97: Entrepreneurship Mindset Shifts – What Corporate Doesn’t Prepare You For

Behind Their Success: Episode 97

Speaker: [00:00:00] you don't understand how much underpinnings exist in that corporate

structure that now you are responsible for. Yeah, you need to create some sort of policies and

yeah, you need to figure out how to deal with vacation and sick time and you're gonna have

employee relations issues.

What do you mean? I have a responsibility to do this and that and the other.

Speaker 4: Hello everybody. Welcome to Behind Their Success Podcast. I'm Paden Squires,

the host, and today we have on Vicky Brown. Vicky is a dynamic entrepreneur, HR expert, and

accomplished performer. She's the founder and CEO of Idomeneo Enterprises. She has built a

thriving HR service company from the ground up, serving as a trusted advisor to businesses

across the.

Multiple different industries. Vicky's journey is a testament to resilience, adaptability, and the

power of blending creativity with business acumen. Vicky, welcome on Behind Their Success.

Speaker: Well, thank you so much. I'm thrilled to be here. I'm really looking forward to our

conversation.

Speaker 4: Vicky. So tell us a little bit [00:01:00] about who Vicky Brown is and kind of what you

do currently.

Speaker: Sure. well, I'll give you kind of the Reader's Digest version. I guess I'm aging myself

by saying that, but, um, it's, uh, I tell folks all the time that I'm a lyric soprano. I'm an only child

and I'm a Leo. So I was born this way. Um,

Speaker 5: a Leo.

Speaker: my company. There you go. Excellent. So you understand what I mean?

Um, so, I started the company back in, uh, 2001. I can't believe we're gonna be 25 next year.

That's just crazy to me. And, um, prior to that, I was on the corporate side. You know, I was in

human resources with, uh, HBO and with some advertising companies, and media companies.

My last, uh, corporate role was at a financial services technology company.

And that was back. 19 98, 99, around there. Um, unfortunately, if you remember, 2001 was not

great for tech. Yep.

Speaker 5: Yep.

Speaker: So we kind of got [00:02:00] caught in the bubble there. Uh, and we had to close. And,

um, at that time, the president of that company came to me. I was the chief HR officer, and he

said, you know, you kind of. Built this from nothing.

'cause I think I was employee number seven or eight or something. And um, he said, you know,

you kind of built this from nothing. And, um, I think you might have a business here. I think you

might consider human resources as actually a service you can provide to others. And, um, so

you might think about starting your own company.

And I said, that is amazing. I've never thought about anything like that. I'm so flattered.

Absolutely not. There's no way I'm doing that. Like, it's just not gonna happen. I'm gonna go find

a job. Right. And um, and he said, okay. That's fine. And that was in Feb, I think, of 20 of 2001.

And in April he reached back out and said that he had a new gig and he needed some support.

Didn't want, you know, didn't have the budget for [00:03:00] full-time support. Could I do like

independent contractor work for him and just take on a couple projects. I was like, sure. Um, so I

did that for a little bit and he kept adding things, one after the other, and by August of that year I

finally called and said, listen, I have access to confidential information for your employees.

You have me working on payroll. I, you know. I need a corporate veil. We need contracts, we

need insurance. Like stuff needs to happen. So I incorporated and he kind of laughed and

rubbed his little fly hands together and said, yeah, that was my plan all along. So, so that's how

the company started. but you know, as a human resources professional, the thing that sticks out

to me, Is that he saw something in me that I did not see in myself. And it reminds me every day

that it's really important as a leader to pay attention to the strengths and the you know, the drive

that the folks that are on your team have because they may not see it. [00:04:00] And so when

you can grow that and nurture that, it's a wonderful thing.

And honestly. Domino would not be here if it weren't for him doing that. so he is our origin story

Speaker 4: That's, that's very cool. Well, it's amazing what, people will do. You know, most

people just need the smallest amounts of encouragement to actually just go out and actually put

themselves out there and, and, and do something. Uh, it's amazing what a, a little offhanded

comment could do for somebody that, you know, put out there in a positive.

Speaker: Mm-hmm. That's exactly right. So it's important to be aware and keep your eyes open.

'cause you might have, you know, diamonds in your, on your team.

