Change Your Words to Change Your Worth w/ Georgia Homsany | Ep. 133

In this episode of the Biz/Dev podcast things get down right toasty- burnt that is…We chat with Corporate Burnout Specialist and Founder of Daily Dose, Georgia Homsany. Stay tuned!

Links: 

dailydose-wellness.com

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David Baxter has been designing, building, and advising startups and businesses for over ten years. His passion, knowledge, and brutal honesty have helped dozens of companies get their start.

In Biz/Dev, David and award-winning Creative Director Gary Voigt talk about current events and how they affect the world of startups, entrepreneurship, software development, and culture.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] David: Oh my gosh. Oh, you are old man. Gary's a boomer. I bet you didn't know that. Anyway, tell me about

[00:00:07] Gary: Not even close. Get out of here. 

[00:00:10] Georgia: He was just making sure 

[00:00:11] David: you

were paying attention Yeah, took him a moment. You

[00:00:14] Georgia: he did, he was like, boomer is how old?

[00:00:19] David: Hi, everyone. Welcome to the biz dev podcast about developing your business. I'm David Baxter, your host, and I am joined today by the biggest fraud ever. Gary Voigt. I bone pick with you,

[00:00:31] Georgia: I hope he's not talking about me,

[00:00:32] David: Oh 

[00:00:32] Gary: No. He's just, this is an ongoing thing with him and his

[00:00:36] David: this is, I'm taking this personally. So for those who've ever seen Gary in the last six months, he's been wearing his stupid little beanies and his stupid little hats because he's been growing his hair out. And he's been, I've been waiting for this grand reveal for this new luxurious locks and he comes in today and he chopped it all off and no one ever saw it.

You totally bait and switch to me, man.

[00:00:59] Gary: my goal was Keanu, but I ended up looking like cousin it. So it just didn't work. I had to get rid of it.

[00:01:07] David: Nice.

[00:01:08] Gary: amount of styling products or blow drying or brushing did any good. It was just straight, fine hair going right down my face.

[00:01:18] David: That other lovely voice you hear is Georgia Humzani, who is the CEO and founder of Daily Dose, which we're going to get into in a second. Welcome. Sorry, you had to put up with that shenanigans there from Gary and his bait and switch. So tell me about daily dose.

Tell me what you were up to.

[00:01:35] Georgia: Yes, so we basically help employees prevent themselves from reaching burnout. Through a lot of different well being webinars. So I come from a corporate background had reached burnout in my career And then i've always loved wellness So I thought why not try and offer more resources to people in the workplace since we spend so much of our time there So yeah, we do webinars try and help people Lower their stress Learn about nutrition all the things under the well being umbrella But personally, mental health is where I like to focus our efforts.

[00:02:12] David: When you talk about burnout, what does define that for me? What you consider burnout.

[00:02:17] Georgia: Yeah. So it really depends. There's a couple different factors. I think when we talk about burnout, people just assume it means working long hours and you can, I used to work long hours and that wasn't what caused my burnout. For me, it was not feeling supported by my manager at the time and getting there were certain, work situations where I needed them to step in and they didn't so I didn't feel supported and that kind of caused me to reach a point of burnout where I just felt like I wasn't being challenged, I wasn't being supported.

Now someone might reach a point of burnout because they are working long hours. But they could also reach it because they don't feel supported by their manager. Maybe they're not getting recognized by the company. Maybe they don't know how their work's contributing, so they feel worthless because they think their job doesn't matter.

So it's going to depend on the person in the situation, but it's basically when we feel like our efforts aren't being recognized and we don't feel supported.

[00:03:28] David: So are there levels to burnout? Cause you're talking about your burnout was so bad. You felt the need change careers almost completely. That seems, that's gotta be the highest level, but are there, is there smaller levels of burnout kind of burnt? Feeling

[00:03:43] Georgia: I think, yeah, Simmering. So I think people talk about burnout sometimes when they're stressed. And to me, burnout, when we've reached that point of burnout, that's the end of the line. So I think there's short term stress, and then it moves to chronic. and then chronic stress can lead to burnout. So a lot of times people will be like, oh, I'm so burnt out.

