IAM435- Productivity and Profit Specialist Empowers People to Achieve Goals

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, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today as Cathy Sexton the productivity experts Kathy, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Cathy Sexton 0:38

Thank you for having me. It's gonna be fun.

Gresham Harkless 0:41

Yes, definitely, it will definitely be a ball. And what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Cathy so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And Cathy is a productivity and profit specialists, speaker, author, TV host and coach, she helps individuals and organizations increase productivity and their profits, delivering high impact principles through speaking coaching, training and special resources. Cathy empowers people to achieve their personal and business goals make the profit they desire, they still have time for family and friends. Cathy, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO Community?

Cathy Sexton 1:11

I'm ready.

Gresham Harkless 1:12

Awesome, awesome, awesome. So to kick everything off, I want to hear a little bit more about your CEO story. And we'll get started with your business.

Cathy Sexton 1:19

Well, really, My background is accounting. So I was in accounting for 30 plus years, and I'm also a reformed workaholic. So I don't think I put that in my bio. And in that corporate world, you know, I realized that my all of a sudden started having a lot of health issues. And you know, a couple few scares, but you know, like anything else, we have it and then we kind of go back to our old normal habits, right. And then I got diagnosed with a life threatening disease, basically, that is brought on and induced by stress. And the doctor basically after multiple tests and said, there's nothing wrong with your heart at this point, but what's going on in your life. And when we started talking, she said I, you know, I would highly recommend that you change couriers. And then, you know, at that point in time, you know, I had found myself, working harder and harder, you know, like, we all do get on hamster wheel, I was coming in earlier and earlier, staying later and later, just so I get stuff done for anybody out there. And, you know, when I finally got that, that last big call, I guess it's an okay, wake up, Cathy, you know, I was in the hospital for three days and realizing that my husband, you know, could wind up being a widower, and my, you know, my daughter without a mother that that was the tipping point. And I decided that I needed to change my direction. So what do I do? I'm an accountant anyway, by trade. So I open a bookkeeping business for small business owners. And you know, the biggest question I get asked is, but isn't that stressful? And I say, Yes, it is. But it's my stress, I create it, I can eliminate it, I have control over it, you know, it's not somebody putting pressure on me and me fighting corporate world, basically. And so as I started this bookkeeping business, I realized that small business owners needed so much more help than just bookkeeping. They need it, you know, they have no structure, they have no systems or processes in place. They're, they're good at what they do they are technicians, you know, they know their skill, they know what they love to do, but running a business, they just plopped themselves in it. So that's when I started going through the role of coaching and started to so now my business is all coaching around small business owners. And also workaholics who want to have a better work life balance. So that's kind of where my passion is and where my gifts are. And, and that's what I love to do now.

Gresham Harkless 4:02

Nice. Well, I definitely appreciate that I'm sorry, of course to hear, you know, all the health scares and things that were happening, but I'm sure great to hear and I'm sure your family's also happy that you did make that pivot and that change and, and not only, you know, telling your story just to talk about how you've been able to overcome it, but kind of remind us because there's probably a lot of type A personalities that are listening to this, including myself that I always need that to keep a reminder of exactly what's important, and how we can have control over our days, especially if we have our own kind of organization.

Cathy Sexton 4:34

Correct. It's really about you know, why are you here and why are you doing what you do?

Gresham Harkless 4:38

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So I know you touched on it a little bit. I want to hear a little bit more about like how exactly you're helping people to coaching and building those systems. Can you tell us a little bit more about how you're working with your clients?

Cathy Sexton 4:49

Sure. I do. You know, I do actual individual one on one coaching. I'm in the middle of currently and I almost have my first module done, but I'm currently creating a Learning Portal for small business owners, basically, we'll look at mindset, there'll be a module on mindset one on systems and processes, one on expanding our own capacity. And then the big one is the miracle money method. So and there's also one that's called PPP, which is your personal productivity plan, teaching people how to handle all that incoming stuff we have coming in on us every day, you know, the emails, the phone calls and messages, we have all this stuff coming in. And if we don't have a process to handle it, it gets overwhelming at times. So I do that, and I do a little bit of group coaching. But my you know, sweet spot is, you know, in small business owners, helping them with their finances, helping them with, you know, the work life balance and trying to get them so that they can start enjoying their business again, instead of just running a business, you know, we go into business, because it's something we usually are passionate about, or we love to do. And we lose sight of that a lot of times. And so I like to bring that back to them realize they don't have to work as hard as they're working. They just have to work smarter, and they have to learn work differently.

