Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Unstoppable Leadership Spotlight podcast.
Speaker AI am your host, Jacqueline Strominger.
Speaker AAnd you know, my goal is to help and give every single leader insights and game changing knowledge that will help them become better leaders today and tomorrow.
Speaker ASo today we have an amazing guest, Derek Fredrickson.
Speaker AAnd let me just give you a little bit about Derek.
Speaker ASo Derek has over 16 years of experience as the Chief Operating Officer at Boldheart and other six and seven figure businesses.
Speaker AHe has witnessed firsthand how transformative a robust operational strategy can be for entrepreneurs who are ready to scale but feel overwhelmed.
Speaker AAs we all know, running a business often means getting bogged down with day to day tasks and becoming a bottleneck and losing sight of that vision that sparked the company in the first place.
Speaker AAnd that's where Derek comes in.
Speaker AAnd so what you are going to get listeners today listening to Derek and game changing insights about the key thing is how to do less better.
Speaker AI love that line.
Speaker ASo Derek, welcome to, to the Unstoppable Leadership Spotlight podcast.
Speaker ASo glad to have you here.
Speaker BThank you, Jaclyn.
Speaker BI'm happy to be here and looking excited, looking forward and excited for our conversation today.
Speaker AYeah, so am I.
Speaker ASo okay.
Speaker ALike I was so excited.
Speaker AFirst of all, listeners, I'm really excited because Derek's actually in Paris, France and I get to go there.
Speaker ASo I'm hoping that we actually are going to actually maybe meet in person.
Speaker ASo I always love that.
Speaker BThere you go.
Speaker BWho would have thought, I mean, Paris, you know, like a lot of people love to come to Paris.
Speaker BIt's a beautiful city.
Speaker BSo yeah, I hope we can make that connection in person.
Speaker BThat would be fantastic.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker ASo tell me Derek, you know, I was looking at what you have done and your experience and even, you know, right before we were talking about some of the key things, you know, again that, that do lesson, you know, to do better and you know, we were talking about letting go.
Speaker ASo walk me through how you came to this.
Speaker AAlmost like aha moment of that do less better.
Speaker CYeah, well, thank you.
Speaker BI'll, I'll share just a little bit of a story.
Speaker BSo I started out working with my wife in her coaching business back in 2008 and I didn't even know anything about the business.
Speaker BI didn't know that much about the marketing, the online world, entrepreneurial coaching, that sort of a thing.
Speaker BBut what I realized is that I could add value into the business in different ways in terms of structure, in terms of organization, helping with team, developing a more systematic way of what we were doing.
Speaker BAnd what I realized is that when you can build this foundation of a business and having a really solid structure of accountability, the right people and the right seats, a team that you can rely on to do really, really good work, but focus not just on what we're doing, but also on how we're doing it so we can build it to scale, so we can leverage it, so we can expand.
Speaker BAnd that was a game changer for me.
Speaker BAnd I realized that once we started to get real momentum and traction, what happened is that my wife, who's the kind of visionary entrepreneur of the, of the company, it freed her up to focus on the bigger vision.
Speaker BAnd as entrepreneurs, as visionary leaders, as CEOs, founders, our goal is to focus on the bigger vision, because that's the essence of being the visionary.
Speaker BThey have the idea, they see the future, they see the big picture.
Speaker BAnd oftentimes they get stuck because then at times they have to come back and be like, okay, let's implement it, let's make it happen, right?
Speaker BLet's put the project into place.
Speaker BAnd oftentimes they get stuck into the day to day of the weeds of the implementation and managing the team and managing the task, and they get kind of pulled into that, which pulls them out of having the eye to the vision and the bigger picture.
Speaker BAnd so this idea of letting go and doing less better, it's not about being lazy, right?
Speaker BIt's doing less of the stuff that doesn't actually move the needle and focusing more on the bigger picture.
Speaker BAnd so when you can rely on a team and a structure and a process in place so that they know what we're doing and how we're doing it and when we're doing it by and why we're doing it, it gives the founder, the leader, a lot of confidence and faith that they can go out and come up with the big idea and focus on the bigger picture.
Speaker BBecause they have the structure, they have the system, they have the team in place to make it happen.
