're just adding different chapters.
- 20:49SPEAKER_00: Is there anything you have to say with that, Jenny?
- 20:52SPEAKER_02: No, I definitely echo that.
- 20:54SPEAKER_02: That's what I love about being a business owner.
- 20:57SPEAKER_02: You don't have to put yourself in a box.
- 20:59SPEAKER_02: Like that's kind of how I felt when I was in corporate.
- 21:02SPEAKER_02: But running your own business, you make your own rules.
- 21:05SPEAKER_02: You don't need to listen to what anybody else is doing.
- 21:08SPEAKER_02: You do what feels right to you, and I know you'll be able to figure it out.
- 21:13SPEAKER_02: Like everything is figure outable, and you'll be able to reach whatever goal you set.
- 21:18SPEAKER_00: Just be brave enough to listen to, as corny as it sounds, listen to your heart, like have that level of awareness.
- 21:26SPEAKER_00: Do I really love this?
- 21:27SPEAKER_00: Do I not?
- 21:28SPEAKER_00: Everything's energy.
- 21:30SPEAKER_02: I mean, and just trying to tie it back to like hiring.
- 21:33SPEAKER_02: Like, I really advise people like, what do you not enjoy doing?
- 21:37SPEAKER_02: Like, what is not lighting you up in your business?
- 21:40SPEAKER_02: You know, what are you doing in your day to day that is not in your zone of genius?
- 21:45SPEAKER_02: Those are things that you don't, you know, have the energy that you want to be exchanging into doing.
- 21:50SPEAKER_02: So pass that off to somebody else that can do it much better than you can.
- 21:56SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
- 21:56SPEAKER_00: And now that I even have a team, I check in with my clients.
- 22:00SPEAKER_00: I say, hey, do you actually enjoy this?
- 22:03SPEAKER_00: Because if you don't, I want, I'll delegate it to someone else that may.
- 22:07SPEAKER_00: But I love that we're talking about this because I thought I could find a unicorn in someone.
- 22:13SPEAKER_00: And then I realized, no, her strength is doing this.
- 22:16SPEAKER_00: I need to find someone else to do this.
- 22:18SPEAKER_00: And then when you find whoever the right people are to focus on specific tasks and skill sets, it's just like a well-oiled machine.
- 22:27SPEAKER_00: It's beautiful.
- 22:28SPEAKER_00: I remember in the beginning of my business, I didn't sleep till two in the morning.
- 22:32SPEAKER_00: Like now I'm in bed by like 9:30.
- 22:35SPEAKER_00: I wake up at seven.
- 22:37SPEAKER_00: I'm doing yoga.
- 22:39SPEAKER_00: I it's just, I wash the dishes.
- 22:42SPEAKER_00: I remember I was being stressed out before where I didn't have time to.
- 22:48SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, that that's kind of why, again, creating a business that works for you is going to be really built on systems.
- 22:58SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm assuming, you know, Elaine, you're a CEO.
- 23:02SPEAKER_02: You probably have scheduled time, whether you do certain tasks at a certain day of the week, or you only schedule certain activities on certain weeks, depending on your energy or your mood.
- 23:15SPEAKER_02: And that's kind of like a, you know, I like to work with my clients and creating a schedule that fits their energy, fits their working lifestyle.
- 23:24SPEAKER_02: You know, I feel like that's also something people don't think about.
- 23:26SPEAKER_02: Creating a system around your energy and how you want to work and how you show up.
- 23:31SPEAKER_02: I mean, yes, in the beginning, like you said, it it is going to be a lot of grinding in the beginning.
- 23:36SPEAKER_02: I feel that, you know, that's kind of how it is at the start.
- 23:39SPEAKER_02: But being able to lay the foundations for being able to scale your business will allow you to create that schedule that you want for yourself.
- 23:50SPEAKER_00: And you are always testing it.
- 23:52SPEAKER_00: So for example, I have moms who are clients.
- 23:55SPEAKER_00: And when one of my clients, she had two kids and then gave birth to her third, then her schedule changed.
- 24:01SPEAKER_00: And that's what's beautiful.
- 24:02SPEAKER_00: Or I was just talking to another client where she had a group coaching program.
- 24:07SPEAKER_00: Then she realized, I don't want to do group, I want to do one-to-one, but that's because she kept moving.
- 24:12SPEAKER_00: And then now that she found a home with their partner, now it's like, okay, I want to do group.
- 24:18SPEAKER_00: So it's flexible, it doesn't have to be permanent.
