1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:02,060 Glenn Harper: Welcome, everybody. 2 00:00:02,060 --> 00:00:04,340 Or another episode of Harper and Company Empowering 3 00:00:04,340 --> 00:00:06,500 Entrepreneurs. Glen Harper here. 4 00:00:06,530 --> 00:00:07,360 Julie Smith: Julie Smith. 5 00:00:07,370 --> 00:00:10,790 Glenn Harper: And we'd like to welcome our guest today, Kristin Deese, a 6 00:00:10,790 --> 00:00:13,070 fellow entrepreneur who is the brains behind multiple 7 00:00:13,070 --> 00:00:17,810 companies. She is a virtual CFO as well as a real CFO for 8 00:00:17,810 --> 00:00:20,600 multiple companies and owner of Gulf Coast business 9 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:22,790 coaching in sunny Gulf Breeze, Florida. 10 00:00:23,060 --> 00:00:25,820 And in her spare time, she can be found on the beach 11 00:00:25,820 --> 00:00:28,340 throwing mud on ATVs with her family. 12 00:00:29,020 --> 00:00:32,320 Even though she looks like she's all brains and a desk 13 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:34,600 jockey, she likes to get dirty and experience nature and 14 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:36,790 manual labor. Thanks to Christian for being part of the 15 00:00:36,790 --> 00:00:37,540 show today. 16 00:00:38,110 --> 00:00:39,400 Kristen Deese: Thank you for having me. 17 00:00:39,610 --> 00:00:42,460 Glenn Harper: You're welcome. Well, it's the funniest thing when we get 18 00:00:42,460 --> 00:00:45,880 some guests on here, the we try to have some commonality 19 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:47,140 and we can make fun of each other. 20 00:00:47,140 --> 00:00:50,830 And knowing that you're an accountant, I mean, we share a 21 00:00:50,830 --> 00:00:54,010 special bond, I think, and a non accountants just don't get 22 00:00:54,010 --> 00:00:55,240 it. Julie doesn't get it. 23 00:00:55,330 --> 00:00:57,130 She has no clue about what that means. 24 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:00,580 And we're trying to figure out, you know, when you were in 25 00:01:00,580 --> 00:01:02,680 school, I don't know if you really wanted to be an 26 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:05,860 accountant, but you said somehow you liked it and I just 27 00:01:05,860 --> 00:01:08,800 didn't know if it was, you know, was it the cash versus 28 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,620 accrual accounting amortization of bond premiums or 29 00:01:11,770 --> 00:01:15,040 accounts that just made you have to be the language of 30 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:16,360 accounting? Which one was it? 31 00:01:17,740 --> 00:01:19,270 Kristen Deese: Probably none of the above. 32 00:01:19,270 --> 00:01:22,090 Glenn Harper: What those are, that's sexy, that kind of stuff. 33 00:01:24,220 --> 00:01:27,490 Kristen Deese: I actually started my college career wanting to be a nurse, 34 00:01:27,490 --> 00:01:32,590 which is completely opposite of accounting, and realized 35 00:01:32,590 --> 00:01:34,690 that in order to do that I had to take biology and 36 00:01:34,690 --> 00:01:36,550 chemistry and they were really hard. 37 00:01:36,550 --> 00:01:40,990 So I jumped ship from that and moved over to accounting, 38 00:01:40,990 --> 00:01:47,050 which is completely opposite spectrum and found. 39 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:49,600 I always have loved numbers and organization and stuff like 40 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:51,850 that, but then started really understanding how it worked 41 00:01:51,850 --> 00:01:53,350 from that accounting perspective. 42 00:01:53,350 --> 00:01:54,940 And then I was like, okay, this is kind of cool. 43 00:01:54,940 --> 00:01:56,470 It's just basically like a puzzle. 44 00:01:57,580 --> 00:02:00,460 Glenn Harper: Yeah, we look at it like, you know, some accounts really 45 00:02:00,460 --> 00:02:01,570 never even get it. 46 00:02:01,570 --> 00:02:04,240 But you're an anomaly, kind of like myself, where at one 47 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:06,820 point you're sitting there looking at numbers and doing 48 00:02:06,820 --> 00:02:08,800 what you do, and all of a sudden it's like the matrix. 49 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:11,170 The numbers just roll and they make sense and you're like, 50 00:02:11,170 --> 00:02:12,490 Oh, I can speak this language. 51 00:02:12,490 --> 00:02:13,570 It makes sense, right? 52 00:02:13,570 --> 00:02:14,710 Is that kind of what happened? 53 00:02:15,070 --> 00:02:17,710 Kristen Deese: Yeah, totally. As a matter of fact, the very first 54 00:02:17,710 --> 00:02:19,690 accounting, one on one class that I took, I failed. 55 00:02:19,690 --> 00:02:20,710 I had to retake it. 56 00:02:20,890 --> 00:02:23,800 But then once it clicked the second time around, then I was 57 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:28,300 like, Oh, this is all making sense now and then. 58 00:02:28,300 --> 00:02:31,570 Now, even just yesterday, I was working on a complicated 59 00:02:31,570 --> 00:02:35,110 journal entry that was just really I just couldn't get it 60 00:02:35,110 --> 00:02:38,650 to balance. And then when it finally did, it was like, oh. 61 00:02:39,100 --> 00:02:41,980 Glenn Harper: Are you are you suggesting that you don't just plug a number 62 00:02:41,980 --> 00:02:44,860 and make it bounce or you actually try to find the number? 63 00:02:44,860 --> 00:02:46,150 Kristen Deese: Oh, no, I can take it. 64 00:02:46,180 --> 00:02:49,690 Glenn Harper: Yeah, that's great. 65 00:02:50,500 --> 00:02:52,630 So I've been dying to ask this. 66 00:02:53,140 --> 00:02:56,050 Your husband, Justin, does does he think your tractor's 67 00:02:56,050 --> 00:02:59,020 sexy? Do you guys have a tractor because you said you drive 68 00:02:59,020 --> 00:02:59,950 one of those around? 69 00:03:00,190 --> 00:03:03,670 Kristen Deese: We do have a tractor and a four wheeler and a side by side. 70 00:03:03,700 --> 00:03:04,480 Nice. 71 00:03:05,410 --> 00:03:09,070 Glenn Harper: So I stalked you a little bit on your online profile and 72 00:03:09,070 --> 00:03:11,140 Kennesaw State University. 73 00:03:11,170 --> 00:03:12,220 How do we detect that? 74 00:03:12,250 --> 00:03:14,440 That's the third largest university in Georgia. 75 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,110 Well, how did you pick that versus the Bulldogs? 76 00:03:17,110 --> 00:03:18,310 What was the reason? 77 00:03:18,310 --> 00:03:20,920 Was it Sturgis the owl or is just because you just want 78 00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:22,120 like the smaller school? 79 00:03:22,750 --> 00:03:26,740 Kristen Deese: Well, I actually started at Georgia State and transferred to 80 00:03:26,740 --> 00:03:28,360 Kennesaw about halfway through. 81 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:31,270 I went to high school up in that area, so I was very 82 00:03:31,270 --> 00:03:32,440 familiar with that area. 83 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:35,530 And when I went to Kennesaw way back in the day, it was 84 00:03:35,530 --> 00:03:38,410 still a commuter school. So it wasn't even close to the 85 00:03:38,410 --> 00:03:39,610 size that it is now. 86 00:03:39,610 --> 00:03:43,030 Now they have dorms and a football team and all kinds of 87 00:03:43,030 --> 00:03:45,580 stuff, and when I was there, none of that was there. 88 00:03:45,580 --> 00:03:47,770 However, they had a fantastic business school and they 89 00:03:47,770 --> 00:03:51,940 still do. And so I wanted to get out of the city and out of 90 00:03:51,940 --> 00:03:54,460 Georgia State. So I transferred up to Kennesaw to finish 91 00:03:54,460 --> 00:03:56,650 out, and I'm very glad I did. 92 00:03:56,650 --> 00:03:59,350 It was it was an excellent school and their business and 93 00:03:59,350 --> 00:04:01,570 accounting program was is pretty good. 94 00:04:01,930 --> 00:04:04,510 Glenn Harper: How about that? Did you you weren't there when they had 95 00:04:04,510 --> 00:04:07,360 Sturgis, right. I think he came along a little bit later 96 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:08,230 but yeah. 97 00:04:08,230 --> 00:04:11,020 Kristen Deese: Yeah, no I wasn't there when when they were there, my 98 00:04:11,020 --> 00:04:13,600 brothers ended up going there for a little while for 99 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:16,210 engineering several years after I did. 100 00:04:16,210 --> 00:04:18,520 And by the time they went, Sturgis was there. 101 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:21,130 And the plank and all of the things that they do now. 102 00:04:21,700 --> 00:04:24,730 Glenn Harper: Do they like have the outgoing attack little animals or is 103 00:04:24,730 --> 00:04:26,590 it just flying around or is it just sit there and look 104 00:04:26,590 --> 00:04:27,220 noble? 105 00:04:27,490 --> 00:04:30,760 Kristen Deese: I honestly have never been to a Kennesaw football game, so I 106 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:31,870 couldn't tell you have it. 107 00:04:32,740 --> 00:04:35,500 Glenn Harper: And my final like warm up question is do you prefer 108 00:04:35,500 --> 00:04:37,330 horseback riding or four wheeling? 109 00:04:38,590 --> 00:04:40,530 Kristen Deese: Oh, my gosh. I don't know that I could pick. 110 00:04:40,540 --> 00:04:42,040 It is a tough one. 111 00:04:43,270 --> 00:04:46,810 I think probably four wheeling, but only by like a little 112 00:04:46,810 --> 00:04:48,610 smidge of a preference. 113 00:04:48,610 --> 00:04:50,820 Glenn Harper: Because it's not as dangerous or more fast. 114 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:52,030 You like to live in dangerous. 115 00:04:52,990 --> 00:04:55,030 Kristen Deese: I have a little bit more control on four wheeling because 116 00:04:55,030 --> 00:04:57,970 I'm driving as opposed to a horse where you have to you 117 00:04:57,970 --> 00:04:59,140 have some bit of control. 118 00:04:59,140 --> 00:05:01,720 But really the 1200 pounds beneath you has more control 119 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:02,560 than you do. So. 120 00:05:02,650 --> 00:05:04,390 Glenn Harper: Yeah. They a moth. 121 00:05:04,390 --> 00:05:05,640 Oh, my God. We're going to die. 122 00:05:05,650 --> 00:05:06,700 Horse jumps straight. 123 00:05:06,700 --> 00:05:09,460 Julie Smith: Yeah, that's Glenn's last softball question. 124 00:05:09,460 --> 00:05:13,030 But the one thing that I read while stalking you like 125 00:05:13,030 --> 00:05:18,010 Glenn, was the coffee and wine comments so we can find you 126 00:05:18,010 --> 00:05:20,320 in the morning, drinking your coffee and ending your day 127 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:23,110 with wine. And for whatever reason, it wasn't the numbers 128 00:05:23,110 --> 00:05:24,190 that connected me with you. 129 00:05:24,190 --> 00:05:25,180 It was that. 130 00:05:25,330 --> 00:05:27,550 Kristen Deese: Yes, like I am a human too. 131 00:05:27,730 --> 00:05:29,020 Julie Smith: So which one's your favorite? 