Speaker 4: Absolutely. So, um, you're, you're an artist at heart, right? So singing, singing

background. Tell me a little bit about that.

Speaker: Yeah, I was, um, well, I was singing, uh, all through college and singing through while

I was, you know, working in corporate and everything. So, um, it's kind of my, it was my

nighttime gig, really, my nighttime and weekend gig. I knew I wasn't going to have a career in

opera because I didn't, I'm [00:05:00] homebody, I didn't wanna, you know, move to Germany

and sing at a bunch of little opera houses or anything like that.

And honestly, not quite sure I was good enough for that. But I was good. I, I, I was, you know, I

was okay. Um, and had a, had a good career and I really enjoyed it. But, um, I always like to say

that I took a one year hiatus something like. Nine years ago because I just, the schedule was

just after 20 seasons, you know, you're scheduled almost 18 months, if not two years in

advance.

And running and growing a company is, uh, takes its own, um, attention. So, uh.

Speaker 4: Let me, well, let me, uh, ask you something a little bit about that. Is there, is there

any skills or any, overlap you see that, you know, that helps you in say your, your seeing career

and then that overlapped you with, your business career, running, running your own business?

Speaker: Well, you have to understand I'm biased. So, in the music circles, we all said that, uh,

[00:06:00] musicians were perfect for, uh, office jobs and clerical jobs because we have a lot of

dexterity. Our kind of, um, eye hand coordination, the ability to take in, uh. A problem or an issue

and look at it strategically, look at the whole thing, and then break it down into small pieces.

That's what we do with music all the time. So, like I said, I'm biased. There are plenty of other

people who are capable of doing that, but I am biased. Um, but I think that, that, uh, that has

really helped me. But I will say that the thing, you know, the name of my company is I Domino.

It's the name of an opera by Mozart.

It's a Greek pronoun. No one can pronounce it. No one can spell it. It's just, I, every time I run

into a marketing person, they're like, so about the name, and I'm like, well, Adidas, and I just

keep going. But um,

Speaker 5: knows what Adidas is.

Speaker: right. Eventually you'll get it. But um, but the reason I did that is because the huge

benefit for me.

Has been when I am [00:07:00] trying to solve a business problem or solving a work issue, there

have been so many times that, um, like I said, I'm a soprano. I sing in the chorus. You know, I'm

third fish wife from the left, third villager from the left. And so many times I would sit behind the

orchestra and wait for my turn to sing again.

And it would be, particularly if it was with a philharmonic, it would be movement after movement

after movement. And now you sing and there were so many. Challenges that got resolved in my

brain while I was sitting on stage waiting to sing again because it was such a freeing, uh,

experience. And I wasn't hammering away at the question, you know, I was just letting my mind

float and I was in a creative environment and the answer would just come to me.

Now, that is not to say that music and being a professional musician, that musician doesn't

have. Its own issues. You freak out about auditions all the time. There are 50,000 people who

want your job. You know, there's all of that going on. So that can be very stressful as well.

[00:08:00] And during those times, I would take refuge in business because I could do a project

from A to Z, get it done, zoom onto the next thing, you know.

So I kind of play them off against one another.

Speaker 4: Yeah. You know, you talk about the pressure of the, the singing and stuff and Yeah.

That's, that's kind of interesting. I do, I can kind of relate to you when you talk about kind of

going in that, you know, I don't know, you, you didn't say flow state, but kind of seem like a flow

state, right?

Where you're, you're, you're, you know, you're singing, you're in the middle of that, you kind of.

You almost shut your brain off and, and you imagine like the epiphanies and things that, that

really come out of that. You know, I really found that mostly in a physical, you know, like working

out and exercising.

I found that in a, you know, a physical practice like that that, it's amazing the ideas that come to

me when I'm either lifting weights or, or walking or jogging or whatever because I'm, I guess I

just finally get, my head finally gets quiet enough to actually hear something.

Speaker: Right. My philosophy is those activities, if it's physical, if it's mental, if it's emotional, it.

Click something in your [00:09:00] brain that allows us to get out of our own way and allows our

full creativity to kind of take over. And it's, it's a wonderful thing when it happens. So, um, I

advise everyone to get in that state as often as possible.