- 24:20SPEAKER_00: And talking about the schedule, I always tell my clients it's about creating this energetic alignment.
- 24:26SPEAKER_00: And so I don't work out on Wednesdays and because that's my heavy call days.
- 24:32SPEAKER_00: And what I mean by that, I'm doing calls with my mastermind inner circle.
- 24:35SPEAKER_00: So it's my group calls, and then I do a call with my career coaching program, which a lot of people don't even know because I don't promote it.
- 24:41SPEAKER_00: I just get a lot of clients from it.
- 24:43SPEAKER_00: So I have three group programs: my mastermind for starting entrepreneurs, my inner circle for scaling entrepreneurs, and then my career coaching program.
- 24:51SPEAKER_00: So those calls happen on Wednesdays.
- 24:53SPEAKER_00: I'm so drained, I just don't even want to.
- 24:56SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, even though I'm drained, I'm just so lit up and excited because the energy you have in serving your clients versus doing a sales call is completely different.
- 25:06SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
- 25:06SPEAKER_02: It's a different exchange.
- 25:08SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
- 25:08SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's a different exchange.
- 25:10SPEAKER_00: And then so really Tuesday through Thursdays is when I do calls.
- 25:14SPEAKER_00: Wednesdays with my clients, Tuesday and Thursday, it's either with clients, sales calls, or doing podcast interviews.
- 25:19SPEAKER_00: For example, today's a Thursday.
- 25:20SPEAKER_00: So I'm doing this interview, and then Mondays and Fridays, no calls.
- 25:23SPEAKER_00: So I could have a four-day weekend.
- 25:25SPEAKER_00: It's beautiful.
- 25:27SPEAKER_02: And that is exactly it.
- 25:28SPEAKER_02: That is amazing that you've created this schedule that you've aligned with your energy and how you work best because I kind of feel like you know, people don't really think about that.
- 25:39SPEAKER_02: And they just run themselves ragged taking calls at whatever time of day just to talk to a client or get on a sales call.
- 25:48SPEAKER_02: Or you need to conserve your energy as the CEO and you know, just to be able to show up as the best person you can.
- 25:56SPEAKER_00: I used to do 50 calls a week.
- 25:58SPEAKER_00: That was insane.
- 26:01SPEAKER_00: I we're recording this on January 27th.
- 26:04SPEAKER_00: So yesterday I sent an email out.
- 26:05SPEAKER_00: Like I used to do 50 calls a week.
- 26:07SPEAKER_00: I used to do monthly events in person pre-pandemic.
- 26:10SPEAKER_00: And then I used to do like Facebook lives every single day.
- 26:14SPEAKER_00: I was also in my 20s.
- 26:16SPEAKER_00: Um now I am 34 recording this, right?
- 26:20SPEAKER_00: When you turn 30, you forget.
- 26:22SPEAKER_00: You're like 30, oh yeah, four.
- 26:24SPEAKER_00: Um you do forget.
- 26:26SPEAKER_00: You do forget.
- 26:27SPEAKER_00: But I just was willing to do it all.
- 26:30SPEAKER_00: And then I know why.
- 26:32SPEAKER_00: It wasn't that I was addicted to the hustle.
- 26:34SPEAKER_00: I just had so much motivation, right?
- 26:36SPEAKER_00: And I was so excited because of my business.
- 26:38SPEAKER_00: And then you're like, okay, wait, I don't, I could chill out and let me figure out what's going to work with me.
- 26:45SPEAKER_00: So going over the tips that you've mentioned, systems is a process, it's not an app.
- 26:51SPEAKER_00: Second is create a step-by-step, like exactly what you do.
- 26:55SPEAKER_00: Three is creating SOPs for create a schedule around your lifestyle and energy.
- 27:01SPEAKER_00: Anything else, Jenny?
- 27:03SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
- 27:03SPEAKER_02: And I know that we kind of already mentioned like a tech platform, you know, Zapier, whatever.
- 27:10SPEAKER_02: Those are not systems, but they are a key piece of the system.
- 27:14SPEAKER_02: They're the thing that helps, you know, facilitate the automations and make things run smoother.
- 27:20SPEAKER_02: So I do want to say that there are, you know, tools that I wish I knew about when I was starting out in business just to help me, you know, with my systems.
- 27:30SPEAKER_02: So one of them is a CRM like Dub Sato or Honeybook to help manage your clients, you know, for invoicing proposals and contracts.
- 27:41SPEAKER_02: I mean, I feel like that's a huge one.
