“Be teachable. You’re not always right.” – Anonymous This quote got me thinking about all the people I look up to, both inside and outside of our industry.
If you roll in my circle, you know I’m a massive fan of pictorial quotes that catch my eye on social media. I actually have an album on my phone whereI save these nuggets of information for when I need an internal pep talk or see a friend struggling. I was taught by my late father that if you get a good piece of information, it’s your obligation to share it with someone. After all, if it helped you, it will probably help someone else.
So here is one I heard recently that I thought was such a good reminder:
“Be teachable. You’re not always right.” – Anonymous
Talk about taking a little wind out of your sails, huh? The quote got me thinking about all the people I look up to, both inside and outside of our industry. When I started thinking about what they have in common, I realized that they are always open to learning. Whether sharing an article they read, taking on a new designation, or just learning a new product or process, they are open to making themselves better and helping those around them.
I will tell you, starting a non-profit over the last year has definitely been a reminder of this simple phrase. Serving on non-profit boards, even in a national capacity, doesn’t come close to running one. I’m sure my good friend Stephanie Berger would echo this after launching her Ellevate Foundation in recent years. So many different rules and nuances make it as different from running a for-profit company as different as comparing bicycles to oranges.
What do you do?
I often hear my dad in my head when I screw something up: “Suz, this is a teachable moment.” As long as we find lessons along the way, it can soften the blow of feeling like a failure. But we must remain open. Every time I show someone how to do a task, I think it’s important to give them the freedom to shift the process so that it makes sense to them. I typically say something like, “We’ve got to get from A to B; I don’t care how you do it, just get to B.” Then I show them how I do it, and often they come up with a different way and get the same result. It’s important to check your ego at the door and let someone work in a capacity that makes sense to them.
I also think it’s important to surround yourself with people who give you the grace to learn, even when people see you as being at the top of your game. For example, I’m the last person you want handling your Medicare account, but I have friends like Dawn McFarland or Nancy Giacolone, who let me ask what I deem as “stupid questions” and don’t make me feel like an idiot when I do.
Embracing the mindset of being teachable is essential for personal and professional growth — and sometimes, for avoiding epic fails. Whether saving inspirational quotes, running an insurance brokerage consulting firm, or starting a non-profit, life constantly reinforces the value of remaining open to learning and adapting. It’s about recognizing that we don’t have all the answers and that’s perfectly OK.
My dad was great at reminding me of the teachable moments when I would make a mistake, which sounds a lot better than “You really effed that up!” – though I heard that too when I needed a reality check. Whether you learn by feather or by sword, it’s through these moments that we evolve. By surrounding ourselves with supportive people who encourage us to ask questions and explore new ideas, we not only enrich our own lives but also contribute positively to those around us.
It’s 4th Quarter, which means it’s also open enrollment. We are all tired, overworked and keep saying over and over to ourselves, “Just get through it.” But then…as my friend, Allison Cohen De Paoli put it so perfectly, you get “assaulted” by yet another vendor trying to sell you during the absolute busiest time of year, and you just can’t take it anymore.
After sharing some texts with my crew (Erika, Chelsea, Colleen & Nancy), it got me thinking that we can’t be the only ones. This prompted me to send an email to my list of about 300 women who have been featured in the “What’s the Good News, Ladies?” series over the years and see if others had stories to share.
Boy, did they! In less than 48 hours, over 50 women responded back with annoying, rude and downright appalling examples of how salespeople have approached them during this time of year.
So maybe this is a little bit of a public service announcement; maybe it’s a little eff you; or maybe it’s a little “how to sell to a woman 101.” Because people, you are missing it, and you are missing it big! You know why? I’m dropping some knowledge on you right here in case you didn’t know: According to American Express and the SBA, over 42% of businesses in the U.S. are owned by women and women make up over 51% of the U.S. population! And according to Forbes, 85% of women control or influence consumer spending. That means there are over 330 MILLION women who will sing your praises if you get it right, but they will run the bus right over you, hit reverse and do it again if you get it wrong. We will screenshot your email, text, LinkedIn DM or forward the voicemail to each other and we will remember to avoid you and your company’s services at all costs, because what’s the rule you should never forget?