Speaker BI often say that visionary leaders, our job is to make it up.
Speaker BWe have the idea, I'm going to make it up.
Speaker BThis is going to be fantastic.
Speaker BIt's a passion, it's a mission.
Speaker BI want to make an impact.
Speaker BGreat.
Speaker BYou make it up.
Speaker BPeople like me that are wired as CEOs, we make it real.
Speaker BWe're like, I'm going to make it happen for you because I can see from A to Z all the things that need to happen.
Speaker BAnd then with the team and the process, we make it recur so it runs like a world machine.
Speaker BWe don't have to reinvent the wheel.
Speaker BWe can scale, we can build, we can expand at a higher pace.
Speaker BRather than the founder and the leader having to be involved in doing everything all the time.
Speaker BSo they get their time back, they get their freedom back, they get their confidence back.
Speaker BBut also, like, energetically, they feel more excited, they feel more motivated, because they're tapping into the essence of what got them started in their business in the first place, but with the trust, knowing that things are working without them having to be involved.
Speaker BSo that's the do less better, or in some cases, I say less doing more thinking.
Speaker ARight, right.
Speaker AYou know, and as you were talking, the things that were coming into my, my mind were, you know, so many times we start the business or an entrepreneur will start a business, and that part of the brain doesn't.
Speaker AIs very different than the organizational structured brain.
Speaker ALike they're two different sides.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AAnd so it's almost like you're bringing in the left brain to the right brain.
Speaker BThat's exactly what it is.
Speaker BIt's exactly what it is.
Speaker BThere are assessments that people can take that affirm exactly what you're saying, that entrepreneurs are wired in a certain way, they have strengths in a certain way.
Speaker BTheir zone of genius is aligned in a different way from people that are operating in a more systematic, in a more organized, organized way.
Speaker BAnd you need a combination of both.
Speaker BIt's a little bit.
Speaker BBecause in the beginning, you know, most entrepreneurs, they have to do everything right, because we're bootstrapping stuff.
Speaker BI'm doing the marketing, I'm doing the sales, I'm doing the operations.
Speaker BI might even be doing the bookkeeping.
Speaker BI'm building my website.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker BBut then they quickly realize I'm not actually really good at bookkeeping.
Speaker BI'm not really good at actually building out a website and it's maybe costing you money because there could be somebody that could do it better and it frees you.
Speaker ALike, I actually just hate that stuff anyway.
Speaker BExactly.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BAnd.
Speaker BBut they oftentimes, in my experience, what happens is that there's a bit of guilt.
Speaker BThere's a bit of like, I.
Speaker BBut I should know how to do these things.
Speaker BIt's my business.
Speaker BI should know how to build a WordPress website.
Speaker BI should know how to manage my email.
Speaker BI should know how to do my bookkeeping.
Speaker BNot necessarily.
Speaker BSo.
Speaker BSo they hit that ceiling, which is like, okay, so I know I can't do anything anymore.
Speaker BI need to hire, I need to get a team.
Speaker BI need to leverage their brilliance, which is different than my brilliance and their skill set and strengths, which are different than mine.
Speaker BAnd when they get those people on, place the right people in the right seats and they're clear on what they need to do, it allows the visionary entrepreneur to think differently and align themselves more with their strengths as opposed to trying to do everything on themselves.
Speaker BBut in the beginning, there's, there's a little bit of guilt.
Speaker BThere's a little bit like, I should know how to do this.
Speaker BYou actually, you don't.
Speaker BThat's, you know, in the.
Speaker BLet go of control, like give yourself permission that you should not actually be the one to know everything.
Speaker ABecause.
Speaker BBecause you can't scale a business where it all depends on you knowing and doing everything by yourself.
Speaker BIt depends on the team.
Speaker BIt depends on the structure and the process and the organization.
Speaker BAnd there are people that are wired for that.
Speaker BThere are people that love that.
Speaker BThey love being that kind of second in command.
Speaker BYou make it up, I make it real.
Speaker BAnd with the process and the people who make it recur, they're like, okay, I see that.
Speaker BThat's the way that I need to scale.
Speaker BSo they let go of that control, but with trust, knowing that it's going to give them the solution that they want, really, and, and often what they need.