I worked 15 hours today. That's not burnout. That's just you worked a long day. You're feeling tired. So I think there's a lot of words that burnout replaces that isn't indicative of burnout. To me, that is you have reached a point of chronic stress that has led you to a point of basically combusting.

[00:04:34] Gary: I know there's a lot of. Yeah, there's a lot of talk about burnout in the design community. And usually it's described as something that creeps up on you that you don't see coming. And eventually you just realize you don't have that spark or that passion to try to create something new. Like you don't have that drive.

To just continue to be excited about designing something new, or, effectively just trying to create a new either product or, logo, whatever it is, you don't have that passion for it that you had that got you into that industry to start with, but you don't see it coming up. As it happens.

So I think retroactively looking back is when people are starting to describe it as, I guess I was burnt out or I was becoming burnout and I didn't see it coming. So I think that's different than stress to add to your point.

[00:05:25] Georgia: Right, and I think in that case that you're talking about, Gary, looking at the why, because if someone was motivated and they no longer are, what is going on there? So I think when they dive in, they might start to see some of the things I mentioned earlier. Do they feel like no one's really complimenting their work?

Did they not, are they not getting any feedback from the client or their boss? Cause I think we are looking for, depending on your generation to millennials more at this, but they need that recognition, that approval. We need validation. So this is just As humans, we were looking for that approval, right?

It goes back to when we were children and we wanted approval from our parents and then it was our teachers and now it's our bosses. So if we're not getting that, if that feedback loop isn't happening, then that could lead us to feel unfulfilled. And yes, I think all that kind of chips away at our morale in the workplace.

And then, one day we're waking up and we're like, I'm done. I don't want to do it at all. And it's okay what happened along the way? And it's almost like a lot of people during the pandemic, it was like silent quitting, like people were just harboring these emotions. And then they got to a point where they're like, I'm done.

There's nothing you can do that would make me stay at this company. Yeah,

[00:06:52] David: you brought up quietly quitting. I heard an article there's a new word and I'm not going to remember exactly what it is, but it's something like resent working where it's not that you're quietly quitting. And that's not the term. And they have a cute little word for it, but like quietly quitting was I'm here, but I'm only doing the bare minimum to do my job, to get paid so I don't get fired. Resent quitting. Quitting or whatever. They, the cute little term is, was I am working, I'm doing the bare minimum and I'm mad about it. And now I resent you for misusing me. This is the next level. We've got a bunch of angry snowflakes. No, it's it's really interesting how that's it's taking another turn.

And of course, some of it could just be some guy came up with some cute on some marketing article. But I thought it was interesting that we're taking a darker term now is now I'm mad and they're like. Rage quits means you quit, but you know what I'm saying? It's just interesting. We're taking a turn in that.

[00:07:48] Georgia: Oh, I think a lot of people are doing the bare minimum. But it's also is your Bot like that's on the company too because is does your boss not notice because if not that's part of the problem because you're like no one would care if I just You know if i'm doing the bare minimum and no one cares about my growth in the company like all of that contributes to You know harboring those feelings like I said, And then what happens they either just walk out the door or have a mental breakdown.

It's not healthy

[00:08:17] David: blows my mind. My company is small. There's 13 of us, right? So it, it blows my mind that your boss is so disengaged that you don't even realize they're doing the bare minimum. That assumes that at some point this person was doing more, right? And then they decided no one cares. So now I'm doing less.

And the idea that a manager wouldn't recognize the change in performance is mind blowing to me. That is so crazy, but I don't want to veer off too far into that. I want to focus back on what you were saying earlier. So let's say you have a good employee who is working really hard and they are tired.

