Helping Manufacturers Tell Their Story: Interview with Go Solo

Top tips for anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today

  1. Ask for help. Look for people with common values to brainstorm with, to collaborate with, and to toss around ideas with. Learn about them first, and don’t ask them for things you can find through a search or reading their online profile and content.
  2. Contract out work you don’t need to do – or that saps your energy.
    Hire people to clean your house- do your bookkeeping- and manage your calendar or whatever are things that don’t energize you. Decide where your energy is best spent and focus on that.
  3. Invest time in telling and sharing your story. Find a social media platform you enjoy using and tell and share your story. People want to do business with people they Know – Like – and Trust. So let the world know who you are. “One-to-many” communication vs. only “one-to-one” has great potential. I have met amazing people because of virtual and real-life networking! The magic happens when you connect both.

Gail’s first career was in journalism. She spent over a decade working at newspapers: The Toronto Star, The St. Catharines Standard, The Hamilton Spectator, and The Windsor Star.  She then delved into a few different careers: Bed and Breakfast proprietor, fundraiser, advertising and promotions manager in the fields of insurance and technology – and now, an entrepreneur with  GailNow, as CCO – Chief Curiosity Officer.

Now as a  “recovering journalist” Gail  helps people who struggle to have their voices heard and their stories told.

Her strength is in public relations and storytelling.

As a curiosity seeker, she also wants to uncover stories that may not fall within the mainstream narrative.

To read more about the GailNow story – head over to this link for the full story!

How the heck do you get the best ROI from a tradeshow or event

You invested in a tradeshow…. So now what?
  • You booked hotel rooms.
  • You planned tradeshow travel
  • You ordered banners or a booth.
  • You bought the package to scan badges.
  • You ordered some swag, as your tradeshow marketing.
Cha-ching.
You spent significant coin to attend a 1-2-3 or more day show and meet and greet.
So now what?
A question overlooked by many in manufacturing.
Missed opportunities abound.
Want to know how to turn things around?
Check out this episode of #CuriousMinds with #GailNow
https://www.youtube.com/live/e3rQeYDbA9U?feature=share

Oh Lord it’s hard to be humble – or is it?

In today’s digital age, consumers are becoming increasingly savvy and can easily spot insincerity or lack of authenticity in a brand’s messaging.
This is why humility is becoming an important ingredient in a successful public relations and communications strategy.
Humility, in the context of branding and storytelling, means being honest and transparent about who you are and what you stand for as a brand. It means being willing to admit mistakes and take responsibility for them, rather than trying to hide or downplay them. It also means being willing to listen to and learn from your customers, rather than simply talking at them.
One way to incorporate humility into your branding and storytelling is to focus on your brand’s purpose and values. This means being clear about what you stand for as a brand and how you are working to make a positive impact in the world. For example, if your brand is committed to sustainability, you can share stories about the steps you are taking to reduce your environmental footprint or the ways in which you are supporting sustainable practices in your supply chain.
Another way to incorporate humility into your branding and storytelling is to be open and transparent about your brand’s challenges and setbacks. This means acknowledging and learning from your mistakes, rather than trying to sweep them under the rug. For example, if your brand has faced a crisis or setback, you can share the steps you are taking to address the issue and make things right. By being honest and transparent, you will build trust with your customers and show them that you are committed to doing the right thing.
In addition, it’s also important to listen to your customers and take their feedback into account when developing your branding and storytelling strategy. This means being willing to consider and incorporate their perspectives and ideas into your messaging.
For example, you can conduct surveys or focus groups to gather feedback from your customers and use that feedback to inform your messaging.
In summary, humility is becoming an increasingly important ingredient in a successful public relations and communications strategy. By being honest, transparent, and willing to listen to and learn from your customers, you can build trust and credibility with your audience and create a more authentic and impactful brand story.
According to Marketing Roar, “Humility in marketing doesn’t mean that you bow to your competition or market your brand in a self-deprecating way. It simply means that you’re upfront about what you offer, what you stand for, and in your relationship with your customers.”
Good advice for life overall!

New Talk show to Kick Off: Much Power in Asking Questions to make Positive Change

As a lifelong learner and advocate for improving on personal and professional growth and an idealist for changing the world- I am constantly on the lookout for ways to expand my own knowledge and understand those around me. 
 
One of the most valuable resources I have found in this pursuit is a new show called “Curious Minds” with GailNow – a talk show style format  from the perspective of a recovering journalist immersed in mainstream, alternative and social media. 
 
The show is launching on my YouTube channel in January 2023- along with some tips on how to tell and share your story from my experience as a Public Relations and Media Consultant.  
 
Networking is a great way to meet people both in real life and online.  My three step process is the foundation of my consulting and research work:  Sign Up. Suit Up. SHOW Up. 
 
The concept behind “Curious Minds” is simple yet powerful: to explore a wide range of topics and ideas through the lens of curious and open-minded conversation. Each episode features a different guest, who is an expert or thought leader in their field, and then allow for a  free-flowing and unscripted conversation about their work, their passions, and their perspectives on the world.
 
What I love about “Curious Minds” is that it models the kind of curiosity and openness that I believe is essential for making positive change in the world.  I want to listen and challenge my own assumptions and biases- and maybe others too.
 
The show will explore the  complexities and nuances of different issues and ideas, and I won’t  shy away from difficult or controversial topics; while also enjoying the fun ones too.  These shows aren’t meant to be debates or doing battle on topics – it is about providing a platform for those ignored or maybe even villif
 
“Curious Minds” has reminded me of the importance of cultivating my own curiosity and open-mindedness on topic such as censorship, dating after 50, the afterlife, spirituality, health improvement, vaccine mandates, mindset, personal growth.    It is sure to be thought-provoking and the premise will be to invite those willing to Be Curious Not Judgmental. 
 
It has reminded me that making positive change in the world starts with asking questions and seeking to understand the perspectives of others. It has reminded me that the more I am willing to question my own assumptions and biases, the more I am able to contribute to a more just, equitable, and sustainable world.
 
If you are someone who is passionate about making positive change in the world, I highly recommend checking out “Curious Minds” at www.YouTube.com/@GailNow.  
 
 
It is not only a source of inspiration and learning, but also a powerful reminder of the importance of being curious and open-minded in our quest for a better world.
 
 
 

How to use social media powerhouse for branding, leads and sales

In the world of marketing, there are always new platforms and strategies being professed as the next “big thing”.

It is not feasible to keep up with all of them, but every once in a while, one comes along that actually provides the results that they all profess to have. When that happens, it is important to get on board and bring your business forward.

Ingor van Rooi, Connection Catalyst

Social media is one of those things. It has been here for quite some time, but often the advantages are missed or worse, overlooked by many in manufacturing and frankly, in business overall. 

That is why getting help is so important; just as you seek help for IT, for Human Resources, for purchasing new equipment or exploring a new process. 

So, why is social media not only important, but vital for business as we head into 2023? 

First, it gives companies a way to connect beyond one-on-one, to one to many with its ideal audience and foster those audience members into customers. 

It moves beyond local to national and international; and no flights, passports, visas are needed.  

Social media can help generate brand awareness, leads and sales. 

Here are 3 reasons why social media is important as listed by WebFX:

  1. By marketing to users who already follow your company’s social media accounts (and therefore are already fans of your company), you know that you are reaching a qualified demographic and thus generating qualified leads.
  2. Social media marketing allows an individual / company to connect with people / other companies with whom they share interests, building a community. In communities sharing is encouraged, which can have a huge impact on your business. Social media is important because it makes it easy for your followers to share your promotions and content.
  3. Social media allows people to get to know about your brand, as a business. It therefore builds brand awareness and once a relationship is established, brand loyalty, as well.

Recently, on my live show, #ShowUP with GailNow, I interviewed Ingor van Rooi. She is known for her love of people, seeing them flourish, as well as her work to help others get started with building their community on social media, especially LinkedIn.

In the business world, LinkedIn is a must-have for anyone deciding where to start to build a base. 

van Rooi has successfully helped entrepreneurs and manufacturers to optimise their profiles on the platform and understand how to genuinely build relationships through interacting with others via direct messages, engagement, sharing of content and working together, maximising on each others’ strengths. 

She teaches her clients to show up on social media by building community and embracing her 3 pillars: connect, communicate and collaborate. Through really implementing these concepts, Ingor’s clients have been able to build relationships and community, increase the engagement on their content (some by 500-600%), be exposed to new ideas, gain opportunities and evolve as people.

Ingor is originally from South Africa, where they speak about a concept called Ubuntu. This concept has been widely spoken about all over the world and is very close to her heart because of her love for people. It is the concept of Ubuntu that has helped Ingor build her community of friends on LinkedIn and other social media platforms.

According to Wikipedia, Ubuntu is sometimes translated as “I am because we are”, or “humanity towards others”. In Xhosa (a language native to South Africa), the latter term is used, but is often meant in a more philosophical sense to mean “the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity”. 

During the show she and I spoke about the importance of social media in business as we know it today, as well as why it is important for manufacturing companies to be on LinkedIn and the pillars she teaches her clients to help them show up on the platform.

Ingor shared a few staggering statistics that should motivate any company to build out their profile and begin sharing, even if only once per month. Here are a few that stats that were mentioned during the show:

  • LinkedIn is the most trusted social media platform
  • There are more than 800 Million Users on LinkedIn
  • 4 out of 5 of these users are decision makers (i.e. C-Level executives in companies)
  • Only 5.2% of all the people that use LinkedIn share content, so if you do, you will stand out (this also means that the rest of LinkedIn’s users are lurking and seeing the content shared)

She shared an interesting analogy with us regarding lurking on LinkedIn, “I think that having a LinkedIn account, and just lurking, you can equate it to deciding to go to a trade show and just standing against the wall and watching everybody talk and network. That’s basically what you’re doing. It’s almost pointless, to go to a trade show, invest your time, make the effort to go there and then just stand and watch everybody else make those connections, network, talk to each other, and probably do business together, too. Right? So that’s what you’re doing when you show up on LinkedIn and all you do is scroll.”

As we know and has been shared by many, people do business with people, especially ones they know, like and trust.

Ingor and I also spoke about how it is important to build the KLT (Know, Like, Trust) Factor. In a recent article shared on Jessica Thiefels Consulting (a content marketing company) website, the “know like trust” (KLT) factor is a marketing concept that is becoming more and more important. The goal is to get your audience, prospects, leads, customers, or clients to understand and eventually believe in your brand. 

In simple terms, someone first needs to get to know the “you” behind the brand, which conversely drives connection and familiarity. This familiarity (or knowing) is imperative according to the Gustavson 2021 Brand Trust Index, because “Consumers tend to gravitate to ‘familiar’ brands in 2021 because of the peace of mind they provide.”

According to an article on the website of the Content Marketing Institute, this kind of “Knowing” is not surface knowledge where people have seen your name, logo, brand, or content. In that kind of knowing, people recognize you and know you exist. You’re not a total stranger. They know about you or at the very least, of you. The kind of knowing you want – the kind that opens up greater possibilities for stronger relationships that can lead to sales – is deeper – the kind of knowing that follows when someone shares private details and understands who you are at your core or foundation.

Ingor also pointed out that it is important to show up online (and in real life) with authenticity; making sure that what we share is true and consistent with what is known about us everywhere. Of course, we get to choose how much we share, but it is important to make sure that what we share is real. She went on to quote Dr Seuss from his book, Happy Birthday to You, “Today you are you that is true then true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.”

She also spoke about ensuring that we engage in the content shared by others, answering comments on your own content, messaging in the DMs and also connecting offline with authenticity. She said that showing up on LinkedIn and not doing that would be like walking around in your neighbourhood wearing earphones, not looking at people, not greeting them when you pass them, focused on getting home and getting to work and getting home and getting to work and really not building those relationships. Then needing something like salt at 10:00/11:00 pm when stores are closed and having no option because we have no relationships with our neighbours.

Something else she spoke of is that building relationships online is important because it helps one learn about different things. She shared that interacting with others on social media and in person exposes us to different kinds of people, people that have different backgrounds to you, people that have different experiences than you have. When you are exposed to those people you actually grow as you learn more.

Ingor and I also shared a bit from the 4th annual Algorithm Research Report for the platform recently released by LinkedIn expert Richard van der Blom. This 57-page report comes from the analysis of nearly 10,000 posts over 4 months, and reveals statistically significant patterns in the current behaviour of LinkedIn’s algorithm. 

Something that is mentioned in the report that we highlighted during our conversation was that the engagement on a post in the first 90 minutes is usually important to kickstart the growth. Here are some other items listed in the report to help increase engagement is as follows:

  1. Increase followers (in Creator Mode); they are included in your first batch
  2. Get more people to ring your bell, so they get notified
  3. Respond to all comments with your own comment in these first 90 minutes
  4. Tag or notify people that you want to engage on your post

Here are a few of Ingor’s favourite tips on LinkedIn and also shared in the aforementioned report:

  1. Make it personal
  2. Post frequently, but moderately!
  3. Nurture your own posts for better results
  4. Creator Mode will grow your followers and reach
  5. Avoid negative engagement on your posts
  6. Be consistent

All this to say, being on social media is important for any business, even those in the manufacturing industry! 

Why? 

As I often say, “If a tree falls in the forest, and no one documents it, no one talks about it. Did it happen?” 

Manufacturers NEED to be on social media, especially LinkedIn (as that is where their prospects are) to build that KLT, help their brand awareness to grow and then build their brand loyalty so that they can turn strangers into customers.

Interested to find out more about our conversation? Read the transcription below or watch the replay here.

Connect with Ingor here.

#ShowUP with GailNow and guest, Ingor van Rooi

Thu, Dec 01, 2022 3:53PM • 1:03:22

TRANSCRIPT – From Otter.Ai 

(Direct transcription- non-edited version) 

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is GailNow-Thumbnails-47-1-1024x576.png

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

linkedin, people, talk, post, content, katie, connect, lurker, anger, connections, person, comment, algorithm, share, day, thought, curiosity, manufacturing, inger, reach

00:24 GAIL

Well, hello, everyone. Well, I decided to show up in my own historic garb, which is Scottish because today is St. Andrews day. So coming from good Scottish stock, I wanted to do a little bring on some bagpipe music. And well, I just wish everyone a Happy St Andrew’s Day and I’m looking forward to January and Robbie Burns day. And if you check out my LinkedIn post today, you’ll see some information about St. Andrews day. And also when I gave a keynote talk about my Robbie Burns connection and the branding of the bard. Well, welcome. So my name is Gail Robertson and I am Chief curiosity officer with gale. Now, I am super excited today because well, for those of you who aren’t aware, my focus is on helping manufacturers both tell and share their story. And it’s using curiosity as the tool that helps us get there and helping people to sign up, suit up and show up. And my guest today is someone well, this is basically about showing, not just telling about the power of networking, the power of connecting, and the power of finding people to help you do things sometimes if maybe that’s not your expertise, or maybe it’s a time issue. And you need to make sure that you are building out that network of people that can help you. So we’re going to be showing not just telling because when I share this story and the person that’s going to come on screen. This person definitely understands networking, connecting, and also the power that is in Linked in. Now while we’re on a few different platforms, and while I’m really focused of late, a little bit more on YouTube, I do understand how powerful LinkedIn is and how it can connect to some other platforms as well. So I’d like to know, welcome everybody in our studio audience and I also want to welcome my very special guest and if I had a drum I’d say drum roll. Welcome Inga. Oh, oh so great to have you and Inger is someone who wears a few different hats. She helps behind the scenes on my show. She helps behind the scenes with LinkedIn and we work together on some manufacturing projects. And definitely Inger has a specialty in the area of helping people get started on LinkedIn as well in Both coaching and helping guide them. So before we start anger, let’s go over to the studio audience. Let’s see. Well, you’re there. Hello. We have a LinkedIn user. That is that. Hello. We have Whitney. Oh, Hello, friends. Yes, Whitney, so great to see you. You know, when you weren’t here, I think it was last week. It was like, where’s Whitney? Whitney, just now she shows up as an amazing person. So she has Scottish heritage too. Well, there you go. Maybe we’re related way back in the Scottish world. And Katie, she says, Hello, Katie. We’re overdue for an Instagram, FaceTime, or whatever. Because we often get on there and have interesting conversations, don’t we, Katie? All right. So um, well, let’s start with, you know, anger. And I. Well, anger, do you want to maybe share how we first met and the connection? Do you want to?

06:03 INGOR

Yeah, sure. It was way back. Way back when I really first started showing up on LinkedIn. Not long before. And then I was connected to someone who brought me into a networking group that was about manufacturing. And I remember thinking, during the first, the first visit that I had with him, I thought, What the heck am I doing here? And I had my camera off, for most of it. Because I just kept thinking, I don’t think I fit in; what is the point of being here. And, you know, they became like my family, really. And through Sam, who was the host, he’s the one that brought us together. And I remember, you know, our first meeting and how I just felt that we clicked. And it was awesome. And just all because I really got out of my comfort zone.

07:17 GAIL

Right now, there’s a little bit of a freeze there. So I don’t know, maybe because it’s the cold weather? I don’t know, it froze a bit. But yes, it was and it was an ERP call. And I think we both were in that meeting going. Like, I barely know how to spell ERP. Yes, it was definitely a great connection, because we jumped on a call, and then we ended up starting to work together. And so that’s kind of why I wanted to start with that call or with that story is often, you know, people get into social media, or 10, things like that. And, and that is their goal, I’m gonna, you know, I’ve got to get business. And we both were in there. That was not that we were just interested, we were both curious about what was happening, and had no expectation. I think of, you know, at that point, really, whether I was at that point, you were doing more admin work and have gone on to grow your business and go down different routes. Because of curiosity, we’re going to talk about how one of the things that I started to talk about with this, my future project will be looking at the power of curiosity, and curiosity has so much power when you use it, when you embrace it. Wow, it opens up so many doors. So we were both curious, we landed in that group, and we started doing work. So how does this apply to manufacturing? Well, we’re going to talk about that today about how when you sign up, suit up and show up, use curiosity, you know, you will both find solutions sometimes if to your problem, but you will also find people that may need that you may be providing solutions to and you just if you go into it with that approach and attitude much like you go to a trade show much like you go to an event a networking event, the same thing kind of happens in in the LinkedIn world. So yes. So in terms of let’s go back, because a lot of people may think you know, someone like yourself, Oh, well, it’s easy for anger. She’s, you know, out there posting and LinkedIn and it just comes easy to her. Let’s go back to your origin story of how you got on LinkedIn, because I didn’t know until earlier today. That story, which is interesting, how you came on to LinkedIn.

09:48 INGOR

Yeah. I remember back in 2011, actually, somebody came to a meeting with my boss, and he and I in To acted, emailed, called, and then met in person. And after the meeting after we met in person, he sent me an invitation to join LinkedIn. And that invitation sat in my inbox for a while because I thought, What am I going to do on LinkedIn, I just, I, you know, just recently I’ve started a new job. And I really didn’t want to jeopardise that. I didn’t want my boss to think that I was looking for work. So I just, I sort of just left the invitation there. But during a conversation with my boss, maybe a week or two after that invitation came to me. I told him that, you know, this person, let’s call him Bob, Bob invited me to join LinkedIn. And I didn’t, I told my boss, because we had an honesty between us. And I just said, I don’t want to join because I didn’t want you to think that I’m looking for work. And he said, No, LinkedIn is more than that. It’s all about networking. So come and join the fun. And you know, and connect. Even my boss actually told me to connect with him as well. So

11:14 GAIL

and you know, that was right around 2011? Yes. So that would have been probably right when things were definitely shifting, because at one time LinkedIn, if you went on LinkedIn, as soon as you saw someone on LinkedIn, that was kind of all they’re looking for work. I remember that exact same. Same thought. And I want to go to a couple of comments here before we go any further because I know what Whitney said she was Miss last week because she took the day off and saw black Panther with her husband. So that was just before the US Thanksgiving. So I had decided, yeah, go ahead anyways, but Katie said, “Did someone say Irish?” We said Scottish, but we’ll get to the Irish. Don’t worry, we’ll wait. St. Patty’s day, that’s when I can wear green. So now, okay. She also said, I started to hate LinkedIn. ” Now, I want to address this because there’s, I think, because the next thing she says, “Jumping over to YouTube because of LinkedIn glitches.” I think we need to separate LinkedIn live and LinkedIn for networking. And whatever is going on with LinkedIn when it comes to live. I’m not sure they seem to be having problems. But it doesn’t take away from the power of LinkedIn as a networking opportunity as a place to connect and post. So I hear you, Katie, a, I think, without putting words, no, I think that’s what you mean that it’s like, it’s because of the live glitches. And that’s why, you know, for video and, and live, I’m switching more to using YouTube as the main platform for discussion, but a good point to discuss and also, you know, anger, and I talked with this earlier, too, is that, you know, each platform in social media has a different purpose, different use, and some of these people put, you know, I know people that say they hate social media, but then I say, Well, you just spent all this time on YouTube. Well, that’s different. Okay, that’s social media. So, um, you know, yeah, so maybe we can talk a bit about the different platforms, and what are some of the highlights about LinkedIn that you’d say is particularly good for people in manufacturing, but also, maybe other people as well, that might be listening? I know we have some manufacturing people, it seems like we might have some lurkers out there that aren’t manufacturing, per se.