132 00:05:29,020 --> 00:05:31,150 Do you like to the beginning of the day or the end of your 133 00:05:31,150 --> 00:05:31,690 day? 134 00:05:31,930 --> 00:05:33,460 Kristen Deese: Oh, coffee? For sure. 135 00:05:33,820 --> 00:05:37,060 Yeah, for sure. I as a matter of fact, it's mostly cream 136 00:05:37,060 --> 00:05:38,800 with just like a splash of coffee. 137 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:41,770 Julie Smith: So I get that as I'm drinking Starbucks dairy's. 138 00:05:41,770 --> 00:05:43,480 Glenn Harper: Good selection theory. 139 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:45,370 Well, would you? 140 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:47,530 You know, for our listeners out there, we always like to 141 00:05:47,530 --> 00:05:49,870 have our our guests kind of just tell a little bit about 142 00:05:49,870 --> 00:05:52,210 what services your companies do and, you know, a little 143 00:05:52,210 --> 00:05:55,600 intro of what you guys do for a living and the why of that. 144 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:57,670 And then we'll get into some more depth about being an 145 00:05:57,670 --> 00:05:59,560 entrepreneur as a you know, we just want to know a little 146 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:02,110 bit about what you do so our clients can kind of connect 147 00:06:02,110 --> 00:06:03,070 with connect with you. 148 00:06:04,330 --> 00:06:06,970 Kristen Deese: Well, we do own a couple of businesses. 149 00:06:07,270 --> 00:06:11,530 We, my husband and I have worked together for 20 years, 150 00:06:11,530 --> 00:06:16,840 give or take. We own a business in Atlanta that installs 151 00:06:16,840 --> 00:06:19,090 kitchen appliances for people who purchase them from Lowe's 152 00:06:19,090 --> 00:06:21,760 and Home Depot. So if you go need a dishwasher and you want 153 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:23,920 somebody to install it, that's our company that gets 154 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:25,180 contracted out to do that. 155 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:29,050 And then we own a company here in the panhandle of Florida 156 00:06:29,050 --> 00:06:34,510 called Paradise Home Services, and it's plumbing, HVAC and 157 00:06:34,510 --> 00:06:36,430 then water and mold remediation. 158 00:06:36,820 --> 00:06:40,090 So I operate as the CFO for both of those companies. 159 00:06:40,330 --> 00:06:44,020 And then what I do with the majority of my time is those 160 00:06:44,020 --> 00:06:48,610 CFO services for other businesses in the trades. 161 00:06:49,750 --> 00:06:54,760 What we find a lot of times in the trades is the owners are 162 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:57,130 really good technicians, they're really good at what they 163 00:06:57,130 --> 00:07:00,610 do. But running the business part isn't necessarily 164 00:07:00,610 --> 00:07:02,380 something that is a strength for them. 165 00:07:02,380 --> 00:07:06,730 So the coaching and the CFO services help them in that area 166 00:07:06,730 --> 00:07:08,800 of weakness so that they can be more balanced as a 167 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:09,520 business. 168 00:07:09,850 --> 00:07:12,910 Glenn Harper: So you work, you coordinate that with their current CPA or 169 00:07:12,910 --> 00:07:14,500 accounting people to get the data. 170 00:07:14,500 --> 00:07:16,330 And then you kind of look at at a high level. 171 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:19,900 Kristen Deese: What the owner yeah, I actually work with their in-house 172 00:07:19,900 --> 00:07:21,130 accounting staff. 173 00:07:21,130 --> 00:07:24,370 So a lot of times they'll have like a bookkeeper or an 174 00:07:24,370 --> 00:07:28,060 office manager or somebody who's keeping track of all of 175 00:07:28,060 --> 00:07:30,610 the day to day information expenses and receipts and 176 00:07:30,610 --> 00:07:32,770 payments and deposits and invoices and all that kind of 177 00:07:32,770 --> 00:07:36,370 stuff. And I help them with getting their systems together 178 00:07:36,370 --> 00:07:38,740 and how are they going to collect receipts and where are 179 00:07:38,740 --> 00:07:40,390 they going to store them and how are they going to track 180 00:07:40,390 --> 00:07:42,640 them and how are they going to track to make sure that 181 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:44,320 they're getting paid on their invoices? 182 00:07:44,470 --> 00:07:48,280 And then I help them put together their financial reports 183 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:50,860 and reconcile all their statements and do all of those 184 00:07:50,860 --> 00:07:54,130 things. And then when they go to the CPA, they can give 185 00:07:54,130 --> 00:07:56,260 their CPA their completed books. 186 00:07:56,260 --> 00:07:58,690 And their CPA is not having to run around trying to figure 187 00:07:58,690 --> 00:08:01,990 out, you know, trying to do the reconciliations and figure 188 00:08:01,990 --> 00:08:03,250 out where everything is. 189 00:08:03,250 --> 00:08:06,400 They can just take the completed reports and prepare the 190 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:08,560 taxes and do whatever they need to do with it. 191 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,380 So it's definitely very much a managerial accounting as 192 00:08:11,380 --> 00:08:13,120 opposed to tax prep accounting. 193 00:08:13,330 --> 00:08:16,000 Glenn Harper: Gotcha. See, you're more of a controller and then you take 194 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:18,280 that data, hand it off, and then you analyze it with the 195 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:19,660 owner and tell them what's going on. 196 00:08:19,660 --> 00:08:24,250 Kristen Deese: Exactly. Yeah. So the we take the the information that goes 197 00:08:24,250 --> 00:08:26,590 to the CPA, they deal with the tax side of things. 198 00:08:26,590 --> 00:08:29,410 And then we take that same information and we sit down with 199 00:08:29,410 --> 00:08:32,950 ownership and we say, okay, let's look at how you did. 200 00:08:32,950 --> 00:08:34,690 Let's look at what your trends are. 201 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:36,970 Let's look on which departments are making money and which 202 00:08:36,970 --> 00:08:39,670 departments are. Let's look at where your holes in the boat 203 00:08:39,670 --> 00:08:42,070 are basically, and let's figure out how to plug them. 204 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,520 Glenn Harper: Don't business owners just love getting under the microscope 205 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:47,260 and getting called out on all of those things? 206 00:08:47,260 --> 00:08:47,700 It's the. 207 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:51,940 Kristen Deese: No. It's a really vulnerable situation for business owners 208 00:08:51,940 --> 00:08:55,510 to be in, but it's totally necessary in order to be 209 00:08:55,510 --> 00:08:59,830 successful. There are so many times that, you know, these 210 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:02,620 people are running around selling, selling, selling. 211 00:09:02,620 --> 00:09:04,930 They're they're working really, really, really hard. 212 00:09:04,930 --> 00:09:06,940 But then they look at their bank account and they're like, 213 00:09:07,210 --> 00:09:08,920 where is the money? What is going on here? 214 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:10,390 And you have to have that. 215 00:09:10,660 --> 00:09:12,760 You have to be able to analyze the information and know 216 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:14,410 what you're looking at in order to figure out where it's 217 00:09:14,410 --> 00:09:14,980 going. 218 00:09:15,340 --> 00:09:18,580 Glenn Harper: It's funny when this whole podcast is empowering 219 00:09:18,580 --> 00:09:21,940 entrepreneurs and it's about helping them get the knowledge 220 00:09:21,940 --> 00:09:24,460 transfer so they understand what it means to run a 221 00:09:24,460 --> 00:09:26,560 business, not just do the business. 222 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:29,140 And and that is a neat thing that you're doing because that 223 00:09:29,140 --> 00:09:31,840 is something severely lacking for small business owners, 224 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:35,410 for sure. I find it interesting that, you know. 225 00:09:35,990 --> 00:09:40,190 The responsibility of being the CFO of multiple companies 226 00:09:40,190 --> 00:09:43,310 that are your own, but also then to take that role. 227 00:09:43,460 --> 00:09:46,170 It's an emotional burden because you can't help. 228 00:09:46,170 --> 00:09:49,310 But I'm sure that you feel fully invested helping these 229 00:09:49,310 --> 00:09:51,680 clients and you've got to get you can't just cursory look 230 00:09:51,680 --> 00:09:54,220 at the numbers, you've got to get down into it, down in the 231 00:09:54,290 --> 00:09:57,320 detail. And it's an emotional thing, even though people say 232 00:09:57,320 --> 00:09:59,390 it's not supposed to be. I have to believe it is a little 233 00:09:59,390 --> 00:10:01,250 bit for you. I mean, it is for me when we look at clients 234 00:10:01,250 --> 00:10:03,710 books because you you want them to succeed, you want to 235 00:10:03,710 --> 00:10:05,600 help them, you want to educate them. 236 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:09,050 But boy, up and down, it's a it's a traumatic experience 237 00:10:09,050 --> 00:10:09,890 for everybody. 238 00:10:10,820 --> 00:10:13,290 Kristen Deese: Yeah, it's definitely. 239 00:10:13,290 --> 00:10:17,180 You celebrate the wins and then you also mourn the losses 240 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:20,700 when you're going over that information with those business 241 00:10:20,700 --> 00:10:24,620 centres. But it is also really exciting to be able to see 242 00:10:24,620 --> 00:10:28,430 growth in the business and in the leadership capabilities 243 00:10:28,430 --> 00:10:31,970 of owners when you've spent the time with them to teach 244 00:10:31,970 --> 00:10:34,070 them how to read their numbers and how to look at their 245 00:10:34,070 --> 00:10:36,500 reports and how to use that information to make good 246 00:10:36,500 --> 00:10:37,640 business decisions. 247 00:10:38,690 --> 00:10:41,720 It's it's really neat to see that transformation in the 248 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:45,290 business owners themselves and that tremendous growth that 249 00:10:45,290 --> 00:10:46,040 can happen. 