Speaker ASo there's a couple of questions that come to mind.
Speaker AAnd so I'm going to.
Speaker AThe first one is, and I, and I hope this comes a.
Speaker AKind of comes out more.
Speaker AAlso as a tip is how.
Speaker AHow does a entre know or what's the sign that it's time to bring in the CEO or like, you know, what is that point that said, where, you know, is it a financial part?
Speaker ABecause sometimes I think that you can't actually hit the numbers that you want to get because you're so bogged down exactly in the task.
Speaker ASo what's that, what is that timeline, you know, like, when do you know?
Speaker BLike, yeah, it's like the tipping point, right?
Speaker BYeah, it's.
Speaker BIt happens in two ways.
Speaker BPractical and energetic.
Speaker BPractical because they are noticing that their time is being spent on all of these activities that they know intellectually that they shouldn't be doing.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker BAnd so they're having to spend.
Speaker BI've had such a busy day, you know, I had to manage my email, I had to do this in the marketing and I didn't have a chance to actually do development of the business or I haven't had a chance to think about the big idea that I want to implement.
Speaker BAnd so they See, like the time just kind of floating away.
Speaker BAnd so they're coming to the realization that like, I need more of my time back.
Speaker BThat's actually the biggest commodity that most entrepreneurs need to really get in control of is their time.
Speaker BBut energetically, what's happening is they feel resentful.
Speaker BThey feel resentful that they've built this business that they have in some cases created a job where it's like, I'm just doing stuff.
Speaker BI'm just, you know, I'm doing this, I'm doing the marketing, I'm doing the customer service and doing the operations.
Speaker BAnd they feel energetically that it's, it's draining.
Speaker CRight?
Speaker BIt's not the thing that they're jumping out of bed to do again tomorrow morning.
Speaker BThey're, they're kind of like, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm not excited about my business anymore.
Speaker BIt feels like work, it feels like struggle, it feels like effort.
Speaker BSo there's that energy.
Speaker BAnd what ends up happening is like energy is everything.
Speaker BAnd so they end up taking more time to do the things that they think they should be doing as opposed to relax and let go of that control to get somebody else to help do them, do that for them.
Speaker BSo there's the practical, the energetic, but it also depends on where you are in your business, right?
Speaker BIf, if you have a multiple six figure or multiple seven figure, and you know that you have big dreams and big goals and big objectives and you know that you can't do it on your own anymore, like what got you here is not going to get you there.
Speaker BLike, you can't scale complexity.
Speaker BAnd if you built a business that feels complex, that feels like there's a lot of putting out fires and like whack a mole and I go to the next day, you can't scale that.
Speaker BSo bringing something in, bringing someone in that can provide that structure, that can provide.
Speaker BAnd it's not about giving up control of your business.
Speaker BIt's, you know, sometimes I say we help run your business for you.
Speaker BIt's not like we're coming in like I'm taking control of your entire business.
Speaker BNo, we are giving you control back to your business for you to do the things that you are meant to be doing, because that's the thing that's actually going to scale.
Speaker BIt's not getting into the day to day and managing the team and did you check this?
Speaker BAnd what about that?
Speaker BAnd you know, it drains their energy because they're not usually wired like that.
Speaker BThey're wired for the bigger vision.
Speaker BSo it's, it's energetic and, and practical at the same time, but we all struggle with it.
Speaker BWe all, you know, it's.
Speaker BThere's no such thing as entrepreneurship nirvana.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker BThere's always, like, the next level.
Speaker BWe have to, we have to overcome.
Speaker AYeah, no, and it's, it's very true.
Speaker AYou know, it is, it's, it's, it's, you know, when I look at it and I look at some of the people that, that I talk to and the people that I coach, you know, it's.
Speaker AThere is this fine line of, of knowing when you.
Speaker AKnowing that you cannot do anything all on your own.
Speaker AAnd it's like.
Speaker AAnd, you know, and I always have to remind people, you know, even, you know, think about great athletes.
Speaker ALike, great athletes have, you know, coaches.
Speaker AThey're.
Speaker AThey're not getting there on their own.
Speaker AYes.