Speaker 4: Yeah. And like practically, you know, how do you do that? Like, I've seen it

suggested a lot where it's like you just need to get in some quiet space. You know, a lot of, a lot

of the entrepreneurs and stuff I hang out with, I mean, they journal a couple times a week where

they, um, you know, they're just spending, they got 30 minutes on the calendar twice a week

where it's them and a piece of paper and a pen, and that's like what they make themselves do

twice a week, which is like torture for some of them guys.

Right? Like, because,

Speaker 2: right.

Speaker 4: you know, trying to set still as an entrepreneur to deal with any of that stuff, but it's. it

sounds all woo woo and hokey and all this stuff, but it really isn't. It's just brain science of like,

we are so distracted all day long that we can't even sit still to just put any pieces together ever.

Speaker: You're absolutely right. And the thing for me is, you know, I [00:10:00] try to sit still and

meditate and then I think, am I meditating? Oh, listen to the bird. The bird is really loud. What's

happening with the bird? Am I still meditating you? Right, exactly. So I've got all that going on,

and so physical activity helps me.

I know a lot of people say they get a lot of ideas when they're in the shower. There is something

about the water and the right and it just, so whatever it is, if it. Sitting still and meditating, and

really, that's the best possible world. But if you can't do that, if there is some activity or

something that can actually flip you into that state, then I say go for it.

Speaker 4: Yeah, a hundred percent. You wanna tap into that as much as possible.

Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Absolutely.

Speaker 4: you know, you had the corporate career right before you, you kind of made the

transition to, to entrepreneurship, like what? mindset shifts would you say you had to make

there? what kind of doubts, I'm sure you know, there were doubts you said you would never do it

right.

Um, so tell me kind of just some of the mindset shifts you had to make in that change.

Speaker: [00:11:00] They were huge. And I think that there are some that are unique to folks

who have been in a corporate environment and then kind of hang out their own shingle. Um, I

was fortunate I was working, you know, I was the chief HR officer, so I was, I was dealing with a

lot of the business issues and I got to see the business up close for a long time, but I wasn't

running the business.

So when I started my own company. All of a sudden there were all of these skills that I needed

that I did not have. What is sales selling? What are you talking about? Marketing,

Speaker 4: of HR

Speaker: right, exactly. Exactly. So all of those things, you know, marketing, accounting, I mean,

and I, you know, I've done payroll in the past, so I can add two and two, but I mean, to really do

cashflow forecasting and things like

Speaker 5: too.

Speaker: all of those pieces.

Particularly the sales piece. I think that a lot of entrepreneurs grow from a [00:12:00] sales, um,

a sales background, which is great because if you don't sell, you're not getting revenue. If you

don't get revenue, your business is not

Speaker 4: Yeah, it's like lead sales, like, you know, they, those always buy you more time to fix

all your problems, right?

Speaker: Absolutely, absolutely. So for folks like me who come in, maybe you have a marketing

background or maybe you have, um, uh, a legal background or maybe you have an HR

background, something like that, you walk into your own company, there's a world of things that

you need to learn and that you need help with, and you need to get it done fast because.

You need to get oxygen into the business. And so that was the thing for me. I didn't know

anything about sales, arguably, maybe I still don't, but we figured out what works exactly. And so

all of those kinds of things, that's where the huge shift happens. So you really have to

understand that you are, you may know a lot about your particular subject matter, and you may

know a fair amount about other things, other [00:13:00] aspects of business.

But there are some elements that are critically important. And so you have to get up to speed.

You have to get up to speed quickly. And kind of my mantra is always learning, always. You

really have to have continuous learning and get help. You know, I am not, I understand what a

cashflow forecast is and I can do one that is, you know, I kind of put it together with my feet and

it makes sense to me. Right, exactly. But if my account looks at that, he's like, okay, I don't know

what that is. But anyway, we won't even address that. But, um, so get help, get experts and, you

know, and I would say for folks who are starting their own company, and of course I would say

this, but um, if you're bringing on a team.

It's different than being inside of a corporate structure and having a team report to you because

you don't understand how much underpinnings exist in that corporate structure that now you are

responsible for. Yeah, you [00:14:00] need to create some sort of policies and yeah, you need to

figure out how to deal with vacation and sick time and you're gonna have employee relations

issues.