13:36 INGOR

Yes. Well, I want to point out that, you know, LinkedIn is the most trusted social media platform in the world, specifically, because people feel that a source of information that comes from LinkedIn can be trusted. Yeah. That is there is a major stat. And then when you think about it, there are more than 800 million users on LinkedIn worldwide. So if you connect with a few, just a few. There are so many people that you can tap into so many different communities that you can tap into and connect with. So yes, there are more than 800 million users worldwide. And 80% of those people, four out of five of the LinkedIn users are decision makers, so C level executives, and they are the ones that will make those decisions to use your service or to buy your product. So it’s important to be on here for out

14:49 GAIL 

of five or decision makers. That’s amazing. And let’s look at this that I always find is probably maybe one of the most powerful, we had it at 1%. And over the years, it’s gone up a bit. So can you talk about this?

15:11 INGOR

Well, think about it like this, it says only 5.2% of users share content. Right? So if you do, you definitely stand out. If, if you stand on a podium, and you start speaking, that’s how it is, when you’re sharing on LinkedIn, because at least a few people will see what it is that you’re talking about. And the best thing about LinkedIn is not just your first connection, see your content. Because if your first connection sees your content, and they interact with it, then they have connections, these first connections will see your content, which are your second connections, right. And it can even be seen by third, third connections. So you have an it’s an, it’s really, if you don’t use LinkedIn, there’s so much untapped potential of reaching the right audience.

16:13 GAIL

And you know, this that always, and sometimes I have to go and there’s a new study, the reason we updated this, and I will say one thing, you know, from working with anger, and one thing we’ve talked about when you go to someone that has an area of expertise, you know, keeping up on these new stats, keeping up on trends, we’re going to talk about algorithm in a few minutes. But, you know, whenever I see this stat, I always like going, really, really, but when I think about K, how many people do I see posting in my world? And it’s no, you think about all those millions and millions of people around the world. So if only 5.2% share content, what are the rest of the people doing?

16:57 INGOR

Right? They’re watching, they see what you’re doing. There are so many people who lurk that you don’t even realise that they see your content. I’ve been privileged enough to actually know that there are people that lurk because they send me DMS. I say, Oh, thank you so much for posting this, for being vulnerable, for being authentic and showing up sharing your journey with us. And they’ll reference something that I know that I only put in a post. Right, I know that they didn’t engage with that content. But at least I’m getting to know that they actually even though they didn’t engage with it, they have seen it, and it has impacted them.

17:49 GAIL

Now, you’ve also had I understand clients that have given testimonials about since you’ve been helping them on LinkedIn, they’ve had what happened. So this is you’ve come along, they weren’t necessarily having a profile weren’t that active, you came along and worked your magic. And then what happened?

18:15 INGOR

They can’t, doesn’t God seem like they’ve gotten more eyes on the profile on the content, and made connections outside of, you know, the niche market. And, you know, a lot of us are really afraid to go outside of that niche market. But you know, let’s say for instance, if you’re in manufacturing, and you’re connecting with someone who’s in marketing that’s outside of your niche market, yes. However, they may have people that they are connected to that aren’t part of your niche market. So you have to remember that LinkedIn is not just about connecting people with people, right? It’s so much more than that. It’s connecting people with, like Michelle Janae says, it’s connecting people with ideas, people with opportunities, and people with people.

19:13 GAQIL

Yes, yeah, that is for sure. There’s something I was gonna ask about. I lost my train of thought there for a minute about oh, let’s see, well, let’s jump into algorithms to like, come back and remember what I was going to say. So you know what I did, I started to look at comments and then I got thinking and then I went down squirrel. So I lost my train of thought there which happens because we’re live.

19:40 INGOR

Yeah, it happens.

19:43 INGOR

Specialty, my brain has lots of good to talk, but i It’ll come back to me when I’m gonna because there was something as you’re talking, I was like, Oh my God. I remember asking about that. But let’s talk about the algorithm. Oh, I know what I was gonna say I remember this story because it ties into manufacturing. So I was at a trade show recently. And I was talking to this, you know, up and coming company was a newer company. And I said something on social media. He goes, Oh, yeah, we don’t really, we don’t do social media where I’m at. Okay, so I was talking to him, and then he, I said something about LinkedIn. And he said, Oh, yeah, well, we, when we did this post on LinkedIn, I said, Oh, I thought you didn’t use LinkedIn, oh, we’ll post periodically. And I’m like, okay, and he says, Yeah, we got like, a 500 million, like, some mega million project. And I was like, what I saw I said, I thought you didn’t use? He goes? Well, yeah, okay. Yeah, that so I think that’s the thing, people sometimes don’t see that. And it was, again, it wasn’t anything that someone had posted, they had seen this post, and they didn’t even post that often. And I might be wrong with that 500 million, maybe it was 50. Anyways, it was a lot of money. It was a big deal they got so but the the point here is that because they were posting even not that often, someone reached out to them, and they secured a deal. So again, anyone out there that’s not posting, you’re leaving money on the table, because there’s going to be someone else that posts and they’re going to see them. And they’re going to go to them for business, I’m going to take the hats off, it’s getting a little scratchy. And plus, if anyone tunes in I was wearing this hat for because it’s St Andrew’s Day today. But I’m going to take the hat off for a minute. Plus, it’s getting a little hot.

21:38 GAIL

So I often think about analogies, right? And I think that having a LinkedIn account, and just lurking, you can equate it to deciding to go to a trade show. And just standing against the wall and watching everybody talk and network. That’s basically what you’re doing. And you know, it’s almost pointless, to really go to well in East Point is to go to a trade show. You invest the time you invested, you take the effort and you go there. And then do you just stand and watch everybody else, make those connections network, talk to each other, and probably do business together too. Right? So that’s what you’re doing when you show up on LinkedIn. And all you do is scroll.

22:34  GAIL

Yeah. Now you may be if you’re looking for a solution, that’s great. But you’re if you’re looking to actually help people with solutions, and that’s, that’s a really key part of LinkedIn is you know, you can show not just tell and as I said at the start, I help manufacturers show not just tell their story, because people want to see that content. And you know, you can even just do a simple post about a day in your life or talk about something you do. Now, I hear this a lot. In manufacturing, they say well, oh, everybody, everybody does that. Or Everybody knows that. I said yes. But not everybody is talking about it. Not everybody’s posting it. So if you’re the only one posting it. And I learned this when I was at trade shows sometimes because I’d say okay, here’s our three key points. And they’d say, when I worked in insurance, well, yeah, but everybody offers that. I said, Yeah, but not everybody is celebrating it. By the way, I celebrated it for me, but it’s also about that show, right? You have to show up and believe in it. And if this goes back to that Dr. Seuss thing, too, right? Is that no one can be exactly you? Yes. So everyone pote you and I could we’ve gone through you and I could do the same kind of idea. And it’s going to be presented very differently.

23:57 INGOR

Yeah, exactly. It’s crazy. And as long as you’re showing up as you and not wanting to copy somebody else, right? You need to develop a strategy set for yourself. Because you don’t want to become connected or even develop friendships and relationships based off of falsities you want because you know eventually the truth will come out right? So you might as well just be yourself.

24:32 GAIL

Everyone I’ve met so far, including you when we met up in Toronto, but when I’ve met Ray’s I got to what I met David Chrysler said to me Oh, Damon, Damon Pustaka everybody is exactly what they what I’d expect them to be how they show up online how they show up in video. They were to a tee like, at no time did I go? Oh, they all said Yeah, but I was crazy as they thought

25:02 INGOR

Yeah, and let me let me read you the quote that you referenced it says, Today you are you that is true then true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.

25:13 GAIL

I love Dr. Seuss. And did you know the actual pronunciation of his name is Dr. Soy ice? My son did a project and sure enough, I want to research it. There’s a whole history of Dr. sites, but his name is pronounced Dr. Seuss. So it’s amazing how sometimes the interesting bits of information that I gathered in my head my curious brain sometimes I never know when you’re gonna need that. Just throw out the right people. That’s not a trigger. Yeah, go search it. It is. Okay, let’s talk about Well, before we go on, let’s go to some of the comments. So Katie has said, yeah, she said that LinkedIn has been disappointing. I miss being able to interact on that platform. I liked the reactions in the comments. Yes, with me. Yes, Whitney. That’s Whitney. Sorry. Yes, sir. I got my company mixed up. And then Katie says there’s many issues with LinkedIn as a platform, I just basically have a lot to do with the bugs. itchy. You can tell when you look at impressions as well, yes. impressions are important. But so is engagement we’re going to talk about getting to Agra. Posting is so important. Yes. And let’s talk about let’s take that as a jumping off point. Thank you, Diane, that is definitely step one. And I want to stress again, that when and not what worries you most anger, but I, I’ve watched you do this, and I’ve seen the testimonials and heard feedback. So one of anger strikes is that she starts at the ground level of people, gets some comfort, gets their page optimised, and then does it in small steps. So as opposed to just a lot of the training in LinkedIn sometimes comes in, like they expect people to know more than they may know. So there’s a fairly steep learning curve, especially in manufacturing, just because they’ve done so much in person, right. So I, that’s one of the things that I think is a real strength of yours. And anger is extremely patient and a great coach with people, I just want to say that much more than I am. Just do this. So, in terms of posting, and then let’s talk a little bit about engagement. And I know that recent report that just came out and we can either maybe drop a link to that, because that’s one thing you keep up to date on as you know, new reports that are coming out. So what did it say about engagement that you want to also have your company pages three times better? Engagement and only posting? So do you want to maybe add to that about the power of engaging, and beyond just posting?

28:10  INGOR

Yeah, it is so important to engage in other people’s content, not just responding to comments on yours. And the reason is, because this is how you get to see how you build those relationships. It’s like, you know, I do have analogies about lots of things. I will say they love analogy. But it’s like you know, living in a neighbourhood, and only just putting in your earphones, not looking at people, not greeting them when you pass them. Just, you know, focused on getting home and getting to work and getting home and getting to work and really not building those relationships. Well. What happens at 10pm or 11pm? You need, you’re doing something and you need salt? What do you do? You can’t go to those people because you haven’t built relationships with them, right? And so for LinkedIn, it’s so important to really communicate with the people that are in your circle. And I’m talking about engaging in my content, responding to the comments on your posts, and also reaching out through the DMS and taking it beyond this platform because that’s how you grow and learn. Because when you’re exposed to different kinds of people, people that have different backgrounds to you people that have different experiences than you have. When you are exposed to those people you actually grow. And you learn more, right? Yep, so that’s important. But for LinkedIn for sure. Engagement is key and When I’m speaking about engagement, I’m not talking about great posts. And thanks for commenting when somebody comments on your post, that is not what I’m talking about, you need to show up authentically. And you rather take the time and comment on five posts authentically, then copy and paste the same response for 25 posts because that doesn’t work. And to me, I just feel like if somebody does that to me, I feel like you know, I’m just the number. I’m not being seen. They don’t they don’t know me. And they’re not trying to know me, either. So let’s say hello to awesome friends. Resnais recce. Thank you for tuning in. Nice to see you. We trust that you’re doing well.

30:56

Yeah. Great to see. Great

31:01

lady.

31:04 GAIL

And then before we get off from singing. And then we have the king of process here today. Hello, King. Your Majesty. Nice to see you. Your Majesty, when he says good Oh, is greeting Russ and Ross is 1000. Thanks to both of you, gilding. Thank you, Ross. Nice to see you here.

31:30 GAIL

And I see we still have some so people are still seeing on LinkedIn. And then Katie’s jumping in with Ross and yeah, so that’s great. I love the analogy, the neighbour because that kind of works as in life, you know. Now I’m at the polar opposite of that. Like I talk to everybody in line, my neighbours. I remember when I first moved into this house, like I needed an onion so I don’t know what it was. So there were some people on the street here. So I went to my one neighbour, and they didn’t have to go across the street. I’m not okay. I knew my neighbours a bit. I’m like, I know them. I go over the next thing they came up with. Do you want to read any yellow on you know what I? Like? They’re like, whatever you need, whatever you need. And it’s a very culturally diverse community. Right. So anyway, let me just take one No, take more than one, take more than one right and I come over. So yeah, it is. It is about making those connections. And then, you know, all doing that opens up doors. Yeah. So if you’re in a, and I’ve seen this in manufacturing, because a lot of salespeople will go to a trade show, and they are talking to people. And it’s you kind of can do the same on LinkedIn or on any social media, really, but it’s about you know, giving that value back. So I really liked that analogy, because I could see that you know, headphones in head down. You don’t talk to anybody in your world. It can really change when you look up and smile and say hello to strangers, right? I don’t talk to strangers. No, no, no.

33:09

Yeah, I can imagine.

33:13 GAIL

Even if they don’t want to talk to you, it’s like Hello. People down the street. You will have some fun sometimes going, Yes. I have fun. We got to what are the benefits of us? We’re together and we have a lot. And I think it’s another advantage and a lot of the people that are in this in our chat today are people that we do know. And I wonder if there’s you know, I’d love if there’s a lurker out there that would just say, Hey, I’m a lurker. I just want to say I’ve never commented before. Yes, please, please come on. prove this show. Don’t tell yourself. Say I am. You’ll get a price.

34:00 INGOR

Oh my gosh.

34:06 GAIL

So while we’re waiting for the lurker to drop a comment ladies at the mall Have you ever been Yes, I don’t do sir. I’m like no, no, no, but sometimes they will. Yeah, no, no, I wouldn’t I couldn’t do that job because okay, maybe I could but

34:25

yes, you could

34:29

I want there’s a difference right? Yeah, cuz I wouldn’t really want to chase people down I would be

34:34

in all honesty. I can actually see that the people watching on LinkedIn are not commenting.

34:42 GAIL

Okay. David says he’s a lurker now he’s I see as all the laughing faces afterwards because yeah, David is definitely not David is a producer David. Well, David produces listens. comedies? Just kidding, of course networking in the comments Exactly. I’ve met so many Yes. Let’s leave this. This is so true. I can tell you the number of people I’ve met and connected with because of watching a podcast and watching a live show commenting on other things I’ve done. Oh, we got CES, now we are competing to be a lurker doing the five this prize. I love networking. I don’t know who that is. It says LinkedIn users. So send me a DM and we’ll figure out the So, yeah, so the other thing that is really cool to do when it comes to engaging is go and comment. So say, say David has liked someone’s page or comment that I don’t know that person. I will then go into that comment of that person and comment, because then what happens is it’s like, it’s like, meeting a whole bunch of new people. It’s like walking into a room with oh, I don’t know these people as well. But I know that David knows them. So it’s kind of like Well, David knows I’m I’m kind of curious to see and oh my goodness I have that opened up doors as well because it’s like, hold my Oh, so David said let’s go Joyce Winky. Okay, is that Joyce’s is Joyce, the LinkedIn user, David? I think so. I’m just I don’t know. Joyce. Joyce was my mom’s name. So I love that name. Okay. Very cool. Okay, Joyce Okay. If you’re the lurker today. Holiday CD featuring sweet. That was gonna be I would say get up. We’ll get to sing. I’ll maybe create a tick tock specifically for someone who wants me to create a tick tock parlour.

36:51

No, do it. Do it.

36:54. GAIL

It’s funny, I was just talking to someone about tick tock. And they didn’t because they were new to it. They were new to tick tock and had never seen it before. And wondered who I was doing these duets with because they were like, you know, big accounts and that and they were like, how does scale? Nope. Like, did she see them somewhere? So okay, Katie, we would love to do a duet with you. That’d be fun. Yeah, I’ll stay off Tik Tok? Well, I will come back to tick tock again one day because tick tock is another fascinating place to see I should be a song David, well, maybe maybe not. Okay, let’s jump over and talk about algorithms. So I used to think, and I’ve heard this that well, algorithms are kind of a cold way of looking at social, you know, it sounds like you’re just trying to. Yeah, trying to rig the system or something. And it sounds like, oh, I don’t know, is it? So let’s talk about algorithms. And what does that all mean?

38:03 INGOR

Well, all social media has an algorithm. And basically, what it means is, how many people actually get to see your content, and how they end? It depends on a lot of things. I actually, I’ve heard so many different things about their algorithm, including somebody that says that this person is quite the LinkedIn guru, and he said that the algorithm changes multiple times a day. So, you know, I don’t know. Is it something that we should be doing? Because it does feel calculating? Does it feel cold? It does feel inauthentic. Right. And I think the jury’s still out on that question. Because, yes, you know, chasing the algorithm, or playing to the algorithm does allow your content to be seen by more people. It does allow you to get more engagement. But is it real? I don’t know.

39:20  GAIL

You know, I think we talked a bit about this earlier. And I think how I see it is that you don’t want to, I mean, if you’re only playing to the algorithm, and you’re doing everything in a calculated way, it’s a bit like only making friends with people that you’re going to get something back from right. I see algorithms as a piece of the puzzle. You want to, you know, put out content that your clients or prospective clients will need. The one thing I’ve learned about really working with YouTube and you know, how do people have said says there and have done well and have become great providers of content is that they, there is a list listening to what like the questions people are asking because there is things like keyword research and what are I mean, and there’s some real basics like ask your client, what are the what are the top questions your clients? If your clients do certain things, you know that there’s lots more people out there. So if you’re answering those questions, technically, that’s kind of playing to the algorithm, but you’re doing a service to, to clients and future clients. So yeah, I, I think that’s an interesting approach that, you know, you don’t want to only play the algorithm, but the algorithm does have some tips, because we do follow some of those things. So let’s go through some of the tips that, and this latest algorithm algorithm research report that just came out, talked about some of these things. So apparently, the first 90 minutes after you post, let’s talk about some things you can do those first 90 minutes after you post.

41:08 INGOR

They say the engagement in the first 90 minutes is usually important to kickstart the growth of a post, so some elements that you can get more that you can use to get more eyes on your post from the first second is we need to first increase our followers. So in creative mode, creator mode allows you to allow other people to be able to follow you more right? I see Katy actually asked a question and I want to read her the answer, because I’ve seen it. It says creative art can help you grow your following on LinkedIn. When you switch to create more your reach will be amplified. And your primary profile action buttons switch from connect, to follow. That’s why you know, when somebody goes to your profile, they only see the following but they can click on the ellipses, and then be able to connect that way. It says this makes it more likely that people will follow you since it eliminates the need for you to approve the connection first. So that’s the benefit of creative mode. And yeah, like get more people to ring your bell so that they can get notified via LinkedIn when you do have content that gets posted. Right. And you need to respond to all comments with your own comment in these first 90 minutes. Sounds like work, doesn’t it? Yeah. But it pays off.