Speaker AIt's their bodies that.
Speaker AGetting their, you know, physically doing stuff.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker ABut they don't do it on your own.
Speaker AIt's.
Speaker AWe never do anything on our own.
Speaker AAnd so we have to embrace that part.
Speaker ASo I love this.
Speaker AI love, you know, getting to think about doing your business and, you know, doing the things that you want to do in your business and doing less of the things that are not your.
Speaker AYour superpower.
Speaker BYeah, superpower brilliance zone of genius gift.
Speaker BExactly.
Speaker BThat's.
Speaker BExactly.
Speaker BAnd it doesn't have to be, oh, do I have to bring in somebody to run my business for you?
Speaker BNo, not necessarily.
Speaker BIt could be hiring a va.
Speaker BIt could be hiring somebody to do your social media.
Speaker BIt could be hiring somebody that can manage your calendar and your email.
Speaker BIt's the classic I'll pay you x, but I get 3x back because I get my time back.
Speaker BAnd that doesn't discount the value of what a VA or an obm, like an online business manager or a COO provides, or even an accountant.
Speaker BWe always have to invest in something in some way, but it's the investment in that gives you the time back and the time back.
Speaker BYou can go take a nap.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker BYou can go on vacation.
Speaker BYou know, you can.
Speaker BWhich we do, of course.
Speaker BBut at the same time, you can reinvest that time into exponential growth activities that actually is going to really move the needle for the company.
Speaker BSo it's, you know, hire a VA for 20 bucks an hour for five hours a week to help get some stuff off your plate.
Speaker BYou get that time back, you can reinvest that five hours a week.
Speaker BAnd I can guarantee you can.
Speaker BShould contribute to the bottom line.
Speaker BA lot more than $20 an hour that you're spending now.
Speaker BBut it's a mindset shift.
Speaker BSome people are like, you know, but I need to make the money to spend the money.
Speaker BYeah, to an extent.
Speaker BBut making the money first to then spend the money isn't how you're going to scale, especially if you have a big vision and a big why that is like, they're like, I'm waiting for you.
Speaker BLike, let's get here, let's make it faster.
Speaker BWe got to put the things in place that are going to make that accelerate that even more.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker ASometimes you actually have to spend the money first to make the money second.
Speaker BExactly.
Speaker AAnd it's exactly getting to that point.
Speaker AAnd you know, and I think that's a really good point.
Speaker AAnd I, and I really want to stress that, you know, to listeners because, because whether you're talking about a team or you're talking about your business, there's an investment that you need to take in and you have to invest, whether it's investing in your people.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker AYou might not get the most out of your people until you actually in them to help them, you know, to get the, the best out of them.
Speaker AAnd it's the same thing with, you know, the financial part of it in your business.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker ASo, yeah.
Speaker ASo tell me a little bit about, you know, because you, you've had, you, you work with your wife, which I have lots of questions about that in lots of different ways because I'm like, I don't know, how do you, is that okay?
Speaker ALike, how did you, you know, how did that work?
Speaker CYeah, yeah.
Speaker ABut you, you had, what brought you to the point where you knew in from your business experience that you were wired as the coo.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BGreat question.
Speaker BTo be honest.
Speaker BIn the beginning, I didn't, we, we made the decision to work together more for personal reasons.
Speaker BYou know, I started out on Wall Street, I was working in finance.
Speaker BYou know, I had a good salary, great tick the corporate box.
Speaker BBut as I saw my wife and her business growing and succeeding and the impact that she was making with her clients and the really great work that she was doing, it brought up for me, is this the right path that I want to be on?
Speaker ABusiness growing?
Speaker CYes.
Speaker BAnd, and then I, I just decided, you know, that my, my professional track on doing corporate was, was not meant for me.
Speaker BI, I really appreciated the fulfillment that she was getting in the work that she was doing.
Speaker BAnd so we had this crazy idea, what if I were to go part time and work with her in her business?
Speaker BAt the time, she had, I think, nine, nine VAs.
Speaker BAnd she, you know, was growing, it was scaling.
Speaker BIt was wonderful.
Speaker BBut there was like, I can help with the team.
Speaker BI can help make projects happen.