What do you mean? I have a responsibility to do this and that and the other. And so those kinds

of things, you know, just like with accounting, just like with sales, just like with marketing. Get the

support that you need. And that's what I, uh, when I speak to entrepreneurs, I say, you know, it's

not important that you know everything.

It's important that you know how to get the answers that you need.

Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah, it was funny you say that about like HR issues and whatever, and I, so I

have my, my best friend since third grade is my integrator. Like I'm the visionary, he's the

Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.

Speaker 4: my business. And it was funny, we were having a kind of just a leadership meeting

the other day of me and him and we were talking about HR issues and it was like, imagine this,

you know, 20 years ago we thought we'd be dealing with HR issues.

Speaker 2: Right.

Speaker 4: It was just reminded me of that, that, that story of just, yeah. Anyway, HR issues.

Yeah, they're, they're [00:15:00] real.

Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.

Speaker 4: You're talking about like, you know, you're shifting from, like when you're in the

corporate job, you're just a practitioner, right? Like you're a practitioner of HR or you're an

accountant, you work in an accounting, but like, when you make that shift, you put on all the

hats, right?

Like, and you're not. If you're not an HR person, you're actually a business owner now, right?

Like, and that's a very different, now you, you may still have to be that HR expert at the same

time, but really you're a business owner and that comes along, like you said, with a million

different things that if you haven't learned them yet, well you're gonna have to.

Speaker: Absolutely. And most importantly, your job. Completely changes. You may still be a

practitioner. You may be able to actually produce the work. Ultimately, as you bring on a team,

you want to disperse that so you're not in the weeds all day, every day, but your job becomes

the visionary. Now it's your job to tell people, we're going that away and this is why we're going

that away, and get them all to follow you.

And that is, you know, and to [00:16:00] move roadblocks out of the way. I always say that, um, I

have a team of, we're just under 20 now, and I finally figured out how to get myself out of the

day to day. They're perfectly capable. It's just, I wouldn't step,

Speaker 4: Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. We like, you know.

Speaker: Exactly. It's like, oh, I've got the answer.

Oh, I can fix the problem. Oh, I'll, you know, blah. Of course, 'cause I know everything. but I

finally figured out that that wasn't true and that has been Talk about releasing your brain a little

bit. That has been such a benefit to me because I tell my folks now that I only have a couple of

job, there are only a couple of pieces to my job.

One is to. Figure out the vision. Where are we going? Communicate that clearly to people and

inspire them to go in that direction, give them the tools and the environment that they need to do

their best work. And that means, you know, continuous education and development and bringing

in high performing people and all of those [00:17:00] things.

But all of those fall under those three buckets. And that's, that's my job. So, um. You know, when

you become an entrepreneur, when you have your own company, and whether or not you have

a team still, you're probably gonna have some, you're gonna outsource some stuff to maybe an

independent contractor or something, and we can talk about that later.

But, um, if, even if you're doing that, you still have to communicate the vision. You have to

communicate what it is you're trying to, to accomplish, and that may be a different muscle from

the muscle that you used inside corporate.

Speaker 4: Oh, yeah, Big time, right? Like, and don't get me wrong, I'm, you know, I've been an

entrepreneur for, a decade, 11, 12 years or whatever since I opened my business. But there's

still days where I think like, man, wouldn't it be nice to just like leave at five o'clock?

I have nothing to think about when it comes to work.

Speaker: What is it like to have a weekend where you don't think about work at all during the

Speaker 4: yeah. And, and, but even that, or, there's, you know, the people that, they're just

outside the system and don't know, what entrepreneur's schedule necessarily is like, but like, it's

24 [00:18:00] 7. Like, I mean, of course, yes, you need to set up your, you know, dividing line

and whatnot.

But like the people, entrepreneurs that really love business and whatnot, like, I mean, it's. it's

really nonstop.

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Speaker 4: So, Vicky, kinda looking back, you know, when you started your business, I'm sure

everything went smoothly and there were no problems whatsoever. Everything was great, but.

Speaker 2: right.

Speaker 4: If you could think of one, you know, mistake or struggle or something, you're like,

Hey man, if I would've known this or done this different, can you tell us just like a mistake you

made and kind of ultimately what you know, what you learned from it?

