Title: Transcript - Wed, 01 May 2024 14:27:43 GMT

Date: Wed, 01 May 2024 14:27:43 GMT, Duration: [00:16:58.29]

[00:00:02.20] - Intro

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

[00:00:29.89] - Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Lance Bachman of one s t o dot com. Lance, it's awesome to have you on the show.

[00:00:39.39] - Lance Bachmann

I'm happy to be here, Gresh. Thank you for inviting me.

[00:00:42.10] - Gresham Harkless

No problem. Super excited to have you on. And before we jump in, I want to read a little bit more about Lance so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. And Lance is the president of s one seo dot com. Founded the company to help local, national, and international businesses with increasing their online visibility through search engine optimization and is now a Google premium partner and Facebook partner ranking in the top one percent of digital marketing agencies. The former vice president of AT and T and premise divisions founder of yellow pages dot com, Lance is an American entrepreneur and marketer that now heads a war winning agency in addition to his tech and cabling company, ShockIT Support. Since two thousand nine, Lance and One SEO have cultivated their team and talents each year expanding and receiving numerous prestigious industry awards, including three US search award titles. Lance, are you ready to speak to the IMCL community?

[00:01:33.79] - Lance Bachmann

I am. I'm fired up today.

[00:01:35.79] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Let's do it. So you're doing so many awesome things. So what I wanted to do to kick everything off, I just wanted to rewind the clock a little bit. Can you take take us through what I call your CEO story? We'll let you get started with all the awesome things you're working on.

[00:01:46.59] - Lance Bachmann

Yeah. I mean, I'm typical like most CEOs out there. Most CEOs either start right out of college, and they know they're an entrepreneur. I went through corporate America, you know, fantastic experience. And then, yeah, I started at Yelp dot com premise division from zero to a hundred and fifty nine million. At the end, AT and T. It was a turning point for me, crossroads, and I stopped going out on my own. And best decision never made. And, you know, like everyone else, I mean, when you own your own ship and you run your own ship, because you create rewards and you also have a lot more responsibility and a lot more headache. And I always tell everybody what you see on social media is not real. So don't believe that you're only getting a little glimpse in time of what that entrepreneur truly looks like. Most of it is crazy days and, oh my god, does it stop moving.

[00:02:36.50] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That that makes so much sense. I'm I'm glad you you bring light to that because I think so many times as you say, you see, the social media, screenshots and you see that snapshot of a a person's life, when in reality, a lot of times you don't see obviously what that day looks like, let alone the process that it took to get to where that person is.

[00:02:52.40] - Lance Bachmann

Well, I I equate it to this when I used to this to someone. I said it to my son, a thirty year old son. I said, son, that woman you're seeing that just took that selfie on Snapchat or, Instagram, where it may be Facebook, is probably the sixtieth to seventieth snapshot she took before she posted it. Right? Right. That's what really being an entrepreneur is like. I mean, it is try, try, try, try. Keep going. Don't quit. Don't quit. And then finally, pop. You made it.

[00:03:23.69] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That that makes so much sense. And it's so funny because, you know, I I think I read something recently where it talked about the real kind of determinant for success is not that you, you know, you hit a home run right when you go up to bat. It's that you continue swinging it, and that grit and the ability to continue to persevere like you spoke to is really the the thing that can help you be successful.

[00:03:41.50] - Lance Bachmann

I would hope for all four of my sons, they never swing their home one first at bat. I I I want just the opposite. I want strikeouts. I want balls. I quit my kids wrestle, so I want my kids to get pinned that they're going to that sport. No matter what, they're gonna lose a lot. And I want them to go through the process, you know, and, you know, learn how to deal with adversity and be able to deal with failure and keep pushing through. And I call punch you through the ceiling till you get success.

[00:04:07.69] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That that that makes so much sense. So, I know you're you're running a a phenomenal digital marketing agency now. So could you take us through exactly what you're doing and how exactly that experience is working with you and your clients? You You

[00:04:19.10] - Lance Bachmann

You You know, I'm very fortunate. I have some of the best clients in the country. We don't have too many international clients anymore. We used to when I first started. Most of our clients are local to the US, very fortunate, and we have some of the best employees. I mean, we have some of the greatest talent in the digital marketing world here, and they work so hard and they sacrifice so much. And they're competitive. You know? They always say, we don't wanna play games. We wanna win championships, and I love that. You You know? They're they're not happy just making a team. They wanna beat the other team. So I love that attitude. We do SEO, PPC, remarketing, email marketing, web development. We're a full digital agency. We're some of the best best talent out there. You know? We won awards. We just won four US social media awards, which are very hard to win. It's all data driven. So that's why I only applied for awards that are data driven because the data lie. Numbers don't lie. People lie about numbers. So, especially in this, environment we're in right now, a lot of people could argue about that. Right? So Exactly.