Speaker BThat's what my background was.
Speaker BUm, and then once we realized, like in the beginning, like you said, you know, it.
Speaker BIt was, it was not as easy as we had thought.
Speaker BYou know, we never actually obviously worked together.
Speaker BThere were things we didn't know about our.
Speaker BHow we're wired and our strengths.
Speaker BAnd obviously there's the husband and wife dynamic, which could be a bit tricky.
Speaker BWe figured it out.
Speaker BI know it's not for everybody.
Speaker BI've mentioned this in the past, and some people are like, I can never work with my partner.
Speaker BI can never work with my husband or my spouse.
Speaker BYeah, I get it.
Speaker BAnd, and, and we had a personal goal to be able to have that freedom and that flexibility using and leveraging the business in order to do that.
Speaker BAnd so when I stepped in, I realized how things work.
Speaker BIt's my, my.
Speaker BIt's the way that my brain is wired.
Speaker BIt's.
Speaker BI could figure things out.
Speaker BI'm like a problem solver.
Speaker BI'm fact finding.
Speaker BI'm getting through, like, what's the plan?
Speaker BWhat's the process?
Speaker BAnd when I realized that when you have a plan, you have a process and you can make things happen on the back end, it allows the business to scale and allows the visionary to.
Speaker BTo be able to go and do more.
Speaker BMore speaking, more networking, more relationships, more sales, more marketing that is aligned with them.
Speaker BAnd then what I realized is that, you know, we've scaled the business.
Speaker BIt's been at multiple seven figures for 18 years.
Speaker BAnd then people were like tapping me on the shoulder and saying, I need a Derek.
Speaker BI need somebody to do for my business what you've done for your wife's business.
Speaker BAnd I said, great.
Speaker BAnd I started to do that fractionally for a few clients here and there.
Speaker BBut I realized then I couldn't scale that because it was all dependent upon me.
Speaker BSo last year I launched the COO solution, and I've been cultivating a team and a framework of how we provide COO and OBM online business manager services to entrepreneurial clients that are multiple six figures to high multiple seven figures.
Speaker BAnd it's a bit interesting because now I've kind of stepped out from being the COO to now being more of the CEO.
Speaker BI actually just hired one of my COOs to be my COO for my business.
Speaker BSo I'm kind of like walking the Talk.
Speaker BIt's like I'm kind of getting out there and doing it.
Speaker BBut that made me realize that especially for visionaries, especially for entrepreneurial leaders that know that they need and want the support, oftentimes you can hire more people to do things, but at a certain level, you need somebody to really be that strategic, trusted partner, that confidant like that, that second in command that can make things happen with you.
Speaker BAnd that's been a real game changer in the work that we do with our clients.
Speaker BAnd also for me to see that cascade in the work that we're doing.
Speaker AThat'S, that's so, so here's.
Speaker AHow do you like being the CEO?
Speaker BIt's interesting.
Speaker BI, I just did a team.
Speaker BI do a once a month.
Speaker BOur team is about 15, 15, 20 people now.
Speaker BAnd I do a once a month team, get together where we connect and we talk about what's working, what's going well.
Speaker BHere are the updates and everything else.
Speaker BAnd I said to them very transparently, I have to catch myself because I can get into the weeds very easily.
Speaker CRight?
Speaker BI'm, I'm, I have the COO mindset.
Speaker BIt's, it's been what I've been doing for 18 years.
Speaker BAnd so I'm like, what's the process for this and what's the structure for this?
Speaker BAnd like, we're building the plane as we fly it to put in the systems and everything else.
Speaker BAnd I'm also having to trust and let go and rely on my team.
Speaker BOkay, marketing team, take care of this.
Speaker BOperations team, take care of this.
Speaker BBecause I know that for what I want to do and where I want to go with my vision, I need to let go.
Speaker BSo it's like, I'm not just saying that I'm doing that as well because we all have big initiatives.
Speaker BI just launched a podcast and writing a book.
Speaker BI want to do more speaking and getting out there and everything else.
Speaker BAnd I know I can't do those types of things on my own without, without having the right structure and the right team in place to support me.
Speaker BSo it's, it's, it's, it's interesting.