Speaker: That's really difficult 'cause you want me to tell you just one and there are thousands.

But, um, I would say the one that sticks most, um, sticks out most in my mind, really is the piece

that we were talking about, about stepping back, [00:20:00] really being clear on getting the right

people. Getting a good team, having good structure and good, you know, SOPs, good

guidelines, a clarity of communication, and then getting the heck out of the way, like really letting

those people probably one of the best things I've done.

In the entire history of I Domino is put together our leadership team, and we just did that a year

and a half ago. I mean, we're gonna be 25 next year. How long did it take me to figure that out?

You know? Um, but that was the, and that was the thing that really kind of, I, you know, I, I kind

of dabbled in, oh, I'm delegating, I'm delegating, I'm delegating.

But it wasn't until I actually put that structure in place that I actually stepped back. Before that, I

think I had like 11 direct reports, something like that.

Speaker 5: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker: You know, and that's, that's ridiculous. Um, so I think that's the piece [00:21:00] that

probably would have allowed us to go further faster had I done it earlier, but I also believe that.

Everything has its season and everything happens for a reason. And so I'm sure that the

lessons that you know, we learned, or I will say I learned along the way have been incredibly

valuable in moving us forward now, but I probably would have a few more years on my life if I

had done that

Speaker 4: Yeah, you and me both. Um, I did the, I did the same thing. You know, obviously,

you know, we haven't, you know, I haven't been around as, you know, as 25 years, but we're,

you know, like 11. And, um, yeah, I mean, you know, you talk about putting in a leadership team

Yeah. In the last year or so. Um, and, and, and, but it, it, it is true.

It, it has even just, you know, naming a manager and, and that kind of thing like that has allowed

me, uh, the ability and that what really cool too is like, it also, it gives. My employee, the ability to

step up and step into, you know, the amazing leadership [00:22:00] they have, and then also I

am free to just step out and get out of the way.

that's my number one thing that's held me back forever was delegating slash building team, you

know, all, all those things. and I guess it was a myriad of reasons, mostly just. I don't know,

insecurities or whatever, but like, I wouldn't, you know, I never, never really did build that team,

but it's, it's great.

Do it.

Speaker: Absolutely. And I think what happens is you feel like maybe you don't have the talent

on your team to be able to give those kinds of roles out. Particularly if you are a small team. You

know, certainly, um, new companies that have, you know, three people or four people are like, I

don't have departments. I don't have department heads.

What do you mean lte? What are you talking about? You. Exactly, exactly. But you will notice

that certain disciplines will start forming themselves around specific people. Oh, so-and-so is

really good at marketing and our social media and our, you know, [00:23:00] our, our, all of our

communication pieces. And so-and-so is really, really good at organization and compliance and

well.

Another world that's called operations, you know? So it's like you can start seeing where people

excel and fine, maybe that person's not gonna be, be your chief operations officer, fine, because

you don't have one, but you can start crystallizing their job. Responsibilities centered around

operations and managing your tech stack and things like that.

And as you do that, they will either excel at it or won't. They'll want to do, maybe wanna do

something else in the business, and that's fine. But once you start kind of separating out those

responsibilities into something that makes sense altogether, so you, your employees aren't, task

switching every five seconds as well. You can really start seeing the structure come into play

and fine, maybe you don't call them the L team, maybe you call them the, the baby team or

whatever you wanna call them. But you will have [00:24:00] people who are responsible for

specific areas of your whole, you know, generally responsible for specific areas of your

business.

And then when things come up, figure out where that would sit and delegate it out.

Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it, it, it is so true. I think a lot of that just all becomes

clear as, as you start defining roles, right. And defining responsibilities. And, and I think a lot of

that too starts with knowing your team and their, you know, their skill sets and, You know, having

the, the, the right people in the right seats, right?

Like we, you know, we talk a lot about that. You know, we're big on, you know, personality

exams and knowing each one of our strengths and weaknesses. Um, you know, you're an HR

lady, you, you do a lot of team stuff. can you kind of speak to that of like Right people, right

seats, kind of, kind of thing.