250 00:10:46,580 --> 00:10:51,560 Glenn Harper: It for for me and and I think probably all the other staff 251 00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:54,440 that we have on our team and the other accountants, the 252 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:59,870 ability to coach a client along and have them learn 253 00:10:59,870 --> 00:11:02,930 something and interpret and be able to make decisions on 254 00:11:02,930 --> 00:11:04,970 something they never even understood. 255 00:11:05,750 --> 00:11:07,070 You know, a day ago. 256 00:11:07,070 --> 00:11:09,020 And all of a sudden they they can speak the language. 257 00:11:09,020 --> 00:11:11,990 They know what it means. It's you know, that that mentoring 258 00:11:11,990 --> 00:11:15,110 or just helping them do that is is so powerful because now 259 00:11:15,110 --> 00:11:18,140 that that client or that individual, that company can 260 00:11:18,140 --> 00:11:20,270 literally achieve something greater. 261 00:11:20,270 --> 00:11:24,380 And if we if you do it right, we see they don't even now, 262 00:11:24,380 --> 00:11:26,480 they're not involved in the operations as much as the 263 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:29,390 business. They're just like a hands off business owner that 264 00:11:29,390 --> 00:11:31,280 just does some things and they can do all the things that 265 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:33,500 they want to do. And that's the fun part when they realize 266 00:11:33,500 --> 00:11:36,080 they have this opportunity to do other things, not just 267 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:37,340 grind away at something. 268 00:11:37,700 --> 00:11:42,350 Kristen Deese: Right. Yeah, we we definitely talk to the business owners a 269 00:11:42,350 --> 00:11:46,700 lot about the difference between strategic tasks and 270 00:11:46,700 --> 00:11:47,930 tactical tasks. 271 00:11:47,930 --> 00:11:52,280 The tactical tasks are the minute things that have to be 272 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:54,110 done all the time, every day. 273 00:11:54,110 --> 00:11:57,830 The physical labor of the of the business and the strategic 274 00:11:57,830 --> 00:12:00,590 tasks are is that higher level thinking? 275 00:12:00,590 --> 00:12:03,050 And that, you know, let's look at this from a big picture. 276 00:12:03,050 --> 00:12:06,620 Let's step back and see what does the future look like and 277 00:12:06,620 --> 00:12:09,920 where did we where have we been and how do we get to where 278 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:12,710 we want to go? And being able to pull those business 279 00:12:12,710 --> 00:12:16,670 outers, the business owners out of that tactical mode and 280 00:12:16,670 --> 00:12:18,770 that tactical mindset to be able to look at things 281 00:12:18,770 --> 00:12:21,290 strategically just does. 282 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:26,130 A total like mindset shift for them that it doesn't we 283 00:12:26,130 --> 00:12:28,860 don't I don't have to be in a truck doing the job and 284 00:12:28,860 --> 00:12:30,120 checking on the sites. 285 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:32,520 We can set this up so that other people are doing that and 286 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:34,560 I can focus on the bigger picture of things. 287 00:12:35,190 --> 00:12:37,160 Glenn Harper: You always have a trick question for clients. 288 00:12:37,180 --> 00:12:39,120 We onboard them and even after we've had them for a while, 289 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:42,270 it's always ask them, what is it that you do that actually 290 00:12:42,270 --> 00:12:46,110 makes money? Like what do you think your role is? 291 00:12:46,110 --> 00:12:47,430 What? What pays the bills? 292 00:12:47,430 --> 00:12:48,750 Like, what is that thing that you do? 293 00:12:48,870 --> 00:12:51,630 And they always say, Well, it's this task of doing it. 294 00:12:51,630 --> 00:12:53,500 I'm like, That's not where you make your money yet. 295 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:55,980 Making money is being strategic and planning and putting 296 00:12:55,980 --> 00:12:58,920 your team together. And it's just when they get that aha 297 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:00,420 moment, they're like, Oh my God, that's right. 298 00:13:00,420 --> 00:13:04,680 What? Why? Just because I am the wizard at fixing a breaker 299 00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:06,480 box doesn't mean I should be doing that. 300 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:08,520 I mean, they're fun playing black boxes, but that's not 301 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:10,020 what they should be doing. I mean. 302 00:13:10,620 --> 00:13:13,380 Kristen Deese: Yeah, there's a lot of times that they don't realize that 303 00:13:13,380 --> 00:13:15,990 they're being the bottleneck in their company until you 304 00:13:15,990 --> 00:13:17,160 pull them back a little bit. 305 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:19,410 Sometimes you have to pull them back by the collar, pull 306 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:21,450 them back a little bit and be like, Get out of the way. 307 00:13:21,450 --> 00:13:22,980 Let your business run. 308 00:13:23,010 --> 00:13:24,750 Look at it from the strategic level. 309 00:13:24,750 --> 00:13:27,120 Make the decision from that level and just get out of the 310 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:29,790 way. And then all of a sudden it's like, Oh, wait, this is 311 00:13:29,790 --> 00:13:32,610 what leverage is. This is how to leverage. 312 00:13:33,330 --> 00:13:35,070 Glenn Harper: It's kind of like you and me, probably. 313 00:13:35,070 --> 00:13:37,350 We again, we got some affinities that we share a little 314 00:13:37,350 --> 00:13:39,330 bit. And one of those things is, you know, we just dearly 315 00:13:39,330 --> 00:13:40,470 love our ten keys, right? 316 00:13:40,470 --> 00:13:43,140 And but we don't really make money on our ten key. 317 00:13:43,140 --> 00:13:45,090 But dang, now, but I just can't stop using it. 318 00:13:45,090 --> 00:13:47,250 I don't know about you. It's just something fun. 319 00:13:48,210 --> 00:13:49,350 Kristen Deese: I know it is. 320 00:13:49,350 --> 00:13:51,480 Julie Smith: He. He used to pack it in his backpack. 321 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:54,270 We'd go away to, like, speak at conferences or whatever, 322 00:13:54,270 --> 00:13:56,940 and he'd, like, we'd sit down and he'd go to unzip his 323 00:13:56,940 --> 00:13:59,580 backpack. And I'm like, Oh, my gosh, is that a ten key in 324 00:13:59,580 --> 00:14:01,800 there? He's like, You just don't know. 325 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:03,420 I'm like, Never, ever. 326 00:14:03,420 --> 00:14:05,640 Glenn Harper: I can't even add one plus one without a ten key anymore. 327 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:07,290 So it's very important for me. 328 00:14:08,010 --> 00:14:11,370 Kristen Deese: I mean, it's not efficient to use the numbers along the top 329 00:14:11,370 --> 00:14:12,030 of the keyboard. 330 00:14:12,450 --> 00:14:14,340 Glenn Harper: Oh, see, you get it. 331 00:14:14,870 --> 00:14:16,830 Julie Smith: I have a solar calculator at my desk. 332 00:14:16,830 --> 00:14:18,030 It works just fine. 333 00:14:18,030 --> 00:14:19,920 Glenn Harper: It's embarrassing. Totally embarrassing. 334 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:21,570 It gives us all kinds of bad name. 335 00:14:22,710 --> 00:14:24,690 When did you decide? 336 00:14:24,690 --> 00:14:27,390 You know, it's one thing when you come out of school and 337 00:14:27,390 --> 00:14:28,860 you're doing what you do and you're working for a living, 338 00:14:28,860 --> 00:14:31,020 and then all of a sudden you decide that you're in your 339 00:14:31,020 --> 00:14:32,690 husband or you in a business partner. 340 00:14:32,700 --> 00:14:35,370 Are you on your own? You're going to start a business, you 341 00:14:35,370 --> 00:14:37,800 know, how did you decide to do that? 342 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:40,590 I mean, that's. Did you have a real job where you're an 343 00:14:40,590 --> 00:14:41,610 entrepreneur as a kid? 344 00:14:41,610 --> 00:14:43,560 What what made you decide that, hey, I'm going to be a 345 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:44,610 business owner today. 346 00:14:46,310 --> 00:14:52,040 Kristen Deese: So my my husband made that decision for us a long time ago. 347 00:14:52,070 --> 00:14:53,510 He is. 348 00:14:53,540 --> 00:14:57,500 He always has been our entrepreneur, visionary. 349 00:14:57,740 --> 00:15:01,250 Between the two of us and I have always been the detail 350 00:15:01,250 --> 00:15:04,310 oriented. Let's make sure all of the T's are crossed and 351 00:15:04,310 --> 00:15:06,770 the I's are dotted and the money's where it needs to be and 352 00:15:06,770 --> 00:15:10,160 all that kind of stuff. So when we first started our first 353 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:14,720 business many moons ago, I kept a real job, quote unquote, 354 00:15:15,290 --> 00:15:17,450 in order to make sure that we could pay the power bill and 355 00:15:17,450 --> 00:15:20,630 eat. And then it got to the point where the business that 356 00:15:20,630 --> 00:15:25,010 he created was getting to be enough that I was working in 357 00:15:25,010 --> 00:15:29,300 the evenings and on the weekends in his business doing all 358 00:15:29,300 --> 00:15:30,620 of the accounting things. 359 00:15:30,620 --> 00:15:32,540 And then I was still trying to keep this job. 360 00:15:32,540 --> 00:15:34,880 And then we had two small children at the time and I was 361 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:35,930 like, okay, this is too much. 362 00:15:35,930 --> 00:15:40,040 And I made the leap to move over into that business, and we 363 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:41,150 did that for a long time. 364 00:15:41,150 --> 00:15:43,370 Just the one service company. 365 00:15:43,550 --> 00:15:44,960 We grew it very large. 366 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,450 It was the appliance installation and some plumbing. 367 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:49,160 We grew it very large. 368 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:50,900 And then in 2008 hit. 369 00:15:50,900 --> 00:15:53,900 And like everybody else, we kind of had to reel it all back 370 00:15:53,900 --> 00:15:56,570 in and really cut out a lot of things. 371 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:01,820 We went from like four or five states and 50 trucks running 372 00:16:01,820 --> 00:16:04,700 down to a very bare minimum just because we were cutting 373 00:16:04,700 --> 00:16:06,080 weight everywhere that we could. 