As she notes on LI, Kristen Deese is …”Systems Genius, Business Coach, CBC and Co-Author of When Your Business Partner is Your Spouse, I am the brains behind the Braun of our plumbing, HVAC and remediation company. I’ve been in the trades, running the behind-the-scenes functions, serving all our businesses as the CFO, for nearly 20 years.”
She continues – “What really gets me FIRED UP is coaching and training other business owners in our industry how to make more profit. There are plenty of people out there to help these businesses generate higher sales – that’s not what I do – I teach them how to make more money.”
As a business coach, she goes beyond the typical CPA numbers and looks at business’ growth areas.
You celebrate the wins and then you also mourn the losses when you’re going over that information with those business centers. But it is also really exciting to be able to see growth in the business and in the leadership capabilities of owners when you’ve spent the time with them to teach them how to read their numbers and how to look at their reports and how to use that information to make good business decisions.
She goes into detail about the work she does with her clients…
We definitely talk to the business owners a lot about the difference between strategic tasks and tactical tasks. The tactical tasks are the minute things that have to be done all the time, every day. The strategic tasks are is that higher-level thinking? Let’s look at this from the big picture. Let’s step back and see what does the future look like and where did we where have been and how do we get to where we want to go?
In her opinion, this is the best way for entrepreneurs to grow…
There are a lot of times that they don’t realize that they’re being the bottleneck in their company until you pull them back a little bit. Sometimes you have to pull them back by the collar, pull them back a little bit and be like, “Get out of the way. Let your business run. Look at it from the strategic level. Make the decision from that level and just get out of the way.”
How did she decide business coaching was for her?
I don’t necessarily like being in the day to day, you know, solving problems and putting out fires and all of those things. But I do really enjoy working with business owners and showing them how to get out of that spot. And so after working with our own business coach for quite some time and kind of seeing that transformation in us, I was like, “Man, it would be really cool to be able to do this with other business owners.”
Very few entrepreneurs like to look at their own numbers. They want to grow their business the way they know how. And looking at numbers isn’t very sexy. But Kristen looks at it differently…
I think that your numbers hold you accountable, and if you don’t look at them, then who is holding you accountable? So I think that it has to do with the desire to not look at them. I’ve got a saying that “if you don’t pay attention to your numbers, they’re going to get your attention.” And probably in a way that you don’t appreciate. You want to look at the numbers when it’s a good month and you want to look at the numbers when it’s a bad month.
And her thoughts on mentors…
I had a mentor in my I had a job when I was in college and it was at a hair salon actually, of all places. The manager took me under her wing and taught me a whole lot about the back end of running a business. We were looking at individual stylist sales and creating commission reports and looking at expenses and how much does it cost when the shampoo person does two pumps versus one pump, when they’re doing a shampoo, like all of those sorts of things. I’m learning about risk and I’m learning about fraud and I’m learning about all of these big business, very corporate accounting ideas on the side.
What would you tell your younger self if you had the chance?
Entrepreneurs want to say yes to everything, right? Like every opportunity that looks kind of shiny, they want to say yes to. And so I would be on board. I’d be like, Yeah, yeah, let’s do it, let’s do it. Sounds great, whatever. And then it would completely take us off course of the vision that we had or it would just kind of we were all over the place for a little while. Again, this was years ago, so it took us both a while to be able to figure out what was something that we should say yes to versus what was something that we should thank you, but no thank you.
Find out more about Kristen on her website.
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Transcript
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Welcome, everybody.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Or another episode of Harper and Company Empowering
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Entrepreneurs. Glen Harper here.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:Julie Smith.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And we'd like to welcome our guest today, Kristin Deese, a
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:fellow entrepreneur who is the brains behind multiple
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:companies. She is a virtual CFO as well as a real CFO for
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:multiple companies and owner of Gulf Coast business
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:coaching in sunny Gulf Breeze, Florida.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And in her spare time, she can be found on the beach
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:throwing mud on ATVs with her family.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Even though she looks like she's all brains and a desk
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:jockey, she likes to get dirty and experience nature and
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:manual labor. Thanks to Christian for being part of the
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:show today.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Thank you for having me.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:You're welcome. Well, it's the funniest thing when we get
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:some guests on here, the we try to have some commonality
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:and we can make fun of each other.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And knowing that you're an accountant, I mean, we share a
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:special bond, I think, and a non accountants just don't get
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:it. Julie doesn't get it.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:She has no clue about what that means.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And we're trying to figure out, you know, when you were in
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:school, I don't know if you really wanted to be an
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:accountant, but you said somehow you liked it and I just
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:didn't know if it was, you know, was it the cash versus
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:accrual accounting amortization of bond premiums or
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:accounts that just made you have to be the language of
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:accounting? Which one was it?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Probably none of the above.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:What those are, that's sexy, that kind of stuff.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I actually started my college career wanting to be a nurse,
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:which is completely opposite of accounting, and realized
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:that in order to do that I had to take biology and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:chemistry and they were really hard.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So I jumped ship from that and moved over to accounting,
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:which is completely opposite spectrum and found.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I always have loved numbers and organization and stuff like
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:that, but then started really understanding how it worked
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:from that accounting perspective.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And then I was like, okay, this is kind of cool.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:It's just basically like a puzzle.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Yeah, we look at it like, you know, some accounts really
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:never even get it.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:But you're an anomaly, kind of like myself, where at one
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:point you're sitting there looking at numbers and doing
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:what you do, and all of a sudden it's like the matrix.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:The numbers just roll and they make sense and you're like,
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Oh, I can speak this language.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:It makes sense, right?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Is that kind of what happened?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Yeah, totally. As a matter of fact, the very first
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:accounting, one on one class that I took, I failed.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I had to retake it.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:But then once it clicked the second time around, then I was
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:like, Oh, this is all making sense now and then.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Now, even just yesterday, I was working on a complicated
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:journal entry that was just really I just couldn't get it
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:to balance. And then when it finally did, it was like, oh.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Are you are you suggesting that you don't just plug a number
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:and make it bounce or you actually try to find the number?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Oh, no, I can take it.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Yeah, that's great.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:So I've been dying to ask this.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Your husband, Justin, does does he think your tractor's
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:sexy? Do you guys have a tractor because you said you drive
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:one of those around?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:We do have a tractor and a four wheeler and a side by side.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Nice.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:So I stalked you a little bit on your online profile and
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Kennesaw State University.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:How do we detect that?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:That's the third largest university in Georgia.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Well, how did you pick that versus the Bulldogs?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:What was the reason?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Was it Sturgis the owl or is just because you just want
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:like the smaller school?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Well, I actually started at Georgia State and transferred to
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Kennesaw about halfway through.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I went to high school up in that area, so I was very
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:familiar with that area.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And when I went to Kennesaw way back in the day, it was
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:still a commuter school. So it wasn't even close to the
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:size that it is now.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Now they have dorms and a football team and all kinds of