Speaker: Sure. All roads lead back to the interview process. I'm sorry to say that I, as an HR

professional, it is not one of my favorite things to do. I'm very fortunate. I have an amazing

director of staffing and she has, she's [00:25:00] basically responsible for the entirIdomeneoino

team, which I'm very lucky, um, lucky for, but.

The thing about bringing someone on, you're, you're the right people in the right seats. That

means you're bringing on the right people. You can't do that if you don't know what you're

looking for and if you don't prepare. So I am notorious and I mean notorious throughout my

career, which has been longer than 25 years, um, throughout my career for.

Getting the resume, oh, so-and-so's coming in today at three o'clock. Okay. Putting the resume

aside, and then today at 2 45, grabbing the resume, looking over it, and you know, ushering

them into my office and asking them a bunch of questions. That is not a proper interview that is

flying by the seat of your pants.

That is, you know. You have to prepare for these things and all the way back to, before you even

post the job or go out to your network and start talking about what it is you're looking for, you

need to know what you're looking for. So take a look at your [00:26:00] organization. Where is

the gap? What is the biggest benefit you're gonna get right now?

Do you need someone? Is the most important thing really in your organization for you to get an

executive assistant right now? 'cause maybe it is. Maybe the most important thing is for you to

be able to be more organized. So then you have to look at what do I need that person to do?

Once you really have crystallized that, then that's when you go out and you post the job, and

you don't post the job by putting the job description in.

Indeed, that is just word salad. You know, oh, you have to do this and that and that and that.

Interviewing and recruiting is a marketing event. You are marketing your business to a high

performer. You want them to choose you, so market it. What's fun and unusual about your

company? What will they, their day look like?

If you have the opportunity to do a little video with the manager saying, this is what you know,

this is what I look for. Something that makes you as an employer stand out [00:27:00] and then

be judicious about who comes in. Now you're gonna get a thousand resumes. And that's not the

most fun thing because who wants to go through a thousand resumes?

Take the time and really do it because when you do the skimming, that's when you miss people

who might be perfect for your environment and then prepare for the interview. What does that

resume show that is important to you, and what does it not show that you need to know about?

And those are the kind of behavioral questions that you need to be asking.

When did you have a situation with a client? That went south. How did it go south? Tell me what

happened? What could the company have done to support you more? What was your idea

about this? How did you talk the, the the client down? All of those kinds of things. You just keep

asking the questions and that's when you get at the truth and that's when you start really

understanding not just what the experience was, but how someone thinks.

So that whole part is really important. And then once you get people on on board, then you have

to, you know, you have to feed [00:28:00] them. So give them development opportunities, give

them training opportunities. Let them cross train. Let them bring you ideas. Don't shoot them

down every five seconds when they say, oh, I, let's try this.

No, we can't do it because that doesn't make any sense. Or try it, let their little wings fly for a

minute, you know?

Speaker 4: Yeah, well let 'em be seen. Right? Like, I think some of the HR stuff to a degree,

now, I know when you get to big organizations it, it gets way more complicated. But in, in small

businesses, like, say teams of 10 or something, like, and I guess it's just my philosophy or

whatever, but like, I have relationships with my employees.

Like I, you know, we have good, honest, open conversations all like, what do you need? You

know what I mean? How you feel it and I'm like, Hey, you ever need anything? Just let me know.

Like, and just trying to make an open door of like, Hey, I'm, I'm here to support you. You're here

to support me.

Like, let's just communicate about stuff

Speaker: That's the human part. Exactly. That is the human part. People forget, they just say

the word like human [00:29:00] resources or HR or something like that. It's all about the

humans. It really is all about the humans. So, you know, and humans operate most effectively

when they're dealing with other humans. Like just have the conversation.

Just, you know, just ask the question. Just listen. Really listen. So.

Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you're right, like, not just smashing on, you know, maybe

some of your employees ideas or whatnot. I mean, like, they have to run along with all your

stupid ideas all the time as an entrepreneur, right? So like, you can let them dream a little bit too

before you do that, because how many times have you dreamed out loud and then you never

followed up?

Speaker: Exactly. And you never know. They may have a golden nugget in there that you're just

ignoring that could catapult you into the next level of your business. So.

Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah. And I, I, I try to be real careful throwing out ideas to my team and stuff,

just 'cause I know like how many times I do that and like, I just don't want him to think, okay,

here's Paden saying another thing that, know, [00:30:00] two days ago, you know, two days from

now he'll have totally forgot about, moved on.