42:51  INGOR

And, and you have seen and we have discussed this because you have got feedback from clients you’ve worked with. And I think this is really key that you know, and it’s hard to sometimes put time into doing some of these things. So there’s a reason that you know, the skills you bring to the table have been around, you will stay on that you’ll do the research and the legwork, because it will help expand the reach. And I want to just add about that. Because I guess Whitney said, so creating a more mode is more about gaining a following not making connections. Yes and no, here’s where I found it to be helpful with the following sometimes to me, it follows sometimes will be like a wave. So sometimes I’ll see that someone’s followed me, and then I’ll go look at their profile. And then I’ll send them a connection request because I’m like, oh, okay, they sound that sounds salesy, and it’s kind of like a shortcut . To me, it’s like a wave. So I sometimes will follow people and the same thing will happen, because it’s almost like you’re giving if I’m following someone, I’m sort of saying, hey, I’m interested, I want to I’m interested in saying hello, right. Yeah. So that’s a benefit, and it has led to, you know, a connection that might be of interest. So, yeah, you know? Yeah, I think it should always be about the power of making connections. And then going back to looking at, you know, these algorithms, these tips, because I know cases where you must reply to each comment within 90 minutes. Question, Mark. You know, there must be no, I mean, it, all of what this report says is that when they’ve applied, when they’ve researched it, and done all the data from all the studies, they found that when people did those things, it made a difference. Now, you might not always be able to reply to every comment. And I don’t think replying to the comment with

44:40

no, it’s within the first 90 minutes of posting and posting. So if you get four comments, you need to respond to each call base with your own. Yep. No,

44:54

no, no, no, no, no. Yeah. That came from a report. Thank you, Katie for that clarification, this was from This algorithm research report that talked about Yeah, so no, yeah, you must or you will get kicked off LinkedIn remote. That’s the way it is. Katie

45:12

helps your content reach more people if you do. Yeah.

45:16 GAIL

The other things, we talked about reposting and sharing, because that was new. That’s another new and again, all of the things we’re talking about right now, this is all new information, everyone that’s come up with this report. And it’s based on studies that have been done around the algorithm and how LinkedIn works. So you don’t have to do this. It’s just tips. And the reason I want to go on to talk about this is this is why you hire people to help you do things like you hire, you know, accountants, you hire people in it, because you want them you want to at least believe that they’re going to keep up to date on things, any new updates on you know, if you’re hiring your accountant or your bookkeeper, like my bookkeeper or accountant, I want them to keep up to date and all the changes with Revenue Canada, because I don’t want to, I don’t want to worry about that. I don’t want to go to their website. So I’ve hired people to do that. And that’s the same with what we’re talking about today is that it’s about keeping up to date on changes. So okay, let’s talk about reposting and sharing and the change.

46:18. INGOR

So before, if you reposted somebody else’s post or shared someone else’s post, that wasn’t good, but now studies show that it actually does reach people. And it does reach more people than it did before. So that’s a good thing. Because you know, sometimes you don’t have time to, to create your own posts from scratch. Right? You want to create something with substance, right? So at least if you repost or share somebody else’s pose, make sure that you put in your own thoughts first before sharing. Don’t just share it.

47:04

Yeah, no, that is, that is really good. Yeah. And so that’s a change, you know, use and ideally, and I’ve done this as I’ve taken content from someone else’s page, but gave them full credit direct to them back to their page, but I actually did my own post and quoted them in my in my post, I think that’s generally would be likely the ideal. But if you don’t have time, then you can reach for a poster.

47:29

use LinkedIn like original content. So you know, you get more eyes on your content if you post something original, as opposed to sharing, or copying and pasting somebody else’s post.

47:43 

And speaking of content, LinkedIn does like content, because that’s the whole thing about being on social is that they want you to be social, they want you to share, they want engagement, this is all like, I mean, just like, again, if you’re going to a trade show, if you’re going to an event you the idea is to not everybody stand there, no one talked to another. It’s all about connecting. If you go to a conference, you want to hear from good speakers, you want to hear from people with their own ideas and content. So no different than on LinkedIn. Yeah, they did. Oh, go ahead.

48:18

Can we talk about why? Yes, we share content? What’s the point of that? Can anybody let us know what their thoughts are? On? Just why is it important to share content? Because a lot of us, we shy away from that, right? For the longest time, I didn’t post on LinkedIn, and I’m talking about the years. Four years, I haven’t posted on LinkedIn. And you know, because you’re afraid of what someone’s always gonna say, or what they’re going to think. If they read your posts, right. So drop us a comment and let us know what you think is part of the reason why we need to share content. Dave, I think Katie probably had to go to her webinars. So piece by piece. Yeah. And Dave says LinkedIn worked great for about 30 minutes. Hello, my YouTube friends. So Oh, well.

49:28

Let’s go to Katie’s comment because she said, Oh, wait a minute. It’s yours. Yes, you were listening. Katie. You get a gold, you get the gold star for today. Yes. i I have said that this part of my signup suit up and show up is that you have a duty to share your ideas. Share your knowledge and yeah, yes.

49:53

Oh, she says Peace out if she had to come into

50:00 GAIL

Yeah, and, you know, you do the best you can. And it’s, I always say it starts somewhere just like you. People have heard me say this, even if you do one post a month, you’re gonna be further ahead than your competition. So start somewhere for some people, it’s once a month, some people, maybe once a week, some people, maybe twice a week, like you have to set I would say, set that bar so that you can be consistent. Consistency will always win. And just recently I was in a spin class at the gym. And one of the things I liked was going full tilt and all this and the instructor said, yeah, no, it’s better to stay consistent throughout the class. Because what happened midway through the class, I thought I was ready to pass out, right, because I put so much into the first half of the class, my tank was getting empty. So yeah.

50:55 INGOR

So let me share my reasons for why it’s important to share content. The first is, you know, when you’re on LinkedIn, and if you want to build your community, there are certain things you need to do, right. And I have three, I have three guidelines that I follow that I teach, and they are connect, communicate, collaborate. So when you share content, it’s part of the communication tool that I teach people. And sharing content allows you to build relationships, it allows you to build that K L T, that we always talk about, which is known like and trust. So when you share content, you build relationships, because you allow people to get to know you as a person, to like you, and then to trust you. So that’s part of the reason why we need to actually have that where we share content on LinkedIn. The second thing is, we want to build brand awareness. And even if you’re not, you know, talking about what you do, or the work that you do, or the company that you work for your brand, is not just that your brand is you as a person. So if you believe in positivity, and you share content about that, that’s your brand that allows people to get to know you. So you, you grow your build your brand awareness. And then when people like you, you build and grow your brand loyalty, because now people become loyal to you because they see that you are authentic, they see who you are. And that is through your content, and also through your engagement. But content is key when it comes to that.

53:02

Yeah, it’s true. I love that answer. Those are very true that you were, you know, again, if you’re not talking about it, and I’ve said this many times if a tree falls in the forest, and no one documents no one talks about it. Yes. Did it happen? And that’s kind of how it is with our content.

53:22

Yep, exactly. Yeah. I know we need to wrap up soon.

53:28 GAIL

So let’s also say one of the things you quote from this study is personal stories, including selfies. Yes, yes. Yes. Well, that’s part of my brand. See, that’s the thing is for me doing selfies is now when I go to various places people always ask me like, Who are you doing this like it’s now and plus I have an it is a bit of a control that because I have full control a photo and how it’s going to be other people have given my camera to them. And next thing you know, your heads are cut off or it’s like bad lighting so I can look and I’m like I know exactly what this photo will look like.

54:05

So yes, have a look at this. Oh, yes,

54:09

let’s talk so that is when I was on my way up north. I’m very Oh, casual. Well, I was on my way up north and I stopped in Toronto and we had coffee and a treat together. Yes. So yeah,

54:26

of course we had to take a selfie of course

54:29

He had to do a selfie . I have a video I’ve never posted. I still have a video of us. You know, remember the Wasp came in everything to make that video may resurface one day just warning you oh okay, I want to fit in okay. How do you act because I always ask all my guests this: how do you exercise your curious mind?

54:52

Who really the different ways that I do it,

55:03

We can talk about the public.

55:07  INGOR

So the first one is, if I come across a concept or a word or something that I don’t know much about, I research it. And it can be about a person to my husband that actually often says to me, how the heck do you know this? But I’m like, this Google’s my friend. That’s why, you know, I find out different things about people, you know, celebrities or people that are interested in things like, you can find a lot online. And then, another way that I exercise my curious mind is by accepting people for who they are, you often speak about, you know, be curious, not judgmental. And I exercise in that way. Because I try to, I strive to accept people and not not judge them if they’re doing something outside of what I would do. Because we all have our own standards. We all have our own ways of doing things. And so I don’t judge them. But I’m curious sometimes I’m just curious as to why. And I’ll ask why.

56:27

I love that. And, you know, one of the things we’ll be doing more work on and talking about is, let’s put that quote up. Yes. I want to say this. Thank God for anger. And then I get so angry. And then it’s like, oh, yeah, and guilt.

56:50

Secondary billing.

56:53 GAIL

It is, you know, the project that that I’ve been discussing is about, you know, how everyone may need to exercise curious minds. So this is a little peek, a little hint about what awaits is how we can act, how we can all exercise our curious minds even more, that will help in all areas of life. So states are going to be

57:16

I know we’re approaching the hour but didn’t want to ask me about my recent visit to a trade show.

57:22

Oh, yes. Yes. Let’s okay. Yes. Forgot about that. Thank you recent visit trade show, because you didn’t want to go to that or you’re

57:30 INGOR

  1. So I’m used to it. I mean, and I wasn’t before I wasn’t used to doing things online, I had to step out of my comfort zone and learn, learn how to show up online. But as a result, I haven’t done much networking in person. And I remember one day, I just seem to get on the phone. Oh, Gail, thinking about going to a network like a trade show. I should look and see what is available around me. And Gail, the very next day sent me one. It looks like I’m not ready. And she said no, just go. And I actually want to think I was being smart. And I called a friend and I said, Hey, this trade show is happening. Would you like to go with me? And me, me, me because we haven’t met in person by Katie. And he said yes, for sure. I’d love to, but I have an appointment in the morning and I’ll come a little bit later. So okay, off I went to the train show. Well, I got there and I was like, I don’t want to go inside. Like, what am I gonna do? Yeah, what am I gonna say to people? And then, and so I decided to wait for my friend. And I waited an hour. And I was still waiting. And then he messaged me to say that he’s not, he won’t be able to make it. And I was like, Oh, crap, like, I can’t have travelled all the way Yeah, and not go in. So I went inside, and I went and I spoke to the first person that I saw through those doors. And this gentleman was very kind. We spoke about LinkedIn, and I told him what I did. And now he sent me a message asking me if I’d like to speak at an event about LinkedIn and the benefits pay off. So you just don’t know what kind of doors can open when you show up online and in person.

59:39 GAIL

That I love that story because that is an example that you know, in reverse, right? You went in person and you rocked it and you know you can do it with ease because you’re so personable. I’ve met you in person and a way to go. Alright, well, I know I’m going to be having you back on as a guest and And we will be probably starting to I’m, we’ve got a few things planned before your end. But we’ll, I’m gonna have you go to the green room and I’ll see you in the green room.

1:00:12

Okay, see oh, wait one last thing here, let’s

1:00:14 GAIL

make sure everybody knows how they can reach you. And that angered Well, I’m gonna say this because I’m just gonna let people know and manufacture to spread the word because anger has had some phenomenal results with people doing that one on one coaching when it comes to LinkedIn. So how can they reach you?

1:00:35 INGOR

Thank you. The best way to reach me is through LinkedIn. Just look me up. There are not many RS on LinkedIn. So you’ll find me, you’ll find my face. And definitely connect and that we know that you are watching and we’d love to connect with me. Thank you for the opportunity to be on your show, Gil.

1:00:56. GAIL

Thank you. Okay, you can go where we go. Okay, thanks, everybody for showing up today. And, you know, Inger is definitely someone that’s made a big difference in my world in terms of, you know, the work I’ve been doing. And you know, if anyone does want to talk strategy, and wants to learn about how they can both tell and share their story and look at their brand, and how to use public relations. And, you know, for myself as well, Chief curiosity officer, but previously, and now, you know, I’m a recovering journalist. So one of my strengths is definitely, you know, helping uncover stories, and also how best to position it. So I’ve also helped companies and people with news releases, and also how to get their story out and what are the best options. So if you want to reach out to me, and then again, Inger also does work with me and works with some clients on that one on one as well when it comes to LinkedIn. So if you have any questions, please reach out. And I will be back talking more about and updating what some of the next things that are in store with Gail now. I do have a few things I’m working on for next year, and it will be focused around curiosity. And so I want to thank everybody for coming out. Thank you, David for the Yes, awesome conversation. Yes, it was awesome. Because there’s so much to learn about how we can connect on social media and especially on LinkedIn. Okay, well, I’m going to head out now putting my team back on and go listen to some more bagpipe music, because I do love bagpipes. And then I’ll be thinking about January, Robbie Burns day. Because two years ago, I did the immortal memory speech that was so fun to work on to sell, learned lots about myself and about the power of branding even as far back as the 1600s. So branding, always been important. Okay, thanks, everybody, and we’ll talk soon

Shift from getting to giving delivers results & rewards

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

Mahatma Gandhi

While  it feels good to be served or to be on the receiving end of someone else’s generosity,  can it be rewarding to be a giver? 

Helping others can make you feel rewarded, fulfilled and empowered and helps one show up for others in every sense!

Today is also Giving Tuesday – November 29, 2022 – so what better way to celebrate than talk about the value of giving to others and to yourself. 

An article on Upworthy’s website lists the following benefits to giving / helping others:

  1. People who give to others are more likely to be happier people: According to a book entitled “The Paradox of Generosity“, Americans who describe themselves as “very happy” volunteer for an average of 5.8 hours every month. Those who donate more than 10% of their incomes also exhibited lower rates of depression than those who didn’t.
  2. Helping others releases oxytocin, which results in the feeling of happiness: this is because oxytocin triggers the release of another chemical, called nitric oxide, which reduces blood pressure.
  3. Helping others could help reduce chronic pain: Studies have shown that people with chronic pain reported feeling less discomfort after helping others with the same ailment.
  4. Oxytocin also reduces levels of free radicals in our bodies, which contribute to aging and sometimes cancer, so, in a way, helpfulness can actually slow aging!
  5. Helpfulness increases productivity: Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist who encourages us to give more and act like an original, has become a leading researcher in organizational psychology based on his projects that show employees are exponentially more productive when they have direct interactions with the people who benefit from their work.

All of these are good points, especially personally, but how does it apply to showing up in business or the working world?

According to an article on the website for Harvard Business Review, generosity is a characteristic not usually sought when hiring someone, especially leaders. Unfortunately, it is more frequently an afterthought or a by-product, even just a “nice-to-have” quality. 

People tend to gravitate toward others who are kind and generous because kind people pay attention and the happiness and well-being of others are on their mind. While they respect personal boundaries, they support and celebrate what serves your higher good. They want to know how your day is, how your family is, and that others in your life are treating you well. If a manager or leader is generous, they’ll probably be well-liked. Even more than that, it is believed that generosity can contribute to general success (or showing up) in your career.

Here are a few ways listed in an article on the Forbes website to help you show up and implement generosity or giving in the workplace:

  • Share your knowledge
  • Share your resources
  • Make others aware of opportunities
  • Give transparent feedback
  • Be a brand advocate
  • Make introductions
  • Volunteer your time
  • Recognize others for valuable contributions

I believe sharing knowledge and resources is a duty that we all should fulfill, especially in manufacturing . There is an abundance of knowledge to share and as I often say – Sign Up Suit Up #ShowUP.    

I recently interviewed Bob Burg on #ShowUP with GailNow. He is the co-author of the international bestseller, “The Go-Giver”. This literary work is centered around the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success:

  1. The Law of Value – “Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.”
  2. The Law of Compensation – “Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.”
  3. The Law of Influence – “Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.”
  4. The Law of Authenticity – “The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.”
  5. The Law of Receptivity – “The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.”

The biggest idea behind this book is that shifting our focus from getting to giving (constantly and consistently providing value to others) is not only a fulfilling way to live life and conduct business, but the most profitable way, as well. 

According to the Go-Giver website, businesses large and small, schools, churches and hospitals to law firms and information technology companies, individuals and groups around the world have applied the book’s Five Laws of Stratospheric Success within their organizations and businesses, relationships and personal lives. This giving mindset has been adopted so widely that it has grown into a worldwide movement. 

During the interview, Bob shared that relationships and the pursuit of them are key to success. He said that, “…the golden rule of sales, of business, of networking (including on LinkedIn), is simply that all things being equal, people will do business with and refer business to those people they know, like and trust. What I don’t say is that they do business with and refer business to those computers, they know, like and trust. So I think it’s really important to understand that the same basic principles that apply in person, IRL, right in real life, also apply online.”

He went on to say that, “…while you wouldn’t think of just meeting someone, and just boom, going right after the sale, well, the same is true online, it’s still that relationship that you’re developing, and even more so online, where people are just bombarded so often with people who, who connect with them, and then all of a sudden, just, you know, go for the sale, I think we need to realize it’s still all about the value we can provide to another human being.”

He shared that he believes that it is important to note that giving and receiving are not opposite concepts; that they are simply two sides of the very same coin and that they work in tandem. So, that means that a person is not either a giver or a receiver, but that you’re a giver and a receiver. 

Something that Bob emphasized that is well-known by the human race is that the giving comes first. This is universal law: laws of nature, human nature and physical nature. We have to plant before we harvest before we reap, so we give value before we receive. “The key is that when doing so, and understanding that you have that when you’re giving correctly, to a lot of people, placing their interests first and coming from your true authentic core, you have created the benevolent context for your success.”, said Burg.

He also shared that when prosperity comes to you, you’ve got to be able to willingly and lovingly, and with gratitude, receive it.

That is the key to giving: allowing yourself to also receive!

As was expressed in the book and is the underlying concept of The Go-Giver, “The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.”

I believe when one effectively gives, by remaining open to receiving, we can wholeheartedly show up for others, as well as ourselves; thereby living our lives to the fullest!

Transcript:  ShowUp with GailNow Live with guest Bob Burg 

Link to YouTube Show: https://youtu.be/W7uxu6o3U5w

And

Stay-at-home Mom to powerhouse CEO: 30 years at helm!

Kim Thiara shows – not just tells – how to tackle life head-on, personally and professionally and now celebrates three decades leading a company started by her father. 

Thiara is the driving force behind a company who is making great strides in the Canadian Manufacturing World. 

She is a relationship-builder and a proud mother and grandmother, who leads her tribe by example. This woman shows up – with a welcoming and approachable attitude.

She understands the Sign Up Suit Up and Show Up approach to life! 

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Kim Thiara, Brian Bendig, President of Cavalier Tool and Manufacturing and Gail Robertson, GailNow 

Kim is the CEO and President of AceTronic Industrial Controls Inc., a company that was started by her father in 1983 after he recognized a growing need in the Plastics Industry for a reliable partner in repairs for temperature controls and custom electrical solutions. 

AceTronic manufactures, services and distributes to the plastics molding industry:

  • manufacturing custom parts and equipment to support North American plastic manufacturers
  • servicing and repairing plastic manufacturing equipment and components
  • exclusively distributing through alliances with Bohler-Uddeholm, Progressive Components, Slide and Smartflow

Almost 40 years old, the company has grown and continues to grow in becoming a leader of comprehensive manufacturing and distribution for standard and custom solutions in the plastic industry, as well as an extension of their Customers’ Preventative Maintenance program team by staying true to their origins.

As she tells it, her father became overwhelmed with the paperwork for the business in the late 90’s and asked her to help him with that, including the invoicing. Over the years, her position at the company evolved into sales and she learned a lot about the roles she took on, the company her father had started, as well as the industry it was part of by asking questions. Through her helping with the sales, they identified gaps that their customers were experiencing and expanded their offering.

Eventually, Kim purchased the company from her father and with her team, continued to diversify their offering and increase their manufacturing capabilities. In conversation, Kim honestly states that she never intended to take on a full-time role at any company, let alone the one owned by her family, but it was a gradual process that took her from being a stay-at-home mother to 4 kids, to eventually becoming the CEO of a company in a very male-dominated industry AND loving it! In fact, she has been part of said company for almost 3 decades.

According to a report published in June of this year on the Statistics Canada website, businesses majority-owned by women accounted for 17.5% of all private-sector businesses in Canada in the second quarter of 2022. They are more prevalent in service industries, such as health care and social assistance; professional, scientific and technical services; and retail trade.

Despite that, Kim has demonstrated throughout her career, the POWER of showing up!

Check out this TikTok as well to show how much fun Kim and Simmie can be – and well, maybe with a nudge from GailNow!! 

AceTronic is proudly associated with APMA, Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association and Kim serves on the Board of Directors for this association. It is Canada’s national association representing OEM producers of parts, equipment, tools, supplies, advanced technology, and services for the worldwide automotive industry. 

AceTronic is also a proud member of the Canadian Association of Moldmakers (CAMM). As the leading national association representing Moldmakers, CAMM strives to serve the community with the expertise and the products to serve the Moldmakers Industry. CAMM obtains their direction through an 18-member Board of Directors (which includes Kim, who is now the Chairperson), each of whom is a leader in the industry.

 

In a recent interview on #ShowUP with GailNow, I sat down to talk with both Kim and her daughter, Simmie Thiara, who also works in the business, as the Director of Strategic Development & Sales. She shared that she worked in and outside of AceTronic for many years, including working there during the Summers while she studied. She now has been working in the business full-time for about 6 years in her current role.

She shares that her mother is modest, but has really built up the business because of her nurturing nature as she has nurtured her relationships with her customers, partners; everyone in her network!

Nowadays, many people are afraid to show up on social media, regardless of the platform, even though it has been proven to be an essential component of personal (and business) success today. 

This could be because of various reasons, such as:

  • Fear of being stalked
  • Fear of being judged / criticized
  • Fear of being catfished
  • Fear of being ridiculed

While Simmie was on maternity leave, Kim shared with her that I, as well as others, had been encouraging her to start sharing videos. Both of their approaches to sales have always been very hands-on, on the floor, right next to the machines. 

As Simmie tells it, “…a lot of the time you need to be by the press in order to assess what’s going on and what the customers’ needs are.” However, due to the pandemic (and the change in protocols that came with it), interaction with others is not the same, creating a gap; prompting her to look into the idea, “…because people still want to do business with people.”

So, they started doing video; product specific videos, promotional videos, informational videos, or just general sales calls, sending them by email and now they’re starting to share more on LinkedIn.

She also shared they are perfectionists and that is hindering them from producing content because they’re so critical of what they’re putting out. A recent conversation that Simmie had with someone in their network underlined something pertinent for her: they are the experts and therefore just need to create videos!

Not long afterward, Simmie encouraged Kim to create and post a video regarding a large inventory shipment that AceTronic received, saying, “Just do the video. Just do it. Don’t be afraid to, just do it!” 

Although she was hesitant, Kim posted it and Simmie says, “… it was great and it was real. I think the thing that’s the most important is that we have to remind ourselves (and I’m saying this because I’m also reminding myself), that people want to do business with people, but people want to do business with real people. They want it to be very natural and so, don’t try and overcompensate; don’t edit it, just put out the content.”

Kim shared that the video kind of sat at the bottom of her screen all day before she could actually post it because, “I was really looking at it and re-listening to it and saying, oh, but you can hear this in the background; oh, maybe I should have stood this way. So I just spent the day going back and forth asking myself: to post or not to post? Finally I just pressed it really quickly and let it go. I thought, what’s the worst thing that could happen? Honestly, you know, okay, so people say you suck at it, it’s bad. Okay, so we won’t, I won’t do it again. That’s not gonna mean, I’m gonna stop doing business, I’m still gonna continue doing business. But then if this goes, well, then okay, then now I can start experimenting a little more. So it was, it was very much out of my comfort zone.

Like Simmie said, “Just do it!”, so I did and got very, very positive feedback! So, keeping it real is very important. Yeah, we’re real people doing business with real people. We’re not professional videographers, we don’t have a studio, we’ve got an office and we’ve got a plant; we don’t have lighting systems, we don’t have backgrounds. So just use what we have.”

In all my work across various industries and no matter which hat I wear, I have realized that no one is alone in the fear of social media or video! As I now help others through my company (GailNow) to show up and tell and share their story, I can say that mindset is EVERYTHING! We must decide to sign up (which entails a mindset adjustment), then suit up (prepare for what we want to achieve), before we can truly show up!

And even Simmie starred in a TikTok early on with me – and I always am impressed with people willing to Show up!  

It was obvious to me that Kim and Simmie had signed up, then suited up (by talking about it,  gathering information, doing research) and what I was most impressed with, is that they’ve used video through their emails, not just on social media, when showing up!

In life, there are so many things we can do; write a book, climb a mountain, start a family, carry on a family tradition, build a community, scale a business or even be on video, but none of it can ever be done without showing up, which is not always easy, but incredibly powerful when you do!

 

Photos from a recent Canadian Association of MoldMakers Mix and Mingle Event! 

 

 

#ShowUP with GailNow and guests, Kim & Simmie Thiara

 

Link to YouTube Show: https://youtu.be/sZBPmt9E7UE

TRANSCRIPT – From Otter.Ai 

(Direct transcription- non-edited version) 

 

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

people, manufacturing, talking, kim, tick tock, customers, shimmy, women, company, golf tournament, tiki hut, business, story, linkedin, mold, transferable skills, post, sales, hear, mom

GAIL 00:21

Hello, everyone and welcome to show up with Gil now. I thought this song was so appropriate. This girl is on fire. And we have some great guests. Today, I am talking about stories, the power of stories. Now manufacturing, I find that most manufacturers really struggle with how to both tell and share their story. So that’s where I come in. My name is Gail Robertson with gale now and I’m the Chief curiosity officer. And I teach manufacturers how to sign up, suit up and show up to help tell their story in this virtual and digital world. The world has been changing for a while now. But especially in the last couple of years, there is such an urgent need to be able to figure out ways to share our stories online and use all these tools at our disposal. So beyond doing cold calls and emails, there is an opportunity to use social media in a new and creative way. So today, we have a couple of great guests and they definitely have so many great stories and we were just talking about how we connected and how we met so we’re going to hear more about that. And before I bring them on stage because this is the first time we’re having a mother daughter duo today. But I think I want to go back a bit to the summer and this is going to be an intro video to one of our guests because for those of you that know me and follow me you know that well fun is also a part of how I like to do my business and how I like to show up because well don’t we all like to have a little more fun in our life. So let’s have a little bit of fun with our guests today like your booth. That is to see La la la la la la la la la la la. Okay, let’s bring our guests first up. Shimmy Tierra is in the house. Welcome Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy. Here we are there shimmy. Hello series. Hello and let’s bring your mind Kim. Hello Kim.

KIM 04:35

Hey, go girl. Go girl. Hi there, um,

GAIL 04:43

that was in my earlier stages of Tik Tok too. So and I have one of the things that I love about people who show up semi high fives you pull prompts when I said let’s do a tick tock you’re like yeah, so and you jump right in and that says so much about What we’re going to be talking about today because it’s all about, you know, getting outside your comfort zone taking some risk and showing up. Before we do that, though, I do want it. We have some people joining in in our comments. And I know by the amount of people that have been signing up to come and hear this show today that you both have a strong following. So we have we have John Bufalino is in the house and some of the people that I’m mentioning, I met through through a proof that a Twitter chat that I’m on call USA manufacturing our we have David Chrysler also met I think, I’m not sure. Dave I feel like Dave and I go back so far that we just know each other for so long, but we’ve met through yet. Let’s go Gail. Thanks, David. We have and I’m gonna see if I’m missing any comments because we had some people earlier start Oh, my goodness, I missed Oh, we were gonna go back to the start because there’s I want to mention Ali Donnelly’s in the house and Ally is a young woman in manufacturing. She is in the electrical trades and just a dynamo. She was on my show previously as well and really great that she could stop by so John and we have Janae Leslie Bergland who is the president of Canadian Association lawmakers. Hello, Janine, welcome. We have Oh, Gabe Leal. Now gay is an amazing supporter of live streaming. He does a lot of work on LinkedIn and he’s also come over to Twitter. He’s come over to the Twitter side so I’ll be seeing them there. He says he’s all pumped up now. We have yep, this girl is on fire. I think he once told me that. There was a song that should be my song and I wanted to share that song with both of you because I think both of you are on fire as well. Let’s see we have a Gabler because I am so amped up, but I want to punch something really hard. I don’t know where that gave. We definitely have to do a Twitter space. I think we will have some fun there. So yeah, so David, John. Wow, Elizabeth Elias Hernandez is also in the house. Lit we’ll get back to Elizabeth I met shimmy. That was a person that he was at a networking event that Elizabeth Elizabeth is with her co marketing. She does great work with a lot of local businesses here in Windsor ethics. gave Israel he says you sounded like Justin Bieber knew as much we have some to see already. It’s getting to be fun. Oh, we might kick Hello. He says which one is the mother, which is the daughter? Oh, let’s not know that.

KIM 07:45

That’s flattering for me. I’m happy for you. But I’m not. Yeah, I’m not sure.

GAIL 07:54

Well, he doesn’t know maybe your mom. No, I think he knows. I’m thrilled. I think he likes to parade some favors there. So David wrote this as he wrote old souls gear up. That’s how I’m able to channel my inner game. He uses that term because he’s on Tik Tok too, and doing a great job. Let’s see we have oh, Sara clays here. Oh my god. I just heard her on the Tim and Jim show earlier she says yet we’re following each other around LinkedIn. And again, the power of social media powers LinkedIn. I just connected with her. And here she is at a live show today. Sarah, thank you so much. That’s amazing. Bonnie Sussman is strong. And you also say Hello. Wow. We will get to the show everybody but these comments today are just blowing up my body. I also know from networking and for anyone not connected with her. I don’t know. Kim, are you connected with Bonnie? I don’t think so. Okay, if you’re not definitely today to connect with Bonnie she’s doing some amazing work on how to use video and using social media so we’ll be getting to that. Oh my gosh. We have so far Janine says. They say it’s so good. I want to leave. Janine has great stories, too. And we have lots of humor today. So okay, I think Sarah loves the orange vibe here today. She was wearing it and I noticed her orange in the background today. So yes, and orange in your backyard, Kim. Okay. Thank you for all of the comments. Please continue to network and drop comments. And I’m going to try to circle back a bit in a while. But we do want to get to our guests today here more. So let’s start with Kim. Can you ace tronics? Can you tell us a bit about the company just so people that may be listening right now we’re going okay, you’re from this company, you’re in the plastics world you’re in manufacturing. Tell me for those in one on one kind of what this company does and what it’s all about.

KIM 09:47

So I’ll just keep it very simple because I think you’ve got quite a diverse array in your audience. Yeah, so basically a Stronach focuses on companies that are molding plastic. parts. So we supply through distribution as well as manufacturing, components and control systems that help to regulate the temperature of the plastic so that our customers can mold parts. So we deal primarily with molders. So whether they’re injection molders, blow molders, extrusion companies, or any types of plastic molding, that’s pretty much our client base. And then we have some products that also appeal to the mold makers. So yeah, that’s, that’s, in a nutshell,

GAIL 10:33

I like that because it’s about control. So if we had to sum up in real sensors about controlling the temperature of the plastic, because that is so key, because how long it takes can really impact business. That’s what I know, because I work more in the mold making side and I know they have to make the tools and get the tool set up so that when you pour the plastic in where the older posts, the plastic in, all of these pieces have to work together. So

KIM 10:57

okay, so our components fit in line fit and connect to the molds. So pretty much the majority of our customers have molds. So we control what’s happening in the mold as far as temperature is controlled, concerned, sorry.

GAIL 11:12

Well, I love this because I am getting more and more into the world of plastics. And that’s becoming more of my niche and focusing on working with companies in the plastics industry. And we’ll maybe get to this at some point today to talk about, you know, the value of plastic, because we hear a lot about banning plastics, when what we really need to focus on is the disposal of plastics and how we dispose of them. Because one thing I have learned as an outsider, initially, this industry and now being more immersed in it is that we can’t live without plastics. And our role is just like, we’re nowhere near that, like medical devices. I always tell people to scan your room, scan every room in your house and your car and every device that you use and try to find. Think of what happens if plastic was to decide, do we really want to ban them? So? Yeah, so I’m going to be doing some more work on that. Because that really excites me as someone coming from outside this world and looking at, you know, changing the story to we really need to tell that story. Alright, great. So Kim, before we get to Simmie, I also want to talk about how you got into your business, initially, it was owned by your father. Correct? And can you maybe just give a little bit of a summary and then we’re going to switch over here. So Simmie got into the business because they, as a mother daughter duo, it’s really fascinating that you are doing so much great work in encouraging women and showing by example of the great work you’re doing.

KIM 12:43

Okay, so basically, my dad started the business, and it got to a point where he couldn’t handle that he couldn’t manage the paperwork. So he gave me a call and said, Can you come help do my paperwork for me, you know, the invoicing and whatnot. So that’s how it started. And then just, you know, fast forward to 26 years later, I’m still here. But basically, it was just to help him with his paperwork. And over the years, it evolved. You know, I started doing sales, and through the sales, we started, you know, diversifying what we did as a company. And then I ended up purchasing the company from my father. And then we started to continue our diversification and, and, and increasing our manufacturing capabilities. But essentially, from the get go, it really basically was just to come in and help for a little while. I mean, I never, I never imagined that I would be sitting here today, doing what we’re doing as a company and let alone semi my daughter working here at that, you know, that’s just was not even in the thought process. You know, I was a stay at home mother, I had four kids at the time, I just had my fourth. And so I really didn’t have time for a full time job. So yeah, it was just half a day, once a week that I was doing and it slowly went to two days a week, you know, then three days a week. And it just kind of snowballed from there. But I love it now.

GAIL 14:13

That is a great story and fortune. I mean, wow. I’m always impressed at you know, you know, because a lot of times, especially when it comes to the liter ratio, that still does fall a lot on women ‘s right to take on the bulk of that work. So that’s amazing. And we have ally downs and way to go girls, my mom got me into trades so you are all awesome. I love this new store. And that’s what I love about these types of shows is that it really shows you know, there are paths and it’s not always easy, but there are, it’s always good to see what other people have done. And Ali, I’m really glad that she could stop in today and talk about that because it’s important to just share that. So Sammy, let’s go over to you. We have more comments coming in and I’m seeing lots of networking going on in the comments which is fun. Right. So that will get us back to some of the comments after. So please continue the networking, shimmy. Now you got into wanting to tell your story of how you got into this business because you didn’t initially start in it, right? You came in through a different route.

SIMMIE  15:15

I did, but it does sound a little similar in that the hours started creeping up and up. So I was in financial planning, and I was doing that for a couple of years. And mom was overwhelmed with a specific project. So I had freedom with my schedule to give her some time during the week. And so that’s initially how it started. And the business really started snowballing. What are we talking about maybe 25th, teen 2014 I can’t quite remember the year and we had acquired a couple of new distribution lines. And so anyway, so we got a little busier. And we had a GM come in to the company to offer some assistance. And he asked me if I was going to be a part of the business. And I guess I always took it for granted that it would be there. If I wanted to work there, buddy, almost put an ultimatum on me. And I thought, Well, I definitely want to be included. So let’s do this. So I jumped in with both feet at that time after being in and out over the years, summertime gigs are just in between school or whatever the case was. And so yeah, I think it’s been six going on six, or I can’t even remember six years, maybe full time in sales. And the story is what drives me both myself and mom, our story’s a strong one. It’s a strong one for us anyways, that everybody else is not interested in the story. It’s what keeps us going every day. And I think she’s been so modest. Yeah, she started out helping with paper, and just the admin side of things. But it was really because she’s a mother of four. And I’ve used this line before, but it’s so fitting that her nature is to nurture and she nurtured every single relationship she had with her customers, with our partners, with anybody in her network. And I think that speaks to the strength of a strong person today.

GAIL 17:32

Simmie,  that is so true. What I have known about your mom, she is probably the most understated yet she would be definitely and I would know from a sales perspective, I can already know without a doubt that she is someone who would be the under promise and over deliver every time because you know what I’ve seen in terms of whenever any dealings so I’m glad you’re here to say that and celebrate your mom because she definitely is a rock star that and I know we’re getting sometimes I think a little bit of feedback. So I think we may sometimes mute your I think it might be your microphone, Kim. So just keep that in mind that we’re not muting you, it’s just a little bit of feedback. So we want to make sure we keep going strong with the sound so we hear all of this so we will also get ice. Janine just wrote that mother’s skills help with all jobs equals transferable skills. That is so true. You know, so many women too. And I think this is an opportunity for any women listening or if you know of any women that read wants to re enter the workforce, there’s so many opportunities in manufacturing. And I think women think well I’ve been out of the workforce I haven’t this always gets me going they say I haven’t I haven’t been working meanwhile they’ve been home raising children and and that is such a significant job because you’re doing inventory of inventory control scheduling, you know, you name it and Monster doing it and see me I want to get this in that you are a newer mom as well, right?

19:04

I am. Yes.

19:06

How old is

19:08

little guy? Wherever this is? Yeah, he’s uh, his name’s Danny. He’s gonna be two in May. Yeah, wow. Two

19:23

What are you gonna say or can I say it to me? This is live number two on the way you heard it here first. Gale now lives.

19:45

I’m more of a private person. I don’t operate on social media. So I really appreciate you announcing that. Thank you. Yeah,

19:51

it’s it’s family. It’s got a family wherever they can start the gifts Florida. Oh, that’s exciting. Yeah, did he say your little one was at the golf tournament scene? So that was it. Okay. Golf Tournament, I do want to address this because that’s where we did the TIC stock video. And let’s talk a little bit because there’s so many great things about your story. But you know, today’s show, we’ll also be talking about the power of showing up, the power of connecting, telling the story, meeting people, both in person and on social media. And when I’m working with plans, a lot of times they think that it’s like all or none as well. I’m either on social media or an immediate person, or they say, I want to go to in-person events. And one of the things I try to always stress is that you can do both. You don’t have to, you know, stay at home and not be at events, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need to be social as well. So let’s talk about the tiki hut and a little bit about you know, you made some connections. I don’t know, maybe Kim, if you want to address that because I was there when people came by. And part of your sponsorship, I believe, was for setting up the TPM. So you want to get a little context about what the tiki hut is. And the golf tournament.

21:06

Okay, yeah, so just backing up just a little bit. So I enjoy golf, but golf, but I don’t love golf, and I’ve been golfing. And I felt we, you know, had the opportunity to host one of the holes at the can golf tournament, which I must say, is organized by Mike Hicks from our camp Association. And he does a stellar job with putting that together. So he you know, he said, Can we have a hole available? Would you like to take one so we took the hole and it just happened to be hole number one, which was great for Ace. But I really wanted to make it a fun stop on the golf, run, walk whatever. So, you know, our general manager at the time, seismograph, he’s also an industry veteran, and he said, Kim, why don’t you consider a tiki hut. So we, you know, we’ve been doing that for I think, I think this is our fourth year now. But it just allows us the opportunity to kind of make it a little bit more fun and exciting. And there’s a lot more opportunity for one on ones. And this year, especially given COVID It was like, Oh my God, it was like a break in the clouds. We got to go out for this amazing day and meet customers and potential customers, old friends. And this year, we had some great participants sign up for the golf tournament. And one group came through and before we sent me your I had even a chance to say anything. He walked up and he said, Oh my gosh, Ace Tronic Chem Tierra, I know you, you, you know your data. And he went through a whole bunch of things about our company and unbeknownst to myself, so he had to read about us on social media, which was great to hear.

23:06

That is, yeah, to me, I think you’re still fine, I think I can still see you. Now that to me sums up what I try to always encourage in manufacturing is that you can still be out there you can still and then you can meet people because of social media because of the connections made there. And one of the things that now I know Ken may need to go off and come back in. So just you know we are live and Kim is actually on the phone today just to get a little background so we will keep discussing. In fact, now would be a good time to go back to some of the comments. Let’s go back. We had Mike say we used to have a beer and a hotdog holder okay. It turned into a hot tiki, yeah. So it’s evolved that I think one year you had margaritas another year has been for nothing else you should sign up for the Canadian Association will make his golf tournament because of the TV head because there’s always a fun time there. And what I found really interesting was that interaction because I was there and saw that as well. And when you know those company reps came by and there was lots of talking and because of the LinkedIn connections, you know you’re able to do some more follow up and it puts that personal identification. And let’s go into let’s see, we have quite a few comments here. I know Mark is molded into Marcus and has been at a few of our shows and he was also at the golf tournament so hello Marcus. Wendy STARCO Wendy Stark is here and Wendy is with invest Windsor, which is a great organization that does so much to support manufacturing. I was just on an early morning call with Wendy this morning. Hello Wendy. We have these. We have monthly 7:30am calls. And biweekly ones for any association will be made but I’m an early morning person so I like those early. meetings. Tracy Pringle was here as well. And she says breaking news. Yes, that’s going to be a highlight of a big Symbian story. So we’re all super excited for you. So, Rick Tomlinson, congratulations, shimmy. Hello, Rick. Now that is I don’t know if I know Rick, so that must be that someone that you know?