Gresham Harkless 6:03

Yeah, that makes sense. And I think a lot of times, and you know, definitely correct me if I'm wrong, I feel like sometimes when because we've been running our business, and we're so close to it. And sometimes you get in the I guess the method of doing things a certain way, is really hard to kind of detach yourself from that and see that there is a better way to do like some of the processes or systems or just look at things in a different light. So sometimes, you know, talking to, you know, an expert like yourself, it allows you to get that new perspective, but also implement those changes as well.

Cathy Sexton 6:30

Oh, definitely. Because, you know, really, we all only know what we know, we only know from our past histories, or what we've been taught or, you know, along our way. So when that's why it's so great to you know, have a mastermind group work with a coach, because they're going to bring their experiences in. And you know, so often Oh, I never thought about that. I even do that when I'm, you know, in my mastermind group. Oh, I never thought about that. It's because we only know what we know. And until we are willing to be open and listen, that's when we broaden that knowledge. And we broaden that. And then we can then choose what is a better way of maybe doing something.

Gresham Harkless 7:08

Exactly, exactly. We definitely all have that, that choice and that opportunity to do that. So I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And it could be for you or your organization. But what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you?

Cathy Sexton 7:20

Well, I think what sets me apart is that generally coaches or coach, what life coaches or business coaches, or you might have an accounting person to help you. But because of my accounting background, I come in coaching and I already have that information I get, you know, so it just as a whole, you know, it just works so well. It's really interesting, because when I really realized I loved coaching so much, and I was helping so many people, and I was trying to fight that accounting stuff, I don't want to do that anymore. But then when I embraced it and realized, you know, a lot of small business owners need that, because they don't even know that part of it, you know, the nitty gritty? Are they even if they know how to read a balance sheet, whatever or profit loss? They don't know, okay, how do I change it? So, um, you know, so that's why I think Stand, you know, keeps me apart. And I also teach them how to pay themselves first, which is what we were taught when we were younger is always pay yourself first. And that sounds good, but it never seemed to work.

Gresham Harkless 8:21

Right!

Cathy Sexton 8:22

But I now have a systematic way that I teach them how to make sure they're getting paid first, they're having taxes put away so that tax time comes, they have a reserve fund, and they learn to be very savvy with their money.

Gresham Harkless 8:35

Yeah, I definitely appreciate that. Because I think a lot of times when, you know, I think that is definitely the elephant in the room is the finances. A lot of times people don't want to talk about or don't want to look at them. But I think a lot of times, if you're maybe working with the coach and the coach, you know, you say I don't necessarily have the money to do that, or I don't know how to make the money to do that, then maybe that coach doesn't necessarily have that expertise to be able to direct them or even look at their finances to see. So I appreciate it. Because it's not like you're you're kind of separating the two, it makes you who you are. Because you have that expertise that you can say, Hey, we should probably consider implementing this. And this is how you can set up your finances to do that. So it kind of separate the two is makes it a little bit more difficult than being able to have that expertise you do.

Cathy Sexton 9:17

Yes, definitely. I have found that it's really, really helped a lot.

Gresham Harkless 9:20

Yeah. Nice. Nice. Nice. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit. And I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be an apple book or a habit that you have. But what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Cathy Sexton 9:32

I think you know what, what makes me more effective and efficient is basically that I and it's kind of what I teach my clients is that I'm very focused on what I'm doing every day. So I don't wake up the morning saying okay, well, what am I doing? What did I do yesterday? What do I need to do today? You know, at the end of the day, I'm saying okay, what are those first couple things that I need to do tomorrow? You know what's important, and it's not always what needs to be done. It's what is most important for me to get done. And I, you know, I really recommend only knowing 123 of those at most. And don't worry about anything else, you know, because when we know what's really important for us today, then the interrupts didn't start coming, we can then decide what to do. But if we haven't decided on that focus for today, then the distractions start taking over. Because other urgencies start popping up, when we haven't really defined, then, you know, we have something to wait not necessarily that other might be more important. But until we have something to weigh, that's how we get caught up into the the craziness of the life and everyday day to day stuff.