Now you brought up several things that, that I have questions. So I, in based on the definition you gave earlier, what burnout is, I could work 40 hours a week, No overtime, no nothing in that regard and still be burnt out because I'm getting no validation or no feedback. The loop is not being closed and I could get burned out even though I go home and every day at five o'clock sharp.

[00:09:22] Georgia: Correct

[00:09:23] David: So that's interesting. I, cause to me if someone says burned out, it's more of I'm working like a dog and I'm not getting the validation. Like I know, there's guys in my company who work. Sometimes not all the time, thank God, but sometimes they work a lot of hours and they're doing it relatively happily.

No one enjoys it, right? But they're, cause they, they feel like they have something they need to get done and they take pride in the fact that they get it done. And if that takes you an extra hours, they're fine. So there, it was not the time that did it. We're giving them that feedback. We're buying them dinner.

We're doing all this stuff because you're working extra. But then there are people who, if you go over five minutes, they just flip out.

What are you doing? And I guess that's just a different employee thing. That's not a burnout thing. So I'm off on a tangent there, but

[00:10:06] Georgia: Yeah,

[00:10:06] David: it's just interesting.

Good.

[00:10:09] Georgia: So picture someone that has that nine to five job. I because I do think there's people that are And I don't want to out my brother, but he's one of those people it's like I go in at this time I leave at this time. It's a paycheck. I put food on the fail on the table for my family like I don't know that he needs a lot.

i'm sure he wants some validation, but he's one of those people It's like it's a job it pays. i'm in i'm out You know end of story so there are that's fine that there are those types of people but You Let's say someone does care about their growth in the company, their career path, or getting that validation, that recognition.

So if you're working just nine to five, no one says hello to you during the day, or your manager is never scheduling one on ones with you. I'm trying to help you see how that could still have someone that's not working long hours reach burnout, right? So let's say that they You know during nine to five they worked really hard on this project They were really proud of and then someone else took credit for it things like that

[00:11:16] David: Okay. No, I

[00:11:18] Georgia: So if that's happening continuously Or let's say you're just doing the same job and your responsibilities don't increase at all and every year you get that review and it's Okay, just keep doing what you're doing and you really don't feel like the company cares about You If you're doing that for 10 years, you might just get to a point where you're like, what am I doing?

What? Am I even contributing?

[00:11:42] David: though, if you, I'm playing devil's advocate a bit here.

[00:11:46] Georgia: Yeah,

[00:11:46] David: If you come in nine to five you check out and let's say you do a good job. No one's quietly quitting or anything. You're doing a good job, but you're in and out. You're getting your job done. You're earning that paycheck.

You do that year after year. Your feedback is cool, right? But there's, they're not giving you any more because you're not asking for more, right? You're not like I had a guide the other day. I assigned him a book because he was helping me hire someone. And I wanted him to read a book cause we were going to follow this book.

It's called the ideal team player in case you're wondering, it's awesome book. Anyway. And he was, he finished while he was halfway through it and he goes, what can I read next? I'm like, Oh my gosh, like I'm all warm and fuzzy now. Cause you're in right. You're. We're in it. You want extra. You want to go above and beyond.

Yeah, you're going to get promoted, right? You're, you have that kind of attitude, but if you finish the book because it's homework and that's the end of it, you never bring up the book. You don't do anything with the book. It just, it's, yeah, I did my assignment, sir. I'm out. Do you deserve recognition? That's my question.

Do you need, like you're talking about, there's no feedback loop, but you're doing the bare minimum. You're earning a paycheck. Fine. I'm happy to pay you that paycheck. I'm not, I don't want to fire you, but am I excited that you're here? No, you're just doing your job. You're punching in. Does that deserve that validation that you're talking about?

[00:13:11] Georgia: there's

[00:13:12] David: playing devil's advocate a bit here.

[00:13:13] Georgia: there's so many factors here, because It I do think it falls on both people. So I was the type of employee that I would ask for feedback every few months. I'd say, okay, is there anything else I could be improving on or any other responsibilities you want me to take on? So I was that, one end of the spectrum that was very proactive about that.

But I think the reality is not everyone feels comfortable speaking up. And so as a manager, I do think it falls on your superior to ask those questions during, whether it be during a review or if it's not just the annual review, just popping in and saying, how are things going? Do you enjoy your job?

Do you want to be taking on more? Are you okay where you are? Now they may have a conversation and the employee might say, I'm good where I am. And if that works for both parties, then okay, great. But I think if the manager's not asking the questions. And you're dealing with an employee that doesn't feel comfortable speaking up.

That's when things could not sync up and that person could just be like festering inside and then they just decide to walk out the door because they'd rather do that than not have a conversation so I get what you're saying because it yes, the employee should speak up, but I think we all know that's not everyone's personality So that's why I think it at the end of the day.

It does fall on the manager To make sure that they're having those conversations and yeah, you might have employees that You don't want to promote but they're okay where they are and that's fine. That's kosher. It's working for everyone But if you're not asking the question And not feeling people out then you might have some of those silent quitters that are just Doing the bare minimum or they're pissed off, but they're not saying anything because they're not comfortable And then they just walk out the door

[00:15:08] David: So what are, if I am that manager and I care, let's put that caveat there. Cause if you don't care, you're not a good manager. And that's

[00:15:17] Georgia: And that's why,

[00:15:18] David: but let's assume you care.

[00:15:20] Georgia: is a whole nother thing. And here's the other thing too. Not everyone is trained to be a manager. People are just promoted. No one's telling them what to do or how to manage. So that's a whole other thing we haven't talked about, but it's not necessarily even the manager's fault if they haven't been properly trained on how to manage a team.

They may not know to ask the questions. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:15:46] David: performer, a go getter, someone who's chewing nails, right? They're doing a great job. You're like, I'm going to promote you. And they have no idea how to manage. I will, I've said this a million times. I started my company cause I was good at my job. Not because I had any clue or any business managing people.

I had no idea what I was doing for years. And it wasn't, it was when I got a lot of feedback dude, you suck at this, that I decided to. Dive in and learn how to manage because it's not something that comes naturally to most viewing is you can be a leader. I think naturally, like some people are leaders.

You can tell those kids, even in grade school, there's that kid who's always leading the group, right? Whatever the group is there and leading the group. Some people are leaders, but that doesn't mean they know how to manage. That's, I don't know if management. Is a talent. Is anyone a talented God gifted manager?

I don't know. I'm not sure that's a thing. You can be a leader, but you got to learn. I think how to manage, especially people. People are tough and every kind of person is tough. Developers in particular that I, that we work with, they're all. Spoiled brats, right? And I can say that cause I've been one forever and we're, we want to be catered to and you, if you've never done that before, that's really hard.

Cause you're like, what did he just say? He needs a break. He's been doing this for an hour. You're like anyway, sorry.

[00:17:12] Gary: I have a question. We've talked about the perspective from the manager side or from the company side, but what would you suggest or what do you suggest to people that maybe come to you looking for ways to avoid or get out of this burnout kind of feeling that they have?

[00:17:30] Georgia: Yeah. I think depending on what it is, so if it's, let's say you're not getting feedback going to your manager and asking for a sit down conversation or to have an informal review every few months. To talk about how you could be taking on more or what your trajectory looks like at the company So I've encouraged the employee to have those conversations with their boss If their boss is not receptive Can they go to the person above them?

I usually don't recommend that but If you go to your boss and give your boss a chance to do something and they're just it's falling on deaf ears Then I would go above to whoever their boss is because Once again, maybe that, the, your immediate boss is not a good manager, but the person above them is, and the person above can get involved.

I have heard different, not me personally, but other people taking that approach, and they feel more supported by the person above their manager. Because sometimes, I think managers, in some cases, and I hate to stereotype, but Often, it could be if you are female and have a female manager, there might be, you, there might be a little bit of competition going on, and your manager should have your best interest, but they don't always do.

And sometimes, I think their own insecurities, or if they're feeling Maybe inadequate in certain areas of the job then they're not going to be in the best place to help rise you up instead they're going to Defend their role. So I think if you get the sense that your manager is like that Definitely have the conversation with them first.

So you're giving them the benefit of the doubt, but if nothing's happening you could go above them the other thing is if it comes down to hours and workload like a lot of times people just You And I'm like, can you go to your manager and say, listen, I cannot have the workload I do. And I think people feel uncomfortable having that conversation, but it's true.

Someone might quit and then you have to take on their workload and people just do it. So I would go to your manager if you are feeling like there aren't enough hours in the day and just say, I only have time to do X, Y, and Z. So help me prioritize what you want me to spend my time on. And you put it back on them to prioritize whatever the work list says.

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[00:20:26] David: So if you are. The manager. And again you care what signs could you possibly see? Let's say they're shy, or maybe they don't even recognize it in themselves that they're burning out there. And maybe that's too strong of a word because burnout sounds like a destination rather than a journey.

You're tired, you're stressed, you're overwhelmed, whatever it takes to finally get to the point where you burned out and you're out. What signs might there be for that manager that he. He or she could see in that employee that they might want to take action about. That

[00:21:01] Georgia: Yep, that's a good question. I think change in behavior and mood. So are they shorter? Are they snapping back, having mood swings with things do they seem angry, bitter? I think you can pick up on people's mood and energy and sometimes it might not have to do with the company. They could have things going on at home but that's why if you're noticing there's a change in behavior then asking the question.

If someone starts leaving early every day and they used to work longer, probing them to see what's going on. So I would say changes in behavior is the easiest way to

[00:21:43] David: like Gary every day

[00:21:45] Georgia: Well, then that's his norm. Maybe that's not different. Gary being Gary.

[00:21:50] David: irritable, not very useful. 

[00:21:53] Gary: Fragile. I

[00:21:54] Georgia: So if he was super happy then every day, then you would be like, something's going on.

[00:21:58] David: Oh man. Yeah. If he wasn't moody and snippy all the time, we'd have to, we'd have to check. Are you okay, Gary? Do I need to give you more work? You seem too happy. How can I make you miserable today? So is that if you're on the employee side now? Are there subtle things like it's clear to almost anyone when it gets bad, but what if it's just building up? Are there signs inside of you that might be subtle enough that you're not noticing it, but you it's maybe I need to pump the brakes, the titch, or go and have that conversation with the manager before it gets bad.

Like I, I'm just thinking to myself, like we've had experiences in our company where employees didn't feel like they had an escape valve to voice concerns. And we recognize that as a culture problem, that's something we needed to work on, but they didn't have that escape valve. And the only thing you knew is when you got that angry email where they just blew up and that's not great, right?

You don't want that. You want that escape valve, but no one saw it because he didn't think you could talk to anybody, right? That's, yeah, hence the culture problem. How are there subtle or if I'm the employee, are there ways that I might be able to say, I'm overwhelmed. Or I need to chill out a bit. Is there anything in the, on that side of the fence

[00:23:18] Georgia: Recommend that people do a daily check in, so the easiest thing is, we'll say, okay, are you red, yellow, green? Green is, I'm feeling great. Red is, I'm about to burst. And yellow's in the middle. If you, I think sometimes people get frustrated when they're stressed out, but we forget that stress is part of How we deal with things and that's a natural human emotion.

So it's okay to be stressed and it's okay to have red days What I tell people is if you're seeing that Most of your days are red as opposed to yellow and green That's when you need to start to pay attention and make a change. So If two weeks have gone by and you're like I feel red pretty much, eight out of ten of those work days then Something's got to give and you've got to dig further into that because you're in a chronic state of stress And that's when it starts to impact our health.

So Having a red day here and there once a week, maybe even twice a week But if it's any more than that, I think it that's when you need to start looking at things and trying to find trends Okay, why is this happening to put boundaries in place for either work or home life? Sometimes Home stressors are what's causing people to You know feel overwhelmed at work because maybe they're working from home.

They don't have that separation So there's a lot of different factors. I think they just need to start Looking at things if they're feeling You know those red days More than twice a week, I would say

[00:24:55] David: that's, it's always interesting as the manager, so I've been married a really long time and this is the analogy and there, it took me many years to realize, and my wife listens to this podcast. Hi, honey. So to realize that a lot of times she was upset, had nothing to do with me as a dude. I wanted to fix it, right?

That's very classic stuff. And so she'd come in the room just chewing nails, right? She's mad. And I would immediately think, what did I do now? Sometimes it was me for sure, but a lot of times, but it took me a long time to realize it might not have anything to do with me. And until one way or the other, just stay out of it, right?

As a manager, you have that same thing where your guy's coming in and the lady is coming in and she's just, Mad, she is snippy. She's cranky, whatever. And as the boss, you immediately think what's wrong at work when a lot of times it's not work at all. It's the kid. Yeah. They've got a teenager and that teenage is a jerk and had a bad morning.

And all of that, this is not personal at all. My kids are angels. No, I'm just kidding. They're demons anyway. I'm not saying, and that's hard as a manager, because again, especially again, as a dude, I want to fix it. I want you to come into work and enjoy your day. Yeah. I'm going to make you work hard.

That's goes without saying, but I want you to enjoy yourself and et cetera, et cetera. And to know that it's not me. That's hard to do. It's hard to suss out. Cause I'm not really, where's that line? Like I'm not allowed to ask about home or most of the time, unless you've got that relationship. But most people don't with their manager.

Most people barely know their manager's last name. And so asking, Hey, is the home life. Okay. That's they're going to blow up at you because now you crossed the line. It's that's tough.

[00:26:43] Georgia: Yeah, I, you're right. Coming out and saying something going on at home, like that's not, I wouldn't recommend

[00:26:50] David: with the misses. Yeah.

[00:26:52] Georgia: Um, but I think, maybe saying, I'm noticing you're a bit short with your responses or you seem to be frustrated. Is everything okay? Is there something going, a situation going on in the workplace?

And then, Maybe they would, that would give them the invite to say, no, it doesn't have to do with work. Whatever you can do to try and get information in a way that feels comfortable, but a line that, that we recommend giving to people, because I think that is the, that's where things could go wrong, especially when we're talking about mental health and there could be some deeper issues going on.

And if someone comes to the manager and the manager wants to fix it, and they're not licensed in the mental health field, that could get dangerous. One thing we recommend is to just ask the question, how can I support you? And it's just a general question, but at least the person feels like the manager is listening and that they care.

Cause sometimes people just want to vent. So I think just being there to ask the question, Hey, are you okay? I'm noticing, you seem frustrated. Is everything going on? Is everything okay? And give them a forum to share what they're comfortable sharing and then follow that up with how can I support you?

[00:28:15] David: Okay. Okay. So I want to change gears completely for a second. So four years ago, I saw that you just recently celebrated four years.

[00:28:22] Georgia: Thank you

[00:28:24] David: Um, four years ago, you decided to make the plunge. How has that been? How has it been now being your own boss, as it were like that changed. You went from corporate to self employed.

I assume. How has that change been? How did that process go?

[00:28:41] Georgia: Yeah, I didn't plan to start a business. I and it was funny because when I had my exit interview at my last company, I said to my boss, what do you think I should do next? Cause you know, I just was done with, I was working in the beer industry and I was just done with the industry. And he said, I think you should start your own business.

I was like, no way. I have no desire. And I was doing marketing and I was like, the world doesn't need another marketing agency. I'm not doing that. And so I didn't know what I wanted to do and I went and lived abroad And then the pandemic hit and my trip got cut short and I came back and I was like, oh no I just quit my job.

So I started applying for marketing jobs and I was like, this doesn't feel right I don't want to do this And I liked wellness. So I was like, what if I take wellness and try to apply it in the workplace? And I just filed the paperwork and when the LLC papers came back four years ago yesterday You I was like, okay, I guess I started a business, but it never even dawned on me that I could change industries I was just thinking like I don't want to open up a marketing agency and so that's how I started daily do's but Starting during the pandemic I thought i'd be going in person to businesses in raleigh And then this would only last, six months.

So i'm like, okay, we'll get through this pandemic thing I'll get the business up and running and then we'll start going in person You I've yet to serve a client in person. Everyone is just requesting virtual services. So I love being my own boss to get to your questions, but it is very challenging being an entrepreneur, as I'm sure, and you have days where there's highs, but then the lows you sit there and you're like, what am I doing?

Why did I should just go back and get a corporate job. I should have a set salary and know what's coming in. And it really does mess with your peace of mind. So it's, good and challenging. I would say, but depending on the day.

[00:30:36] David: Totally.

[00:30:37] Gary: I think David has

[00:30:38] David: Same day.

[00:30:39] Gary: yeah, I think David has a quote for you on that. And he actually knows where the quote came from.

[00:30:44] David: oh, so that last week we interviewed the guy who said this and I had been quoting him anonymously for 10 years. The quote is. Every entrepreneur has two songs in their head at the same time. Everything is awesome by the Lego movie and everything is broken by Bob Dylan. That quote is by Eric Boggs, who runs RevBoss up in Durham and he is wonderful. He was actually our guest last week. He was lovely. But that is, that quote has spoken to me. That's why I keep saying it over and over again.

But it's exactly what you're saying, right? It can sometimes be in the same hour that things go up or down. And to give you, I'm, we've been doing this 11 years. It's still like that. It's not quite as dire. That's that's the only thing that changes as you get past the survival stage, still have those crazy ups and downs, but they're not quite, the band is narrower.

When you're early on, you're like manic almost because you could be in the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, the low coming is going to explode. I could do anything all and those bands tighten and you're just bouncing like this. And so it's not quite as. Emotionally difficult. That's the only thing that changes over the years.

[00:31:51] Georgia: Okay well,

[00:31:52] Gary: as a new entrepreneur to a new business, you didn't even know you started,

[00:31:55] David: four years ago. Not new.

[00:31:57] Gary: meaning that she wasn't in the business of starting her own business, but now she's in business.

[00:32:02] Georgia: I told her it was the four year anniversary, she's wow, I feel like that went by fast. I'm like, I don't like Nope. Nope feels long to me mom

[00:32:11] David: I feel that

[00:32:12] Georgia: Okay, go ahead

[00:32:13] Gary: so within those four years, I'm sure you've learned a lot. So what would you say are your top three pieces of advice to anybody else starting in a new

[00:32:22] Georgia: don't do it no i'm just kidding so one One thing I would tell people is to figure out what you want to invest early on and actually invest in things. So I think when you start off, most of us are probably putting our savings into it. So I'm talking more if you're, not getting funding and you're just doing things on your own.

Like I was, I think in the beginning we think I don't, we're really careful about spending money. I don't want to spend money because I'll just do this myself. I'll, do the sales. I'll do the marketing. I'll do the operations. I'll, source the talent, everything. And looking back, I almost, I invested my money, but I almost wish I invested it on more sales generating activities rather than being stingy and just trying to do all that myself very grassroots.

So I would say think about something that would be worth it to you to spend that money on. Second thing this and this person can help you figure that out invest in coaching So i've worked with two coaches one of them. I resonated with better than another there's tons of coaches out there You have to find the right fit for sure.

Do you need help with sales strategy? Is it more getting over certain mindset blocks? So I think finding the right coach and looking up testimonials and it's almost like finding a therapist or a partner you have to find the right fit But I do think having a coach and having that support from someone who's done What you're trying to do is essential and really helpful in the beginning and then they can also help you determine You What would make sense to invest in usually they'll tell people, invest in the things you don't like doing So for me interestingly enough As a marketer, it's the part of my business.

I don't like doing now. I don't like spending my time on social I do it because it's a necessary evil, but I would love to outsource that so that's just one example okay, so those are two and then The third thing I would say is You If it doesn't feel right don't do it listen to your gut and your intuition because You're gonna get a lot of chatter from family friends coaches people are trying to get your business and everybody has an opinion I feel like when you're an entrepreneur like oh You should be on social media.

It's Okay, and do what like people just love to just say random things and we're like, oh you should do this or go after this industry or you should do this program and sometimes we just Take that and think okay. I should do that but if it doesn't feel right to you and you could just sit with it and usually we have a gut feeling and we're like I don't want to be doing this like when I came back from my trip and I was like I don't want to do marketing at another company and that's what led me to daily dose I've had a lot of people now that have said, you should do coaching with individuals and i'm like No, I don't that doesn't excite me.

So Let that be your barometer if you If your gut's telling you no, or you're feeling like that doesn't excite me, then you're not going to be successful at it. You really have to want to do it. So it excites me to work with businesses. And that's, I want to stay on the corporate side of things, even though I've had many coaches tell me you should, you'd make more money if you just did a coaching program for individuals.

I'm like, that doesn't excite me. So that's not where I spend my time. So those would be the three things invest earlier on and not trying to do everything yourself. Getting a business coach that's the right fit for you and then basically using your intuition your gut and only doing the things that feel right and that excite you

[00:36:20] David: Nice.

[00:36:21] Gary: You know, several of the guests that we've had on have mentioned getting a business coach, and I could tell you, nobody has ever said anything bad about getting a business coach. Everybody always says it with The highest regard. So it seems like getting a business coach is solid advice for anybody starting a new business.

I know it might be, like you said, it might be a little hard to justify the cost if you're not really making much as you just started, but it seems like everybody who has had the help of a coach or a mentor seems to benefit from it.

[00:36:53] Georgia: Well, there's tons out there though, so I think the harder

[00:36:56] Gary: Now, Georgia, if anybody else wants to learn more about you, sorry, go ahead.

[00:37:00] Georgia: Oh, I was gonna say I think the harder part with the business coach is finding the right one for you because there are so many out there so That part will take a bit of time just to do the due diligence I think if you're involved in any facebook groups, like i'm part of a few women's groups Sometimes i'll throw a question in there.

Hey, does anyone have a coach they've worked with that? They really like or that's really sales oriented strategy oriented so I think tapping into referrals and testimonials from people that Have had good experience with those coaches because i've actually heard a lot of nightmare stories or they pay for a program And it doesn't help move the needle in their business So that would be the only thing I caution don't just go with the first coach that makes a good pitch Listen to their content on social and see if it resonates with you So definitely do your research and your due diligence before Marrying up with a coach

[00:37:55] Gary: Sound advice. Now, Georgia, if anybody wants to learn more about you or about your business, Daily Dose, how can they get in touch?

[00:38:02] Georgia: Yeah, so they can find me on LinkedIn. I live there every day. So Georgia Hompsonee on LinkedIn or Instagram. And I actually just wrote a book, which we never even talked about, but the book is called You're Not Lazy. Change your words to change your worth. And that is available on Amazon. And it's also available on georgiahompsonee. com.

[00:38:26] OUTRO: Hi, I'm Christy Pronto, Content Marketing Director here at BigPixel. Thank you for listening to this episode of the BizDev Podcast. We'd love to hear from you. Shoot us an email, hello at thebigpixel. net. The BizDev Podcast is produced and presented by BigPixel. See you next week. Until then, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Threads, YouTube, and LinkedIn.