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:stuff, and when I was there, none of that was there.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:However, they had a fantastic business school and they
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:still do. And so I wanted to get out of the city and out of
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Georgia State. So I transferred up to Kennesaw to finish
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:out, and I'm very glad I did.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:It was it was an excellent school and their business and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:accounting program was is pretty good.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:How about that? Did you you weren't there when they had
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Sturgis, right. I think he came along a little bit later
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:but yeah.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Yeah, no I wasn't there when when they were there, my
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:brothers ended up going there for a little while for
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:engineering several years after I did.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And by the time they went, Sturgis was there.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And the plank and all of the things that they do now.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Do they like have the outgoing attack little animals or is
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:it just flying around or is it just sit there and look
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:noble?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I honestly have never been to a Kennesaw football game, so I
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:couldn't tell you have it.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And my final like warm up question is do you prefer
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:horseback riding or four wheeling?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Oh, my gosh. I don't know that I could pick.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:It is a tough one.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I think probably four wheeling, but only by like a little
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:smidge of a preference.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Because it's not as dangerous or more fast.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:You like to live in dangerous.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I have a little bit more control on four wheeling because
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I'm driving as opposed to a horse where you have to you
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:have some bit of control.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:But really the 1200 pounds beneath you has more control
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:than you do. So.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Yeah. They a moth.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Oh, my God. We're going to die.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Horse jumps straight.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:Yeah, that's Glenn's last softball question.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:But the one thing that I read while stalking you like
Julie Smith:
Speaker:Glenn, was the coffee and wine comments so we can find you
Julie Smith:
Speaker:in the morning, drinking your coffee and ending your day
Julie Smith:
Speaker:with wine. And for whatever reason, it wasn't the numbers
Julie Smith:
Speaker:that connected me with you.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:It was that.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Yes, like I am a human too.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:So which one's your favorite?
Julie Smith:
Speaker:Do you like to the beginning of the day or the end of your
Julie Smith:
Speaker:day?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Oh, coffee? For sure.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Yeah, for sure. I as a matter of fact, it's mostly cream
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:with just like a splash of coffee.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:So I get that as I'm drinking Starbucks dairy's.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Good selection theory.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Well, would you?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:You know, for our listeners out there, we always like to
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:have our our guests kind of just tell a little bit about
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:what services your companies do and, you know, a little
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:intro of what you guys do for a living and the why of that.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And then we'll get into some more depth about being an
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:entrepreneur as a you know, we just want to know a little
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:bit about what you do so our clients can kind of connect
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:with connect with you.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Well, we do own a couple of businesses.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:We, my husband and I have worked together for 20 years,
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:give or take. We own a business in Atlanta that installs
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:kitchen appliances for people who purchase them from Lowe's
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:and Home Depot. So if you go need a dishwasher and you want
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:somebody to install it, that's our company that gets
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:contracted out to do that.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And then we own a company here in the panhandle of Florida
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:called Paradise Home Services, and it's plumbing, HVAC and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:then water and mold remediation.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So I operate as the CFO for both of those companies.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And then what I do with the majority of my time is those
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:CFO services for other businesses in the trades.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:What we find a lot of times in the trades is the owners are
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:really good technicians, they're really good at what they
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:do. But running the business part isn't necessarily
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:something that is a strength for them.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So the coaching and the CFO services help them in that area
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:of weakness so that they can be more balanced as a
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:business.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:So you work, you coordinate that with their current CPA or
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:accounting people to get the data.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And then you kind of look at at a high level.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:What the owner yeah, I actually work with their in-house
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:accounting staff.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So a lot of times they'll have like a bookkeeper or an
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:office manager or somebody who's keeping track of all of
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:the day to day information expenses and receipts and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:payments and deposits and invoices and all that kind of
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:stuff. And I help them with getting their systems together
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:and how are they going to collect receipts and where are
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:they going to store them and how are they going to track
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:them and how are they going to track to make sure that
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:they're getting paid on their invoices?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And then I help them put together their financial reports
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:and reconcile all their statements and do all of those
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:things. And then when they go to the CPA, they can give
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:their CPA their completed books.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And their CPA is not having to run around trying to figure
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:out, you know, trying to do the reconciliations and figure
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:out where everything is.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:They can just take the completed reports and prepare the
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:taxes and do whatever they need to do with it.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So it's definitely very much a managerial accounting as
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:opposed to tax prep accounting.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Gotcha. See, you're more of a controller and then you take
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:that data, hand it off, and then you analyze it with the
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:owner and tell them what's going on.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Exactly. Yeah. So the we take the the information that goes
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:to the CPA, they deal with the tax side of things.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And then we take that same information and we sit down with
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:ownership and we say, okay, let's look at how you did.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Let's look at what your trends are.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Let's look on which departments are making money and which
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:departments are. Let's look at where your holes in the boat
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:are basically, and let's figure out how to plug them.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Don't business owners just love getting under the microscope
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:and getting called out on all of those things?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:It's the.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:No. It's a really vulnerable situation for business owners
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:to be in, but it's totally necessary in order to be
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:successful. There are so many times that, you know, these
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:people are running around selling, selling, selling.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:They're they're working really, really, really hard.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:But then they look at their bank account and they're like,
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:where is the money? What is going on here?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And you have to have that.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:You have to be able to analyze the information and know
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:what you're looking at in order to figure out where it's
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:going.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:It's funny when this whole podcast is empowering