Gresham Harkless 10:46

Yeah, that makes so much sense. It's almost like you know, if you don't set your high priorities, everything becomes high priority, because everything's an emergency, and you kind of have to be, I guess, offensive when it comes to that to set in the daily, just like he spoke to where, you know, the day before, these are the things I'm trying to accomplish. This is what success looks like, so that when those other things happen, it's not that they're not high priority, you just understand that you can figure out exactly where that that stands on that totem pole. Now, I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice. Or if you can happen to a time machine. What would you tell your younger business? So?

Cathy Sexton 11:20

Oh, what would I tell my youngest, I think I would tell my youngest business self to be more open. To be not to be a little bit more of a risk taker. I you know, I'm an introvert, from you know, myself, but so I'm not a risk taker. But, you know, when I, I think one of the biggest things I learned is, somebody said to me one time, a very good friend and mentor, she said, you know, if you don't even invest in yourself, why should other people invest in you. And that was such an eye opener for me. And at that point is when I started, you know, willing to spend the money on, you know, courses and coaches and things like that, because I realized, you know, that they have knowledge that I need, and trying to struggle along is not the way to go, you know, and to say I can't afford it is always not the way to go. Because you have to look at what what's outcome going to be what's that ROI? So I think those are kind of the best nuggets I can give you

Gresham Harkless 12:25

Yeah, I think that makes so much sense. And you know, to understand, like, you know, when you're running a business, you're hoping somebody will invest in you and invest in, you know, all the expertise that you have, but we also have to continue to kind of sharpen that saw, so to speak by, you know, investing in courses or going to seminars, or reading books, or whatever that might be that is, as we continue to do that, that also gives people more, I guess, reason to invest in our products and services.

Cathy Sexton 12:49

Correct? Yeah, I think it's really important. Because, you know, when you're trying to figure out, okay, how can I, you know, raise my prices, whatever? Well, you know, I can't do that unless I'm increasing my knowledge unless I'm bringing something new to the table. And also, you know, if I'm not willing to do that, why should I expect people to buy my services? And not, you know, and pay me if I'm not willing to pay other people?

Gresham Harkless 13:12

Exactly, exactly. Yeah, a lot of times, it's a little bit easier to increase your prices than to increase your value that actually takes the time and energy of putting in investing in yourself and investing in your business and your organization. So I appreciate that, that nugget. 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 CEOs on this show. So Kathy, what is being a CEO means to you

Cathy Sexton 13:35

Being a CEO is really life changing for me. You know, because of my story, and knowing that now, I get to change lives, you know, I'm not just going through the motions of what somebody else wants me to do, I get to actually change lives, make their life for the better do what I'm passionate about, and what I love to do. And if I could afford to do it for free, I would. And that's kind of where my passion is. So it really is about extending what I can out to the community and growing, helping other people grow in a positive way.

Gresham Harkless 14:15

Nice, I appreciate that. And I definitely appreciate that perspective and appreciate your time. Because I think a lot of times, you know, you want to try to provide that value as much as possible. And I think we have an opportunity to definitely do that. And like you said, in your case in time, you mentioned the word control, you're able to kind of take control of your life, but you also take control of the impact that you can have on yourself but on others as well. So I definitely appreciate you I appreciate that definition. And what I wanted to do was passionate mic so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know and then how best people can get ahold of you find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

Cathy Sexton 14:47

Okay, great. Yeah, people can find me at the productivityexperts.com Email me at Cathy with a C at the productivity experts.com. Currently I have a quiz, a workstyle quiz on my website that people can take for free and kind of see where they land in that workaholic lie. And then sooner as I said, my learning portal will be up hopefully by the end of the year, and that'll be going forward. Got a couple of live events coming up this next year. The last thing that I would just say, especially for newer CEOs, you know, is to believe in yourself, you know, believe in yourself and look outside yourself, you know, it's always bigger and better. And if I would have ever thought I'd be where I am right now, today that it wasn't even imaginable 10 years ago, not even imaginable. So don't, don't box yourself in, don't, you know, leave your wings open a little bit, not too far. And enjoy the ride.

Gresham Harkless 15:55

Absolutely know, that's a great reminder, a lot of times, if you look back, you know, five years, sometimes even a year at where you were versus where you are now you'd be astonished. So that's more than enough reason to continue to take those steps to continue to take those risks, bigger, small risks and and you know, just continue to keep doing what you're doing. And if you have a vision, then go for it. So, Cathy, I appreciate you so much again, and we will have those links in the information show notes as well, for anybody that's listening and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Outro 16:22

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.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai