IAM388- Founder Works with Retail Leaders to Transform Their Business

Carlos Castelan is the Founder & Managing Director of The Navio Group a consulting firm that works with retail leaders who want to transform their business.

• CEO Hack: 7-8 hours of sleep to be more energized during the day
• CEO Nugget: Thinking in the line of why not do this? Pushing myself to grow
• CEO Defined: Setting clear expectations and being fair

Website: https://thenaviogroup.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carloscastelan/

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Transcription

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello, this is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today Carlos Castelan of The Navio Group. Carlos, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Carlos Castelan 0:39

Thanks for having me Gresham.

Gresham Harkless 0:41

No problem. Super excited to have you on. And what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Carlos so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. Carlos is the founding founder and managing director of The Navio Group, a consulting firm that works with retail leaders who want to transform their businesses. Carlos, are you ready to speak to the IAMCEO community?

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Carlos Castelan 0:59

Absolutely. Let's do it.

Gresham Harkless 1:01

Let's do it. So they kick everything off, I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story. And what led you to start your business?

Carlos Castelan 1:06

Yeah, so a little bit about my story, I was more of an accidental, I think entrepreneur, more than anything else. So I started my career working at Target here in Minneapolis, worked in a variety of different roles, and then went off to business school. And I did some basically, an internship over the summer doing consulting, didn't end up liking it at all kind of went back to the drawing board saying I don't know what I'm gonna do.

In my second year of school, I was in a startup at the time that reached out to me and asked if I wanted to help out on a project related to toys. I managed toys at Target when I was when I was there. So it was sort of a natural fit. So my second year of school started doing these second-year business school sort of doing these projects, consulting projects, and from there kind of took off and decided at the end of my two years of business school that I would just try this full time and see if it worked out. I had about six months until my student loans kicked in.

So that was sort of my timeline to either make it or break it and kind of took off from there. And I've been going strong, you know, ever since you know, so it's been? I would say that's my story. It wasn't anything kind of crazy, but more accidental and good fortune, I would say.

Gresham Harkless 2:18

Yeah, absolutely. And I love that aspect of you. You gave yourself a runway so to speak to see, you know whether or not it will, you know, go where you wanted to go or go or not go a different way. But you still have that opportunity. Where would literally wreck everything? I think so many people have that runway, but they turn the other way, and they don't actually try it. So I appreciate you and commend you for being able to do that.

Carlos Castelan 2:39

Yeah, no, I was just talking to someone else today, that's gonna go out on their own for a bit. I think that that runway is having the sort of kind of pressure that you have on yourself to be like, I'm going to make this work. I'm going to, you know, bring the ship, so to speak, and do this. I think it's really helpful for people that are doing it.

Gresham Harkless 2:57

Absolutely, absolutely. So I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper here, what you're doing with The Navio Group, can you tell us how you're working with the clients?

Carlos Castelan 3:04

Absolutely. So we work mainly with retailers, oftentimes, brands that are looking to go direct to consumer. And oftentimes these retailers are looking to transform their business. So a couple of examples of that would be you know, a company that has, you know, we're working with a client today that's really dedicated brick and mortar retailer, but looking to get further into health and health services.

So we're helping them design new services and products for their space that will resonate, with customers so they can continue to grow and evolve. So many examples like that. And you've been, you know, Lucky, lucky to be able to do that with a variety of different clients, oftentimes, in the Fortune 1009.

Gresham Harkless 3:44

Nice, that makes sense. And it kind of seems like I mean, let me know if this is true for the clients that you work with, it probably seems very easy just to kind of create a product or service. But it seems like there's a lot of moving parts and things that are involved with that process. So sometimes you need to be able to lean on the expertise of people like yourself so that they are able to not only launch something but to be successful when doing it.

Carlos Castelan 4:05

Absolutely. I think, you know, oftentimes what we found, too, it's that expertise. And then, you know, teams are strapped. So they have things that they're managing on a day-to-day basis. And they're going they're saying, you know, I have this panel to manage, I have these operations, these processes. So you're really focused on driving the business. And what we can come in and do is say, that's great. And we'll help you think about the long term. And we'll take that off your plate and work side by side to do that.

So that's exactly why I think we found that ability. You know, our business model is a little bit different, because we're able to come in and work alongside existing teams, to help them do that to support the work that they're doing and acknowledge it, but then also help sort of think a little bit further out and, you know, bring the business long that way.

Gresham Harkless 4:48

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And I'm sure everybody's listening has been in those meetings, where better it'd be board meetings or team meetings or whatever. And, you know, you hear this new idea. You're like, oh, that really sounds good, but who's going to actually do it? And it's here pitch, you can actually not only come up and execute on those ideas but also alleviate some of that stress that might come with that.

Carlos Castelan 5:06

Absolutely. And we try and do our best. So it's not a black box, and we're just off somewhere doing something crazy and come back like, well, what were you been doing all this time? Like, this doesn't make any sense? No, we, we work with those teams, we understand the challenges we've been there before, you know, we've worked as operators. So absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 5:23

Nice that that makes perfect sense. And, so now when it asked you for what I call your secret sauce, you might have already touched on this, but this is the thing that you feel kind of sets you or your organization apart and makes you guys unique.

Carlos Castelan 5:33

Yeah. What's in it? What's interesting about consulting or professional services, is I don't know that clients necessarily look for something unique and differentiated is actually about have you done this before and Can you do this, I think what we draw upon is to say, we've actually worked with a lot of different clients and we work, you know, we've had experience, working with target working with Whole Foods working with Kraft Heinz Anheuser Busch InBev.

So we've worked at a lot of these bigger companies, we've seen how they operate some of the things that they do really well. And so we're able to do is have this unique experience, and bring it all together for our clients to say, we have this sort of diverse set of experiences and companies, and we're able to bring this all to you so that you don't have to go out and learn how to do this over the years. Like we have that today. Because we've seen that.

Gresham Harklessm 6:19

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And I can imagine, and definitely correct me if I'm wrong. Like there's somebody that might be listening to this thinking of starting a consulting firm, and they're trying to figure out, like, how do I, you know, set myself apart? How do I create that secret sauce or show that, it sounds like just like in your story, a lot of times you look back at your experience, you know, in what you've done, and that is what you can consult on because you already have had some type of experience.

Carlos Castelan 6:40

Absolutely. And that's I think, you know, oftentimes the twist, I think is about how do you basically jumpstart the learning for the client, because you've done that for so long. And so I think that's sort of the way I always think about it's like, I've spent this many years doing this. So and that, you know, you don't have to go through that, like we have that experience. So you're absolutely right. And I think leveraging that experience and thinking about that, and in relation to how that was unique at the company. And then the broader market is really helpful for people to think about as they enter consulting or any sort of other professional services. It could be accounting, it could be all sorts of stuff.

Gresham Harkless 7:16

Yeah, absolutely. It's kind of like a cheat code, so to speak, where you're playing a video game, and you understand you can tap into this person's expertise so that you don't have to spend all those years that that person has an input into what they're doing.

Carlos Castelan 7:28

Absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 7:29

Nice. And so I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Carlos Castelan 7:39

Yeah, one of the funny things, so you know, we spend a lot of time traveling around the country. So we're oftentimes on the East Coast to the West Coast, one of the lucky things about where I live in Minneapolis, I'm in the middle of the country. So it's never super close to anything, but you're never, you know, a long distance away, which is great.

But one of the things that I found to be, you know, for my travel, and just in general is to be able to get seven or eight hours of sleep a night, I found that the more consistent I am about that about going to bed at a good hour and getting up regularly just helps me have so much more energy throughout the day, to be able to sort of be fully present and to bring that same level of energy do client meetings or the work that I'm doing, as well as that ideally, you know, work out?

Gresham Harkless 8:23

Yeah, nice. I definitely appreciate that. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. Or if you could happen to be a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Carlos Castelan 8:34

I think, you know, in terms of what I tell myself, one of the things that I've asked my wife to think I think for this, but her attitude oftentimes is why not do something, you know, I think oftentimes as someone that if you're successful at times you worry about things, or you sort of talk yourself out a lot of stuff. And I think that's, you know, operating out of a sense of fear, but also, you know, sometimes just not wanting to fail. And I think thinking about things in relation to instead of trying to convince yourself to do stuff, like trying to talk yourself, like spending time actively be like, Well, why shouldn't I do this? And is it like low stakes?