Speaker BI catch myself saying, okay, CEO hat, Derek, not, not, not COO hat.
Speaker BStop, stop getting into the weeds.
Speaker BLet, let, let the process in place.
Speaker BLet the team do their thing.
Speaker BBut it's been exciting for sure.
Speaker ASo, so who then are your, you know, your dream key clients?
Speaker BGreat question.
Speaker BDream clients are women entrepreneurs.
Speaker BAnd, and it's interesting.
Speaker BI, I don't, I don't, I don't Market to women specifically.
Speaker BI don't, I don't have a message that specifically speaks to, to women business owners or female entrepreneurs, but I can just say, having worked with my wife for 17 years and bold heart, our company and our team are all women.
Speaker BAll of my clients are women, all of my team are women.
Speaker BAnd I don't know what it is.
Speaker BI remember there was a while where I was cultivating my team and speaking to a lot of people that are really great cosos that are men.
Speaker BAnd you know, I'm a man.
Speaker BThere's men listening.
Speaker BYou know, I get it.
Speaker BBut what I realized is that when working with women entrepreneurs things are different in some respect and there is an empathy of how we do what we do, which is very important versus that's the deadline.
Speaker BEverything's black and white.
Speaker BIt's very linear.
Speaker BWe have to go in this direction.
Speaker BIt doesn't always work like that.
Speaker BThings can deviate based on a number of different things.
Speaker BIntuition, divine intervention, insights.
Speaker BAnd, and, and, and my experience in, in working with women clients is that that's very important and we have to honor that, we have to respect that and we have to kind of cultivate in that work that we do.
Speaker BSo there's that element.
Speaker BBut also, you know, coaches, consultants, you know, online, I say like online Transformers, like industry transformers, those that are really there to make an impact.
Speaker BAnd, and the byproduct is the financial right.
Speaker BIt's not all about the income.
Speaker BI know people say that all the time, but for me it's a big motivator because I love to be able to see when we work with our clients that they get their time back, they get their freedom back, they get their mojo back, they get their excitement back, their confidence and everything else.
Speaker BAnd the byproduct is like our P and l is up 50%.
Speaker BLook at that.
Speaker BYou know, like that's a great output of us doing really good work in that way.
Speaker AYou know what, Having that mojo and getting that excitement back.
Speaker AIt just makes me think about, you know, when you, when you're aligned the right way and when you see companies where the people that, and I and the partners and because I, I, there's two words, I, I feel like that need to get removed from companies and those that's employees and managers, they leaders and partners.
Speaker AThat's just.
Speaker AYeah, I love that brain that when you have leaders who actually lead and you've got partners who feel like they're a partner and they've caught the vision and they're, they've got that there's that energy that's within the entire company and organization.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker AIt's not, you know, the bottom line does go up and you haven't hired more people.
Speaker AYou're doing.
Speaker AAnd.
Speaker AAnd it kind of goes back to what we just said in the beginning, actually.
Speaker AYou're actually doing.
Speaker AYou're doing more.
Speaker AYeah, everybody's.
Speaker AEverybody gets to do more, and they're feeling really great.
Speaker AAnd the people who need to be thinking are thinking, and the people that need, you know, the people that are.
Speaker AAre working.
Speaker AAre working.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker AAnd it's all.
Speaker AIt all goes together.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BI use the, like, I use the analogy of a bus where the leader, the.
Speaker BThe entrepreneur is.
Speaker BIs.
Speaker BIs driving the bus.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker BThey're the driver.
Speaker BThey know where they're going.
Speaker BBut in the bus, you've got your team, and there are different seats on the bus, and our job is to make sure we've got the right people in the right seats.
Speaker BSometimes it's the right seat, but it's the wrong person.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker BSometimes it's the right person, but they're in the wrong seat.
Speaker BWhen you get right people in right seats that get on board of the bus business, where it's going, the vision, the why, they feel excited, they feel empowered.
Speaker BAnd so what ends up happening is that they elevate and expand what they're doing, which can then contribute to things being done more efficiently, more effective.
Speaker BTeam members love to feel empowered.
Speaker BThey love to be like, so just, you know, not just doers, you know, not just ones that dot the eyes and cross the T's.