25:20

Yeah, that’s a good supplier of ours. Okay. Welcome,

25:23

Rick. I love when, you know, when guests also bring along new guests to my show. And I hope Rick, you can stop by again. And as I say a part of the show is to just celebrate manufacturing. And specifically, you know, more and more looking at the plastics industry. So thanks, everybody. For all of the comments. We have many more comments. And some of these are we’ve identified and said hello to some of the people. So thank you, again, everybody, for dropping in those comments. And we appreciate you all. Okay, so let’s now talk about everything from social media to video. Because, Kim, you have done. I just saw your video on LinkedIn. So can we talk? I think you started with a video. So let’s maybe go, let’s take it back a bit and simply talk about the role of video when and why you decided to get into video use.

26:19

Well, that’s gonna come back to you because while I was on, while I was on mat leave, mom kept messaging me saying Gail saying we need to get on video Gail saying we need to get on video. And I don’t know how many emails and texts and all kinds of things I got regarding that. So I started looking into it. And yeah, as you know, we cannot see our customers like we used to see them. Kim and I are very much on the floor beside the machines. That’s how we do sales. That’s how we’ve always done sales. We like to be very hands on and a lot of the time you need to be by the press in order to assess what’s going on and what the customers’ needs are. And so how do you fill that gap? Because people still want to do business with people. So how do you how do you get around, not being able to get into places with all these lockdowns and just change protocols that a lot of the factories so we started doing video so whether we’re doing product specific videos, promotional videos, informational videos, or just general sales calls, I guess we’ll send emails or we’re starting to get better at posting things on LinkedIn. We are perfectionists I’ve been told and that’s actually hindering us producing content. Because we’re so critical of what we’re putting out. And just last week, I was on a call with somebody that mom put me in touch with and he said you just need to just make the videos, you are the experts, just make the videos so you’re gonna see a lot more content coming out. But on that note we had a large inventory shipment that arrived last week. Mom shot me a message and I said just do the video. Just do it. Don’t be afraid to just do it. And she did it she posted it on LinkedIn and in terms of video hesitancy I would say between the video hesitancy that‘s a Yeah.

28:37

Resistance real resistance.

28:39

Sure what so anyway, so she posted one on LinkedIn and it was great. It was real. I think the thing that’s the most important is that we have to remind ourselves and I’m saying this because I’m also reminding myself that people want to do business with people but people want to do business with real people. Right They want it to be very natural and so don’t try and overcompensate don’t edit it just put out the content

29:12

you know one thing I will say that you are not alone. This is number one though the first step as my three step process is to sign up, suit up and show up so signup is the first step is that and that’s where Kim Brock decided she wanted to do it. She wanted to make a change and I kind of forgot that. Yes, because I was talking about this, I think early on when I was first on the Canadian sustainable makers board when I was you know, and I still do I would say okay, broken record here. We need to do more soldiers, we need to do more videos. And obviously Kim was had signed up and then the suiting up really is that you started talking about it gathering information doing research and what I was most impressed with what you’ve done too is using video through your emails when you’re setting up because a lot of people think the videos have to be only on social media. But there is such a great opportunity to use them. When you’re sending out emails and you use now I think you’d use dub or Yeah. And there, there are quite a few things that you can use out there that are you can even use the free ones, and then you pay a bit more and get the logo removed. Right. So how have you felt? So you’ve had that positive feedback from a client? Do you have any more feedback from other people that have contacted you saying anything because of your doing video?

30:33

Well, I just want to. I’m just gonna jump in here, am I muted? My good. Um, I’m just gonna be perfectly honest. And say that I created that post for LinkedIn. And I have to say it was probably the whole day that it kind of sat at the bottom of my screen before I could actually post it. Because I was really looking at it and re-listening to it and saying, oh, but you can hear this in the background, oh, maybe I should have stood this way. Or maybe the box should. So I just, I spent the day going back and forth post not post and and then I just finally just said just, I just pressed it really quickly and let it go. I thought, what’s the worst thing that could happen? Honestly, you know, okay, so people say you suck at it, it’s bad. Okay, so we won’t, I won’t do it, I won’t do it again. That’s not gonna mean, I’m gonna stop doing business, I’m still gonna continue doing business. But then if this goes, well, then okay, then now I can start experimenting a little more. So it was, it was very much out of my comfort zone. But like I said, Just do it. You know? Well, like you said, so. Yeah. And very positive feedback, I have to say, very, very positive feedback. So keeping it real is very important. I think, like you said, Yeah, we’re real people doing business with real people. We’re not professional videographers, we don’t have a studio, we’ve got an office and we’ve got a plant, you know, we don’t have lighting systems, we, you know, we don’t have backgrounds. So just just use what we have.

32:08

Ken, thank you so much for sharing that background to that story. And that’s what makes I think what you’re doing in your company, so successful is being willing to, you know, pull back that curtain and share some of that those you know, what you go through, because I’m sure a lot of people listen to it, maybe struggling even here, or this gets posted later, and someone watches this, can maybe say okay, you know what, it’s, I can try that. And definitely, video is very powerful. And there’s so many stats when it comes to LinkedIn only, you know, most people are consumers, not producers. So just by doing that, if you did one video that already has moved you up to the top of the list when it comes to it, LinkedIn will love that because they want to see more videos, they want to see more authentic content like that. So you will go up to the top of the list and be seen by more people. Because you’re also feeding the algorithm, but with good content, right? So that’s kudos to you. And you know, just like shimmy, you know, you step in doing that. The Tick Tock to it’s the same thing. It’s like, because you I mean, I have many drafts and my tic toc two, because I’ll do like one Oh, that’s like, because that’ll say usually the ones that I think oh my god, because my son because that’s kind of cringy and now we’re like, yeah, it is crazy. Thank you very much. The crazy ones are the ones that tend to get the most engagement . Sometimes I like, especially when I do lipstick, I will tell you who’s gonna like or.

33:45

But that’s my dramatic side.

33:46

Yeah, I was gonna go way back when I was going into drama. So I often say, That’s my outlet for getting that out of my system, you know, lip synching and karaoke at all those things. So we have Brian. Thank you. Well, and the other thing, too, is that I always want, you know, clients that I would work with that I don’t expect them to do what I do. I mean, that works for me. You know what you’re doing works for you doing some of the videos using W’s and through email, and everybody needs to find their own path. There’s really no one way and I have no cookie cutter approach to social media. Whenever I’m that’s why, when working with clients, I’m very careful to look at that every client should have an individual approach because it’s not like I say, oh, you should be on Twitter, you should be on tick tock you should be where your clients are, where you’re going to have the most interaction and also, where you’re going to commit to being consistent with your content. And a lot of times companies think, Oh, I have to be on every platform, and I actually try to pull them back from that. I mean, I’m on most platforms because I’m testing out something. So it’s a different goal that you may have. So Brian wrote great work. Thank you for the insight Brian is doing for those of you who aren’t following please go follow Brian because he does some great videos. He’s also connected by doing videos and connects companies also to charitable organizations. And I first heard about him and saw him because of something he did with a Caterpillar tool. And I was just so impressed because he does some amazing content on video. So thank you, Brian, for always, because he’s bringing a bit of fun to manufacturing.

35:31

Yeah, absolutely needs to be fun in manufacturing, but it needs to also be relevant. So that was my thing with semi to, you know, whatever content we do, it needs to bring value and insight or up someone’s knowledge, whether it’s our customers knowledge, or whether we even increase our own knowledge of what’s out there. So just, you know, so whatever content we do post, it has to be relevant to our industry and what it is we bring to the table and and just help to even educate our customers on what it is we do. You know, so I think that really needs to be the focus. And like my last one, the whole, the whole premise of that was our, you know, there’s such an issue right now with logistics and product and, and receiving items. And so we’ve acquired customers recently, by way of that simple fact that we have stopped. And so I think that’s important to share with our audiences that you know, we’re here, we’ve got enough healthy stock to get your orders out. So in this day and age, I mean, I’ve heard customers giving me insane deliveries for some things that they’re waiting on. And, you know, production can’t wait 16 weeks, because Oh, it’s unheard of, you know. And so, yeah, it’s a little bit of a tricky time right now juggling it. But I think, you know, you’ve got to do what you need to do for your business, but for content that needs to be relevant to your audience, I feel. So that’s something that semis really trying to work on and, and feed, feed through our channels.

37:03

I really liked that comment. Yes, relevancy. And also, you know, by talking about some of these issues, a lot of people don’t want to talk about the problems. But the more we can talk about, the more we can understand as consumers, because I now learn more about the supply chain. I had a new vehicle ordered last summer that was supposed to come in November. I’m not getting it till the end of February. But I’m not mad at my, you know, the dealer because I know that I understand how the supply chain works. And I think we need to do a lot more. Pulling out that curtain and sharing what’s happening with supply chain, what’s happening in industry, what’s happening in manufacturing, so that more people, including your customers, everybody understands like, because I think you understand until it happens to you. And then I don’t know, but I want my product now. Because I have to say this whole, you know, stream of manufacturing, there are so many dots that need to be connected in order for us to understand the bigger picture of how we’re going to get those vehicles or how we’re going to get those end products, right, whether it’s a computer or, you know, products that we’re going to need to for everyday life. So thank you. Oh, David still goes in the house. So yay, Damon. Hello, David. David’s been a previous guest. He is such a great supporter of live shows. He just had Brian Vandaag on his show recently. For those of you who want to go check that out and hear his great interview with Brian Bending, president of Cavalier, which is one of my clients as well. And also my kick said good recognition for Brian Yes. And I want to do my picks. For those of you who want to ever know anything about the history of moldmaking in this world. He’s the man he’s the Wow, he knows a lot of stuff about this industry so and so impressed with the work he’s done. He’s, you know, with the golf tournament as well as Canadian association mold makers. So thank you to everybody that’s commenting. There’s more great comments. John Bufalino said something recently just trying to find his comment. I think he said I am not everywhere I am where I am needed. I love that. That’s like it because that is so key, right? Like it’s, you know, if you’re going to be stepping out into social media, you know, be where you’re needed. And I liked doing that. Yep. And now in terms of other transferable skills, let’s go back to that, because that also, we can use so many of our transferable skills to help tell our story. And I think it can, can you maybe it’s something semi alluded to about, you know, how you got involved with a company, what would you think of some of the key transferable skills that you learned when you were starting out in the company that you now as president are grateful that you’ve learned when you were starting out in the It was early days

40:05

I think being honest about yourself, your abilities as a salesperson or whatever role you play. So I’m going to speak to sales, because when I started out in sales, I didn’t know anything about the plastics industry. I mean, I didn’t know what a heater was, let alone what a mold was, you know, I was, I was a homemaker with four kids. So I was, I’d never been in manufacturing. So I was green, I was a green screen there could be so when I kind of was placed in the role of sales by my dad and my brothers. I was very honest with the people that I met with. And I’ll say that I started with customers that were already existing customers or based on Tronic. So that’s where I kind of started to start my foray into sales. I was very honest with saying, I don’t know. So if you know, asked me a question about an application or a product, I’d say, I don’t know. But I will get back to you. I think that that afforded me a lot of respect from our customers, and even new customers, you know, just simply saying that I didn’t know that I’d get back with them, and then making sure that I did get back to them. That was, that’s a big one. And I’ve always said that to send me from the beginning. I mean, semi semi, at the beginning, really wanted to know everything today, like within this week, I want to know everything about what we sell, what we do, what does a mold maker do? What does it inject like she wanted everything uploaded up here instantaneously. And I told her, I said, Tim, it’s not going to happen that way. I don’t even know everything today, right? So your customers are your biggest teachers. So. So as you go through your experiences, your day to day meetings, be honest with them, be frank with them, and they will teach you, they’ll guide you. So that’s my, that’s my biggest sort of transferable skill and patience. They told you, you need to be patient, you know, things will come, things will come as long as you have the drive and the passion.

42:11

You will succeed. I love that definitely customers are the greatest teachers. Wow, that is a really good jam. Because it is so true. We learn by listening we learned by really, you know, stepping back and, and yeah, observed, you

42:28

Now, a strong H Tronic is where it is today because of our customers telling us where we needed to improve. And what we could do better. Can you do this? Could you make it this way? Can you do this? And that’s why we are where we are today because of that. So they are?

42:45

No, that’s great. Send me what about you? What do you think are transferable skills coming out of the financial world? And even parenting? What do you think now in your role, because you’ve had less time in the business, but you’re definitely jumping in with the video I know and encouraging videos, so

43:06

yeah, um, I guess listening would be the first one. I think when you go into sales, or when I went into sales, I thought, Yes, I needed to know everything, so that I could spew out all that information to show how much I knew. But actually, listening is where you learn the most, and you understand the most about what the customer’s needs are. So I would say that’s probably the biggest one for me. Did you say honesty? already? Yes. Honesty, um

43:55

I’m gonna, I’m gonna throw in one city, I think, you know, doing that tick tock video is a good example. Like getting out there and just showing up, I’m gonna, I’m gonna be saying, hey, showing up you gotta show up. Sure, we

44:09

I guess we will show up. And I think we try hard, we try , we put a lot of effort into what we do. Even with the tiki hut, if we’re doing something, we’re doing it 110% Because we want to show one that we care that we give a damn. And to support the industry because we’re very proud of the industry that we are in working. We’re contributing to something much bigger than us. And we’re doing it locally, which we’re very proud of as well. But yeah, I guess I guess you would be right showing up but also giving a lot of effort.

44:49

And I’m gonna say even thinking outside the box. I mean, the tiki hut was thinking outside the norm. You know, we came up with our own trade show a couple years ago called Go Ace connects that was completely outside of the box for a company like us. But it’s something we did. And we did really well. So that’s something we look to continue doing in the future. But I think you need to always think outside the box. And sometimes that’s it’s very difficult to do because we’re so entrenched in our day to day, you know, whether that’s the financial, the production, just the whole process of running a company, sometimes we’re so entrenched in that we’re not able to kind of take a seat back and kind of take a bird’s eye view. So I think thinking outside the box is really, really important. And I’m just going to repeat what somebody said we are, we’re so proud to be a Canadian manufacturer. And I think COVID has really put manufacturing on a lot of pedestal, but in the limelight, like there’s such a focus on the manufacturing capabilities of Canadian companies. And I’m just, I’m just so proud and blessed feel blessed that we’re a small part of that. So, yeah,

45:59

That is great. And I’m going to put up an Elizabeth quote about how it’s easier to train a good salesperson. And I think this is something that is really key when it comes to sales in this industry. And what I can identify with is coming into the industry, you know, I call I’m a recovering journalist. So I worked in insurance in tech and now in manufacturing. And yes, you can, you know, you have to have that also. We’ll talk about this out of curiosity, and you want to find people, as you know, that have the right social skills that have the ability to connect with people. I think that’s what both of you do really well. So, you know, you don’t necessarily have to know how to be out there and actually make the mold or, you know, pour the plastic, but you can identify with and understand the people that are doing those roles. So you do that well. And then Elizabeth did say yesterday did something similar with the Parker, d k pop from Elizabeth was much like the tiki hut. She did a popular booth locally here. And it was so phenomenally successful. I once worked with her on an event. And it was amazing how when they came by at one point we had run out, I don’t know, some popcorn or CC. And they were like, Oh, that and I said, well bring it round to you on the golf course. Right. And so we went around the golf cart, dropped them off of them, and they wanted their popcorn, it was like it was an important part of the day. So I think it’s really good to do those. And that’s where balancing out, you know, you can have fun, still be relevant, still tell your story. And it depends what your brand is, too. That’s the other thing not like, My brand is definitely bringing that element of funding. But it doesn’t mean that everybody has the lip sync and be on tick tock and do other things. Like in fact, I would tell people, if that’s not your thing, don’t don’t go there. You don’t have to do that. But what I really liked what your story around the video is that you were you were championing that for a lot longer than I realized, Kim, that’s that is,

48:04

It’s amazing how much we doubt ourselves. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that’s what it is. So we overanalyze ourselves.

48:16

You know, I was talking to someone about this, this term, you know, paralysis by analysis, so that’s another issue, when sometimes it’s like, and I’m all for using that, and I’m all for studying that. But sometimes, you have to decide, you’re going forward with something and you’re going to do it. And that’s where you know that signing up is past because you have to decide and then get out there and do it. Because if sometimes, if you you can think of a lot of reasons like with me, sometimes even with fitness, like I can think of a lot of reasons why I shouldn’t go out for a walk or shouldn’t go out on my bike, or I’m getting a lot of reasons why it’s two poles to this. So then you get out and do it. And it’s oh my god, I feel so much better afterwards. I do want to touch upon one other topic, because this is really important talking about the role of women. And I know I want to read one quote, because this was from Brendan Sweeney. And it was in and I know you guys have done a podcast and this was from and I’m probably going to post the link in a future post because I do want to dress this idea up. He said this quote, in order to compete globally, Ontario’s manufacturing sector needs to attract the best and brightest 50% of the best and the brightest are women. If it wasn’t clear before it should be now women are critical to the future competitiveness of Ontario manufacturers. Boom, mic drop moment. I love that because we are missing out on so much if our education system and the industry doesn’t step up. And I know I don’t know if I don’t think Megan Sandra, maybe touching base later but you know, she’s doing great work in this area of trying to encourage more young people and especially young women. So this is one of you wants to maybe talk about that quote And the role of women in manufacturing?

50:05

Sim, or should I go? Oh, go?

50:08

Sure I can go. Have you had a newer version of this pod? The show as of

50:13

yet? No, no, not yet. She’s, yeah, she’s heads up building a tree?

50:18

That’s right. Yeah. So she’s doing some really fantastic work with educating young girls in high school and their families about STEM jobs. Specifically, I guess what do you want us to speak to about women in manufacturing, how to attract and how to retain? Just overall how to get women? And

50:37

yeah, just the why is it maybe just explaining why it’s important. And also maybe like, one of the things too, we have to be careful that we don’t, you know, I often hear this term, you know, Oh, girls, you know, you can do anything you want. Yes, but everything comes at a cost sometimes, right. So it’s about maybe understanding the support that is needed as well, because, you know, women still are often you know, having children, taking time out, even maternity leaves, like there’s a lot of things we have to understand better. So maybe you could talk a bit about that, because it’s not, I really liked the term of looking at, you know, equality versus equity. Because I use the example of your two children, now being equal would be getting each of them an ice cream cone, except one child, maybe, you know, doesn’t like ice cream, so they want to have baby chips. So equity is giving an ice cream cone and a bag of chips equal to giving them both ice cream. So, you know, looking at that equity issue for you know, how do we get more women? And what are the what are the pitfalls and some of the issues that we may need to address and we may need, you know, maybe some of our and there’s a lot of I know, male supporters and male champions, I like to reference that maybe they need to understand also, from you about that.