Hell, hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Buckle up and take note, because you are getting a golden list that is the compilation of many uber successful women in our industry, including award winners, top producers, business owners and badasses. If you are in sales, print this out and put it where you can see it and then never do these things.
The Gift Givers: Not the ones who are sending you a thank you for the business; we mean the ones who are trying to bribe you for a meeting. Gift cards and even shoes were offered to some of these women. What’s wrong with this? It can be looked at as rebating in some states and if you are a vendor with a license, you can lose it. And just as importantly, you make us feel gross.
Bate and Switch – Recruiting: More than one woman emailed and said she had recruiters pose as a potential client. The meeting is booked, but once on the call, they realized it was a recruiter trying to hire them away. Do you really think someone worth their salt is going to come work for you when you have basically lied your way into a meeting and showed your ethical character?
Bate and Switch – “I’m Interested in Your Services”: I’ve heard a few people bring this one up: Someone reaches out to you via email or social media, saying they’re interested in your services, so you set up a meeting. But once you get on the meeting, they have a full PowerPoint presentation on selling THEIR services. So not only did the vendor waste the person’s time as they prepared for what they thought was their own prospect meeting, they completely disrespected them by pushing the vendor’s agenda over theirs.
Beauty and the Beast: I know you have all gotten this one, if you take a second to think about it. A breath of fresh air enters your inbox: finally, a well thought out email or message from someone that has done their homework! You accept the connection, but five seconds later, you get a spam sales pitch message and a link to set up a meeting. I had this happen recently and ignored it two times. By the third one, I was a little less than nice and said, “Dude, read the room. It’s open enrollment and if you really work with brokers, you’d know asking for a meeting right now is the kiss of death.” His response was basically that OE ends in 2 weeks (is he out of his mind?) and he wants to be one of the first people I reach out to. My response? I deleted the connection, took a screenshot and sent it to my friends, who won’t ever meet with him. Bravo.
Badmouthing: You know how your gramma always told you, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”? If the only way you feel that you can get business is by throwing others under the bus, are you really that good of a salesperson? One guy basically told one of woman that she was dumb because of the software she was using!
Spam: “Hi…your profile looks interesting…” Raise your hand if you get 10 of these a week. Do you really feel like this is a differentiator? If someone makes me laugh, I always accept, even if I have never met them. But if it’s the same canned outreach, I delete it. And most others do, too!
Not Knowing Your Audience: Man, this one came up a lot. Salespeople basically throwing spaghetti to the wall and hoping it sticks, but missing the mark because they didn’t take any time to really look at who you are as a professional. The sad thing with this one is, that they probably could have gotten a meeting if they did a little homework.
Lying: I have to give a big shout out to the sales training I got from Paychex (I know my girl Rachel McLauchlin will echo this) as I really feel like it was some of the best. Two things I always remember: 1. If you sell on price, you’ll lose on price. 2. Never lie. One example I got of this was someone basically swiping a mutual connections LinkedIn list and pretending that the mutual connection recommended that they connect. When she called the mutual connection to see what was up, she discovered the deception and said, “I will not do business with him now.” So, this guy not only burned one bridge, he burned two, along with all the other people they will tell! (Gas up the bus, girls!)
Did you Get My Email?: This one came up like 10 times. It can also be worded as “Let me bump this up to the top.” Most don’t get the hint that you didn’t respond for a reason and so keep on sending. Or they get a read receipt when you open the email, so then they have someone else who is supposed to be higher up in the firm reach out to you and say they know “you’ve been talking with their colleague.” So many of these do not have an “unsubscribe” feature, so you just end up blocking them.
The Unapproved Meeting Request: Nothing grates on me more, and this was brought up by over half of the women who responded. If you are doing this, stop. Just stop. I don’t know who taught you this, but it’s wrong. It’s intrusive. It conveys that you think their time and schedule should be controlled by you. It’s dishonest. Think of the other person. Would you be thrilled if someone you had never met walked into your house, sat down at your dinner table and said, “Oh, is now a bad time?” I generally have a “three strikes and you’re out” rule, but this one is an immediate banishment in my book. I will never take a meeting from them and everyone I have talked to has similar feelings. Especially this time of year, we are all tired and overworked. When a funny meeting appears on our schedule that we don’t know anything about and we respond to the sender to get a little more information and find out it’s a sales pitch,, queue explosion. Hell, hath no fury….
If you couldn’t tell, I had a lot of time writing this and I hope you had fun reading it. I know we are all running on empty right now, so hopefully this gave you a little reprieve from the stress we all have this time of year. Maybe you got a little insight into how to sell to a woman and realized you might be doing some of these things in one way or another. Or maybe you just nodded your head throughout because you felt a connection to others in our industry. My hope is that it gave you a few laughs, headshakes and maybe a face palm, too.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank those who helped with this article; the emails that came in were just so much fun to read! Hang in there, ladies, and if you need a bus driver, I got you!
We all pretty much know the names and stories of the entrepreneurs who made it big (just check the list of the world’s richest people). But do you know the story of the person who started that dry cleaner’s down the block? How about your favorite non-chain coffee shop? That pub you frequent way too often? The graphic designer for the at-home workout app you’ve been frequenting?
If you think about it, entrepreneurship has been around since that first multi-cellular organism ventured off on its own to find a better source of food. Not much has changed in the intervening few billion years. (OK, maybe a few things.) Being an entrepreneur is still a risky, fulfilling, exhausting, invigorating, difficult, inspiring way of life, and my next guest on Did You Know That? has experienced it more than most.
Adrian Miller has been a successful entrepreneur – many times over – for 30+ years. She’s juggled multiple businesses for more than a decade now, all while being a mom, wife, world traveler, and fount of knowledge. If you’re thinking of taking the leap, or are struggling to keep your fire going, then this is the episode you don’t want to miss.
“There is no such thing as ‘away’. When we throw anything away it must go somewhere.” Annie Leonard
I’m not a terribly nostalgic person, but have to admit, this episode took me back to show and tell in grammar school.
Have you ever heard the term wish-cycling? No, not the practice of wishing for the same thing each time you blow out birthday candles. This is the practice of throwing an item into a recycling bin in the hopes it can be recycled. While the intention may be good, in practice, this act of hope has real negative consequences – it can turn good recyclables into trash.
My next guest on Did You Know That? is Paul Zambrotta, Chief Operations Officer (COO) at Hi-Tech Resource Recovery, Inc. & Scholes Street Recycling Corp., and Director of Safety at Mr. T Carting. Paul’s grandfather, Tom Toscano (aka, Pop), started Mr. T Carting with one truck in 1947 and the family of companies has grown with the city to better address waste and recycling efforts.
The chat with Paul is broken into two segments. First, we discuss the overall status of the recycling business and market, with an emphasis on where we, the consumers, are falling short on proper recycling. The real fun begins with part two, where Paul and I go through many common household items to determine what can go into the recycling containers and what should hit the trash. I think you may be surprised by some of his answers.
To learn more about Paul and his work, check out his LinkedIn profile, CLICK HERE
To learn more about plastic recycling, visit Waste4Change by CLICKING HERE
Music: “Urban Drummers” by Mike Kirin via. Artlist
“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” Ernest Hemingway
I’ve always loved this quote. To me, it speaks volumes about how difficult it is to be “creative.” I actually referenced this quote during my very first conversation with Stavros Michailidis, my guest on this edition of Did You Know That? While my point was one of doubt that creativity could be learned, you’ll discover during this discussion that it was more my definition of creativity was too limited. Humans demonstrate creativity everyday – usually without all the blood – we just have a tendency to not recognize it, and thus, not apply it to future endeavors.