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:entrepreneurs and it's about helping them get the knowledge
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:transfer so they understand what it means to run a
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:business, not just do the business.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And and that is a neat thing that you're doing because that
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:is something severely lacking for small business owners,
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:for sure. I find it interesting that, you know.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:The responsibility of being the CFO of multiple companies
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:that are your own, but also then to take that role.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:It's an emotional burden because you can't help.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:But I'm sure that you feel fully invested helping these
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:clients and you've got to get you can't just cursory look
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:at the numbers, you've got to get down into it, down in the
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:detail. And it's an emotional thing, even though people say
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:it's not supposed to be. I have to believe it is a little
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:bit for you. I mean, it is for me when we look at clients
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:books because you you want them to succeed, you want to
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:help them, you want to educate them.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:But boy, up and down, it's a it's a traumatic experience
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:for everybody.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Yeah, it's definitely.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:You celebrate the wins and then you also mourn the losses
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:when you're going over that information with those business
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:centres. But it is also really exciting to be able to see
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:growth in the business and in the leadership capabilities
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:of owners when you've spent the time with them to teach
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:them how to read their numbers and how to look at their
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:reports and how to use that information to make good
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:business decisions.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:It's it's really neat to see that transformation in the
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:business owners themselves and that tremendous growth that
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:can happen.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:It for for me and and I think probably all the other staff
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:that we have on our team and the other accountants, the
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:ability to coach a client along and have them learn
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:something and interpret and be able to make decisions on
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:something they never even understood.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:You know, a day ago.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And all of a sudden they they can speak the language.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:They know what it means. It's you know, that that mentoring
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:or just helping them do that is is so powerful because now
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:that that client or that individual, that company can
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:literally achieve something greater.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And if we if you do it right, we see they don't even now,
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:they're not involved in the operations as much as the
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:business. They're just like a hands off business owner that
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:just does some things and they can do all the things that
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:they want to do. And that's the fun part when they realize
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:they have this opportunity to do other things, not just
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:grind away at something.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Right. Yeah, we we definitely talk to the business owners a
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:lot about the difference between strategic tasks and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:tactical tasks.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:The tactical tasks are the minute things that have to be
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:done all the time, every day.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:The physical labor of the of the business and the strategic
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:tasks are is that higher level thinking?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And that, you know, let's look at this from a big picture.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Let's step back and see what does the future look like and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:where did we where have we been and how do we get to where
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:we want to go? And being able to pull those business
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:outers, the business owners out of that tactical mode and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:that tactical mindset to be able to look at things
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:strategically just does.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:A total like mindset shift for them that it doesn't we
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:don't I don't have to be in a truck doing the job and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:checking on the sites.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:We can set this up so that other people are doing that and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I can focus on the bigger picture of things.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:You always have a trick question for clients.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:We onboard them and even after we've had them for a while,
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:it's always ask them, what is it that you do that actually
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:makes money? Like what do you think your role is?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:What? What pays the bills?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Like, what is that thing that you do?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And they always say, Well, it's this task of doing it.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:I'm like, That's not where you make your money yet.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Making money is being strategic and planning and putting
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:your team together. And it's just when they get that aha
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:moment, they're like, Oh my God, that's right.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:What? Why? Just because I am the wizard at fixing a breaker
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:box doesn't mean I should be doing that.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:I mean, they're fun playing black boxes, but that's not
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:what they should be doing. I mean.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Yeah, there's a lot of times that they don't realize that
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:they're being the bottleneck in their company until you
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:pull them back a little bit.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Sometimes you have to pull them back by the collar, pull
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:them back a little bit and be like, Get out of the way.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Let your business run.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Look at it from the strategic level.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Make the decision from that level and just get out of the
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:way. And then all of a sudden it's like, Oh, wait, this is
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:what leverage is. This is how to leverage.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:It's kind of like you and me, probably.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:We again, we got some affinities that we share a little
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:bit. And one of those things is, you know, we just dearly
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:love our ten keys, right?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And but we don't really make money on our ten key.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:But dang, now, but I just can't stop using it.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:I don't know about you. It's just something fun.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I know it is.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:He. He used to pack it in his backpack.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:We'd go away to, like, speak at conferences or whatever,
Julie Smith:
Speaker:and he'd, like, we'd sit down and he'd go to unzip his
Julie Smith:
Speaker:backpack. And I'm like, Oh, my gosh, is that a ten key in
Julie Smith:
Speaker:there? He's like, You just don't know.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:I'm like, Never, ever.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:I can't even add one plus one without a ten key anymore.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:So it's very important for me.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I mean, it's not efficient to use the numbers along the top
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:of the keyboard.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Oh, see, you get it.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:I have a solar calculator at my desk.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:It works just fine.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:It's embarrassing. Totally embarrassing.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:It gives us all kinds of bad name.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:When did you decide?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:You know, it's one thing when you come out of school and
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:you're doing what you do and you're working for a living,
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:and then all of a sudden you decide that you're in your
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:husband or you in a business partner.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Are you on your own? You're going to start a business, you
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:know, how did you decide to do that?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:I mean, that's. Did you have a real job where you're an
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:entrepreneur as a kid?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:What what made you decide that, hey, I'm going to be a
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:business owner today.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So my my husband made that decision for us a long time ago.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:He is.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:He always has been our entrepreneur, visionary.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Between the two of us and I have always been the detail