- 27:43SPEAKER_02: And, you know, some people that I've like worked with, they've kind of piecemealed it like with hello sign, and then they'll send a bunch of documents over piecemeal, and it's a little clunky, you know.
- 27:54SPEAKER_02: So it's really about creating a smooth client experience, you know, for your clients when you're onboarding with them.
- 28:01SPEAKER_02: And then a second tool that I really recommend looking into is a project management tool just to help you with managing your projects and tasks.
- 28:10SPEAKER_02: There, and there are so many of them out there.
- 28:13SPEAKER_02: I personally really love ClickUp.
- 28:15SPEAKER_02: There are other ones like Trello, Asana, Monday.
- 28:20SPEAKER_02: So, really, it's a you know, find the system, find the tech system that works for you and you know, the way that your brain operates, the way that you like to work.
- 28:30SPEAKER_02: So, those are two really key pieces of tech that I wish I knew about from the very beginning.
- 28:37SPEAKER_00: A CRM and a PM tool.
- 28:39SPEAKER_00: That's what I want all of you guys to hear.
- 28:42SPEAKER_00: Also, I just want to share with my fellow visionaries, I'm pretty sure you are not turned on right now.
- 28:47SPEAKER_00: You know, you're like, oh yay, I need to figure out this CRM system works or this PM tool.
- 28:53SPEAKER_00: I wasn't, like, I'm I'm still not.
- 28:56SPEAKER_00: I'll just be completely direct and transparent.
- 28:58SPEAKER_00: However, I see how much more easier it is to communicate with my team when you delegate and the status of different tasks and different projects and all the details are there.
- 29:09SPEAKER_00: I remember pre-having a business when I was working full-time at my old job, like all the projects would be communicated through email.
- 29:17SPEAKER_00: So it could be really lost in there.
- 29:20SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
- 29:21SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
- 29:22SPEAKER_02: So getting out of the inbox is the goal.
- 29:25SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and just having everything organized.
- 29:27SPEAKER_00: So having tools to support you.
- 29:29SPEAKER_00: Anything else?
- 29:30SPEAKER_02: And just I guess the last thing is don't stress out and overcomplicate systems.
- 29:37SPEAKER_02: They're ever evolving.
- 29:39SPEAKER_02: Just remember that.
- 29:40SPEAKER_02: Don't please do not stress out about them.
- 29:44SPEAKER_00: And actually, I do want to mention that because when Jenny was working on a project for me, I was like, wait, hold on.
- 29:52SPEAKER_00: We need to focus on this other service because it's what I want to focus on.
- 29:57SPEAKER_00: And it changed.
- 29:58SPEAKER_00: I think it was within the first month that we were working together because we're humans, we change and evolve, and that's what happens.
- 30:08SPEAKER_00: I will give the example of Amazon.
- 30:12SPEAKER_00: I think people forget that before Amazon became what it is now, is they sold books.
- 30:18SPEAKER_00: They just sold books.
- 30:20SPEAKER_02: That was it.
- 30:21SPEAKER_02: Which blows my mind thinking about it.
- 30:24SPEAKER_02: I can't believe that was what they started with.
- 30:27SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
- 30:27SPEAKER_00: Shout out to McKinsey Scott, who is a co-founder, Jeff Bezos' ex-wife, because it was her passion for books.
- 30:36SPEAKER_00: And then Jeff created it.
- 30:39SPEAKER_00: I think people forget that.
- 30:41SPEAKER_00: And also, I love her because she is this amazing philanthropist.
- 30:45SPEAKER_00: She just gave$30 million to Pasan City College, which was my old job.
- 30:50SPEAKER_00: So to have that much wealth and just to give it out back, it's amazing.
- 30:55SPEAKER_00: What I did want to ask you is how can you make sure you find the right systems and operations person for you?
- 31:02SPEAKER_02: So I would say just talk to them, see and just ask them about their process, figure out if they understand where you're coming from.
- 31:11SPEAKER_02: You know, some people need somebody who can just like do what they do exactly what they want.
- 31:18SPEAKER_02: Others are more about the strategy.
- 31:20SPEAKER_02: So they're gonna be asking a lot of questions on how they can, you know, better optimize.
- 31:26SPEAKER_02: Really, it's gonna come down to do you guys vibe together?
- 31:31SPEAKER_02: Do you like what they stand for?
- 31:33SPEAKER_02: Do you think that you're gonna work well together?
- 31:36SPEAKER_02: It's really so many different operations and systems.