Music: “Naked Memories” by Assaf Ayalon via Artlist
About Stavros Michailidis:
Stavros has been facilitating KI events since 2009 and today he focuses on leading KI’s operations. He brings to KI his experience as an entrepreneur, having co-founded a design build firm, a disaster recovery not-for-profit and an eco-friendly dry cleaning business. Despite his business background, Stavros knew Science had captured his heart when he found himself preferring to read Science News over Harvard Business Review while stuck at airports between flights.
To learn more about his company, Knowinnovation, CLICK HERE
Have You Ever Wanted To Start A Podcast?! All Of The Who/What/Why I Wish I Knew Before Starting A Podcast! check out what the Expert himself, Sebastian Rusk has to say about it!
Have you ever dreamed about starting YOUR OWN podcast but you have used ANY & EVERY excuse under the sun to just push it to the “one day” plan?? Well then THIS EPISODE is all for YOU!!
Sebastian Rusk is the go to man for all of the how to when creating a podcast from idea to inception. Sebastian is the Founder of the Podcast Launch Lab, he is also a kick ass Social Media Speaker, Author and Digital Story Teller. – guys if I knew Sebastian before I started this all I could have saved a good 3 weeks of my life from the countless YouTube clips I watched. Listen along to today conversation about all the questions I had when debating whether to start this show or not.
BTW: Secret for you! For 2 years I pushed down this idea of actually getting my show started because I just didn’t even know where to start. It’s time to put your fears aside & just make the jump! You can do this, I believe in YOU!
What are we teaching our girls they need to be through social media? Do I need to take butt selfies to grow my fitness business? CEO of The Glute Recruit – Voted Best Personal Trainer in Westchester answers all. Jess tells her story about her journey through the corporate fitness world which lead her to create her own company. Jess touches on the unrealistic expectations that social media has and how she is trying to be the change in her industry by getting away from those never changing butt selfies and teaching our little ones to be strong & not focus on skinny.
Guest: @thegluterecuit
Host: @tryandstopme_podcast
Use Code: COLLEEN20 for 20% off your GluteRecruit resistance band!
The NBA suspended its season while the NCAA announced March Madness would be played in empty arenas (talk about surreal).
And, what may have been at the top of the surreal scale on any other day, a former vice-presidential candidate (Sarah Palin) sang “Baby Got Back” on “The Masked Singer.”
Of course, that surreal 24 hours has grown into an exponentially more surreal week with no end to the escalation in sight.
The questions are endless, personally and professionally. In that post, I offered some suggestions to maintain SOME level of personal grounding. I suggested we all . . .
Sit in 10 minutes of meditation
Go for a walk
Read something for pure enjoyment
Call a friend and have a nostalgic conversation (i.e., nothing about current events)
Just do something to restore a sense of sanity and control to your day
I encouraged us to all – Be safe. Be smart. Be balanced.
I feel these suggestions are still solid but, given the events of the 72 hours or so that have transpired since then, they only begin to touch on the significance of what we are experiencing. This is a much more significant health crisis than we knew even that short time ago. It seems clear we still don’t just how significant it will prove to be.
It cannot be denied; we are all being impacted personally.
But, what about professionally?
At the risk of seeming impersonal and insensitive, what about our businesses? What adjustments do we need to be making?
We see many government-imposed changes. Restaurants and bars are being closed or put on restricted operations. Schools are being closed or moved online. Gatherings of more than 10 (as of this writing – it was 50 when I started) are being canceled or postponed.
Beyond the government-imposed restrictions, many businesses that rely on “social proximity” (I know, not necessarily the right use of this phrase, but I mean the opposite of social distancing) have chosen to close on their own.
I understand the need to protect health and life at all costs, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying about the long-term business implications of these decisions. How many businesses will fail? How many employees of closed businesses will never recover financially? Again, these aren’t life and death questions (in most cases), but they’re still very real.
A business “gray” area?
And, what about businesses that are either already virtual and remote in their operations or are capable of performing at least some activities without threat to others? By maintaining some “new normal” level of business operations, do they run the risk of appearing insensitive? Or, is it maybe their responsibility to continue operations?
Before I share my thoughts, you should know that our entire business operation runs virtually and remotely. Each of our team members works individually in their own office space. We are among the “socially-distanced elite” in that regard. While this arrangement does present limitations, it has prepared us for where we are today. Over the next few days/weeks, we’ll be sharing some tips that have helped us build a successful business this rather unusual way.
Here’s my perspective and opinion.
If a behavior puts anybody else at risk, it needs to be changed. The physical health of everyone has to be our number one priority.
I believe our mental health has to be a very close second to our physical health. For me, that means maintaining daily activities that are as close to normal as possible. Sure, we may have to work from home instead of going into the office but, if that’s possible, I feel it is way healthier than not working at all.
Finally, we will come out of this and, when we do, we need businesses to be as strong as possible. That can’t be the case if we bring everything to a complete halt.
So, what will I be doing personally?
I will be aware of my physical movements and the effects they have on others.
I will be respectful of the decision others may make to more drastically curtail their business operations.
I will continue to work/live as much of an uninterrupted daily life as is responsibly possible.
I will be understanding of those who have a different opinion than mine.
Our role is to help our clients build stronger businesses, and we’re finding there are a lot of needs right now to that end. We’re helping our agencies make decisions and take actions in the best interests of their own businesses and the lives of their clients. So, our work isn’t slowing down.
We hope you aren’t offended when you see us active on LinkedIn.
We hope you aren’t shocked when you see our blog posts pop up in your inbox on Mondays and Thursdays.
We hope you don’t mind when we respond to your inquiry.
We hope you understand the spirit in which we will be working for the foreseeable future.
We hope you know how much we are thinking about you during this unprecedented time.
Above all else, we hope for your health, safety, and balance.
Back in college, I worked for the University of Missouri, and to this day, the coolest job I’ve ever had was working as an event manager for the Hearnes Center. This is where the magic happens when it comes to concerts and sporting events. During that time, I got to work with some amazing people, one of whom happened to be Bob Dylan. And as Bob once said, “For the times they are a-changin.” As benefits professionals, boy, don’t we know it!
I’ve had a lot of great role models in my life and one of my most incredible ones has been my mother. Like me, she was an entrepreneur. She owned a Merle Norman Cosmetics Studio and a travel agency in my hometown of King City, Missouri. My mom had worked for a number of years in the travel industry with American Airlines and Auto-Train (later sold to Amtrak) in Washington D.C., before relocating to Missouri with my father and working for a small travel agency. She later opened her own, and I remember that she saw a major shift taking place in the industry when the airlines decided that they were no longer going to pay travel agents fees on airline tickets. She made the decision to start charging fees and I remember her telling me, “If you don’t value your time, no one else will.”
I’ve enjoyed all the positive feedback on this new series, “What’s the good news, ladies? Women who are changing the industry.” It really has been fun! For our second installment, I wanted you to hear from four women who come to the industry from entirely different backgrounds.
Juli McNeely, who took over her father’s practice and helped bring it to the next level; Kristin Alfheim, an award-winning financial advisor who runs a successful practice in Green Bay; Meghan Wilke, who took her production experience to the home office level for Mutual of Omaha; and Julie Yunker, who is thriving under a big transition that happened earlier this year with MetLife.
Now sit back, relax and get ready to be inspired by some astounding and accomplished women as they share some of their high points from this year.
Back in college, I worked for the University of Missouri, and to this day, the coolest job I’ve ever had was working as an event manager for the Hearnes Center. This is where the magic happens when it comes to concerts and sporting events. During that time, I got to work with some amazing people, one of whom happened to be Bob Dylan. And as Bob once said, “For the times they are a-changin.” As benefits professionals, boy, 
combsandco 