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:oriented. Let's make sure all of the T's are crossed and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:the I's are dotted and the money's where it needs to be and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:all that kind of stuff. So when we first started our first
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:business many moons ago, I kept a real job, quote unquote,
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:in order to make sure that we could pay the power bill and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:eat. And then it got to the point where the business that
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:he created was getting to be enough that I was working in
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:the evenings and on the weekends in his business doing all
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:of the accounting things.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And then I was still trying to keep this job.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And then we had two small children at the time and I was
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:like, okay, this is too much.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And I made the leap to move over into that business, and we
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:did that for a long time.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Just the one service company.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:We grew it very large.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:It was the appliance installation and some plumbing.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:We grew it very large.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And then in 2008 hit.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And like everybody else, we kind of had to reel it all back
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:in and really cut out a lot of things.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:We went from like four or five states and 50 trucks running
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:down to a very bare minimum just because we were cutting
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:weight everywhere that we could.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And then when we came out of that, which we did come out of
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:it barely when we came out of that, then it was kind of
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:like, All right, we're going to rebuild what we have going
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:on here and kind of make some shifts.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And as we got comfortable in that position, that's when I
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:realized that my area, what I really enjoyed doing was the
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:coaching side of things.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I don't necessarily like being in the day to day, you know,
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:solving problems and putting out fires and all of those
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:things. But I do really enjoy working with business owners
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:and showing them how to get out of that spot.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And so after working with our own business coach for quite
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:some time and kind of seeing that transformation in us, I
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:was like, Man, it would be really cool to be able to do
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:this with other business owners.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So then I started doing coaching in general.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:We were I was coaching vision stuff and organizational
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:charts and systems and marketing and finance and, and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:leadership and the whole thing still only really focusing
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:on the trades because that's where our experience is.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So I can really relate with those business owners and then
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:ended up just in the last probably two or three years
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:really whittling it down to the systems, the finance, a
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:little bit of the vision stuff.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:But it's really that organization and that level of detail
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:that the business owners don't really want to mess with.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:They just want it to be done because they kind of feel like
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:if it's there, it probably would be helpful, but they don't
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:really necessarily want to put the work in to make it
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:happen. And then there's all kinds of coaches in in our
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:space and in in spaces all over that really focus in on
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:driving sales and leadership, which is amazing and it's
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:necessary. But if you don't have the foundation and the
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:details lined out and your systems in place, your sales,
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:your additional sales that you're getting from these other
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:training programs are just compounding issues that you
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:already have. So I try to get a hold of them, help them get
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:that foundation really strong.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Then when they do ultimately go to sales and leadership
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:training and coaching and whatever, they're seeing a much
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:higher return on investment on that because their
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:foundation is strong.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:It seems like everything's is packaged for entrepreneurs
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:like the literally the two things that are really the most
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:important in my opinion, other than obviously have to be
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:good at what they do, whatever the product and service they
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:do. But they got to understand the tax consequences and
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:they got to understand their financials to see how they're
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:performing. And those are literally the two things that
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:just give the heebie jeebies to everybody.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And I don't know why that stereotype is there, but once
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:they learn it and understand it, it's actually it takes so
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:much stress off of them because they're like, oh, that's
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:all there is to that.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And I don't know why it's so hard.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:I don't know if it's because they're watching too much TV.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:I don't know if it's a read too many magazines.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:I don't know if they just are intimidated by it.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:But it is the strangest phenomena.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Would you agree to that? I mean, it's weird.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I do agree and I think honestly that it is a level of
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:accountability that a lot of people don't want to own up
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:to. I think that your numbers hold you accountable, and if
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:you don't look at them, then who is holding you
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:accountable? So I think that that a lot of times has to do
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:with the desire to to not look at them or to.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:You know, we've got I've got a saying that if you don't pay
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:attention to your numbers, they're going to get you they're
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:going to get your attention and probably in a way that you
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:don't appreciate. And so, you know, you you want to look at
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:the numbers when they're when it's a good month and you
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:want to look at the numbers when it's a bad month.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And you need to you need to scrutinize them the same way in
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:both scenarios, because if it's a bad month, everybody
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:wants to know where the money went and what happened.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:But if it's a good month, you need to know why that
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:happened as well so that you can repeat it.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:It's almost like the.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Actual numbers are real.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And like, it's not an opinion, it's a fact.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And entrepreneurs, again, they like to freewheel a little
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:bit and they like to do what they feel and think.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And that's why we love entrepreneurs, because they have
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:that manic thing about them side.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:But at some point you've got to get them on point and look
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:at the real things, make real decisions, and then send them
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:off to hunt again. Right. And that's that's the fun part.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Yeah.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:And something you said that, you know, I read your profile
Julie Smith:
Speaker:is quality over quantity.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:And I think you've you've hinted around that a lot, but
Julie Smith:
Speaker:that's definitely the pinpoint of what you're definitely
Julie Smith:
Speaker:trying to get the owners to do is to get out of their own
Julie Smith:
Speaker:way in regards to that quality over quantity and having
Julie Smith:
Speaker:that accountability and having those systems in place in
Julie Smith:
Speaker:order to have that, if you, in my opinion, you know, that's
Julie Smith:
Speaker:exactly what you're doing.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Yeah. For sure.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:It's that it's it goes back to the, the idea that if you
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:have problems in your systems and you have problems if
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:you've got problems when you're small and you throw more
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:sales on top of it, all you're going to do is have bigger
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:problems when you're big. So solve them and then dump a
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:bunch of sales onto it and then it'll flourish.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:That's a bunch of poppycock.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:That is not true. That is not I don't know who told you
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:that, but that's simply not true.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:You've got more sales.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:More sales. So your upbringing, when you're doing work,
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:doing things on the farm, do you think, you know, a lot of
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:entrepreneurs have this insatiable appetite to challenge
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:themselves, do more than it's expected, and just really
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:can't get enough of what they do.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And that comes, you know, sometimes your program that way,
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:sometimes you are instilled that work ethic when you're
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:you're young or you see something with an athlete in the
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:military, you know, police officer or farmer, just
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:something where you have to do way more than is expected.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:You have to get up early. You've got to do those things
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:again. Who doesn't love shovel manure?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:But I mean, like to be able to do those things.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Do you feel like that gave you a good base to say like, I
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:can roll up my sleeves and get into this, this isn't a
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:problem.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Oh yeah, for sure. I mean, it's work ethic was something
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:that was instilled in me from as early as I can remember.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And I definitely think that there is.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:There is that drive in entrepreneurs that isn't found in
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:everybody, which is a good thing because we don't need
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:everybody to be entrepreneurs.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:We need some people to just roll up their sleeves and do
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:the work. I know that it like like a lot of people, there
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:is a tendency to roll up the sleeves and do the work when
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:you shouldn't be right, when somebody else should be doing
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:it, or you should be kind of backing out.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:But, you know.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Spending the time early on and working hard and seeing what
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:happens when you do work hard, when you do a good job, you
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:know, maybe you get the promotion or maybe you see the next
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:opportunity. It just opens up a whole world of who knows
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:what could have happened right?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:When I was a teenager, I never in a million years would
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:have thought that we would be running multiple businesses
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:and, you know, doing coaching and CFO services and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:whatever. And here I am doing the things.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:So when you look back and I know Glenn's, you know, kind of
Julie Smith:
Speaker:went back on, you know, your childhood, do you think that
Julie Smith:
Speaker:there is someone from your childhood or maybe someone in
Julie Smith:
Speaker:college or someone early on, even in your real job that you
Julie Smith:
Speaker:would consider consider a mentor that had a big impact on
Julie Smith:
Speaker:your life, even where you are today.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Yeah. I had a mentor in my I had a job in when I was in
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:college and it was at a hair salon actually, of all places.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And I was kind of like the salon manager and I was very
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:young, under 21 for sure, because I would have been I was
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:in college at the time and the business owner was probably
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:about ten years older than me.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So she wasn't she was still young herself, but she was very
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:intelligent in the terms of running the business.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And she kind of took me under her wing and taught me a
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:whole lot about the back end of running a business that
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:would have taken me quite a bit longer to learn had she not
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:done that. And that kind of was probably the first time I
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:really saw numbers and trending and like statistics from a
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:business standpoint in that way.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And I didn't necessarily realize how much I really how much
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I enjoyed it at that point.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:A couple of years later, I was like, okay, now I understand
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:that this is really cool, but I was actually doing that
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:work several years prior and not even really realizing it.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:We were looking at individual stylist sales and creating
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:commission reports and looking at expenses and how much
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:does it cost when the shampoo person does two pumps versus
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:one pump, when they're doing a shampoo, like all of those
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:kind of things. We were analyzing and I was doing that,
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:that whole trending in numbers way before I even realized
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:what I was doing. So there was I think I definitely leaped
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:forward while I worked there in a way that even though I'm
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:taking classes in college and I'm learning, I'm learning
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:about risk and I'm learning about fraud and I'm learning
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:about all of these big business, very corporate accounting
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:ideas on the side.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I'm doing like real small business things, and those are
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:not the type of skills that I would have learned taking the
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:classes that I was taking in school because I was learning
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:like the bigger auditing and stuff like that.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So it was it was kind of a neat experience and especially
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:looking back, obviously hindsight's 2020, right?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So you can see when you look back, you're like, Oh, that
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:really was a very impactful time.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:It too. Comments on that.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:So hopefully you figured out a way to give the two pumps
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:and charge an extra $0.20 for the thing because people want
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:a lot of lather when they go in there.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:So that's important to do that and make sure you're making
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:the money. But that other part too is the ability to it.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:When I was in school, I was working a real job and and in
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:accounting. And it was amazing when you go to class and you
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:learn a concept, but you have and then you go back to the
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:office and you actually integrate it, you're like, wow.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:It just, you know, you learn by doing you kind of you're
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:almost teaching to learn.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And it really accelerates how much faster that stuff
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:resonates with you. Right.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And so I can definitely see where that could have happened
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:for you.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:Have you been able to keep that relationship and keep in
Julie Smith:
Speaker:contact?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:For the first several years after I left, we did.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:We kind of grew apart a little bit.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And now it's a connection once every couple of years and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:it's, oh, my gosh, how have you been?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:La la la la. And then a couple more years, we'll do it
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:again.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Do you find when you are you know, when you're willing to
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:roll up your sleeves and get dirty and get into the into
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:the guts of things, do you find that that creates a
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:situation where you can be a more more of a leader than a
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:boss? Because you're you show that you're willing to do the
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:work. You've done it before.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:You have. Like, don't try to tell me anyone in this office.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:I did everything you guys have done and you can lead by
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:example versus stand there dictating.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Is that is that something you felt has helped you as well?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Absolutely. And not only has it helped from the leadership
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:standpoint, but it also helps keep me relevant in the
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:situations that these business owners and their employees