Speaker BWe want people with.
Speaker BWith that mindset, with that way of thinking, but they want to get on board with the vision.
Speaker BThey want to feel like, you know, a rising tide lifts all boats.
Speaker BAnd so when they get on board with the vision and they're excited and empowered.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BAt the end of the day, they may just be doing your bookkeeping, but they feel excited because they get the bigger vision, they get the bigger purpose, they get the bigger why.
Speaker BAnd then they can contribute to that in different ways.
Speaker BWhen they feel empowered and feel excited and feel the line, and that comes from the leader oftentimes kind of sharing, this is the vision.
Speaker BThis is where we're going.
Speaker BThis is what I'm thinking.
Speaker BThis is what I've got planned.
Speaker BAnd they're like, fantastic.
Speaker BI love to hear the vision.
Speaker BI love to see where we're going, because I feel excited.
Speaker BI feel like I can be a part of that.
Speaker BTell me what my role is.
Speaker BTell me what responsibilities are, and Then they can jump in and make it happen.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AYou know, and it's, it's, it's, it's, it's.
Speaker AIf you can help craft that from everybody, from the person who is cleaning to all the way up.
Speaker ARight, yeah.
Speaker ABecause they all feel like they're part of the team to help that, you know, they're part of the tide that's lifting the boat.
Speaker BExactly.
Speaker AThey're all part of it and they feel that and create that.
Speaker ASo it's great.
Speaker ASo, working with women.
Speaker ASo is there women entrepreneurs, is there a, a business or an industry that you like in the entrepreneurial space more or that you align more with as well?
Speaker BIt's a great question.
Speaker BI mean, traditionally it's been coaching, just because that's the background that we've been in in terms of business coaching.
Speaker BThe clients we work with now are usually service based providers.
Speaker BThey're a coach, they're a consultant, they might be an interior designer, they might be a financial planner.
Speaker BYou know, they're really good at what they do, but they know they need help.
Speaker BAnd that doesn't make that a bad thing.
Speaker BIt's like they know they need support.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BThey kind of realize that I can't do anything on my own.
Speaker BI'm really not good at customer service.
Speaker BI don't really know all the things that I need to know about marketing and funnels and launches and ads and social media.
Speaker BYou know, I need to bring in the right, the right support.
Speaker BBut we have clients now that we work with in, in the travel industry, we have clients that work with in public works, which is very interesting, you know, because at the end of the day, at least in my opinion, in my experience, businesses are the same.
Speaker BMarketing is marketing, sales is sales, operations is operations, finance is finance.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker BI know people may look at it in different ways, but I always say, like, marketing drives sales, sales drives operations, which is what you deliver, what you provide, what your services.
Speaker BAnd then finance is the output of doing really good marketing, really good sales and really good operations and having the team aligned with that.
Speaker BSo sometimes when we speak to a potential client, they'll say like, are you familiar with my industry?
Speaker BAnd, and is there somebody that knows my market?
Speaker BAnd I'll, I'll confidently say, and it's not out of, out of ego, I'll be no, but it honestly doesn't really matter because at the end of the day, what you need is an air traffic controller to take care of your business for you and make sure that marketing is doing what marketing should be doing.
Speaker BAnd sales is doing what sales should be doing and operations and finance, etc.
Speaker BBut I've been doing business coaching for 17 years and a lot of online marketing.
Speaker BSo that's kind of where I have, I have a, I'm a marketer first hat, if you will.
Speaker BSo that's, that's usually where we gravitate to.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AWell, that's fantastic.
Speaker AYou know, dark.
Speaker AI could talk to you forever, you know, there's so much great stuff here.
Speaker ASo tell us, like, what is the, you know, you know, I shared in the beginning, you know, we talked about, you know, the one big thing is, you know, letting go of, you know, of what you're doing, you know, and doing less to do better.
Speaker AIs there one thing that you feel like that will help somebody do that?
Speaker ALike, what's like one insight or tip?
Speaker BThat's a great question.
Speaker BI would say if they're listening to this, take a moment and, and reflect on where you are today and where you want to be in 12 months from now.
Speaker BAnd is your current environment, including your team and including your mindset position to get you to where you want to go.