- 31:39SPEAKER_02: People like we're all very similar in how we, you know, kind of how we think, I would assume, just because we're kind of nerdy that way.
- 31:47SPEAKER_02: But I think it's it's really, you really should just talk to a bunch and figure out, you know, what their process is and how they like to work, and if and if you feel that it's gonna work with you.
- 31:59SPEAKER_00: Why do you think we were a perfect fit to work together?
- 32:02SPEAKER_02: I will say it's because we just balance each other out very energetically.
- 32:07SPEAKER_02: And I felt like I knew I could understand what you were trying to say, and I knew how to kind of pull the things out of you and just you know, ask those questions for you to tell me what you were doing.
- 32:19SPEAKER_00: Well, and when it comes to whether hiring assistance operations person or a team member, you want someone who's like a partner, not necessarily a business partner, but a partner, a team player, not a worker bee where they're just gonna do whatever you say.
- 32:35SPEAKER_00: I've learned that.
- 32:37SPEAKER_00: I make sure for my team, what suggestions do you have for me?
- 32:41SPEAKER_00: How can I improve?
- 32:42SPEAKER_00: How can I better communicate to you?
- 32:44SPEAKER_00: Anything we can do to improve.
- 32:46SPEAKER_00: It's very humbling to always constantly ask for feedback.
- 32:50SPEAKER_00: I do that all the time with my virtual assistant when I connect with her every week, which Jenny kind of trained to do a lot of these systems.
- 32:57SPEAKER_00: I'm like, okay, what else can we do to improve things?
- 33:01SPEAKER_02: Yes, that is so important.
- 33:03SPEAKER_02: Being able to have that open two-way street of communication with your team members.
- 33:08SPEAKER_02: I mean, just allowing them to come to you and say, like, hey, I have a suggestion on what we can do better.
- 33:14SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's just going to build a better team, you know, better business all around.
- 33:19SPEAKER_00: So reflecting back to when you were helping your husband scale to from 100 to 500K within a year, what were huge steps that you saw him go through that we could probably relate?
- 33:32SPEAKER_00: You know, like maybe it's the mindset of like letting go that he doesn't have to do this and hiring some people.
- 33:37SPEAKER_00: I think you told me he only hired two staff members or something like that.
- 33:43SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he he did.
- 33:44SPEAKER_02: And it, you know, it's a different kind of industry where he is working, it's very high profit, but he needed another crew to be able to go out and take jobs so that he could work on his own on other jobs.
- 33:57SPEAKER_02: And I think he was he was very open to letting go once he understood, like, hey, that I am being kept on my time, obviously.
- 34:07SPEAKER_02: There's only one of me.
- 34:08SPEAKER_02: I need other people on my team that I can train to have the same knowledge and you know, standard of work that I do.
- 34:17SPEAKER_02: So it is a mindset thing, just being able to let go to scale.
- 34:22SPEAKER_02: I mean, you need to be able to let go of control and be able to trust in somebody else to take on your training, whatever you're providing them, and for them to be able to execute it at the same level as you can.
- 34:36SPEAKER_00: And what happens if people don't hire the right people?
- 34:39SPEAKER_00: Because that has happened for me.
- 34:41SPEAKER_00: And I'm not saying that they're horrible people, but sometimes it's like you didn't hire the right person for the right position that they should have been doing.
- 34:50SPEAKER_00: So I'll answer it first and then Jenny, I'd love for your feedback.
- 34:53SPEAKER_00: You know, there's growing pains, and you're meant to hire the wrong people.
- 34:58SPEAKER_00: So you know exactly what you need.
- 35:02SPEAKER_00: So, for example, I thought I needed one particular position in my business, like, oh, and then I got feedback from my clients that they didn't need that.
- 35:09SPEAKER_00: I'm like, oh, then let me get rid of that position and then let's see how we could systemize it.
- 35:16SPEAKER_00: And not only have I saved money, but I saved time.
- 35:20SPEAKER_00: And more importantly, the client service is so much better.
- 35:24SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
- 35:25SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I will say the same thing.
- 35:28SPEAKER_02: If you if you are looking to hire the right team member, sometimes it just won't work out.
- 35:36SPEAKER_02: And sometimes it will be just because that person may be not the best worker, maybe they don't have the best work ethic or something.
- 35:44SPEAKER_02: You know, there are those people that, you know, it's not something that you can really see until you start working with them.
- 35:50SPEAKER_02: But again, it really does go back to sometimes you just hire the wrong person that just didn't have the skill set that you needed to hire for.