374 00:16:06,830 --> 00:16:11,120 And then when we came out of that, which we did come out of 375 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,390 it barely when we came out of that, then it was kind of 376 00:16:14,390 --> 00:16:17,720 like, All right, we're going to rebuild what we have going 377 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:20,210 on here and kind of make some shifts. 378 00:16:20,210 --> 00:16:24,410 And as we got comfortable in that position, that's when I 379 00:16:24,410 --> 00:16:29,150 realized that my area, what I really enjoyed doing was the 380 00:16:29,150 --> 00:16:30,260 coaching side of things. 381 00:16:30,260 --> 00:16:34,270 I don't necessarily like being in the day to day, you know, 382 00:16:34,340 --> 00:16:37,370 solving problems and putting out fires and all of those 383 00:16:37,370 --> 00:16:41,300 things. But I do really enjoy working with business owners 384 00:16:41,300 --> 00:16:43,970 and showing them how to get out of that spot. 385 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:48,140 And so after working with our own business coach for quite 386 00:16:48,140 --> 00:16:52,100 some time and kind of seeing that transformation in us, I 387 00:16:52,100 --> 00:16:53,960 was like, Man, it would be really cool to be able to do 388 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:55,480 this with other business owners. 389 00:16:55,490 --> 00:16:57,770 So then I started doing coaching in general. 390 00:16:58,190 --> 00:17:03,860 We were I was coaching vision stuff and organizational 391 00:17:03,860 --> 00:17:08,600 charts and systems and marketing and finance and, and 392 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:12,260 leadership and the whole thing still only really focusing 393 00:17:12,260 --> 00:17:15,140 on the trades because that's where our experience is. 394 00:17:15,140 --> 00:17:18,590 So I can really relate with those business owners and then 395 00:17:18,590 --> 00:17:21,950 ended up just in the last probably two or three years 396 00:17:21,950 --> 00:17:27,440 really whittling it down to the systems, the finance, a 397 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:28,790 little bit of the vision stuff. 398 00:17:28,790 --> 00:17:32,090 But it's really that organization and that level of detail 399 00:17:32,090 --> 00:17:34,400 that the business owners don't really want to mess with. 400 00:17:34,430 --> 00:17:37,790 They just want it to be done because they kind of feel like 401 00:17:37,790 --> 00:17:40,010 if it's there, it probably would be helpful, but they don't 402 00:17:40,010 --> 00:17:41,930 really necessarily want to put the work in to make it 403 00:17:41,930 --> 00:17:45,980 happen. And then there's all kinds of coaches in in our 404 00:17:45,980 --> 00:17:49,430 space and in in spaces all over that really focus in on 405 00:17:49,430 --> 00:17:53,120 driving sales and leadership, which is amazing and it's 406 00:17:53,120 --> 00:17:55,370 necessary. But if you don't have the foundation and the 407 00:17:55,370 --> 00:17:59,180 details lined out and your systems in place, your sales, 408 00:17:59,180 --> 00:18:02,090 your additional sales that you're getting from these other 409 00:18:02,090 --> 00:18:04,490 training programs are just compounding issues that you 410 00:18:04,490 --> 00:18:09,050 already have. So I try to get a hold of them, help them get 411 00:18:09,050 --> 00:18:10,220 that foundation really strong. 412 00:18:10,220 --> 00:18:12,350 Then when they do ultimately go to sales and leadership 413 00:18:12,350 --> 00:18:15,020 training and coaching and whatever, they're seeing a much 414 00:18:15,020 --> 00:18:17,780 higher return on investment on that because their 415 00:18:17,780 --> 00:18:18,950 foundation is strong. 416 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:24,500 Glenn Harper: It seems like everything's is packaged for entrepreneurs 417 00:18:24,500 --> 00:18:28,280 like the literally the two things that are really the most 418 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:30,740 important in my opinion, other than obviously have to be 419 00:18:30,740 --> 00:18:32,630 good at what they do, whatever the product and service they 420 00:18:32,630 --> 00:18:36,320 do. But they got to understand the tax consequences and 421 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:38,330 they got to understand their financials to see how they're 422 00:18:38,330 --> 00:18:41,060 performing. And those are literally the two things that 423 00:18:41,060 --> 00:18:42,800 just give the heebie jeebies to everybody. 424 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:46,790 And I don't know why that stereotype is there, but once 425 00:18:46,790 --> 00:18:50,630 they learn it and understand it, it's actually it takes so 426 00:18:50,630 --> 00:18:52,850 much stress off of them because they're like, oh, that's 427 00:18:52,850 --> 00:18:53,870 all there is to that. 428 00:18:53,870 --> 00:18:56,570 And I don't know why it's so hard. 429 00:18:56,810 --> 00:18:58,880 I don't know if it's because they're watching too much TV. 430 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:00,620 I don't know if it's a read too many magazines. 431 00:19:00,620 --> 00:19:02,690 I don't know if they just are intimidated by it. 432 00:19:02,690 --> 00:19:04,010 But it is the strangest phenomena. 433 00:19:04,010 --> 00:19:05,600 Would you agree to that? I mean, it's weird. 434 00:19:06,860 --> 00:19:10,220 Kristen Deese: I do agree and I think honestly that it is a level of 435 00:19:10,610 --> 00:19:12,530 accountability that a lot of people don't want to own up 436 00:19:12,530 --> 00:19:16,340 to. I think that your numbers hold you accountable, and if 437 00:19:16,340 --> 00:19:18,500 you don't look at them, then who is holding you 438 00:19:18,500 --> 00:19:22,430 accountable? So I think that that a lot of times has to do 439 00:19:22,430 --> 00:19:27,920 with the desire to to not look at them or to. 440 00:19:29,180 --> 00:19:32,510 You know, we've got I've got a saying that if you don't pay 441 00:19:32,510 --> 00:19:34,400 attention to your numbers, they're going to get you they're 442 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:36,200 going to get your attention and probably in a way that you 443 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:40,910 don't appreciate. And so, you know, you you want to look at 444 00:19:40,910 --> 00:19:43,580 the numbers when they're when it's a good month and you 445 00:19:43,580 --> 00:19:45,200 want to look at the numbers when it's a bad month. 446 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:49,310 And you need to you need to scrutinize them the same way in 447 00:19:49,310 --> 00:19:52,100 both scenarios, because if it's a bad month, everybody 448 00:19:52,100 --> 00:19:54,050 wants to know where the money went and what happened. 449 00:19:54,050 --> 00:19:56,330 But if it's a good month, you need to know why that 450 00:19:56,330 --> 00:19:58,160 happened as well so that you can repeat it. 451 00:19:58,940 --> 00:20:00,560 Glenn Harper: It's almost like the. 452 00:20:01,330 --> 00:20:04,080 Actual numbers are real. 453 00:20:04,090 --> 00:20:07,270 And like, it's not an opinion, it's a fact. 454 00:20:07,270 --> 00:20:09,790 And entrepreneurs, again, they like to freewheel a little 455 00:20:09,790 --> 00:20:11,650 bit and they like to do what they feel and think. 456 00:20:11,650 --> 00:20:13,630 And that's why we love entrepreneurs, because they have 457 00:20:13,630 --> 00:20:15,750 that manic thing about them side. 458 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,460 But at some point you've got to get them on point and look 459 00:20:18,460 --> 00:20:21,400 at the real things, make real decisions, and then send them 460 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:23,590 off to hunt again. Right. And that's that's the fun part. 461 00:20:23,590 --> 00:20:23,950 Kristen Deese: Yeah. 462 00:20:24,580 --> 00:20:27,610 Julie Smith: And something you said that, you know, I read your profile 463 00:20:27,610 --> 00:20:29,050 is quality over quantity. 464 00:20:29,050 --> 00:20:32,230 And I think you've you've hinted around that a lot, but 465 00:20:32,230 --> 00:20:34,690 that's definitely the pinpoint of what you're definitely 466 00:20:34,690 --> 00:20:37,630 trying to get the owners to do is to get out of their own 467 00:20:37,630 --> 00:20:40,150 way in regards to that quality over quantity and having 468 00:20:40,150 --> 00:20:43,060 that accountability and having those systems in place in 469 00:20:43,060 --> 00:20:46,810 order to have that, if you, in my opinion, you know, that's 470 00:20:46,810 --> 00:20:48,490 exactly what you're doing. 471 00:20:49,870 --> 00:20:50,920 Kristen Deese: Yeah. For sure. 472 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,490 It's that it's it goes back to the, the idea that if you 473 00:20:54,490 --> 00:20:58,000 have problems in your systems and you have problems if 474 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:00,610 you've got problems when you're small and you throw more 475 00:21:00,610 --> 00:21:03,010 sales on top of it, all you're going to do is have bigger 476 00:21:03,010 --> 00:21:05,950 problems when you're big. So solve them and then dump a 477 00:21:05,950 --> 00:21:08,650 bunch of sales onto it and then it'll flourish. 478 00:21:08,740 --> 00:21:09,790 Glenn Harper: That's a bunch of poppycock. 479 00:21:09,790 --> 00:21:12,430 That is not true. That is not I don't know who told you 480 00:21:12,430 --> 00:21:14,140 that, but that's simply not true. 481 00:21:14,170 --> 00:21:15,250 You've got more sales. 482 00:21:15,250 --> 00:21:20,050 More sales. So your upbringing, when you're doing work, 483 00:21:20,050 --> 00:21:23,290 doing things on the farm, do you think, you know, a lot of 484 00:21:23,290 --> 00:21:26,530 entrepreneurs have this insatiable appetite to challenge 485 00:21:26,530 --> 00:21:29,890 themselves, do more than it's expected, and just really 486 00:21:29,890 --> 00:21:31,270 can't get enough of what they do. 487 00:21:31,270 --> 00:21:33,790 And that comes, you know, sometimes your program that way, 488 00:21:33,790 --> 00:21:36,970 sometimes you are instilled that work ethic when you're 489 00:21:36,970 --> 00:21:39,730 you're young or you see something with an athlete in the 490 00:21:39,730 --> 00:21:43,570 military, you know, police officer or farmer, just 491 00:21:43,570 --> 00:21:46,660 something where you have to do way more than is expected. 492 00:21:46,660 --> 00:21:48,490 You have to get up early. You've got to do those things 493 00:21:48,490 --> 00:21:50,560 again. Who doesn't love shovel manure? 494 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:53,290 But I mean, like to be able to do those things. 495 00:21:53,590 --> 00:21:57,160 Do you feel like that gave you a good base to say like, I 496 00:21:57,160 --> 00:21:58,990 can roll up my sleeves and get into this, this isn't a 497 00:21:58,990 --> 00:21:59,650 problem. 