51:55

So, um, I think, I think the most important thing would be showing everybody the jobs that are available first, because I think traditionally, when you think about manufacturing, and if, if mom and I weren’t in manufacturing, first, if mom wasn’t in manufacturing, I most definitely would not be, I wouldn’t have gotten into the plastics industry, the plastics industry wouldn’t have sought after me. And it would have been a huge mystery to me as to what manufacturing is, and what’s available in terms of jobs. Because traditionally, I think we think about manufacturing, we think about dirty, heavy, it’s not for women. We have come so far in terms of technology for what is available now to women and to all people, men and women in the manufacturing space. So I think bringing that to light for the younger generation for women, specifically to attract them is probably the most important thing, the most critical thing is showing what’s available and the diversity that’s available within manufacturing, too, I think, yes, in regards to women leaving and having Matt leave and having children. That’s something that we just have to accept as a workforce. If the men could go off and have children, great, I think a lot of women would opt for their husbands to go off and have the babies instead of them because they’re more driven in their careers. But the fact of the matter remains that women bear children, and so that we spoke about on one of Moore’s podcasts as well as just addressing the elephant in the room. So as an employer, talking to your female employees about and there has to be a way of getting around the taboo or the HR issues around family planning with your employee. But if you involve the employee in future plans, they’re going to want to come back to work after they leave. But if you’re dismissing them, because they’re going to take time off to raise their family, they’re not going to want to come back into that space, in my opinion. I have the privilege of working for a family business. And so I was able to carve out some maternity time for myself and shape that in a way that worked for me. But I think all employers need to take that into consideration because there are wonderful, wonderful employees to be had in women who have fantastic transferable skills that they gained by becoming mothers that maybe they never even had before. Because I can say for myself, I mean, you were saying inventory control, and scheduling and holy smokes, I did not realize how much you have to be able to pivot and also if it comes it’s a quiet thing that happens between a husband and a wife that it just kind of shifts to you like it’s your responsibility but you do didn’t even realize. So you acquire a lot of skills when you become a mother. And those are valuable. So I guess two biggest takeaways are visibility of jobs that are available in manufacturing and talking about the elephant in the room that women want to have children are going to have children and how do you get around that and, and keep them wanting to come back.

55:25

I love that. And I want to post something. Sarah Klages wrote something. And I think this is another issue too. She said my dad never invited me to join his double glazed business, he only asked my brothers, nobody ever thought I may be interested, not even me. And, you know, that is such a powerful statement, because it’s true. Probably, you know, if you’re not seeing other women, you don’t even think that’s an option or an opportunity. And I love that, you know, with your story sharing as well as like we had Ali Damiana. And you know, there is Jeanine. Lastly, Berlin is a really great example, as well as someone who had started out, you know, in the mobile world and is now the president of the National Association. And I just want to get this in because I know we’re going to start to wind up because we could go on into so many topics, but we covered a lot of ground today. So I’m happy about that. Kim, you’re on the board. You’re the Toronto, head of the Toronto chapter of the Canadian Association of mold makers and also on a PMA. I’m gonna let you spell that out because I don’t want to get that wrong. They are PMA, a PMA but it’s an association of parts. Major auto parts auto. automotive parts. Yeah. So. So that’s another way that you’re showing up and, you know, showing leadership on boards like that as well, which, you know, as we know, on the cam board, as well as automate Canada, led by women, right. I mean, shelling Fellows is automating Canada. Jeanne is the president of both organizations. Yeah, so that’s exciting. And I want to go back, Dave, and also there’s a great quote, I want to draw up on here because he said, Don’t doubt just do that’s a good one, John, is that we do spend a lot of time doubting, questioning. And sometimes, you know, sometimes you just need to get it done. And, you know, my, my, for me, sent me this is what you have to look forward to is, you know, parenting a teenager too, because that is now like, my son is now 19. And this is exciting. Friday, we’re doing a joint workshop on tick tock at a global event. Global. Yeah, so that’s exciting to be able to work with him now. Because we’ve come through, you know, I’ve learned so much parenting as a teenager, that’s where you learn, I think some of the best life skills is being able to listen back, and if, when, if he has his headphones in, don’t talk to him if he has. Stand back. Thank you both so much. Now, we’re just going to wrap up, I usually like to ask about a little bit about curiosity and how you nurture your curiosity, or what do you do that sort of helps to, you know, challenge your curious brain? So is there anything that either of you would like to be talked about, like, for me, it’s I listen to, you know, I listen to some podcasts that are, I listed one called Hidden brain, which is fascinating, because I love how the brain works. And someone, a friend said to me recently, I’m someone who says, Yeah, you know, you’re that person that will just like, want to go with your why that is and have to spend time digging into that. I must know why. So curious. City, do you want to talk about curiosity and how you nurture that or what you’re curious about?

58:48

Sure, I’m actually reading. So I’m a big reader. I’m reading a book right now on breathing. Yeah, so I’m very interested in the human body having been pregnant now, two times. So a lot of weird things that happened to your body when you were pregnant, and then just rebounding from the pregnancy too. So just trying to understand how our bodies work. So I’m doing that by podcasting and I love to listen to podcasts big time. But also reading right now I’m just in the middle of a book.

59:23

We’ll have to maybe post the name of that book I I’m I do yoga, and I know breathing can transform like Steven, anytime you’re stressed. It’s amazing how the breath is so powerful, and we know it, but we often you know, I have an app on my watch, so you don’t have time to breathe. And it’s funny because it pops up and it’s like, oh, yeah, like, you don’t mean breathe, maybe decrease. So thank you for that. That’s yeah, I love those insights and Cam What about you?

59:54

Yeah, it’s funny. I think, the whole COVID this pandemic has kind of shifted a lot of people was focused on them to their inner healing. So I’ve been really, especially the last few months, very curious about how to nurture our inner inner beings. And it’s funny because, you know, last week, I think I got a question from LinkedIn actually said, Can you post something on, on mindfulness, I think and it was just very coincidental because it’s something that I’m really really, I’m reading a book and also listening to podcasts. Eckhart Tolle is actually the author. But it’s all about being present. So that’s, that’s something that I’m extremely, I’m delving into deeper, deeper right now. So that’s my big area of curiosity.

1:00:47

I love that. And you should, I think you are connected, Damon, but Damon has some great books that he talks a lot about. He’s had some transformations happen in recent years where he has helped his business by taking time to step back the process. And one of I had a great boss who headed up a very successful company. And I remember him teaching me the concept of less doing more thinking time. And it’s still important to do your work at that. But sometimes you need to step back and take time, just to think and process. So thank you both for sharing that. Because that gives insights also to the success of your showing up your success on social and your success was stepping outside your comfort zone and doing things that may be challenged that part of who you are. But it has also been a tremendous help to your business. So that also helps me when I’m talking to my clients, because I can use these as examples. Because it does make a difference when you decide to show up. And the biggest part of showing up is that the first step is signing up, deciding that you want to change and you want to have success. So thank you both for that. Okay, so I’m going to meet you back in the green room. Thank you both for showing up today for talking about all of these topics and for sharing the great news about Sydney. Breaking. Do do doo doo doo doo breaking

1:02:12

through that. Thank you, Gail. This was awesome. Thank you so much.

1:02:20

Oh, wow. Wow, wow, that is just such an exciting interview. I just love the energy of Kevin semi. And please follow them. And let’s go out please go over to Kim’s cams profile and comment on her great video. Let’s encourage her to keep doing it. Because I will tell you, I’ve seen videos of each of them. And they do it amazingly well. And I want to see more of that. Because it also helps not only with their business, but also helps to show how many women are out there doing these great things. And there is help out there. I was talking to another young woman recently and I said you know the power of, you know, asking for help. You know, some of the things that Kim mentioned to you know about saying I don’t know, customers are your biggest teachers, and really looking at how you can ask for help when you need it. I used to tell staff when I was a manager of a marketing team, I said to me strength is when you come and ask for help, as opposed to assuming you know something and then coming two weeks later and missing the mark on the assignment. So thanks to Kim for confirming that type of idea that it’s okay to say you don’t know. So do you need help telling your story? If so, please reach out. Talk to me. I would love to hear you know what your challenges are. And you can find me on most social media platforms. Obviously here LinkedIn is where I have my weekly show, which is Wednesday at 1pm. Eastern Standard Time. And we have guests both in manufacturing as well as people that share ideas that may be outside manufacturing, but we can learn about in this industry of how we can find tips and ideas from outside this world as well. I’m also on Twitter. That is where you’ll see I’m quite active and there’s probably going to be some upcoming Twitter spaces I might be doing, especially given I think if you’re still listening, I think we’re going to do a Twitter space upcoming. I’m on Instagram and on tick tock and tick tock is where I’m exploring and really learning the power of short form video as well. And on Friday, there is and you’ll see this on my I’ll be doing a post on LinkedIn probably tomorrow about how you can connect with me there and join in the global tea break. My son Aiden Robertson will be joining me and we’re going to be talking about tick tock type and some of the history and some of why tick tock has just blown up and what that might mean for you. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to go on tick tock but maybe some tips and ideas Why tic toc has been attracting so many people. Okay, so thanks, everyone. Thank you for all the comments today. So many great supporters out here today. Sarah Clay, thank you. I’m so glad that you could join in today. This was a new contact. And this is what I love again about, you know, showing up and being here on social media is that we meet and come across people on an international scale as well. And a lot of the work that I’m doing now is more on a global scale and not just in my own community, but anyone that is looking for help locally here in Windsor Essex, please reach out to Elizabeth and Perko marketing. And thank you everybody for today. And we’ll see you next Wednesday at 1pm. Eastern Standard Time.

Prioritizing happiness over success allows Great Work to be way of life

Do Great Work. 

What does that really mean? 

Dr. Amanda Crowell calls it work that matters the most to you. 

I believe it is also about doing work that will matter to others.  

 

Crowell says it might involve building a business, inciting a movement, creating breathtaking art, writing world-changing books, or helping other people to heal and grow into their potential. 

She also says what matters most is to get YOUR Great Work out into the world, where it belongs.

It is vital you Show UP, but first you need to sign up and suit up.

You must have the right mindset and then you have to do the work needed!  

 

According to Amanda Crowell’s website, there are 3 steps we can all follow to do our Great Work:

  1. Read Great Work
    • “Great Work is 50% insight, 50% on-the-ground tactics. I’ll help you figure out what your Great Work is, and then help you do it without overwhelm or sacrifice.”
  2. Master the Strategies
    • “Nothing changes if nothing changes. But, change how you spend the days and moments of your life and watch your life transform.”
  3. Leave a Legacy
    • “Great Work isn’t about productivity hacking. It’s a way of life.  From your commitment to Great Work, you will leave the world a little better than you found it. And you’ll love doing it.”

Dr. Crowell was on #ShowUP with GailNow LIVE recently and we definitely agreed on the power of showing up to do … Great Work! 

 

Crowell is a cognitive psychologist.  “I study and think about how people learn. So how do we go from people who don’t know things …to people who do know how to do those things? Like what is required? How do you have to change? Who do you need to know? What are the skills? So that’s been my area of expertise for a very long time, decades.”

And I became a coach about 10 years ago, when I realized that a lot of these cognitive skills, particularly the kind that we use in schools, could be applied to help people do what they most wanted to do. So depending on the person that could start a business, it could finally begin to write their book or start painting again, or, get into a different kind of career. “

And it doesn’t mean diving into “hustle culture”. 

“The problem comes when hustle is the rule instead of the exception to the rule. Great work is usually work that involves creativity, innovation, problem-solving, collaboration.  All of those skills are 21st century skills, those are the skills of the innovation economy.  If you don’t have them, you will struggle. If you have them, though, you can be wildly successful.”

Crowell says the undercurrent of all of those skills is resilience. You can’t be successful  when you’re exhausted and burned out, she says. 

“I think we have enough mediocrity in the world because everyone’s exhausted. So instead, what I really want is for people to be strategic about their lives, and create an environment where rest and recovery is built in. And I know that first of all, you’ll just be happier.

 But I have found that people have a very difficult time kind of prioritizing their happiness over their success. So what I’m here to tell you is you will be more successful. It  is more efficient to give yourself a chance to recover so that you can actually bring the juice to your great work and be the one with the new ideas.  Be the one who sparks innovation, be the one people  can hand off big problems to and you can make it happen. “

In manufacturing, change and stress are inevitable – so it is vital to protect your greatest resource (people) and also take time to reflect, assess and review that question: What is your great work? 

Great Work also requires a process! 

Crowell references “accessible aspiration” which is where others have done it before and can kind of tell you how to do it. There’s no guarantee that you’ll succeed, but you are familiar with it enough to take it on. 

Then you start to map out 90 day plans, monthly plans, daily and then eventually even hourly plans.

“Not everybody’s great work involves inventing the iPhone, but everybody’s great work can make you feel better about your own life. You will also be more innovative and resilient,” Crowell says. 

Manufacturers often work behind the scenes on great projects – making tools and parts for the cars we drive, the phones we rely on, the planes we step into, the medical devices that save lives. In moldmaking and automation, we often say we are the people who make things that make things.  

And yet, even with all this great work, too many are not talking about it! 

They are not celebrating their wins or even just explaining what it takes for us to have so many products so necessary to our lives. 

Crowell says Great Work is often already close at hand.

“It really isn’t about letting me teach you how to do this Great Work. It’s more about letting me help you realize that it’s in you already: you have the skills and the interest; you have the curiosity. All you need to do is just turn the lens and look at your work differently. And then it is getting that action plan.”

The Action Plan

That is also vital to bringing great work to life!

 PHOTO ALBUM:

I met Amanda at Heroic Public Speaking – and we have continued to stay in touch and even attended an event in Toronto in 2019.

As you can see doing Great Work also requires having fun too!! 

*****************

TRANSCRIPT –  From Otter.AI   

(Direct transcription – non-edited version) 

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

work, people, book, hustle, talk, amanda, life, story, manufacturing, skills, podcast, great, idea, curiosity, important, world, year, person, helped, find

GAIL: 

Hello, Happy Wednesday, and welcome to show up with GailNow Live.  As you know, we talk a lot about stories, the power of stories, and today we’re going to be getting into the power of stories to help you do your great work. My name is Gail Robertson and I am Chief curiosity officer with GailNow, I help manufacturers tell and share their story. Often they find this difficult because they sometimes don’t even recognize their great stories. So I use a three step process signup, suit up and show up. And the tool to help you work through those steps, curiosity. 

And each week on my show, I like to have guests that come on that can help not just manufacturers but others as well, to be able to find ways to celebrate their stories and own their power and show up. Because when you show up, that’s where the magic can happen. I want to welcome our next guest who I have known and met through something called heroic public speaking. We’re going to talk a little bit about this because attending that was really more than just learning about public speaking, it was also doing a deep dive into so many issues.

 And I’m sure our next guests will talk about what impact that had on her life. And she certainly has had a tremendous impact on my life and the work that I’m doing. And interestingly, the topic that we’re going to be talking about is great work.

 Dr. Amanda is someone who can help others find and celebrate and pull out their great work and find ways to do it. I would like to welcome to the stage duncton Anna, Dr. Amanda Crowell is in the house. Amanda, let’s start with you are a newly minted new book out you have a new book out. I love the title. And I’m going to put this up because I have it here and then you can show us the book to just find it with that. Let’s see. We got what I did. 

Here we are, the title of your book is great work. Do what matters most. without sacrificing everything counts. That’s right. Okay. Now there’s a lot to talk about Amanda with what you do you hear the dog barking dogs sitting right now. So Willie is here. Oh, there we are. He wants to do great work for you. Does he? Oh, yeah, there we go. There we go. He’s got the Do you know what I’ve been dogs in a couple days. And I just think he never bought here early. I’m a barks. Except when you go live. That’s what. So let’s talk about what you do. Let’s give a little synopsis about who you are your introduction in your words.

AMANDA:

Yeah. So I’m a cognitive psychologist, which is not a therapist, although lots of people think I’m a therapist. I really study and think about how people learn. So how do we go from people who don’t know things like how to do things, in particular, to people who do know how to do those things? Like what is required? How do you have to change? Who do you need to know? What are the skills? So that’s been my area of expertise for a very long time, decades. And I became a coach about 10 years ago, when I realized that a lot of these cognitive skills, particularly the kind that we use in schools, could be applied to help people do what they most wanted to do. 

So depending on the person that could start a business, it could finally begin to write their book or start painting again, or can be like, you know, get into a different kind of career. Often, it’s helping people build an expert services practice, like how to serve clients? Like how do we get into that kind of stuff?

 And in the last two years, I’ve been focusing on bringing kind of those two things together, how do what are the skills and the insights that make it possible for people to do what they’ve always wanted to do, which is the phenomenon I call great work, the work that’s calling you from the inside, that might feel like your purpose, your passion, your reason for being lots and lots and lots of people have silenced that voice pushed that work to the side, don’t give themselves the time or the space to do it. 

And for many, many, many of them, it feels like they had no choice in the matter. And so this book is here to sort of incite the revolution, that smaller changes than you think can actually get you into your great work and how truly sort of illuminating and invigorating it can be when you start to

GAIL 

As I mentioned at the start, we met at heroic public speaking and I remember some early discussions when you said about curiosity and and sometimes you know, other people see things that we don’t see about ourselves as well. And one of the things I’ve always found really amazing about you is your ability to get in there and like this, you can zero in and help pull out for people what the great work is. And you’re also very direct which I love. I love that about you that you know you have a lot of power and you spoke about this I know in I think it was in a podcast where you said not everybody will like your style as well. Right? And so in terms of some of the bumps along the way, do you want to talk about anything that as you were doing this because you talk about you know, we live in a hustle culture. How dare you say people shouldn’t maybe hustle because you know, it’s about drive do more work harder, you know? And we celebrate almost like Oh, I’m busy and it’s like this busy get the PGA

AMANDA:

Oh,  I’m busier than you are. Well, I am the busiest No, I am a bit Yes, yeah, it’s like this badge of honor. Yeah. Yeah, I, I do speak out against that. And I get a lot of pushback, because there’s a lot of evidence in the world, a lot of the most successful people, when you ask them, How did you get here? What they say is I worked harder than anyone I showed up earlier, I stayed later. And I don’t deny, as a, you know, recovering perfectionist and overworking myself that that is a way that you can be successful. It is. But my question is, at what cost? So, and when we move out depends on what you’re hoping to accomplish. Because if what you’re hoping to accomplish is doing a lot, then hustle is a successful strategy, like you’re dead on the side of the road, but your To Do lists are all checked off. But is that what we really want, because if you’re really seeking to do great work, which is the work that matters the most to you, that’s calling you from the inside, it’s a different set of skills that are required. And sometimes hustling needs to be brought off the bench, right? Like, I’m going to be on Shark Tank next week. That’s not I’m not, I’m just saying, 

I can’t imagine that you’re gonna be on Shark Tank next week. And you need to prepare. And like you just, you’re just, you just need to, okay, hustle, if you must, right, I got you to give my stamp of approval. But the problem becomes one hustle is the rule instead of the exception to the rule. And that’s a spirits hustle as a way of life is especially detrimental to great work, because great work is usually work that involves creativity, innovation, problem solving, collaboration. And those skills are, first of all, ask, like any researcher or anybody on the National Chamber of Commerce, those are the 21st century skills, those are the skills of the innovation economy, you don’t have them, you will struggle. If you have them, though, you can be wildly successful. But the undercurrent of all of those skills is resilience. You can’t like when you’re exhausted and burned out. And just trying to finish your brain physiologically is not even going to give you a chance to be innovative or creative because it is taking the path of least resistance to be done. And then that means that the work that you do is tap of least resistance work, which sometimes is okay. But often at the heart of your great work, you want to different kinds of contribution, you want to be the one with the new ideas, you want to be the one who sees the connection, nobody else sees you want to be the one who’s got the new idea that’s going to change the Syrah that change the focus of things. And that requires that you not be utterly exhausted. So really, the truth is, people are like, you are just this. Maybe my favorite people get mad at about this one all the time. My favorite accusation was that I was a champion of the mediocre. You just want people to be mediocre, balanced, right? I’m like, oh, no, no, I think we have enough mediocre in the world because everyone’s exhausted. So instead, what I really want is for people to be strategic about their lives, and create an environment where rest and recovery is built in. And I know that first of all, you’ll just be happier. But I have found that people have a very difficult time kind of prioritizing their happiness over their success. So what I’m here to tell you is you will be more successful, it is more efficient, your ideas will be

….

all of this to say the most efficient, most effective, most like strategic thing you can do the secret is to give yourself a chance to recover so that you can actually bring the juice to your great work and be the one with the new ideas be the one who sparks innovation be the one you can hand off big problems to and you can make it happen.