Speaker: My team used to call it, oh, Vicky's been at a conference again, like,

Speaker 4: got lots of ideas and ready to implement 'em all.

Speaker 3: uh.

Speaker 4: Yep. so Vicky, do you have any habits or routines or anything that, you would credit,

that helps you be successful?

Speaker: I wish I could say I get up early and I work out every day and I have a good breakfast

and I don't do. Any of those things. I hate getting, just, I'm a performer. I have a late body clock. I

hate getting up early. Um, working out is something I talk about a whole lot and never do. Um,

but I would, I would say that I, I do try to have consistency, certainly.

And, and one thing. uh, well, there are two things that come immediately to mind and they're

really small. One is the team they finally convinced me to go ahead and, Put Slack in the

company a while ago and [00:31:00] I was very resistant for a very long time. But, um, and they

have a ritual every morning.

Everybody on this team says Good morning to one another on Slack, which just cracks me up.

And sometimes there's a little gif in there and sometimes there's a little, you know, meme or

something. Um, and it has become a really wonderful kind of. Bonding experience that just

happens every morning. And if someone doesn't do it, then people are like, are you okay?

Is so and so in today? Exactly. Exactly. So I love that. And then the other thing is, and this is

something you will find when you go ahead and delegate my email, I mean, I still get a ton of

emails, but I used to get, you know, I would wake up to 200, 250 emails in the morning. And,

um, what I started doing was just taking everything from that morning, dumping it into a folder

that's literally called Organized.

It's an, it's a Outlook folder that I have called Organize, and it's organized by name instead of

[00:32:00] organized by. Receipt so I can just scan through it really quickly, delete a whole

bunch of stuff. So that's my thing for organizing my email in the morning. And now that I actually

delegate my email is down to about 75, which is even better.

But, um, and then I'm left with the, that way I don't miss anything that's really important and I'm

left with the things that I really need to take action on. And I've kind of triaged all of that email

really, really quickly. It takes, you know, maybe 10 minutes. That has become tremendously

helpful for me.

And I've tried to do something like that my entire career and never found the, you know, I did the

David Allen thing and I did all of that and I never found quite the technique that would, that I

would be consistent about. And this has really, really helped. So it's made me a lot calmer in

Speaker 4: Yeah, that's, that's good. You know, email has been the bane of my existence for

probably a decade plus now. Um, and I've, I've, you know, I've implemented some things. I have

an executive assistant and, and, you know, my emails are just [00:33:00] kind of monitored by

multiple people. I would just say that, um, to where they're, you know, Hey Payton, you need to

take care of this or take care of that, or whatever, right?

so it's, it's, it's a lot better than it used to, but still, like my main mode of communication, like is

just firing emails back and forth to, you know, lots of different clients and stuff. Um, so that's. Let

me know when I can get rid of it, or you can tell me how.

Speaker: Right. Exactly. Exactly. Well, my assistant is very, very good. She stays on top of me

with things and so I really appreciate that. But I just, you know, it has been like an albatross

hanging around my neck forever. So, um, it's been really, really great to figure something out

that worked.

Speaker 4: Shout out to all the executive assistants out there.

Speaker: Oh,

Speaker 4: Gabe is my hero. He

Speaker: huge

Speaker 4: me every day.

Speaker: and Gabe is fantastic by the way.

Speaker 4: Yes. Thank you. Good, good. So Vicky, looking back, you know, looking back earlier

in your career, you know, you've been running your business for, um, you know what, just shy of

[00:34:00] 25 years, which, congrats, that's a heck of an accomplishment. Not very many

businesses go 25 years. So, um, that's, that's a big deal. is there a piece of advice you wish you

would've known, you know, at the beginning that you know now?

I mean, obviously you've learned 10 million things between now and, you know, between then

and, and now, but like, is there one key thing that like, man, if I'd have just known that 25 years

ago, other than the delegating thing,

Speaker 3: Ah.

Speaker 4: that maybe, you know, my process would've been a little smoother or a little simpler

or a little easier?

Speaker: Yeah. I would say for entrepreneurs that don't come from a sales background, figure

that out early.