- 35:58SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
- 35:59SPEAKER_02: So, like you said, it there it is a growing pain thing.
- 36:01SPEAKER_02: Like you're always gonna, there is always gonna be mistakes in hiring and working with people and bringing them onto your team.
- 36:08SPEAKER_02: And it's uncomfortable, but it's you know, it's a process and it's a learning.
- 36:13SPEAKER_02: And you just take what you learned from whatever happened and you apply it to improve going forward.
- 36:20SPEAKER_00: I also want to share with people a resource because we're talking visionary and integrators.
- 36:24SPEAKER_00: So a really great book is traction by Gino Whipman, also all of his books, but he talks about the EOS system and Visionary, which is me, integrator, which is Jenny.
- 36:36SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that talks about is having a scorecard for each team member.
- 36:40SPEAKER_00: So, what are things that you could measure from a team member?
- 36:44SPEAKER_00: So, for example, if you do social media and your goal is to have 50 new followers, it's measuring that and what's the engagement and all that stuff.
- 36:54SPEAKER_00: It's basically like you what you do when you would track your finances and look at your PLs.
- 36:59SPEAKER_00: And I am not an integrator, I don't have a finance background like Jenny, but I will share this as a CEO and visionary.
- 37:07SPEAKER_00: I was 55k in debt.
- 37:09SPEAKER_00: And that got me serious in looking at my numbers, not just in terms of monetary, but looking at everything.
- 37:16SPEAKER_00: Like I track my emails now that I have a podcast, I'm tracking numbers here in my podcast, I'm tracking calls I do, whether it's networking or sales, what's the conversion?
- 37:28SPEAKER_00: Because there's a beauty in what we measure, what we measure manifests.
- 37:32SPEAKER_00: So for all of my spiritual folks, just know that numbers are not just this masculine energy, it's also feminine.
- 37:37SPEAKER_00: Anything you want to add to that?
- 37:39SPEAKER_00: You have the finance background, Jenny, not me.
- 37:43SPEAKER_02: No, I mean, you said it perfectly.
- 37:45SPEAKER_02: I mean, yeah, obviously numbers are super important in being able to measure your success.
- 37:50SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I know it it can be like, oh, it's like you said, it's all masculine energy, but like you said, it's also the feminine and it's just integrating those two things together and just don't think of it as some numbers as some scary thing.
- 38:05SPEAKER_02: You know, every business owner needs to know what's happening on the back end.
- 38:10SPEAKER_00: Just know that if you look at a number and it's not what you want to see, that that number does not define you.
- 38:19SPEAKER_00: It's just a reflection of everything you've done in your past.
- 38:21SPEAKER_00: So let's say you don't do anything moving forward, then that number is gonna see that number.
- 38:26SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean you could change that number.
- 38:29SPEAKER_00: That means that, okay, there's room of improvement.
- 38:31SPEAKER_00: What can I do to change this number so it's not negative or so that it is positive?
- 38:37SPEAKER_00: So that's why it's important to track things because it tells you where you're at.
- 38:40SPEAKER_00: It does not define you.
- 38:42SPEAKER_00: And then you could figure out how to improve on it.
- 38:46SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
- 38:48SPEAKER_00: Jenny, so I always love letting people know how they can find you, how they could possibly work with you.
- 38:56SPEAKER_00: I also don't want a lot of people to work with Jenny because I need to keep her to myself.
- 39:01SPEAKER_00: So maybe not.
- 39:02SPEAKER_00: I'm just brag about you.
- 39:03SPEAKER_00: I'm kidding.
- 39:04SPEAKER_02: I know you're like my crazy girlfriend, very positive.
- 39:08SPEAKER_00: As long as your husband knows, but just in case people want to learn about your work, how can they find you?
- 39:14SPEAKER_00: What services do you offer?
- 39:17SPEAKER_02: So the services I currently offer to support my clients, I offer system build-outs.
- 39:22SPEAKER_02: So this is a project where we are taking the end-to-end of a system in your business, whether it's your project management or your client onboarding and client management, client delivery systems, will work together so that you have a nice, beautiful, streamlined system complete with SOPs so that you can hand it off to a team member and it's all ready to go for you.
- 39:47SPEAKER_02: So I love doing those.
- 39:49SPEAKER_02: And I know Elaine can attest that that's something I'm such a nerd at.
- 39:54SPEAKER_00: So oh my gosh, it was amazing.
- 39:57SPEAKER_00: Just like I felt like I was in therapy because she just kept asking stuff.