GAIL

You know that is? It’s interesting because just today  I tagged you in a text and there’s Dan Bigger who I know through manufacturing.  He’s been in sales and he is someone who is driven he’s on socially he would show up    But he posted today something that I think was very telling about maybe this tide shifting and I thought it was interesting that we’d be talking to you about this how out of find that more of that balance, because if you’re driven all the time, that’s when health issues come up. And I remember my last job that I worked at, as a marketing manager.  My boss said, I want you to just take time to think … don’t always be going. When I do take time,  go for a bike ride,  stop, do something that’s not work related. That’s when the most ideas come in. And yet, we fight against that often, we are just, I’ll spend one more hour, one more hour doing it. So do you think there is something like this book coming out? Now? Do you think this is like, there is a tide turning that people are like this? Do you think it’s anything to do with the pandemic? Do you think people have had an awakening or having one? It’s a

AMANDA 

good question. I think that awakening began as the sort of way of life of not to be too like, I don’t know scholarly about it. But sort of what’s as the tide of the Industrial Revolution kind of went back out, right, where the needs in the workforce shifted, and the resources shifted with it, right. So there weren’t as many jobs very few, in fact, jobs where you were really just required to be a cog in the wheel, right, like that kind of contribution wasn’t as needed. And I think that that was when hustle and productivity in the idea of being sort of a, the next big thing became the pathway to prosperity and, and success and freedom. And so that was sort of the upturn. And then I think we reached the point where we realized a few things like this are actually interesting, because it sort of parallels my own personal story, which is okay. Should I just maybe tell that because it might help? Yeah,

GAIL

Yeah, let’s get that because we met, I think, like, when you were going through a lot.  So I’ve seen this, like, wow, I’m seeing like, a change that, which is why I wanted you on the show, because I think a lot of people may be going through something, especially around health issues. I think people are so driven that they then start having Yes, mic issues, neck issues, headache,

AMANDA:

And autoimmune problems. I had a sort of two stage awakening to this whole thing. The first was that I got into a job that just require a lot of hustle, it was a or at least I thought at the time, I thought the only way through this hustle, the only way that I can be the kind of perfectionist and contributor that I want it to be meant that I needed to work every night and every weekend period.

 So that was my first sort of introduction to how, you know, hustle gone wrong, because previously, I was just maybe in positions where the workload was just distributed differently or something, I was still working really hard. But I didn’t feel this like attack on my wellness that I felt when I was in consulting. 

And so anyways, while I was in consulting, I was in that role for like, I think three and a half years and the first like 767 months, I was just getting my feet underneath me. And then there was like a year where I was just trying to do it perfectly. And by the end of that year, I was super stressed out like it was spring in this was a consulting company that worked with schools and schools are famous for taking on a project in the fall, not doing anything on it until January and then freaking out until it has to be done by the end of the school year. So this is  April, May, right. And every single project was just hitting on all cylinders. 

And I was just really maxed to the max. I hadn’t taken a weekend or a night off for months, and I woke up one Saturday morning, and I was like, My chest hurts. I have a headache, I’m stressed. And I ended up actually going to the hospital because I thought it was having a heart attack. And I was like, I think I was 37 at the time, something like that. 

So it’s processed very quickly, as happens if you think you’re having a heart attack that young and they said no, it’s not a heart attack. It’s a panic attack. And I remember like, I just remember like yesterday walking outside and realizing Wait a second. It’s a beautiful day. And my kids were there singing Spongebob Squarepants theme songs and my husband was worried about me and it’s like I woke back up from a terrible dream in my life. I was like what is yes, dog that’s right really

So I kind of woke back up to my life, which was the first kind of wake up call. So what happened then is I did what people do in the world of productivity, I went and got things done, which, of course, is David Allen’s famous book, which was very helpful. And I became the most efficient person I knew, I was suddenly much less stressed, I knew how to manage my workflow, I had systems, structures, processes, everything, like I was so efficient. And I was getting things done. And my boss was happy, and my clients were happy, and I thought I was happy to. And then when you’re efficient, you create a little space in your life. 

And you think that like, as a normal person, I will use that time to like, rest. And I don’t know, do macrame projects on this? No, what I did was start a business. I then built this coaching practice, on the side of consulting that I changed my job to move into another one. And built this business alongside having a full time job. And I got extremely efficient, like, I use those skills, man, I rocked those skills. I was like, nonetheless, there comes a point where no matter how efficient you are, you run out of time. 

And that’s what happened to me.

 When we met. Actually. What had happened was, not only was I working full time and doing he wrote public speaking, which is an amazing, very intense program. I also had been offered a book deal. So I was coaching, working, doing my own public speaking and trying to write what I wrote, I did in fact, write a book proposal. And you were there you actually I think, you know, copy edited was one two weeks. …

GAIL

So I will actually take this time while Amanda is getting some water. I’m going to share a couple of photos here. I have one photo here. Let me just find it so.

 So Amanda and I made it her public speaking which was so much more than public speaking and when a man is telling her story. 

For those of you in manufacturing, what this really means is that I want to win a man because back to we’ll talk more about that, how does this apply in your world? 

So for manufacturers, sometimes we get so busy doing so many things that we don’t really start to focus on the most important projects … our great work. 

So whether it’s Amanda’s story is more individual. But this applies to you could be working in a new role at a company, whether a sales role, a marketing role, or even an operations role, and you get into trying to do so many things. And I know I’m in it. That’s what I do when I was in a role …  felt so weird to not be working all the time. 

Andwhile you’re drinking water and catching up. I want to show something. Hold on This is a little flashback and then we’ll come back to your story. Let me just find Ah, did here. Here we go. This lets me find it. Okay. Remember this? Yes. And there is Miss Melissa at the far right now Melissa has gone on to have a child and reason I wanted to bring this up is she’s I’ve been following her journey and as a new mom and how that has changed her perspective on the world because as you know, to she was there it still is driven but now has been able to see life a little differently. 

And I just think that picture of the three of us is you know a lot. There’s our snapshot in time where we were at. And then let’s do one other. 

Let’s show this just a little fun interlude here Toronto member that I do have air so this is about finding time to have fun in the midst of all chaos. Okay, so now you’ve had some water, we come back and take a little commercial break. Wait, before we go on. There’s a couple. Let me see if there’s any new comments, please. We mostly have some back. Oh, we do have Valerie that’s joined in? Well, we have a couple of new people. So Valerie is from Faulkner, New York. Do you know where that is? Is that you? Do you know? Do you know Valerie? She’s in New York.

Welcome Valerie and then James Kugel, also though we know each other through networking and manufacturing. And what’s really interesting with this show is the diversity of have people that come out and you know, because at the end of the day, we all have some interest in, you know, a lot of people that come out, as you can find, are really interested in how they can, you know, do things differently, look at the world differently. They’re very, they’re, they’re, I think, fellow curiosity seekers as well. So, back to your story, where do we leave off? You’ve got one.

AMANDA 

Let me set the stage… I was working, writing my speech. And then I was writing this book proposal. And when I, after it, like, it was almost immediate, as soon as I sent the book proposal off, and it was like with the publishers or whatever, my knee swelled up. And I was like, well, that’s weird. I had, I was like, Oh, I must have banged it. But then the other ones swelled up, and then my shoulders got really sore. And then my ankles got really sore. And then my elbow got really, really sore. And I was like, what is happening? And what was happening was my body was retaliating against this craziness. So I think there are no stages to it, there’s like, you’re working too hard. And then you get like, you know, and then you lose way back here, way, way back here. You lose innovation, creativity, the ability to collaborate, well, your resilience, your happiness, right? All those things that don’t matter, you lose those ways back here. And then somewhere around here, you start getting headaches and back pains. And you know, we’re all like not paying attention to it. Weaknesses for the dead or whatever. And then eventually, my experience has been, in my experience talking to many other people is that eventually you, it’s your body, that will just take you down, just No, no more of this. 

And that’s what happened to me. I had a, no one was able to name it. 

Unfortunately, I was able to beat it back by really stopping him dead in my tracks and saying, What have I done? And what am I? This was the most important part, because Preet my previous realization was about, here’s what I have to do, how can I do it? And I learned a lot. Right? productivity tips can take you a long way. 

This was the moment where I really learned the value of stopping and saying, What do I want to do? Why am I here? What am I? What am I really after? And what am I willing to let go of, so that I can have that instead. And it was a process of and that’s really where great work kind of came in as a concept in my life where I was like, I know for sure like you’re only on this planet for a while. The other thing that happens when you have an autoimmune freak out, is you realize like, oh, you know how everyone says that humans die? They were talking about me like I am going today? Not? Yeah, my grandmother, you know, likes it, but literally me? And if that’s true, which sadly, it seems like it might be? What am I going to do with my one wild and precious life? And it was probably what I realized was I was giving all of myself over to meetings, and emails and other people’s priorities and other people’s expectations and that I needed a massive restructuring of my thoughts. Now did it require that I massively restructure my life? Actually, what it required was that I massively restructure my thoughts, and then make different choices.

GAIL

Okay, I’m gonna stop there, because that is so key. 

And in my three step process, which is sign up, suit up and show up, the first step is sign up. And it’s all about mindset, because you can’t do the other two until you get your mind and your thoughts and this is something that people skip over. And they don’t often realize how powerful the voices in our head are that what we tell ourselves and how it can have such an impact on you know, and going back to the theme here, which is great work.

 And I do want to skip over Nancy, because your story is really powerful. The reason I want you to tell it is because I’m sure there’s people including Catherine Joining us now. I don’t know if Katherine says I was joining this to speak to me, thank you for sharing that. Kathy. I think it’s really good when people can just like what happened sharing what Dan Biggar shared is that you know, to be able to say, yeah, that is me and and what’s key is sometimes your justice before it gets worse as well. Right? That’s really, really key and going back again. So because we want to get into some tips for especially for those in manufacturing, that may be maybe they’re not writing a book, maybe they’re not looking at starting as side business, but they may be managing a team, they may be wanting to to start a new project, they may be coming into a new job. And great work for everybody listening, one of the things I’ve learned from Amanda is that great work can depend on your situation. So your great work may be about writing a book, your great work could be that you want to go paint, your great work could be launching a new product in your plant, like great work can be whatever, that also gives you joy in it. Like for me, I find great work when I went out and talked to women in aerospace. And the week before though, I was having tremendous doubts like, Oh, my God, what have I done? What have I set up for this?” And then I did a rehearsal. And it was, everything fell apart, I missed apart everything. And it’s almost like the dress rehearsal right for the theater. Yeah. And I went out there. And I realized how many people, men and women that came up to me, and were, were holding back on doing their great work and on showing up. And I think that’s where what you’re doing, what I’m doing is showing up the great work, and when I talked about too, is that you have a duty to yourself and to others to show up. So let’s talk about now your book and your journal, because I’d like to switch over a little bit to okay, we know that if you’re for people that are listening, they’re going, Ah, okay, I’m either there, or I’m on the road to my body, you know, not working as well. And that’s both physically, spiritually mentally. There’s so many aspects of what happens when your body starts. Yeah, it gives you signs. Oh, yeah. Let’s get into some more tangible tips, recommendations, obviously, by your book by the journal, but you had to pick a couple of things. And I do, I would like you to drop them, because I think there’s people that may be interested. And so we’ll drop that into the comments. But what are some things if they do nothing else, but they tuned in right now? And they’re like, where do I start? It’s all well and good. Amanda’s told her story, but she’s like a rock star. So she knows what she was doing. What do you tell people that are sitting there going? I don’t know where to begin?

32:24 AMANDA 

Yeah, it’s a good question. And it depends a little bit on what the person is struggling with. Right. So some, I find that people sort of show up at my doorstep struggling with one of two things. One is like, I don’t know what my great work is. Or, I do know what my great work is. And I cannot get to it, because I have a family and a sick mother and three kids. And, and and and. And so if the problem is that you’re not sure what your great work is, or you feel like some people have great work, but I’m just not one of those people, I think there’s, I would say that the real solution to that. One is to believe in your great work, that there is something inside of you that you are being called to do like not necessarily called by an outside person, but called from inside of you the thing that captivates you, and it isn’t what you were pointing out like, it doesn’t have to be a creative work, it doesn’t have to be a I don’t know, like a massive accomplishment doesn’t have to be a New York Times bestseller, or a Broadway show that sells out or even at the corner office for the CEO. Instead, it’s about what lights you up, and makes you feel excited and makes you feel like, Oh, this is cool. I could do this, this is for me. So believe in that. Because I know for sure that it’s there. I’ve never had a conversation. I’ve had many people tell me they don’t have it. And then we have some conversations and there might be crying. And then they’re like, yes, you’re right I do. Now, just because you know what your great work is doesn’t necessarily mean that you know how to do it. So in doing great work, I think that here’s what I think is like a starting point for anybody thinking about doing great work. It’s a little bit about understanding the levels of the ideas that you might have. So let’s say like if you’re in manufacturing, and you want to I actually don’t know enough about manufacturing to think of a good example, like,

34:26

it could be launching a new product, like if you have a new product, and you’re really excited that you think you have a solution to a problem in the industry. That could be

34:35

right and you want your company to greenlight your project, right?

34:39

Okay, you have an idea and you’re bringing it to the senior executive say, okay,

34:43 AMANDA 

so, in your mind when you’re like in the shower, going on that run or I can whatever, you have these sort of images of like you at the company, you know, annual meeting, getting the award for best idea of the year or whatever, right and that is valuable, because that fits at the level that I would call and lots of everybody calls really vision. So if you think of ideas as sort of this upside down, triangle, the very top level of it is vision. And vision is like, what gets you out of bed, right? It’s like it’s the, it’s the gap between where you are and where you want to be, it gets you excited. And the only thing that you need to do with vision is to amp it up, like really go all in and imagine what you would say in your speech. Imagine the look on your wife’s face, whatever, there you are vision, but don’t try to work towards a vision all by itself. This is one of the things that I think makes people feel the most like they have failed at their goals. Because they’re like, I have an hour, you know, done all the rest of my work, I do have this hour at the end of my workday, like how do I get to have the best idea of the year in an hour. So there’s all this space in between the vision that gets you excited and gets you out of bed and what you can do in an hour. So that’s the space we need to fill in. So in the next, you know, year, let’s say you want somebody to greenlight your project, I don’t know what the timelines are in manufacturing, but let’s just say like somebody said, it’ll take about a year to get some approval or whatever. Okay. So that’s what I would call the accessible aspiration, people have done it before people can kind of tell you how to do it, there’s no guarantee that you’ll succeed. But you kind of know what it is you’re doing right? Now we’re in a more concrete like goal related space. Underneath that is what can I do in the next 90 days? Right? So we’re like, Okay, once a month to approve it, and about a year. So what can I do in the next 90 days is probably something like a combination of I need to find out what the process is, find out who the people are, and get my hands on a couple sample proposals. That’s right. So if that’s what we’re gonna do in the next 90 days, and we’ve got 490 day cycles, you can imagine how the next cycle is, like you’re putting together your proposal, the one after that you’re getting feedback and fixing it, and the one after that someone approves it, right? I don’t know if that sounds reasonable. So that’s the 90 day goal. And we want that 90 Day goal to feel like in the literal next three months, what could I make the space for? Then this week? How can I get a little closer to my 90 Day goal? So I am going to talk to the one person I know who has gotten one of these projects approved. And so what am I going to do today, I’m gonna go remember what I know about that guy, I’m gonna like, go look at his LinkedIn, see what kind of jobs he’s had before talk to a few people prepare for the, for the outreach, because maybe he’s an important person, right? Like, if you’ve got one of these projects approved, you probably need to know who he is, and what he’s up to his history a little bit. So you want to do a little research. So now you have an hour to somehow get closer to having the number one idea of the year, you know what to do with it. And that is how you start to feel both calm enough to get started like I am not asking man to curl is not asking you to quit your job and immerse yourself in an intensive program. And like no, you don’t have to pivot, you don’t have to go crazy. All you have to do is really understand where you’re at, and then start chipping away at it. How do you chip away at it? So a 90 Day goal that makes some sense to somebody doesn’t have to be right, just get started and set something I can do this week. And the great news is that the guy you talk to this week, assuming he says yes, he either says yes. Or he says no talk to Joe instead, right? Like you’re on the path, you’re in the flow. And now all the rest of the work all the rest of the skills that have great work, of which there are a few and nobody has my birth. Now you can learn them. Because the truth is you can’t learn how to do great work until you’re doing it. So you can’t succeed in advance. You have to get it and then ride the wave of it.

39:07 GAIL 

Now you also have a podcast so I think I’ve been listening to your podcasts and I would highly recommend let’s put a link in there because if you know a podcast you can also listen to instead of you know take an hour out of your Netflix watching time listen to podcasts when I find podcasts now I do sometimes when I’m doing dishes because I need to order new dishwasher lots of stories so I thought washing the distance you know what people say oh, it’s gonna be very you know, like, you can visualize do this and I do not find it that way. I do not find this piece that comes with washing my dishes. So I’m  okay, because I wanted to see how long can I get away without now I need a dishwasher. But right now when I do actually this is I listen to a podcast and when I’m making dinner, listen to a podcast. So check out Amanda’s podcast because I know you have some guests. And there’s so many people I could mention. I know we just talked about Darcy Webb. Darcy is amazing. Darcy is a voice coach but DARS She’s also a how do we describe Garza? She’s like, she inspires her, she helps you use your voice. But again, it’s more than just that. It’s yeah. It’s about how, like a lot of voice coaches, you just talk about your voice right here and here. And she is whole. It’s a transformational experience. Yes, yes. Great. I have to say Darcy is one of those people you meet in life that you just, you just want to. She sparkles like there’s a guy who is just kind of being around or all these like, I’m always in awe, because she will. She will work with someone and you just watch just by their, how they move their shoulders or their back and how all of a sudden their voice and their empowerment changes. So that’s Darcy, another person, AJ Harper, let’s talk about AJ because, yeah. AJ is also someone who’s doing great work out front, but also behind the scenes, she works with so many people. So let’s do a little bit of a shout out to AJ and why it’s important to have people like that in your life to help you do great work.

41:09 AMANDA 

Yeah. Well, that’s, well, AJ is amazing. She’s actually the person who gave me the structure in the process to finally get the book written. The truth is that that book that I got sick of doing, went to a publishing house, and then that whole thing fell apart. And I was like, a tragedy. And then I was like, how now I’ve got this book idea, like, what am I going to do with it, so I will write it myself. And that is about as far as I got, because I didn’t know how to write a book. So AJ is actually the person I would credit with giving me a structure and a system away from writing the book. And if she did do a developmental edit on my book as well, and helped it go from like, pretty good to like, I think really, really good. So it is amazing. And you know, AJ, Mike, good. Nino Darcy Webb, you, you’ve been on podcast, everybody who’s been on my podcast is there because they’ve done great work. And it’s not something it’s a little counterculture, actually, to say that everybody has great work in them, more than one person has sent me a sort of out of the side of their mouth email informing me that, yeah, some people have great work. And it’s, I’m glad that you do, but not everyone does. And I’m like, I just disagree with you. And not everybody’s great work involves inventing the iPhone, but everybody’s great work, you can feel better about your life, by just doing the work that makes you feel good. And, you’ll be more innovative and resilient. And whatever, like that kind of stuff happens to make you happier, you’re better, you get more money, you get more more promotions, like that is just the truth. And you need people around you that can inspire you and remind you and not drag you back down into the way that the world kind of holds, you know, the coal mines version of working where you just sort of trudged through it. And when you’re talking about it, you complain. And we’re not all doing that. And if you can find the people who are even doing, maybe not the job they want to do, but if you hold it in a different way, it can feel so much better. And that really is also the pathway to the work that does feel better is doing the work you have now in a more, you know, whatever, like better collaboration, better communication, more innovation, more insight, more creativity.

43:37 GAIL 

And, you know, interesting what you said about the reason I wanted to bring up people like Doris in ages that it’s also important to reach out and get help and ask for help. And a lot of people are very reluctant to do that. I guess, because I was a reporter for so many years, like, my job was to go find other people that had answers. So I would call up people’s ahead. And so I carried that’s a transferable skill that I carried over because I can’t do this alone. And I think some people think it’s almost like that hustle and resilience that I’ll just, you know, power through by myself. And it’s really important that you go because AJ also helped me when I was doing my speaker reel on narrowing. She could you know, when you get stuck, because I always say, just like you talked about great work. I talked about the power of story and sharing books and telling your story. So I do a lot of social media, digital and, and in manufacturing, so many people in manufacturing, they’re doing great work. But they’re not talking about it. They’re not sharing it. They’re not telling their story. And then what happens is it looks like Oh, only a few people have asked us to do that instead of like, No, you can have that as well. But you’re going to have to do what you need to plan and I think that’s what your journal talks about too. Right? Is that you We’re breaking it down into bite sized pieces, as opposed to saying, I want to create this item. And then because you can spend a whole year thinking about it, and

45:09

end up in the same place that you started

45:11

it up in the same place. So I also want to just do that. What is the importance of doing that you still need to hustle, you’re not saying not do it, it’s just, well, 12 months a year, like if you’re always on?