498 00:22:01,420 --> 00:22:04,630 Kristen Deese: Oh yeah, for sure. I mean, it's work ethic was something 499 00:22:04,630 --> 00:22:10,210 that was instilled in me from as early as I can remember. 500 00:22:10,210 --> 00:22:14,200 And I definitely think that there is. 501 00:22:15,570 --> 00:22:20,540 There is that drive in entrepreneurs that isn't found in 502 00:22:20,540 --> 00:22:22,760 everybody, which is a good thing because we don't need 503 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:24,110 everybody to be entrepreneurs. 504 00:22:24,110 --> 00:22:26,600 We need some people to just roll up their sleeves and do 505 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:32,480 the work. I know that it like like a lot of people, there 506 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,630 is a tendency to roll up the sleeves and do the work when 507 00:22:35,630 --> 00:22:38,180 you shouldn't be right, when somebody else should be doing 508 00:22:38,180 --> 00:22:39,890 it, or you should be kind of backing out. 509 00:22:40,850 --> 00:22:43,430 But, you know. 510 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,880 Spending the time early on and working hard and seeing what 511 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:50,930 happens when you do work hard, when you do a good job, you 512 00:22:50,950 --> 00:22:54,180 know, maybe you get the promotion or maybe you see the next 513 00:22:54,180 --> 00:22:59,940 opportunity. It just opens up a whole world of who knows 514 00:22:59,940 --> 00:23:01,220 what could have happened right? 515 00:23:01,230 --> 00:23:04,440 When I was a teenager, I never in a million years would 516 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:07,290 have thought that we would be running multiple businesses 517 00:23:07,290 --> 00:23:10,590 and, you know, doing coaching and CFO services and 518 00:23:10,590 --> 00:23:14,130 whatever. And here I am doing the things. 519 00:23:16,740 --> 00:23:19,620 Julie Smith: So when you look back and I know Glenn's, you know, kind of 520 00:23:20,010 --> 00:23:23,160 went back on, you know, your childhood, do you think that 521 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:25,380 there is someone from your childhood or maybe someone in 522 00:23:25,380 --> 00:23:28,920 college or someone early on, even in your real job that you 523 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:32,460 would consider consider a mentor that had a big impact on 524 00:23:32,460 --> 00:23:34,200 your life, even where you are today. 525 00:23:36,130 --> 00:23:41,320 Kristen Deese: Yeah. I had a mentor in my I had a job in when I was in 526 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:45,310 college and it was at a hair salon actually, of all places. 527 00:23:45,310 --> 00:23:51,130 And I was kind of like the salon manager and I was very 528 00:23:51,130 --> 00:23:55,090 young, under 21 for sure, because I would have been I was 529 00:23:55,090 --> 00:23:59,200 in college at the time and the business owner was probably 530 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:00,760 about ten years older than me. 531 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:05,110 So she wasn't she was still young herself, but she was very 532 00:24:05,110 --> 00:24:07,630 intelligent in the terms of running the business. 533 00:24:07,630 --> 00:24:12,370 And she kind of took me under her wing and taught me a 534 00:24:12,370 --> 00:24:15,850 whole lot about the back end of running a business that 535 00:24:15,850 --> 00:24:18,490 would have taken me quite a bit longer to learn had she not 536 00:24:18,490 --> 00:24:23,560 done that. And that kind of was probably the first time I 537 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:30,070 really saw numbers and trending and like statistics from a 538 00:24:30,070 --> 00:24:31,960 business standpoint in that way. 539 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:36,670 And I didn't necessarily realize how much I really how much 540 00:24:36,670 --> 00:24:38,200 I enjoyed it at that point. 541 00:24:38,500 --> 00:24:40,870 A couple of years later, I was like, okay, now I understand 542 00:24:40,870 --> 00:24:43,210 that this is really cool, but I was actually doing that 543 00:24:43,210 --> 00:24:46,780 work several years prior and not even really realizing it. 544 00:24:46,870 --> 00:24:50,200 We were looking at individual stylist sales and creating 545 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:53,320 commission reports and looking at expenses and how much 546 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:55,960 does it cost when the shampoo person does two pumps versus 547 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:58,420 one pump, when they're doing a shampoo, like all of those 548 00:24:58,420 --> 00:25:02,650 kind of things. We were analyzing and I was doing that, 549 00:25:02,650 --> 00:25:07,810 that whole trending in numbers way before I even realized 550 00:25:07,810 --> 00:25:13,000 what I was doing. So there was I think I definitely leaped 551 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:17,380 forward while I worked there in a way that even though I'm 552 00:25:17,380 --> 00:25:21,160 taking classes in college and I'm learning, I'm learning 553 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:23,440 about risk and I'm learning about fraud and I'm learning 554 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:27,400 about all of these big business, very corporate accounting 555 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:29,800 ideas on the side. 556 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:33,610 I'm doing like real small business things, and those are 557 00:25:33,610 --> 00:25:35,980 not the type of skills that I would have learned taking the 558 00:25:35,980 --> 00:25:38,530 classes that I was taking in school because I was learning 559 00:25:39,550 --> 00:25:41,950 like the bigger auditing and stuff like that. 560 00:25:42,460 --> 00:25:45,910 So it was it was kind of a neat experience and especially 561 00:25:45,910 --> 00:25:48,450 looking back, obviously hindsight's 2020, right? 562 00:25:48,460 --> 00:25:52,030 So you can see when you look back, you're like, Oh, that 563 00:25:52,030 --> 00:25:54,370 really was a very impactful time. 564 00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:56,500 Glenn Harper: It too. Comments on that. 565 00:25:56,500 --> 00:26:00,370 So hopefully you figured out a way to give the two pumps 566 00:26:00,370 --> 00:26:03,610 and charge an extra $0.20 for the thing because people want 567 00:26:03,610 --> 00:26:04,990 a lot of lather when they go in there. 568 00:26:04,990 --> 00:26:07,540 So that's important to do that and make sure you're making 569 00:26:07,540 --> 00:26:11,830 the money. But that other part too is the ability to it. 570 00:26:12,250 --> 00:26:17,040 When I was in school, I was working a real job and and in 571 00:26:17,050 --> 00:26:20,080 accounting. And it was amazing when you go to class and you 572 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:23,380 learn a concept, but you have and then you go back to the 573 00:26:23,380 --> 00:26:25,780 office and you actually integrate it, you're like, wow. 574 00:26:25,780 --> 00:26:29,410 It just, you know, you learn by doing you kind of you're 575 00:26:29,410 --> 00:26:30,640 almost teaching to learn. 576 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:34,510 And it really accelerates how much faster that stuff 577 00:26:34,510 --> 00:26:35,740 resonates with you. Right. 578 00:26:35,740 --> 00:26:39,160 And so I can definitely see where that could have happened 579 00:26:39,250 --> 00:26:40,000 for you. 580 00:26:40,420 --> 00:26:42,760 Julie Smith: Have you been able to keep that relationship and keep in 581 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:43,750 contact? 582 00:26:46,220 --> 00:26:49,250 Kristen Deese: For the first several years after I left, we did. 583 00:26:49,250 --> 00:26:50,720 We kind of grew apart a little bit. 584 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:54,290 And now it's a connection once every couple of years and 585 00:26:54,290 --> 00:26:56,050 it's, oh, my gosh, how have you been? 586 00:26:56,090 --> 00:26:58,880 La la la la. And then a couple more years, we'll do it 587 00:26:58,880 --> 00:26:59,300 again. 588 00:27:00,620 --> 00:27:04,670 Glenn Harper: Do you find when you are you know, when you're willing to 589 00:27:04,670 --> 00:27:08,600 roll up your sleeves and get dirty and get into the into 590 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:13,250 the guts of things, do you find that that creates a 591 00:27:13,250 --> 00:27:18,680 situation where you can be a more more of a leader than a 592 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:21,950 boss? Because you're you show that you're willing to do the 593 00:27:21,950 --> 00:27:23,270 work. You've done it before. 594 00:27:23,270 --> 00:27:25,910 You have. Like, don't try to tell me anyone in this office. 595 00:27:25,910 --> 00:27:28,400 I did everything you guys have done and you can lead by 596 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:30,380 example versus stand there dictating. 597 00:27:30,380 --> 00:27:32,960 Is that is that something you felt has helped you as well? 598 00:27:34,270 --> 00:27:38,500 Kristen Deese: Absolutely. And not only has it helped from the leadership 599 00:27:38,500 --> 00:27:42,250 standpoint, but it also helps keep me relevant in the 600 00:27:42,250 --> 00:27:45,190 situations that these business owners and their employees 601 00:27:45,190 --> 00:27:46,870 are going through on a regular basis. 602 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:52,600 So that's part of why I still enjoy and appreciate doing 603 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:56,230 the CFO services for the businesses that we own is because 604 00:27:56,230 --> 00:27:59,620 then when I am working with these other business owners, 605 00:27:59,860 --> 00:28:02,590 they're experiencing a lot of the same things that we are 606 00:28:02,590 --> 00:28:05,470 experiencing. So we can kind of almost bounce back and 607 00:28:05,470 --> 00:28:08,710 forth between what what have we tried, what worked, what 608 00:28:08,710 --> 00:28:10,660 didn't work. Here's what we do in our business. 609 00:28:10,660 --> 00:28:13,000 Let me help you implement that into your business. 610 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:19,420 And so absolutely the trick is finding the balance of 611 00:28:20,290 --> 00:28:22,720 rolling up my sleeves and getting to work and showing 612 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:28,240 showing the people that I am still willing to do that and 613 00:28:29,260 --> 00:28:34,570 stepping across the line of not delegating when I should, 614 00:28:34,570 --> 00:28:37,600 because we fall into the trap of it's easier to just do it 615 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,300 myself than it would be to train somebody else to do it or 616 00:28:40,300 --> 00:28:41,920 to come up with a system or whatever. 