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:are going through on a regular basis.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So that's part of why I still enjoy and appreciate doing
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:the CFO services for the businesses that we own is because
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:then when I am working with these other business owners,
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:they're experiencing a lot of the same things that we are
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:experiencing. So we can kind of almost bounce back and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:forth between what what have we tried, what worked, what
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:didn't work. Here's what we do in our business.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Let me help you implement that into your business.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And so absolutely the trick is finding the balance of
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:rolling up my sleeves and getting to work and showing
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:showing the people that I am still willing to do that and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:stepping across the line of not delegating when I should,
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:because we fall into the trap of it's easier to just do it
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:myself than it would be to train somebody else to do it or
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:to come up with a system or whatever.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And at that point, it's when you turn into the bottleneck
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:when you may not necessarily realize it.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So it's definitely striking that line between, Yep, I'm
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:going to roll up my sleeves and help and stay relevant.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And also let me make sure that this isn't something that
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:really should be delegated to somebody else.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:I feel like there's always somebody watching over my
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:shoulder making sure that I'll do that because it's really,
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:really easy because we have all this knowledge on the
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:wisdom that again, we can look at a problem and we can get
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:from A to Z in like eight nanoseconds.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And if we hand it off to somebody, it's going to take them
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:three days. But they've got to struggle.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:They got to figure it out.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:You've got to coach them along and they'll get there.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Then maybe the fifth time they can do it in a couple of
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:minutes, you know. But it's hard because you just want that
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:instant results and get things done.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Yup.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Do you feel like at any point in time, like now you've been
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:doing this for how many years?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:The CFO thing.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:The four other companies I've been doing CFO for about two
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:years.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Two years. And when you were doing the CFO for your current
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:companies, you've been doing that for a while, right?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:That started way back when.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Is there anything way back?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Do you feel like there's a was a point in time where you're
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:like, Man, if I had just known that, then where would I be
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:today? Was there.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:When you look back, is there that moment where you're like,
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:when you're sitting here today going, Gosh, if I had just
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:known that little formula 15 years ago, I'd be a
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:kajillionaire. Is that does that something that that hits
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:you? Are you are you already just.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Yeah, I got it. I'm just moving on.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So I think that.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:There's probably a couple.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:One would be.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:When we figured out that when we started separating our our
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:the company by departments and looking at department
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:profitability, we started seeing this was like ten years
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:ago, we started seeing that there was one department or
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:wing that just really was underperforming.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:But that department brought in a lot of sales.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And so we were terrified to let it go because it boosted
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:the sales number. But when you got all the way down to the
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:bottom, it was not doing anything for the bottom line.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And so we were really scared to let that go and make that
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:decision and kind of take that step in it.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:You know, looking at the opportunity costs and if if it's
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:not making any money and we put that energy somewhere else,
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:what could we be doing instead?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And all of those things.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So if we could have figured that out a little bit earlier,
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:that would have been cool.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And also it stays on the forefront now when we're looking
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:at our different departments numbers as in terms of do we
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:need to continue to provide the service, is it profitable
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:or do we need to make a change or we need to let it go all
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:together? I think the other thing that kind of piggybacks
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:off of that is it took us when I say us, I would say
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:probably just in.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:My husband is a little bit more guilty of this than I am.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:But of course, it's as.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs want to say yes to
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:everything, right? Like every opportunity that looks kind
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:of shiny, they want to say yes, too.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And so I would be on board.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I'd be like, Yeah, yeah, let's do it, let's do it.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Sounds great, whatever.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And then it would completely take us off course of the
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:vision that we had or it would just kind of we were all
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:over the place for a little while.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Again, this was years ago, so it took us both a while to be
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:able to figure out what was something that we should say
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:yes to versus what was something that we should thank you,
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:but no thank you. In terms of looking at opportunities and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:again, if if that's something that we could have figured
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:out earlier, then we could have been more dialed in on a
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:direction and a vision earlier on.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I think that we're we're dialed in now, but it didn't
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:happen. It took half of the time that we were business
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:owners for that to happen.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So imagine if we would have been able to do that from the
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:beginning, what this whole thing would look like.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I think those are probably two of the.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Two of the key.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Had I known now what I knew then.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:What it could have showed. The the one thing you mentioned,
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:and I think that's probably, you know, everybody has a why
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:they do what they do and it's your why is not that you love
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:numbers. I mean, obviously you're doing your accountant,
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:for God's sakes. We love numbers.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:But I think it's more of the fact that you want to help.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And when you walk into a client and you understand, we see
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:this a lot in our business, a lot that, you know, a client
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:is all driven about their gross sales.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:It's not about the gross, it's about the margin.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Right. And, oh, I sold 10 million last year.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Well, how much did you make? You know, ten bucks.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:I'm like, Well, I got a guy over here.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:It's sold 1000 and May 900.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Who would you rather be?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Right. So being able to for you kind of understanding that
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:a ha moment in your own business and now you're out
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:coaching and teaching other people this, that's got to be
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:one of the first things you talk about and that has got to
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:be really, really well received for a client to understand
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:that it's not about how much I mean, sales are important
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:and what you sell for, but it's not what you sell it for,
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:what you make on it. And I feel like that is a very