45:24 AMANDA 

Well, and maybe I find Gail, like, I’m shocked to report this, me from five years ago would be shocked to hear me today saying this, I actually don’t think you have to hustle very much at all. And I know that that sounds, I’ll get all kinds of emails about this, like the truth, like I find that if you’re strategic about your life, and you are making good choices, and you’re organizing yourself so that you know you’re making progress on things. Still, some things will happen because other people aren’t great at managing themselves and they have a crisis. And then you get pulled into their crisis. Because as part of that kind of stuff, so happens, of course, but you can actually if you know how to do this, you can be a grounding force, even on that project. So that now it becomes more like processing more systems, like, here’s what we need to do, here’s how we can do it, maybe push that timeline back that voice of, you know, there’s a way to do what we want to do, let’s make strategic choices about it, which is really what I kind of in general advocate for whether you’re the manager of a team, be that voice for your team, we can do this much. And I will protect you from having the maelstrom of downward pressure. That’s what ‘s really in literature and in my experience is what makes a great manager: they sort of protect their people like an umbrella, right? And then they give you that if you’re able to do that your team loves you. And if you’re able to do that, you are quickly moved up the ranks and corporate because there’s not a lot of people who can pull back and see the bigger sort of forces of what’s happening and the bigger strategy and like, actually force the conversation about what are we really hoping to accomplish? What are our priorities? Here’s how I see this impacting the timeline. People who are able to surface those kinds of conversations and navigate them well, are quickly moved up in organizations and get bigger and bigger teams because it’s such a rare skill. So yes, yes, you will, you need to keep that hustle ability, sort of in your back pocket for when you need it. But really, this has a massive calming effect on your organization, on your life, on your family, on your health. It really impacts every part of your life. And of course, it’s different for as you mentioned, I think it’s the beginning. It’s different for different people, what’s going to work for you depends on who you are. And in the book, my favorite chapter, actually is chapter five, which is discovering how you specifically do great work. It was one of my nemesis or Nemesis Nemesis is MSI is like this dogmatic commitment to high performance productivity tips. Because it gives you like, not just one, but hundreds of ways to fail. You’re like, well, I didn’t, I didn’t. How can you eat the frog and ease into your day? Like, how can you do great work? And to be a good networker is so deep work and to be a good networker. Yeah. And I have taken to seeing all of these great people with their wonderful ideas. I really love all the people with the ideas as my research and development arm for my own productivity. Tell me what has worked for you. And I will try it. And I will put together my own magic elixir of what works for me. And then I’ll share with others about what works for me. And then if we all hold it a little more loosely, we can land in a place where we can do amazing things. People will be looking at you with amazement in their eyes. How do you do so much, which is the way they look at me? Right? And I say by doing that by being clear about what I’m doing. So a lot of things, getting busy staying in action, accepting that failure is part of it. Always. You and I share a love for the growth mindset. And really the core of the growth mindset is effort over time with help, what does it take to learn something effort over time with help? So if you just rock those three things, I’ll just keep working on it. I’ll give it the time required for me to get better over time and I will ask for help when I need it. You can do things that people will tell you all day long. You don’t have time for that. That’s not a good thing to innovate. If you don’t know how to do it, you should just give up. No, just do it differently. That’s what I say.

49:41 Gail 

I love that. I’m just but I’ve run out of time. I need to redo some of my banners because I have so many that it says oh you’ve reached I really want to put this one though. Let me see I’ve managed over time with Help. Yes. Those are the three here for overtime with help. That is so key and that with help. I cannot say enough about how important that is. And that. I mean, I think we get into this whole lone wolf idea too. It’s like, Yeah, but they’ve usually still often there’s a pack, like, have the bigger picture at times. So I do want to go back. There was a comment here that I think is really important. She says, You can’t do great work until you do the work.

50:32

Yes, exactly. The difference between people who want to be doing great work, and the people who are doing great work. Isn’t the people who are doing great work, are doing great work.

50:39 GAIL

Yeah. And you said something, you know, important too, because I know what you’ve said, Me, oh, you know, you’re everywhere. You do so many things. But I’m doing things I love. An interesting sort of today I just and I’m doing a shout out to Electrozad, , which is a company here in Windsor, let me just take this down here. And they haven’t barbecued today. So I was getting ready. I actually rode my bike for an early morning meeting today. And then I did a few things that I thought I should prepare for the show. But I thought, well, I’m talking Oh, man, I’ve already done my preparation. So I was like, I really wanted to go to this, you know, barbecue, and that. So I decided, You know what, I’m okay to go. Because I can give myself that grace, do it. And you know what it was the best thing. I ended up seeing three people. I knew it was a great experience, made a couple of more connections and still made it back home to do the show. And it’s all about finding that you know what works for you. Because some people don’t like doing that. And if they could get out of going to that event they wouldn’t. Whereas I’m like, I love that that’s and it’s just Sure enough, you know what, it gives me energy to do that. And as long as I can still get my other work done. And it’s and I think that’s a really good lesson from what I’ve picked up from, what you’re doing. And what great work is that? Number one, we’re all different. Number two, we all have great work, we all have that in us. And then number three is finding a way to get to do that, to take care of yourself and your health. And I guess when I said hustle and I think it’s how you describe it because there’s at times you gotta you know, pull it all the stops. And of course, and get her to like you have to just dive in and do that hard work. So whether you call him hustle or hurt or whatever you want to call that. Yeah, like we’re not saying just sit back on your lounge chair all the time. It’s just, I mean, sometimes only so magic. No, and you need to do that. Yeah, the magic fairies are gonna come in, I have to say this. The magic fairies don’t come in at night and check your Google Analytics. You got to do that.

52:51

Yes, they’ve never checked my Google Analytics.

52:55 GAIL

Well, okay, so we’ve talked about transferable skills. Certainly you have used many transferable skills, I think in your life to bring you to this book and have an impact on the world. I know that from listen to your podcast, it is having an impact because even just being on your show to that you ask great questions. So thank you for that. Thanks for being curious. You’re definitely someone who is that’s what we always have really liked about each other, too, is that, you know, we want to dig deep. Showing up you are showing up on a podcast and a book and sharing your story. I would also recommend I mentioned on LinkedIn that you have done a TEDx. Yeah. Or another one.

53:41

I don’t know. I’m Yes, I’m getting ready to do one on great work. Yeah.

53:44

Okay. So I do recommend that you have over a million views on your TEDx. That’s like, that’s a big flippin deal. Thank you. That is not that’s like, wow.

53:58 AMANDA 

Well, and I think the reason is because people really struggle with procrastination and they make it about them. They’re like, what’s wrong with me? Why do I suck so much? And it’s like, I think this idea that oh, you can you could do something about it and and really do what you say you will do and rebuild trust with yourself is so it’s so basic to my like DNA. And yet I find that people are like, it’s through the very first person who’s given me permission to like, like myself while I’m figuring this out. And I think yeah, this had it resonated a lot. And you know, Gail, I don’t know if you know, this next week, your episode is

54:36 GAIL

oh, I didn’t know that. You heard it here first. Okay. Well, this is a lot to watch for. You’ll be hearing more from Amanda nine next week. So well, you know, I’ll push that out on social media because I do also want more people to come in and really dig into doing that great work. I think it’s so valuable and it ties it exactly to, you know, the keynote talks I do about showing up. And yeah, I didn’t think I thought much. I think you’ve talked about this in the podcast like, well, people know how to do this, right? You know how to do this like, and no, they don’t and that’s where for me the signups suit up and show up. And I, when I broke that down for people, they were like, oh, Willie agrees they were in. They came up to me afterwards to talk about each of the stories and how they were going to show up going forward.

55:25 AMANDA 

Yeah, really, what I like, show up is it and great work, like what I like about the synergy of our work is that it isn’t really about like, let me teach you how to do it’s more like let me help you realize that it’s in you already, you have the skills that you have the interest, you have the curiosity that, all you need to do is just turn the lens like you’re at the eye doctor, like better with and better to turn the lens, look at it differently, and then get into action. And you will be one of the remarkable ones before you know and

56:00

and you will fail. I asked that when I gave this talk. I said how many people here have failed all the hands?

56:06

And I said, well, one who didn’t have his hand? It was a liar.

56:09

Yeah. Because everybody else is right. Yeah. To wrap up, I usually like to ask everybody, how do you exercise your curious mind? Is there a way to stimulate? Or to encourage it or maintain it? And?

56:24 AMANDA 

Yeah, that’s such a good question. I love to do things I’ve never done before. So like, you know, I hadn’t written a book. So I wrote a book and I, there’s nothing There’s no place I found in the world with more rabbit holes to fall down into than the book writing publishing industry. And, you know, I never had a podcast.

 And you know, I wanted to figure that out. So I actually self produced my own podcast for the first few episodes before I took on a company. So I really like to figure things out, it makes me feel what I like to figure things out. And it helps me understand how things are done in the world. 

And I think that part of my work is helping other people demystify, like, how are amazing things done? Oh, every single time. There is no, what did you call them, like leprechauns, or whatever, come in and bury them. No, magic fairies are magical, doing things like different things across industries, but always like, there’s so much commonality in them. So anything you want to do is doable. A

and sometimes we sort of get in a weird headspace where we’re like, those people must be superheroes. They’re not. And so I really like to prove to myself again and again, by doing things that I’ve never done before. 

Currently, I’m working on a graphic novel, which is totally unexpected, because it’s like, I don’t have to draw, thank goodness. But you know, writing fiction is really different from writing in the middle grades. It was a return to my education roots. But, you know, that’s my current situation. Next Big Thing that I’m excited about.

57:57 GAIL

That is great. I love to hear that. Because, again, it’s you know, it’s about exploring, being curious can mean different things and it can be trying. Yeah, things that are new to us. I often say I don’t like heights. So what I did was I decided to go do Yeah, I did the ziplining. But let me show you a photo from I have a photo of this was also from let me just put this on, I think remember this, we were up at the CN Tower, the one on the left. And then the young man in the middle who we connected a link out of the blue sent me a message on LinkedIn. Both of us were afraid to walk on that glass floor thing. And I remember you took a video and we both went on it and jumped on it. And we just had so many laughs and he was visiting. He was visiting from India. Yep. 

And yeah, it was. It was quite fun ever since then, I went to the Grand Canyon and walked on the skywalk thing so and you know what, each time I’ve done that now the sky walk I was like this. I just tell them because I said Oh, when I was in the CN Tower I was so each time you try something new, it does get easier. 

And I’m, I know we both know about that. So well. Thank you so much Willie says thank you as well. He’s in the background. I think he probably is like okay, are we going for a walk man?

59:28 GAIL

Thank you. If you can, you have a few minutes to wait one minute. And I’ll see you in the greenroom and thank you again, Amanda. And we’ll put some links in LinkedIn so people can find all your stuff. Great. All right. Thank you. Thanks, everyone, for coming out. I want to thank Willie, who I’m dog sitting with. You may have heard a few dog barks in the background. So you know, Amanda is someone that while doesn’t specialize necessarily manufacturing, I think there’s so much in The manufacturing world we can learn when we’re talking about how to maybe look at the world differently, how to use a growth mindset, how to get curious, and how to meet people that are, you know, doing things that can help. Those of us in manufacturing also do great work. But not just do the great work, but then tell and share the stories. It’s so vital that we get out there and we share with the world the great things that we’re doing that we own our power, and that we sign up, suit up and show up. If you would like to reach out to me, you can find me here on LinkedIn. I’m also on Twitter as Gail Now Instagram as Gail now one and on tick tock as Gail now and we’re actually starting a manufacturing tic tock group. So stay tuned. And what’s interesting is that we’re all doing something a bit different. And that’s what makes it exciting is that we can start sharing whatever stories we can introduce ourselves as a keynote speaker, you know, people that may want to book me to come in and provide some motivation around how to both tell and share stories, and talk about how it might help your team sign up, suit up and show up. 

Because that’s where the magic happens.

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You can overcome limiting beliefs: Take the damn cold shower

What are the limits that hold you back?

Merriem-Webster Dictionary defines a “limit” as something that bounds, restrains, or confines.

So are we responsible for these limits?  How can we tap into our infinite potential?  

Recently I was invited as a keynote speaker at Women in Aerospace Conference put on by the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance or PNAA Their  theme  Beyond all Limits hit home for so many.  

It was an honor to start the day off with my  keynote address, entitled “Is the sky really your limit?”. 

We hear the sky’s the limit and I wanted to explore that idea – it sounds so easy until we get met with roadblocks:  societal pressures, judgment from others, side comments and pushback when we do try to own our power.

The foundation of my work centres around curiosity and my three step process:  Sign up, Suit up, Show Up

People need – and must – tell and share their stories.   

As a recovering journalist I can bear witness to the fact that everyone has a story worth sharing.  And it is how we can start to explore limits and how they can too often hold us back. 

Limiting beliefs- from others AND from within our own heads-  destroy so many good ideas.  These limits can inhibit us and prevent us from achieving goals, taking risks and living our best life IF we allow them.   

I gave examples of how we can all   exercise our curious brains.  I cycle,  listen to podcasts (a favourite(Hidden Brain)) and strive to listen to people  I may not always agree with.  

During one podcast with Jeffrey Shaw  – on his former Creative Warriors Podcast now called Self-Employed Life,  I heard  Paresh Shah of Lifter Leadership speak about the benefits of taking cold showers. Hearing this inspired me to do some research, learn more about it and start my very own cold shower journey! (more about that later!)   Paresh was also featured on my #ShowUP with GailNow LIVE show. 

If we aren’t curious it is also harder to be tenacious and we can give up way too soon! 

The author of  the book series, “Chicken Soup for the Soul”, Jack Canfield almost never became an author! His  books almost never saw the light of day because he sent them to 144 publishers, who all proceeded to reject his pitch! However, he didn’t give up and eventually did get published. One of the principles in another book of his, “The Success Principles”, is Transcend your Limiting Beliefs. Jack calls those beliefs false conceptions and even said that limiting beliefs are all bullshit!

I also shared about other men who we have revered and celebrated, but initially failed:

  • Thomas Edison, who invented the lightbulb after failing 999 times
  • John Grisham, whose first book was rejected 28 times 
  • Henry Ford, whose first two automobile companies before establishing the Ford Company that we all know about now!

Many of us have failed at something, even multiple things, but are still standing, right?

So what does “The sky is the limit!”mean”? 

According to Collins Dictionary, it means the following: there is nothing to prevent someone or something from being very successful.

In my opinion, being successful means showing up to the fullest extent. In my work in manufacturing, I help companies tell and share their story (show up) by embracing curiosity to ask questions and use my three step process, sign up, suit up and show up!

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines sign up as follows:

to sign one’s name (as to a contract) in order to obtain, do, or join something 

The same dictionary defines suit up as follows:

to put on a uniform or special clothing

I define show up to mean stepping into the position that you have created by signing up and suiting up because all this has prepared you to take your place with confidence and to show up when called into the spotlight!

In speaking to women (and men) in Aerospace, I did share  stories of various women who overcame the limits that they and others placed on them.  By not giving in to societal pressure, they did  flourish and become successful in their own rights.

One Wonderful female role model named Margaret Anne Bulkley  took on a male persona (Dr. James Barry) in order to study medicine in a time when women weren’t permitted to do so. She went on to reach the rank of Inspector General in the British Military and stationed in Cape Town, South Africa and also a pioneer in her field of medicine (she was the first doctor to successfully perform a cesarean section and both mother and baby lived). Yet, she went to her death with her secret that was discovered when a post-mortem was performed.

Another woman,  Bessie Coleman was the first African American, woman pilot! She made a name for herself as a pilot who performed flying tricks and was called “Brave Bessie,” “Queen Bess,” and “The Only Race Aviatrix in the World.” She made it her goal to encourage women and African Americans to reach their dreams. Unfortunately, her career ended with a tragic plane crash, but her life continues to inspire people around the world to this very day!

Mary Riddle was another woman who made a name for herself! She was a member of the Satsop and Clatsop tribes, born Nannie Riddell in Bridgeport, Washington. She also inherited property from her wealthy grandfather on the Quinalt reservation, and often introduced herself as Quinalt. She and her two brothers were treated as orphans after the death of her mother in 1905. They were enrolled in Chemewa Indian School, a federally run boarding school in Salem. In 1911, all three siblings were transferred away from the Indian School. Nannie Riddell transferred to a Catholic boarding school in Beaverton, where her schoolmates described her as a funny, adventurous girl.

Throughout the 1920s, Riddell lived a lifestyle filled with freedom, enabled by her inheritance from her wealthy grandfather. She loved her motorcycle and was involved in racing. She decided to become a pilot after witnessing a woman crash her plane, because she wanted to prove everyone wrong who said that women couldn’t fly! 

A modern-day woman that I spoke of is Emily Calandrelli. She grew up in Morgantown, West Virginia and attended West Virginia University. As a student, she won numerous academic awards. She became a Truman Scholar and even attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where she obtained an M.S. degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics, as well an M.S. degree in Technology and Policy in 2013. 

In 2011, Calandrelli was awarded the René Miller Prize in Systems Engineering. As a Harvard NASA Tournament Lab visiting scholar, she assisted organizations in using crowdsourcing to solve technical challenges.

After initially thinking it would be unladylike, she became a host of Xploration Outer Space in Fox‘s Xploration Station educational block in 2014. In April 2017, she made several appearances on Netflix episodes of Bill Nye Saves the World

Then, on August 25, 2020 Calandrelli’s educational Netflix series titled Emily’s Wonder Lab debuted. Calandrelli filmed the series while 9 months pregnant.

Calandrelli almost let limiting beliefs stop her.  Thankfully she didn’t! 

Emily Calandrelli –  aka The Space Gal- embraced curiosity to show up, not only for herself, but for others.

She has built a great following!

Just recently she was in the news for definitely showing up to make change! 

As a woman who breastfed and who used a breast pump, I want to celebrate Emily for showing up for breastfeeding moms!

Emily took a trip after she recently had a baby.  She packed her pump, her empty bottles and some gel ice packs. 

She went through security and a TSA agent stopped her – and said she had to get rid of the partially frozen gel packs. Then he proceeded to ask where her baby was!

What a great example of someone NOT exercising curiosity!

If you have ever pumped milk you will understand why Emily took a stand.

Without those gel packs, even if she could pump, her milk would spoil before she got home to her baby.

She posted online about this, took it down and then decided to repost it.   She showed up. 

Soon she was getting interviewed by media like  Fox News,  CNN and even got the attention of a senator.  And now it has become an even larger advocacy story

She, like MANY before her (including Dr. James Barry, Bessie Coleman and Mary Riddle), made a decision to show up, not only for herself, but others!

Curiosity is my superpower. 

It can be your superpower too! 

Showing up can be daunting; channeling curiosity can make it easier. 

Our minds are very powerful and too often we blame inaction on lack of motivation, procrastination, fear, imposter syndrome. 

That cold shower idea from Paresh Shah-  I now call it the  “cold shower principle”.  That principle is  part of my  Sign Up, Suit Up and Show UP process.

There is science behind taking a cold shower – and in my keynote I talk about why those in aerospace and in manufacturing canlearn about the power of our minds to  show up in real life and online for networking and sales!

The Cold Shower principle applies  to networking, social media posting and video.  

Taking a short cold shower or jumping in a cold lake or ocean first thing in the morning isn’t easy but doing it consistently over time will make it easier.  It is about consistency and commitment.   Ditto for networking and sales. 

It gets easier because you start to see the benefits.

So, take a cold shower; make that phone call; show up on video and remind yourself that limiting beliefs are all “BULLSHIT”! 

As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “I think at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity.”

My gift to you: 

Sign up!

Tell yourself a different story – one in which you are the hero!

Ask more questions: Be curious, not judgemental! 

SHOW UP, for yourself and others!

And ask yourself this: 

Is YOUR sky really a limit?