617 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:44,500 And at that point, it's when you turn into the bottleneck 618 00:28:44,790 --> 00:28:46,450 when you may not necessarily realize it. 619 00:28:46,450 --> 00:28:51,610 So it's definitely striking that line between, Yep, I'm 620 00:28:51,610 --> 00:28:53,740 going to roll up my sleeves and help and stay relevant. 621 00:28:53,740 --> 00:28:56,680 And also let me make sure that this isn't something that 622 00:28:56,680 --> 00:28:58,500 really should be delegated to somebody else. 623 00:28:58,510 --> 00:29:00,400 Glenn Harper: I feel like there's always somebody watching over my 624 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:03,820 shoulder making sure that I'll do that because it's really, 625 00:29:03,820 --> 00:29:07,090 really easy because we have all this knowledge on the 626 00:29:07,090 --> 00:29:11,800 wisdom that again, we can look at a problem and we can get 627 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,440 from A to Z in like eight nanoseconds. 628 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:16,480 And if we hand it off to somebody, it's going to take them 629 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:19,360 three days. But they've got to struggle. 630 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:20,470 They got to figure it out. 631 00:29:20,470 --> 00:29:22,120 You've got to coach them along and they'll get there. 632 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:24,430 Then maybe the fifth time they can do it in a couple of 633 00:29:24,430 --> 00:29:27,220 minutes, you know. But it's hard because you just want that 634 00:29:27,220 --> 00:29:28,900 instant results and get things done. 635 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:30,500 Kristen Deese: Yup. 636 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:36,570 Glenn Harper: Do you feel like at any point in time, like now you've been 637 00:29:36,570 --> 00:29:37,860 doing this for how many years? 638 00:29:37,980 --> 00:29:39,210 The CFO thing. 639 00:29:41,250 --> 00:29:44,340 Kristen Deese: The four other companies I've been doing CFO for about two 640 00:29:44,340 --> 00:29:44,760 years. 641 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:47,910 Glenn Harper: Two years. And when you were doing the CFO for your current 642 00:29:47,910 --> 00:29:49,680 companies, you've been doing that for a while, right? 643 00:29:49,770 --> 00:29:51,030 That started way back when. 644 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:53,070 Is there anything way back? 645 00:29:53,970 --> 00:29:57,390 Do you feel like there's a was a point in time where you're 646 00:29:57,390 --> 00:30:02,490 like, Man, if I had just known that, then where would I be 647 00:30:02,490 --> 00:30:03,840 today? Was there. 648 00:30:04,170 --> 00:30:06,540 When you look back, is there that moment where you're like, 649 00:30:07,110 --> 00:30:09,090 when you're sitting here today going, Gosh, if I had just 650 00:30:09,090 --> 00:30:13,290 known that little formula 15 years ago, I'd be a 651 00:30:13,290 --> 00:30:16,110 kajillionaire. Is that does that something that that hits 652 00:30:16,110 --> 00:30:18,030 you? Are you are you already just. 653 00:30:18,030 --> 00:30:19,830 Yeah, I got it. I'm just moving on. 654 00:30:22,660 --> 00:30:25,270 Kristen Deese: So I think that. 655 00:30:26,210 --> 00:30:27,590 There's probably a couple. 656 00:30:27,590 --> 00:30:28,970 One would be. 657 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:36,610 When we figured out that when we started separating our our 658 00:30:36,610 --> 00:30:39,910 the company by departments and looking at department 659 00:30:39,910 --> 00:30:43,780 profitability, we started seeing this was like ten years 660 00:30:43,780 --> 00:30:47,260 ago, we started seeing that there was one department or 661 00:30:47,260 --> 00:30:49,600 wing that just really was underperforming. 662 00:30:49,810 --> 00:30:54,310 But that department brought in a lot of sales. 663 00:30:55,180 --> 00:30:58,870 And so we were terrified to let it go because it boosted 664 00:30:58,870 --> 00:31:00,850 the sales number. But when you got all the way down to the 665 00:31:00,850 --> 00:31:03,840 bottom, it was not doing anything for the bottom line. 666 00:31:03,850 --> 00:31:07,360 And so we were really scared to let that go and make that 667 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:11,590 decision and kind of take that step in it. 668 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:15,760 You know, looking at the opportunity costs and if if it's 669 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:17,950 not making any money and we put that energy somewhere else, 670 00:31:17,950 --> 00:31:19,150 what could we be doing instead? 671 00:31:19,150 --> 00:31:20,620 And all of those things. 672 00:31:20,620 --> 00:31:23,380 So if we could have figured that out a little bit earlier, 673 00:31:23,950 --> 00:31:25,360 that would have been cool. 674 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:29,290 And also it stays on the forefront now when we're looking 675 00:31:29,290 --> 00:31:34,090 at our different departments numbers as in terms of do we 676 00:31:34,090 --> 00:31:36,670 need to continue to provide the service, is it profitable 677 00:31:36,670 --> 00:31:38,960 or do we need to make a change or we need to let it go all 678 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:43,990 together? I think the other thing that kind of piggybacks 679 00:31:43,990 --> 00:31:48,100 off of that is it took us when I say us, I would say 680 00:31:48,100 --> 00:31:49,630 probably just in. 681 00:31:49,630 --> 00:31:51,850 My husband is a little bit more guilty of this than I am. 682 00:31:51,850 --> 00:31:52,720 Glenn Harper: But of course, it's as. 683 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:57,100 Kristen Deese: Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs want to say yes to 684 00:31:57,100 --> 00:32:00,730 everything, right? Like every opportunity that looks kind 685 00:32:00,730 --> 00:32:02,440 of shiny, they want to say yes, too. 686 00:32:03,970 --> 00:32:06,670 And so I would be on board. 687 00:32:06,670 --> 00:32:08,380 I'd be like, Yeah, yeah, let's do it, let's do it. 688 00:32:08,380 --> 00:32:09,790 Sounds great, whatever. 689 00:32:09,940 --> 00:32:12,670 And then it would completely take us off course of the 690 00:32:12,670 --> 00:32:16,690 vision that we had or it would just kind of we were all 691 00:32:16,690 --> 00:32:17,950 over the place for a little while. 692 00:32:17,950 --> 00:32:22,420 Again, this was years ago, so it took us both a while to be 693 00:32:22,420 --> 00:32:25,930 able to figure out what was something that we should say 694 00:32:25,930 --> 00:32:28,690 yes to versus what was something that we should thank you, 695 00:32:28,690 --> 00:32:33,580 but no thank you. In terms of looking at opportunities and 696 00:32:33,580 --> 00:32:36,010 again, if if that's something that we could have figured 697 00:32:36,010 --> 00:32:38,950 out earlier, then we could have been more dialed in on a 698 00:32:38,950 --> 00:32:41,140 direction and a vision earlier on. 699 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:46,210 I think that we're we're dialed in now, but it didn't 700 00:32:46,210 --> 00:32:48,940 happen. It took half of the time that we were business 701 00:32:48,940 --> 00:32:49,990 owners for that to happen. 702 00:32:49,990 --> 00:32:52,390 So imagine if we would have been able to do that from the 703 00:32:52,390 --> 00:32:55,000 beginning, what this whole thing would look like. 704 00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:57,790 I think those are probably two of the. 705 00:32:58,660 --> 00:33:00,010 Two of the key. 706 00:33:00,550 --> 00:33:03,760 Had I known now what I knew then. 707 00:33:03,940 --> 00:33:06,820 Glenn Harper: What it could have showed. The the one thing you mentioned, 708 00:33:06,820 --> 00:33:09,880 and I think that's probably, you know, everybody has a why 709 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:13,390 they do what they do and it's your why is not that you love 710 00:33:13,390 --> 00:33:15,250 numbers. I mean, obviously you're doing your accountant, 711 00:33:15,250 --> 00:33:16,540 for God's sakes. We love numbers. 712 00:33:16,540 --> 00:33:19,180 But I think it's more of the fact that you want to help. 713 00:33:19,270 --> 00:33:23,530 And when you walk into a client and you understand, we see 714 00:33:23,530 --> 00:33:27,010 this a lot in our business, a lot that, you know, a client 715 00:33:27,010 --> 00:33:28,840 is all driven about their gross sales. 716 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:30,820 It's not about the gross, it's about the margin. 717 00:33:30,820 --> 00:33:33,340 Right. And, oh, I sold 10 million last year. 718 00:33:33,340 --> 00:33:35,110 Well, how much did you make? You know, ten bucks. 719 00:33:35,110 --> 00:33:36,760 I'm like, Well, I got a guy over here. 720 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:38,920 It's sold 1000 and May 900. 721 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:40,000 Who would you rather be? 722 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:44,710 Right. So being able to for you kind of understanding that 723 00:33:44,710 --> 00:33:46,780 a ha moment in your own business and now you're out 724 00:33:46,780 --> 00:33:49,390 coaching and teaching other people this, that's got to be 725 00:33:49,390 --> 00:33:51,940 one of the first things you talk about and that has got to 726 00:33:51,940 --> 00:33:55,780 be really, really well received for a client to understand 727 00:33:55,780 --> 00:33:58,750 that it's not about how much I mean, sales are important 728 00:33:58,750 --> 00:34:00,760 and what you sell for, but it's not what you sell it for, 729 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:03,430 what you make on it. And I feel like that is a very 730 00:34:03,430 --> 00:34:05,860 impactful thing that you're doing for people that again, 731 00:34:05,860 --> 00:34:08,410 you're helping them accelerate and get over that hump, that 732 00:34:08,410 --> 00:34:09,730 it took you a long time to figure it out. 733 00:34:09,730 --> 00:34:10,180 Right. 734 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:14,340 Kristen Deese: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the idea would be to help them shorten 735 00:34:14,340 --> 00:34:15,420 their learning curve, right? 736 00:34:15,420 --> 00:34:16,980 Like we took we took the long way. 737 00:34:16,980 --> 00:34:18,450 We took the long route there. 