Speaker BAnd if so, great, fantastic.
Speaker BAnd if there's a part of you that's thinking, I don't really know.
Speaker BI'm not really sure if I have those elements in place.
Speaker BMaybe I'm asking myself, should I be thinking about getting a CEO or an obm?
Speaker BGreat question.
Speaker BBut being able to ask yourself that question and be present to what the answer is.
Speaker BAnd the answer might be, I know I need help.
Speaker BI know I can't do it on my own.
Speaker BI know in the beginning I got everything done because it was just me.
Speaker BBut what got me here, like I said, is not going to get you there.
Speaker BAnd if they are looking for a path to get them there, that's going to be aligned with who they really are and their strengths, with the trust of the team that can make that happen.
Speaker BThat's where they're like, okay, let me reach out for support.
Speaker BLet me see what is the right direction to go.
Speaker BAnd it might be, again, like I said, starting with a va, an obm, getting some structure, some team in place that can help you get there, but you need to be present to yourself and asking the question and then being ready for the answer and, and knowing that we all need help, we all need, you know, different levels of resources and support to make that happen.
Speaker AYeah, right.
Speaker AAnd knowing, and I would have to say, and, and know that it's okay to ask for help.
Speaker BTotally.
Speaker BExactly.
Speaker BIt's exactly that.
Speaker BLike you said, you know, people, successful people look above, right?
Speaker BAnd they say, how did they do it?
Speaker BAnd I can guarantee you the path to that success wasn't well.
Speaker BThey did everything on their own.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker BThey relied on team, they relied on experts, they relied on coaches, they relied on mentors, they relied on programs, they relied on lots of different things.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BWe're all students of, you know, professional and personal development in one way or another, especially as an entrepreneur.
Speaker BIt's like the fastest path through personal development is being an entrepreneur because it brings up all your stuff.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BIt needs to be addressed.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker BAnd so part of that is just becoming real to the fact that I know I may not be able to do it all on my own and I'm going to ask for help because that's going to get me to my goal.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AWell that's, that's great.
Speaker ASo Derek, how can people find you and connect with you?
Speaker BSure.
Speaker BSo yeah, they can go to.
Speaker BIt's the coosolution.com again.
Speaker BIt's the coosolution dot com and interestingly on the website I do offer a free quiz which basically answers or asks the question that you were just saying before, which is, is now the right time to consider bringing on a fractional.
Speaker BRight, fractional.
Speaker BThis is not full time.
Speaker BThis is, you know, very part time to give you the support a fractional COO or obm.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker BDepending upon where you are in the size of your business, size of your team, etc.
Speaker BAnd it gives a pretty reflective assessment of where you are, where you want to be and looking at what are the things that need to be in place.
Speaker BWith marketing, sales, oper, finance, we get tactics based like it gives you some really insightful awareness of the things that need to be in place.
Speaker BAnd you might say great, I'm, I'm good.
Speaker BBut others are like wow, this is, there's a lot of gaps in there.
Speaker BLike I didn't know that my marketing could be this much better.
Speaker BSo I need to figure out how I can get some COO or OBM level support.
Speaker BSo that's a quiz.
Speaker BThat's a free, free resource at the website.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker AOh well that's fantastic.
Speaker AOkay, so listeners, I'm going to give you something to do.
Speaker AGo to the co solution.com and take the assessment because I would bet you it's going to give you some insight.
Speaker AI'm going to go there too and take it myself because I want to see, you know, what it is all about because I should do that beforehand but go to the CEO solution and take the assessment and then obviously connect with Derek.
Speaker AHe is a wealth of information and listeners.
Speaker AIf you have loved this and have gotten any nuggets from this, please do me two things.
Speaker AOne is hit subscribe and the other thing is share this episode and share the unstoppable leadership spotlight with your friends and colleagues and give us a great review.
Speaker AThat's actually three things.
Speaker AThank you so much for listening.
Speaker AI am Jacqueline Strominger, your host.
Speaker AAnd Derek, thank you so much for being an amazing guest.
Speaker BOh, thank you Jacqueline.
Speaker BI really enjoyed it.
Speaker BThank you for having me.
Speaker AMy pleasure.