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:impactful thing that you're doing for people that again,
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:you're helping them accelerate and get over that hump, that
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:it took you a long time to figure it out.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Right.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the idea would be to help them shorten
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:their learning curve, right?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Like we took we took the long way.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:We took the long route there.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:But to be able to help them shorten the learning curve and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:get to the profitability that they want to be at faster
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:obviously is the ultimate goal.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:There's a lot of times that I talk to business owners who
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:are just in complete overwhelm.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:They're running, they're running ragged, their business is
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:running them. They've got customers who are beating on the
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:doors, wanting things, and they have employees that they're
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:having a hard time dealing with.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And, you know, they don't know their numbers.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:They're they're gauging whether or not they're doing well
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:by the cash that's sitting in the bank and whether or not
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:they can make their next payroll.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And it's a tough place to be in.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And I know that because I've been there.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And it's it feels like, you know, you go through periods of
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:time when you're like, what am I even doing this for?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I just seem to throw it all away and go get a job that I
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:can go to work and I can come home and I can get a paycheck
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:on Friday, and that's it.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:But that's not the entrepreneurial way.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:No, it's not. So it's so going in and being like, okay,
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:cool. I know it's chaotic right now and I have been in
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:those shoes, so let's get to work on fixing this and then
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:pulling them out of that and fixing all of the things and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:then setting them back out on their little journey.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:That is the reason that I do the things, because it just it
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:hurts my heart to see when they're struggling because we
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:were there, too. And I can I definitely know I'm living the
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:example that there is 100% a better way to run your
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:business.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Don't you feel like entrepreneurs definitely have a screw
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:loose? I mean, we're definitely a little bit odd because
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:who who wakes up every day negative and is happy to go
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:perform and try to turn that into a positive.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And the cool thing is, once entrepreneurs recognize that
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:they need that help, like you said, you had a coach before
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:you even as you were doing your business, you had a coach
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:as entrepreneurs realized that that coach and you're doing
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:that for these as a CFO, you're basically their coach,
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:right? It's not about the numbers.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:It's really about your mental state.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:It's amazing how somebody could be so close to burning out
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:and just they can't take it anymore, but they really,
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:really want to do it. And all of a sudden they get this
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:little key and then, boom, they are off to the races.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And it's it's the greatest feeling ever for me anyway.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:That's why I love doing what I do.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:But I'd imagine it's very similar for you.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Yeah, for sure.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:So early on.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:You know, I know that your husband was the reason you guys
Julie Smith:
Speaker:kind of went into this and you were kind of doing the real
Julie Smith:
Speaker:job. But at what point do you think you knew or you and
Julie Smith:
Speaker:your husband decided to?
Julie Smith:
Speaker:We need a team and we have to kind of get out of our own
Julie Smith:
Speaker:way. We have to be able to kind of build this team and
Julie Smith:
Speaker:delegate. And I just curious at what point you had that
Julie Smith:
Speaker:moment?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:It did not take very long to get to that point from the
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:technician labor standpoint, because Justin was the only
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:one doing the technical labor and he was also trying to
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:answer the phone and he was trying to talk to the stores
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:and he was trying to do all of these things.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And so it didn't take long for him to be like, this is for
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:the birds, somebody else.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:We need to get somebody else in here to help with the
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:actual technical part of it, the technical labor part.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And then so there was so we brought in the first
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:technician, which by the way, is still with us today.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:He's our general manager of our business in Atlanta.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So he came in and started helping and then.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I want to say we probably brought in somebody who sat in
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:like a CSR position, even if it was just from a part time
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:standpoint to kind of help with some of the administrative
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:things. But the point where it was like, okay, we need
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:somebody is the puppet for I am out the door by five
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:running the entire day home at ten, 11, 12:00 at night,
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:sleeping for a couple of hours and getting up and doing it
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:all over again. You can only do that for a certain period
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:of time before you're like, Okay, something's got to give.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And then for from me and the job standpoint, it was a strain
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:on the relationship.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:It was a strain on the House in general to have him gone
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:all the time. Because then I am doing the pickups at
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:daycare and I'm going to work and then I'm picking up at
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:daycare at the end of the day, and then we're doing dinner
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:and bath and the whole thing, and then I get the hour.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:We only had one child at the time, so get him into bed at
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:eight and from 8 to 11 or 12 at night.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I'm working on sending out invoices and collecting payments
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:and doing all those things to the point where we were both
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:working so many hours that we were like, Well, this is kind
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:of stupid, why are we doing this?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So we had to we had to grow.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:We didn't have a choice. We didn't have to grow.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:We didn't have the money to do it.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:We didn't know how we were going to do it or we didn't know
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:what the employees are going to look like.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:But we like we need some help.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:This is getting out of control.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Yeah, definitely say that.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:You know, that's not for everybody.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:But literally, if you can get through that period, you can
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:help get that key.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:There is light on the other side.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Unless you suck at what you do right, then that doesn't
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:matter. But if you're if you're if you're good at what you
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:do and, you know, like and I'd imagine to just and still
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:wear his tool belt around the house as he walk around
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:thinking he's all that or is he doesn't even wear one
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:anymore.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Here does not.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:As a matter of fact, there there is we have several go to
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:contractors for our jobs around the house.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So he is completely embraced, not doing the technical work.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Well, I got to talk to that guy because I feel like he's got
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:to get shocked in an electrical receptacle at some point
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:just to make sure it works.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:I feel like he has defined delegation, you know, to the
Julie Smith:
Speaker:point of delegation.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:Right. He's got it down.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Got a doctorate and a doctorate in delegation.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Did you have a you know, I listen to one of your podcasts,