738 00:34:18,930 --> 00:34:23,220 But to be able to help them shorten the learning curve and 739 00:34:23,220 --> 00:34:26,820 get to the profitability that they want to be at faster 740 00:34:26,820 --> 00:34:28,680 obviously is the ultimate goal. 741 00:34:29,730 --> 00:34:32,490 There's a lot of times that I talk to business owners who 742 00:34:32,490 --> 00:34:34,800 are just in complete overwhelm. 743 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:38,880 They're running, they're running ragged, their business is 744 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:42,150 running them. They've got customers who are beating on the 745 00:34:42,150 --> 00:34:44,310 doors, wanting things, and they have employees that they're 746 00:34:44,310 --> 00:34:46,470 having a hard time dealing with. 747 00:34:46,470 --> 00:34:48,360 And, you know, they don't know their numbers. 748 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:50,310 They're they're gauging whether or not they're doing well 749 00:34:50,310 --> 00:34:52,050 by the cash that's sitting in the bank and whether or not 750 00:34:52,050 --> 00:34:53,430 they can make their next payroll. 751 00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:55,230 And it's a tough place to be in. 752 00:34:55,230 --> 00:34:56,850 And I know that because I've been there. 753 00:34:56,850 --> 00:35:02,130 And it's it feels like, you know, you go through periods of 754 00:35:02,130 --> 00:35:04,230 time when you're like, what am I even doing this for? 755 00:35:04,230 --> 00:35:06,630 I just seem to throw it all away and go get a job that I 756 00:35:06,630 --> 00:35:09,510 can go to work and I can come home and I can get a paycheck 757 00:35:09,510 --> 00:35:11,220 on Friday, and that's it. 758 00:35:11,310 --> 00:35:13,320 But that's not the entrepreneurial way. 759 00:35:13,950 --> 00:35:18,210 No, it's not. So it's so going in and being like, okay, 760 00:35:18,210 --> 00:35:21,540 cool. I know it's chaotic right now and I have been in 761 00:35:21,540 --> 00:35:24,420 those shoes, so let's get to work on fixing this and then 762 00:35:24,420 --> 00:35:28,200 pulling them out of that and fixing all of the things and 763 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:30,990 then setting them back out on their little journey. 764 00:35:30,990 --> 00:35:35,280 That is the reason that I do the things, because it just it 765 00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:39,060 hurts my heart to see when they're struggling because we 766 00:35:39,060 --> 00:35:42,900 were there, too. And I can I definitely know I'm living the 767 00:35:42,900 --> 00:35:46,290 example that there is 100% a better way to run your 768 00:35:46,290 --> 00:35:46,920 business. 769 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:50,760 Glenn Harper: Don't you feel like entrepreneurs definitely have a screw 770 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:54,000 loose? I mean, we're definitely a little bit odd because 771 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:58,470 who who wakes up every day negative and is happy to go 772 00:35:58,500 --> 00:36:01,530 perform and try to turn that into a positive. 773 00:36:02,010 --> 00:36:05,460 And the cool thing is, once entrepreneurs recognize that 774 00:36:05,460 --> 00:36:07,800 they need that help, like you said, you had a coach before 775 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:10,590 you even as you were doing your business, you had a coach 776 00:36:11,340 --> 00:36:13,860 as entrepreneurs realized that that coach and you're doing 777 00:36:13,860 --> 00:36:16,200 that for these as a CFO, you're basically their coach, 778 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:17,400 right? It's not about the numbers. 779 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:19,290 It's really about your mental state. 780 00:36:19,740 --> 00:36:23,580 It's amazing how somebody could be so close to burning out 781 00:36:23,580 --> 00:36:26,610 and just they can't take it anymore, but they really, 782 00:36:26,610 --> 00:36:28,320 really want to do it. And all of a sudden they get this 783 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:31,410 little key and then, boom, they are off to the races. 784 00:36:31,410 --> 00:36:33,630 And it's it's the greatest feeling ever for me anyway. 785 00:36:33,630 --> 00:36:34,740 That's why I love doing what I do. 786 00:36:34,740 --> 00:36:36,870 But I'd imagine it's very similar for you. 787 00:36:38,030 --> 00:36:39,230 Kristen Deese: Yeah, for sure. 788 00:36:41,060 --> 00:36:42,950 Julie Smith: So early on. 789 00:36:42,950 --> 00:36:46,130 You know, I know that your husband was the reason you guys 790 00:36:46,130 --> 00:36:48,200 kind of went into this and you were kind of doing the real 791 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:51,980 job. But at what point do you think you knew or you and 792 00:36:51,980 --> 00:36:53,570 your husband decided to? 793 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:56,810 We need a team and we have to kind of get out of our own 794 00:36:56,810 --> 00:37:00,020 way. We have to be able to kind of build this team and 795 00:37:00,020 --> 00:37:04,010 delegate. And I just curious at what point you had that 796 00:37:04,010 --> 00:37:04,670 moment? 797 00:37:06,890 --> 00:37:11,570 Kristen Deese: It did not take very long to get to that point from the 798 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:16,190 technician labor standpoint, because Justin was the only 799 00:37:16,190 --> 00:37:20,540 one doing the technical labor and he was also trying to 800 00:37:20,540 --> 00:37:23,750 answer the phone and he was trying to talk to the stores 801 00:37:23,750 --> 00:37:25,880 and he was trying to do all of these things. 802 00:37:26,570 --> 00:37:30,830 And so it didn't take long for him to be like, this is for 803 00:37:30,830 --> 00:37:32,180 the birds, somebody else. 804 00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:34,520 We need to get somebody else in here to help with the 805 00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:37,250 actual technical part of it, the technical labor part. 806 00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:42,140 And then so there was so we brought in the first 807 00:37:42,140 --> 00:37:45,290 technician, which by the way, is still with us today. 808 00:37:45,290 --> 00:37:48,260 He's our general manager of our business in Atlanta. 809 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:52,010 So he came in and started helping and then. 810 00:37:54,010 --> 00:37:59,530 I want to say we probably brought in somebody who sat in 811 00:37:59,530 --> 00:38:02,440 like a CSR position, even if it was just from a part time 812 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:05,710 standpoint to kind of help with some of the administrative 813 00:38:05,710 --> 00:38:09,310 things. But the point where it was like, okay, we need 814 00:38:09,310 --> 00:38:14,320 somebody is the puppet for I am out the door by five 815 00:38:15,220 --> 00:38:20,320 running the entire day home at ten, 11, 12:00 at night, 816 00:38:20,980 --> 00:38:23,620 sleeping for a couple of hours and getting up and doing it 817 00:38:23,620 --> 00:38:26,710 all over again. You can only do that for a certain period 818 00:38:26,710 --> 00:38:29,890 of time before you're like, Okay, something's got to give. 819 00:38:30,430 --> 00:38:36,790 And then for from me and the job standpoint, it was a strain 820 00:38:36,790 --> 00:38:38,290 on the relationship. 821 00:38:38,290 --> 00:38:42,010 It was a strain on the House in general to have him gone 822 00:38:42,010 --> 00:38:46,210 all the time. Because then I am doing the pickups at 823 00:38:46,210 --> 00:38:48,940 daycare and I'm going to work and then I'm picking up at 824 00:38:48,940 --> 00:38:51,040 daycare at the end of the day, and then we're doing dinner 825 00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:54,080 and bath and the whole thing, and then I get the hour. 826 00:38:54,130 --> 00:38:57,190 We only had one child at the time, so get him into bed at 827 00:38:57,190 --> 00:38:59,590 eight and from 8 to 11 or 12 at night. 828 00:38:59,590 --> 00:39:02,950 I'm working on sending out invoices and collecting payments 829 00:39:02,950 --> 00:39:05,890 and doing all those things to the point where we were both 830 00:39:05,890 --> 00:39:08,860 working so many hours that we were like, Well, this is kind 831 00:39:08,860 --> 00:39:10,420 of stupid, why are we doing this? 832 00:39:12,460 --> 00:39:13,690 So we had to we had to grow. 833 00:39:13,690 --> 00:39:14,890 We didn't have a choice. We didn't have to grow. 834 00:39:14,890 --> 00:39:15,940 We didn't have the money to do it. 835 00:39:15,940 --> 00:39:17,620 We didn't know how we were going to do it or we didn't know 836 00:39:17,620 --> 00:39:18,700 what the employees are going to look like. 837 00:39:18,700 --> 00:39:19,960 But we like we need some help. 838 00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:21,280 This is getting out of control. 839 00:39:21,860 --> 00:39:23,170 Glenn Harper: Yeah, definitely say that. 840 00:39:23,170 --> 00:39:25,540 You know, that's not for everybody. 841 00:39:25,540 --> 00:39:29,530 But literally, if you can get through that period, you can 842 00:39:29,530 --> 00:39:30,990 help get that key. 843 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:32,440 There is light on the other side. 844 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:34,360 Unless you suck at what you do right, then that doesn't 845 00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:36,250 matter. But if you're if you're if you're good at what you 846 00:39:36,250 --> 00:39:39,100 do and, you know, like and I'd imagine to just and still 847 00:39:39,100 --> 00:39:40,900 wear his tool belt around the house as he walk around 848 00:39:40,900 --> 00:39:42,730 thinking he's all that or is he doesn't even wear one 849 00:39:42,730 --> 00:39:43,360 anymore. 850 00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:46,070 Kristen Deese: Here does not. 851 00:39:46,070 --> 00:39:51,050 As a matter of fact, there there is we have several go to 852 00:39:51,050 --> 00:39:54,440 contractors for our jobs around the house. 853 00:39:55,580 --> 00:39:58,640 So he is completely embraced, not doing the technical work. 854 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:01,550 Glenn Harper: Well, I got to talk to that guy because I feel like he's got 855 00:40:01,550 --> 00:40:04,790 to get shocked in an electrical receptacle at some point 856 00:40:04,790 --> 00:40:05,820 just to make sure it works. 857 00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:09,140 Julie Smith: I feel like he has defined delegation, you know, to the 858 00:40:09,140 --> 00:40:10,430 point of delegation. 859 00:40:10,430 --> 00:40:12,110 Right. He's got it down. 860 00:40:12,380 --> 00:40:15,290 Glenn Harper: Got a doctorate and a doctorate in delegation. 861 00:40:16,610 --> 00:40:20,030 Did you have a you know, I listen to one of your podcasts, 862 00:40:20,030 --> 00:40:22,430 which is which is weird because I don't listen to anything 863 00:40:22,430 --> 00:40:23,450 ever. I'm kidding, of course. 864 00:40:23,450 --> 00:40:28,130 But you had a thing that you talk about clients that you 865 00:40:28,130 --> 00:40:32,660 have you have them do this exercise of of writing their own 866 00:40:32,660 --> 00:40:33,800 little thing. 867 00:40:33,800 --> 00:40:34,820 You know what I'm talking about. 868 00:40:34,840 --> 00:40:37,640 You want to share with that how that works and how is that 869 00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:38,600 received by the clients? 870 00:40:39,860 --> 00:40:41,240 Kristen Deese: The analogy exercise. 871 00:40:41,240 --> 00:40:43,850 Glenn Harper: Yeah, I think it's fantastic. 872 00:40:43,850 --> 00:40:49,420 Kristen Deese: So. So that was an exercise that our business coach had us 873 00:40:49,420 --> 00:40:55,840 do when we were trying to basically find figure out why it 874 00:40:55,840 --> 00:40:57,190 is that we were doing what we were doing. 875 00:40:57,460 --> 00:40:59,050 So there's a couple of different ways that you can get to 876 00:40:59,050 --> 00:41:00,640 that. Some people do the seven layer. 877 00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:02,590 Why? Why are you doing this? 878 00:41:02,590 --> 00:41:03,730 Because of this. Well, why? 879 00:41:04,720 --> 00:41:07,030 Why do you want that? And you just kind of keep asking why 880 00:41:07,870 --> 00:41:11,770 that's impactful. However, I think the eulogy exercise is 881 00:41:11,770 --> 00:41:16,000 more impactful from like an internal soul shaking kind of 882 00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:22,210 way because you you literally write what you want, your 883 00:41:22,210 --> 00:41:26,140 eulogy to read or what you would want somebody to say as 884 00:41:26,140 --> 00:41:27,580 your eulogy at your funeral. 885 00:41:27,790 --> 00:41:29,200 And it kind of. 886 00:41:30,030 --> 00:41:35,190 Makes everything very real, and it really helps you 887 00:41:35,220 --> 00:41:38,880 highlight the handful of things that are ultimately 888 00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:43,560 important. You know, you say that you want to be a business 889 00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:45,330 owner because you want to make more money. 890 00:41:45,720 --> 00:41:48,480 Well, making a bunch of money and dying with a bunch of 891 00:41:48,480 --> 00:41:51,510 money isn't something that you would want necessarily to be 892 00:41:51,510 --> 00:41:52,570 put in your eulogy. 893 00:41:52,590 --> 00:41:57,810 Right. So if you if you work out the exercise, very humbling 894 00:41:57,810 --> 00:42:01,140 exercise of writing your eulogy, then you're really 895 00:42:01,140 --> 00:42:04,910 striking the what do you want to be known for? 896 00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:10,720 What what do you want to die knowing that you've done? 897 00:42:10,740 --> 00:42:12,750 Knowing what kind of person you are. 898 00:42:12,780 --> 00:42:14,490 The characteristics that you have. 899 00:42:14,490 --> 00:42:17,640 And when you can highlight that out of your eulogy, then 900 00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:21,870 going forward and making your vision, it kind of can ground 901 00:42:21,870 --> 00:42:25,410 that vision more deeply than if it was just something that 902 00:42:25,410 --> 00:42:27,630 was superficial. I want to make more money. 903 00:42:28,860 --> 00:42:31,800 So it's definitely a really humbling exercise. 904 00:42:32,910 --> 00:42:34,110 There are. 905 00:42:34,980 --> 00:42:37,780 I've only had a few people push back on that exercise. 906 00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:42,840 Most people will do it and they'll, you know, they'll kind 907 00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:45,630 of like scratch the surface and then we'll go over it. 908 00:42:45,630 --> 00:42:46,920 And then I'd be like, All right, cool. 909 00:42:46,950 --> 00:42:49,830 Take it back and let's dig a little deeper. 910 00:42:50,370 --> 00:42:55,170 And then you can tell when they when they kind of hit the 911 00:42:55,980 --> 00:42:57,300 the core of it. 912 00:42:57,990 --> 00:43:01,950 So it's really a very impactful exercise. 913 00:43:01,950 --> 00:43:07,650 And while it sounds really like morbid, it's got good 914 00:43:07,650 --> 00:43:08,110 purpose. 915 00:43:08,130 --> 00:43:09,170 Glenn Harper: I think it's genius. 916 00:43:09,180 --> 00:43:11,670 I mean, everybody's got to know the why and what are you 917 00:43:11,670 --> 00:43:15,090 trying to accomplish? Because for you, this is this is like 918 00:43:15,090 --> 00:43:16,440 one of the trick questions. 919 00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:18,480 Not that I haven't given you like 20 of them already, but 920 00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:21,440 this one is what is the end game? 921 00:43:21,450 --> 00:43:24,720 I mean, are you going to try to do this CFO thing for 922 00:43:24,720 --> 00:43:26,790 another 20 companies, 50 companies? 923 00:43:26,790 --> 00:43:28,500 You're going to scale and put other people in. 924 00:43:28,500 --> 00:43:31,140 Are you going to grow your business to be in all 50 states? 925 00:43:31,170 --> 00:43:33,210 Are you going to open up a ton of other businesses? 926 00:43:33,210 --> 00:43:34,890 You're going to milk this thing and just coders in the 927 00:43:34,890 --> 00:43:39,000 sunset. What exactly is Kristen's endgame on this? 928 00:43:41,330 --> 00:43:46,620 Kristen Deese: My end game is is just my clientele. 929 00:43:46,640 --> 00:43:51,050 I don't plan on bringing on any other coaches or growing 930 00:43:51,050 --> 00:43:52,970 and scaling to that size. 931 00:43:53,270 --> 00:43:57,920 I thoroughly enjoy having a handful of clients at a time 932 00:43:57,920 --> 00:44:00,710 and building really strong, lasting relationships with 933 00:44:00,710 --> 00:44:09,320 these business owners, as opposed to the very low touch 934 00:44:09,770 --> 00:44:11,390 hitting a lot of people at the same time. 935 00:44:11,390 --> 00:44:14,870 Idea. I leave the. 936 00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:17,980 Growing to 50 states and the things that we're doing to 937 00:44:17,980 --> 00:44:20,530 Justin because he's that's where he operates. 938 00:44:20,530 --> 00:44:22,750 Like that's the brain space that he operates in, which is 939 00:44:22,750 --> 00:44:23,770 super amazing. 940 00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:26,110 I don't know if you guys are familiar with the book Rocket 941 00:44:26,110 --> 00:44:29,140 Fuel by Gina Wickman. 942 00:44:29,860 --> 00:44:33,250 So that book is really cool because it highlights the 943 00:44:33,250 --> 00:44:36,010 personalities of the visionary and the integrator and that 944 00:44:36,010 --> 00:44:39,130 how both personalities are necessary in order to have a 945 00:44:39,130 --> 00:44:41,920 successful business. And very rarely is one person, both 946 00:44:41,920 --> 00:44:45,040 personalities in just a nice case. 947 00:44:45,130 --> 00:44:47,470 We are definitely the individuals. 948 00:44:47,470 --> 00:44:50,980 So he is the visionary and I'm in the integrator. 949 00:44:52,040 --> 00:44:55,660 I by doing this virtual CFO, I'm able to scratch the itch 950 00:44:55,660 --> 00:44:58,180 of the integrator for other businesses too, not just my 951 00:44:58,180 --> 00:45:01,960 own. And so, you know, it's not necessarily a desire of 952 00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:06,460 mine to grow this particular arm of what we do into this 953 00:45:06,460 --> 00:45:08,020 ginormous business. 954 00:45:08,050 --> 00:45:13,270 I'm more after, you know, finding the people that that need 955 00:45:13,270 --> 00:45:16,210 me and that want to use me and building that relationship 956 00:45:16,210 --> 00:45:19,030 and making them better and sending them on their way and 957 00:45:19,030 --> 00:45:22,600 then doing that with the next client and just kind of 958 00:45:22,630 --> 00:45:25,570 trucking along until I decide that I want to retire on an 959 00:45:25,570 --> 00:45:27,880 island and Turks and Caicos. 960 00:45:28,570 --> 00:45:29,950 Glenn Harper: I think that's fantastic. 961 00:45:29,950 --> 00:45:32,740 I have this feeling that Justin's got a split personality. 962 00:45:32,740 --> 00:45:35,350 He really wants to be an integrator, too, but he decides 963 00:45:35,350 --> 00:45:37,000 that that you like that better. 964 00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:38,350 So he's going to step back from that. 965 00:45:38,350 --> 00:45:39,690 That's what I think is going on. 966 00:45:39,700 --> 00:45:41,110 Yeah, I'm kidding. Of course. 967 00:45:41,320 --> 00:45:44,170 Well, is there do you want to give a you want to give a 968 00:45:44,170 --> 00:45:47,200 plug to your company? And so people might be able to look 969 00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:48,610 you up and do something with that. 970 00:45:50,080 --> 00:45:57,010 Kristen Deese: Yeah. So my website is Kristin Dotcom and the services and 971 00:45:57,010 --> 00:46:00,310 the different things from the virtual CFO standpoint that I 972 00:46:00,310 --> 00:46:01,920 do are on that site. 973 00:46:01,930 --> 00:46:06,250 And one thing that we didn't bring up is that just you and 974 00:46:06,250 --> 00:46:08,800 I are authors. We wrote a book called When Your Business 975 00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:11,290 Partner Is Your Spouse How to Have a Successful Business 976 00:46:11,290 --> 00:46:12,430 and a Happy Marriage. 977 00:46:12,430 --> 00:46:16,600 And that book can be found on my website and on Audible. 978 00:46:16,630 --> 00:46:18,520 Glenn Harper: Is that under fiction or non-fiction? 979 00:46:20,520 --> 00:46:22,350 I'm kidding. 100% true. 980 00:46:22,380 --> 00:46:24,630 It's a it's an amazing when you get that clarity to make 981 00:46:24,630 --> 00:46:26,310 that work, because it is hard to do that. 982 00:46:26,310 --> 00:46:29,010 And when you figure it out, it is it is going to be very 983 00:46:29,010 --> 00:46:31,800 rewarding. Well, I appreciate your time today. 984 00:46:31,860 --> 00:46:34,950 Thanks for coming on. And hopefully this was rewarding for 985 00:46:34,950 --> 00:46:36,060 you as it was for us. 986 00:46:36,060 --> 00:46:39,390 And I hope our listeners can glean something from this and 987 00:46:39,390 --> 00:46:42,270 say, You know what, that's going to inspire me to be a 988 00:46:42,270 --> 00:46:43,290 better entrepreneur. 989 00:46:43,800 --> 00:46:44,760 This is Glen Harper. 990 00:46:44,760 --> 00:46:46,290 Kristen Deese: Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. 991 00:46:46,320 --> 00:46:47,170 Glenn Harper: You're welcome. 992 00:46:47,190 --> 00:46:48,120 Julie Smith: And Julie Smith, 993 00:46:48,150 --> 00:46:48,840 Glenn Harper: Take care.