- 40:02SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I don't know, and just improve it.
- 40:05SPEAKER_00: But even though it was a bit painful, how much time it has saved me.
- 40:10SPEAKER_00: I mean, yes, my revenue did increase, but how much time it has saved me.
- 40:16SPEAKER_00: And I was, I've even been sharing with my boyfriend.
- 40:18SPEAKER_00: I was like, I I am such a nice girlfriend.
- 40:22SPEAKER_00: Let me just brag about how present I am and ask for what your needs are because I'm not working all the time.
- 40:30SPEAKER_02: Amazing.
- 40:31SPEAKER_02: I mean, those are the transformations I love to hear about just my clients having more time and just giving them that time back, that time and space for them.
- 40:41SPEAKER_00: And so I love ending episodes with two questions.
- 40:45SPEAKER_00: One is, what is one reflective question you have for our caller your dreams family?
- 40:52SPEAKER_00: And then the second question is what is one action that this audience can do?
- 40:59SPEAKER_02: Sure.
- 41:00SPEAKER_02: So I think I really want you guys to reflect as the CEO of my business, what am I doing that is not in my zone of genius?
- 41:09SPEAKER_02: What doesn't light me up?
- 41:13SPEAKER_02: Because I know that's super uncomfortable sometimes to think about.
- 41:16SPEAKER_02: You're just like, well, I have to do all of the things, but I want you to really think about what you are doing that you're not good at and you don't enjoy doing.
- 41:25SPEAKER_02: And that leads into my action item.
- 41:28SPEAKER_02: So I want you to list all those activities out, the ones that you are not good at and that you do not enjoy doing, and then start documenting them so that you can start getting SOPs out and you can hand those tasks off to somebody else.
- 41:43SPEAKER_02: And remember, you can do a Loom video to make it easier on yourself at the start.
- 41:48SPEAKER_00: So I will share this, and I know it could be difficult, but I consistently do this in my own business.
- 41:56SPEAKER_00: And one of the triggering points for me was money.
- 41:59SPEAKER_00: Like I said, I was 55k in debt, finally got out of it, and I'm like, wait, I need to hire a bookkeeper and a tax accountant because I don't love doing it, but I could do it, and and I had this mind game of, but it doesn't make sense.
- 42:15SPEAKER_00: Why am I gonna spend more money on someone to handle my money?
- 42:19SPEAKER_00: Shouldn't I be saving it and doing it on my own?
- 42:22SPEAKER_00: But I don't like doing it, and then I find a release control, gave it to them, and then all of a sudden it's multi-six figure here.
- 42:30SPEAKER_00: Like, oh this is amazing.
- 42:34SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
- 42:35SPEAKER_02: I mean, when you're putting your energy into things that you don't love doing and you're you're probably not the best at, I mean, handing that off to somebody who's a pro at it, it's transformative.
- 42:47SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
- 42:48SPEAKER_00: Well, Jenny, thank you for your time.
- 42:50SPEAKER_00: And before you go, can you share with people how they can find you?
- 42:55SPEAKER_02: Yes.
- 42:56SPEAKER_02: So you can find me mostly on Instagram.
- 42:59SPEAKER_02: That's where I love to hang out at Jenny M.
- 43:01SPEAKER_02: Jones with an underscore at the end.
- 43:04SPEAKER_02: And you can also check out my website at www.gennymjones.com.
- 43:10SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jenny.
- 43:11SPEAKER_00: And everyone, I hope you took a lot of notes and you're gonna do that action item.
- 43:17SPEAKER_00: Figure out what you do love and what you don't love.
- 43:22SPEAKER_00: Legacymaker, you just finished another episode of the Call Your Dreams podcast.
- 43:28SPEAKER_00: Be sure to take another five minutes and reflect with my acronym tag.
- 43:32SPEAKER_00: What were your biggest takeaways, your actions, and your gratitudes?
- 43:39SPEAKER_00: Want more of me and my team?
- 43:41SPEAKER_00: If you're curious about working with us, go to my website at elenelew.com slash call to schedule a call with me.
- 43:50SPEAKER_00: During this 30-minute complimentary get it done call, I'll provide you three action items towards your goals.
- 43:57SPEAKER_00: And if we're not a good fit, I'll refer you to other people and resources because integrity is my number one value.
- 44:04SPEAKER_00: All right, legacy maker.
- 44:05SPEAKER_00: I'll see you next Thursday for our newest episode.
- 44:08SPEAKER_00: Remember to call your dreams to create your legacy.