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:which is which is weird because I don't listen to anything
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:ever. I'm kidding, of course.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:But you had a thing that you talk about clients that you
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:have you have them do this exercise of of writing their own
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:little thing.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:You know what I'm talking about.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:You want to share with that how that works and how is that
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:received by the clients?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:The analogy exercise.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Yeah, I think it's fantastic.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So. So that was an exercise that our business coach had us
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:do when we were trying to basically find figure out why it
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:is that we were doing what we were doing.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So there's a couple of different ways that you can get to
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:that. Some people do the seven layer.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Why? Why are you doing this?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Because of this. Well, why?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Why do you want that? And you just kind of keep asking why
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:that's impactful. However, I think the eulogy exercise is
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:more impactful from like an internal soul shaking kind of
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:way because you you literally write what you want, your
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:eulogy to read or what you would want somebody to say as
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:your eulogy at your funeral.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And it kind of.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Makes everything very real, and it really helps you
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:highlight the handful of things that are ultimately
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:important. You know, you say that you want to be a business
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:owner because you want to make more money.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Well, making a bunch of money and dying with a bunch of
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:money isn't something that you would want necessarily to be
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:put in your eulogy.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Right. So if you if you work out the exercise, very humbling
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:exercise of writing your eulogy, then you're really
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:striking the what do you want to be known for?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:What what do you want to die knowing that you've done?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Knowing what kind of person you are.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:The characteristics that you have.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And when you can highlight that out of your eulogy, then
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:going forward and making your vision, it kind of can ground
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:that vision more deeply than if it was just something that
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:was superficial. I want to make more money.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So it's definitely a really humbling exercise.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:There are.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I've only had a few people push back on that exercise.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Most people will do it and they'll, you know, they'll kind
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:of like scratch the surface and then we'll go over it.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And then I'd be like, All right, cool.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Take it back and let's dig a little deeper.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And then you can tell when they when they kind of hit the
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:the core of it.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So it's really a very impactful exercise.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And while it sounds really like morbid, it's got good
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:purpose.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:I think it's genius.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:I mean, everybody's got to know the why and what are you
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:trying to accomplish? Because for you, this is this is like
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:one of the trick questions.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Not that I haven't given you like 20 of them already, but
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:this one is what is the end game?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:I mean, are you going to try to do this CFO thing for
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:another 20 companies, 50 companies?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:You're going to scale and put other people in.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Are you going to grow your business to be in all 50 states?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Are you going to open up a ton of other businesses?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:You're going to milk this thing and just coders in the
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:sunset. What exactly is Kristen's endgame on this?
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:My end game is is just my clientele.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I don't plan on bringing on any other coaches or growing
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:and scaling to that size.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I thoroughly enjoy having a handful of clients at a time
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:and building really strong, lasting relationships with
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:these business owners, as opposed to the very low touch
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:hitting a lot of people at the same time.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Idea. I leave the.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Growing to 50 states and the things that we're doing to
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Justin because he's that's where he operates.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Like that's the brain space that he operates in, which is
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:super amazing.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I don't know if you guys are familiar with the book Rocket
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Fuel by Gina Wickman.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So that book is really cool because it highlights the
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:personalities of the visionary and the integrator and that
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:how both personalities are necessary in order to have a
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:successful business. And very rarely is one person, both
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:personalities in just a nice case.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:We are definitely the individuals.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:So he is the visionary and I'm in the integrator.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I by doing this virtual CFO, I'm able to scratch the itch
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:of the integrator for other businesses too, not just my
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:own. And so, you know, it's not necessarily a desire of
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:mine to grow this particular arm of what we do into this
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:ginormous business.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I'm more after, you know, finding the people that that need
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:me and that want to use me and building that relationship
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:and making them better and sending them on their way and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:then doing that with the next client and just kind of
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:trucking along until I decide that I want to retire on an
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:island and Turks and Caicos.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:I think that's fantastic.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:I have this feeling that Justin's got a split personality.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:He really wants to be an integrator, too, but he decides
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:that that you like that better.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:So he's going to step back from that.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:That's what I think is going on.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Yeah, I'm kidding. Of course.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Well, is there do you want to give a you want to give a
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:plug to your company? And so people might be able to look
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:you up and do something with that.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Yeah. So my website is Kristin Dotcom and the services and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:the different things from the virtual CFO standpoint that I
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:do are on that site.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And one thing that we didn't bring up is that just you and
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:I are authors. We wrote a book called When Your Business
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Partner Is Your Spouse How to Have a Successful Business
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:and a Happy Marriage.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:And that book can be found on my website and on Audible.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Is that under fiction or non-fiction?
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:I'm kidding. 100% true.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:It's a it's an amazing when you get that clarity to make
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:that work, because it is hard to do that.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And when you figure it out, it is it is going to be very
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:rewarding. Well, I appreciate your time today.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:Thanks for coming on. And hopefully this was rewarding for
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:you as it was for us.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:And I hope our listeners can glean something from this and
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:say, You know what, that's going to inspire me to be a
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:better entrepreneur.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:This is Glen Harper.
Kristen Deese:
Speaker:Yeah. Thank you so much for having me.
Glenn Harper:
Speaker:You're welcome.
Julie Smith:
Speaker:And Julie Smith,
Julie Smith:
Speaker:Glenn Harper: Take care.