I think that's one of the things that I've learned to do during this as you can't, you're not doing this for other people, you're doing this for yourself because you want to do it. And so thinking through how do I like, you know, how do I take appropriate risk, but then also just continue to go out and do stuff and push myself to learn and grow? And I think thinking about things in terms of why not is a really helpful way to go about it.

Gresham Harkless 9:35

Yeah, definitely would would echo that. And it's kind of glass half and be your glass half full. And when you're saying why or how or I can't or any of those things that kind of creep into our minds. If you say why not? Why can I not do that? Why can I not be like that person, or so on and so forth? It changes your mindset, and then it starts, it can change your actions and everything and starts to change your results as well, too.

Carlos Castelan 9:55

Yeah, and I think I mean, there are definitely times where there's probably stuff you shouldn't do or like maybe like it's too big of a risk. But you know, I think starting from the point of Yeah, I'm gonna do this and you know, maybe you figure out this isn't exactly what I'm doing, I'm gonna take a slight deviation and turn this way. But I think it's so easy to talk yourself out of stuff. And you know, so taking that leap I think is important.

Gresham Harkless 10:16

Yeah, especially when it's like, like you said, they're so so easy to do that are so much sometimes pulling it as not to do and take those risks that sometimes when you do ask those questions, that's in contrast to that, a lot of times it can prompt you to start doing those other things.

Carlos Castelan 10:30

Absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 10:31

Nice. And so now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different, quote-unquote, CEOs on the show. So Carlos, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Carlos Castelan 10:42

I think, you know, one of the things that I learned in terms of being a CEO, and I don't have I learned this from someone else, who was one, and one of the things that he said is like you're not, you're not always going to be the most well-liked person. So don't strive to be the most well-liked. But what people seek from you is fairness. And I think if people feel like they're getting a fair shake, they will ultimately respect you and see you as a good leader when I would use it as another word.

But I think that's really important to think about basically how you set clear expectations and how people can achieve those and that basically holding people to different standards, essentially, but having that same expectation of people and providing that feedback, I think, is really important. So I think that concept of fairness not in the sense of you know, it's equitable, but in the sense of how you treat people. And that expectation, I think, is how people have become good CEOs.

Gresham Harkless 11:36

Yeah, absolutely. I think expectations are definitely you know, everything. Because if you understand or when you're working with somebody, or somebody's on the team, you set that expectation of what might be the most important value, or the most important or what the values of the company or organization are, why you make the decisions that you're going to make, it sets the bar for, you know, other decisions that have happened down the line, you understand that, okay, this person is being consistent with what the brand is or what the company is, what they stand for value, so on and so forth.

I think it starts to set that table, so to speak, and set those expectations for future conversations. Nice. Well, I definitely appreciate that. I appreciate that perspective. And also appreciate your time even more, Carlos, what I wanted to do was passionate about that mic so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you can let our readers and listeners know. And then of course, how best people can get a hold of you.

Carlos Castelan 12:20

Yeah, I think, you know, for people that are interested in doing this, I think there's never been a better time to be able to go out and be an entrepreneur, there are so many resources out there to be able to figure out how to start your business, it's never been easier to start a website. As you know, like, there are tons of these resources, and you can find developers out there who will help you with whatever you need.

So I think the question often just as it goes back to the why not, you know if you're really interested and passionate about doing something, you know, figure out how you can do it or you know, what, what circumstances will make it work and just go out and, and try it because there's no expert on entrepreneurship. Really, it's it's about finding your own path, and then figuring out how to do that. So

Gresham Harkless 13:01

Yeah, absolutely, I definitely appreciate that, and people that want to reach out to you again, what's the best way for them to do that?

Carlos Castelan 13:08

Yep, so email is carlos@thenaviogroup.com. And then can reach us on our website, thenaviogroup.com.

Gresham Harkless 13:17

Awesome. We'll have those links again in the show notes. But thank you so much again, Carlos. And I hope you have a great rest of the day

Carlos Castelan 13:23

Thanks as well.

Outro 13:24

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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