Speaker 4: Yeah, learn how to sell.

Speaker: I just, yeah, I just can't. Express how important that is. I did not figure it out early. I

was very fortunate. The, um, you know, my origin story with that, uh, with the president of my

former company. so he was our first client, fantastic client, grew to a ridiculous size, and was a

client for 10 years and that was fantastic.

But in the early years, you know, it was a very, very small gig [00:35:00] and he was our only

client. For probably 24 months because I hadn't figured out the sales piece. I just had not figured

it

Speaker 4: And that's a dangerous place to be in with one client for two years. Right.

Speaker: exactly, exactly. So, um, I would say that it's really important to kind of get that under

your belt because you said something critically important earlier as we were speaking, and that

is that.

Once you figure that out, once you're getting revenue in, it expands your runway. And runway is

everything. 'cause if you have enough runway, you can figure the stuff out. You have time to

figure out the other pieces. so sales is important. It's really

Speaker 4: Yeah, I got a buddy who's, uh, I mean, he is a big sales guy, like ran sales teams.

He's all about sales, and he is like, yeah, the problem's always, you need more leads. It's

always more leads. More leads will solve all the problems.

Speaker 2: Right, right. Exactly. Exactly.

Speaker 4: And it's, and it's right. You know, I'm, you know, I'm from a traditional space, I would

say, you know, a [00:36:00] CPA tax, firm space. And yes, they're, I don't know, 90% of firms

have no sales process. Zero. Um, it's, you know, there's just CPAs in there and people ask 'em

to do their taxes and they say, okay, there's, and that's like,

Speaker 2: Exactly.

Speaker 4: And that's something I've, you know, me and my organization have really tried to get

professional at is a professional sales process, professional marketing process. And really just

get professional in every, you know, major pillar of business. Um, so we can actually run a real

business and it's not Paden around, saving the day or whatever he does.

Speaker 2: Right, right,

Speaker 4: And I can delegate and, and process and systematize as much

Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.

Speaker 4: possible, right.

Speaker 2: Exactly. Exactly.

Speaker 4: Well, Vicky, this has been an amazing conversation. Um, what is the best way the

listeners can get to know more about you, your company, and, uh, really anything that you do.

Speaker: Oh, well, fantastic. Thanks for asking. I am not gonna force everyone to spell iam,

[00:37:00] so, um, we have a little gift and, um, on this page is all the contact information as well

for how to get in touch with us. So you would just go to Vicky Brown hr.com/podcast gift, and we

have a little gift for your listeners

there.

Speaker 4: Okay, so that is Vicky brown.com or did I mess it up?

Speaker: Vicky Brown. Vicky Brown hr. I

Speaker 5: There I go.

Speaker: Brown weren't You were doing, you were doing exceptionally well. It's just, Vicky

Brown is so common that I had to tack on an HR at the end of it.

Speaker 4: you, you don't have Vicky brown.com.

Speaker 2: Right? Exactly. I do not own that.

Speaker 4: I got feeding squires.com. There's not too many of those.

Speaker 2: Oh, good for you.

Speaker 4: So yes. Vicky Brown, hr,

Speaker: dot com um slash podcast

Speaker 4: I'm just gonna quit trying to do that, Vicky.

Speaker: No worries, no

Speaker 4: Biggie. I appreciate you for coming on. Any, last, partying advice for, the listeners or

anything? You wanna leave them?

Speaker: Um, the only thing I'll leave them with is even [00:38:00] though I was kind of quote

unquote convinced to do this, it is one of the best things I've ever done in my life. So, if you're an

entrepreneur, congratulations because you're kind of really, you know, you're kind of cool.

Speaker 4: You're just putting it out there. See what happens. I.

Speaker: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Speaker 4: Well, Vicky, I appreciate you and, uh, listeners, we'll catch you next time.

Speaker 8: Thank you so much for listening to the podcast. If you found it valuable, please rate,

review, and share it. That is the best way to help us build this and reach more people as we're

trying to accomplish our goal of help creating more healthy, wealthy, and wise entrepreneurs.

You can follow us on social media by searching for me Paden Squires.

Or going to padensquires.com on the website and social media. We're always sharing tips of

personal growth and there we can actually interact. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks guys.