[00:05:13.19] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. No popularity or war is definitely something that's data driven because as you said, you know, you definitely can understand exactly, what you're doing or not doing based off those numbers.

[00:05:20.89] - Lance Bachmann

Correct. So, you know, we're we're a lead generation company for service based businesses, ultimately, and a branding company to help you build your brand, build your revenue. And for the ecommerce side, same exact thing. We're a ecommerce. We help grow your ecommerce sales and help build your brand.

[00:05:35.00] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. I absolutely love that, and I appreciate that because the I used to say the name of the game is all about being found, visibility. If you can win that game, then you you can win those championships that you guys spoke about.

[00:05:44.30] - Lance Bachmann

Absolutely.

[00:05:45.50] - Gresham Harkless

Awesome. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call your secret sauce. And this could be for yourself individually or your agency or combination of both, but what do you feel kinda sets you apart and makes you unique?

[00:05:55.80] - Lance Bachmann

I think first, what separates us apart as an agency is our talent here. We have you know, I people always wanna smash millennials. They're constantly smashing them. I said, I'll take my millennials against anyone and kick your millennials' asses. And that's not to be mean because I had a bunch of hard work and dedicated millennials here for the most part. There's always the outliers. I always say there's the door to them. Right? Mhmm. I mean, over a hundred plus employees, and these people sacrifice. They work the hours. They test. They study. They make sure they're making the product better. I mean, they're willing to fail. They're willing to take chances, and I can't put a you can't put a price tag on that. So I think that's really the secret sauce. Plus, we have experience. We've been doing this I've been doing this twenty five years. I mean, that's a long time as you know in this space. I mean, most people haven't been doing this for three, four years. The average agency size is somewhere between six and eight people throughout the country. I mean, it takes a lot to build to this size and a small most of our clients are small, midsize businesses. Most people who were so large, they were enterprise. Only about ten to fifteen percent of my revenue comes from enterprise. We love that small mid sized client, and we do very well with it. So that's our secret sauce. We know those verticals we're in. We don't take any verticals we can't be successful, and so I think that helps us. As far as my secret sauce, there isn't much to it. I mean, I do the same thing every day. Unfortunately, I have a beautiful wife. I have kids that motivate me. I have great brothers and sisters, great mother. And I just think if you are disciplined and I get up at the same time almost every morning, I work out every single morning. Not that I'm the preacher of health, but I try for my own mental ability. And I work the whole entire day till it's time to take my kids to sports. Trust the same clothes. I mean, I think if you keep it pretty simple life, it's easy to navigate such choppy waters.

[00:07:47.50] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That that makes so much sense. And I think, like, as we were talking about that that social media snapshot, I think so many times it can you can lose the sight of the small things, so to speak, that build up into the big things and that consistency that you talked about, the hard work that you talked about with your team. And I think if we lose sight of that, lose sight of those foundational elements, then we lose sight of that ability to to to grab that success.

[00:08:08.80] - Lance Bachmann

Yeah. Well, I mean, I think people want instant gratification now too. So I think Grindr, Uber, Uber Eats, Airbnb. I mean, you name it, you could have it pretty much instantaneously. And the most important things in your life from sex to where you sleep to where you drive, I mean, just you think about it. So people think becoming a millionaire should be instant also. People think building a company should be, like, instant coffee. And it's so true, not so false. Like, it's the furthest thing. And people just I'll give you an example. I had a young woman call me, and she was out of New York. And she's like, oh, I got referred to you. I'm so happy you called me back. Bernie called her. I was in the call. And she's like, I don't know why I'm not getting any traction on my there's a podcast and a blog in one. Right? So I'm like she goes, I've been doing it for two weeks. And I'm like, oh my god. And I just I just said, Bernie, like, you know, I said to her nicely, I said, if you're gonna take two weeks and that's all you have and you think you should be an instant success, like, you're missing the boat. This takes years and years of sticking with it and grinding through it and falling and seeing what you do well and making it better and keep keep changing. So, but, you know, that's that that's what some people expect. I think that's actually a majority anymore, Rush, to be honest with you.

[00:09:28.00] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. No. You're absolutely right. And I'm glad you, you know, you spoke to the twenty plus years that you have in the industry because I think, again, so many times you see the success, but you don't see the process that it takes to be there. And I think that's to a detriment of, you know, the actual work that you do, but also the, the person that's starting out and thinks that there's an easy button to get to where you are, but not realizing that it's the time, the the consistency, the work, and the talent that you have around you that's allowed you to be successful.

[00:09:55.10] - Lance Bachmann

Absolutely. I mean, the one thing I always say, anyone that successfully got great talent around me. I have an incredible leadership team here. Got great partners. I'm a very lucky guy. I'm the most blessed man in the world.

[00:10:05.10] - Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. 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 like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and

[00:10:16.20] - Lance Bachmann

efficient? I think, you know, what makes any CEO or anyone effective effective is having a routine. I think most people, they and I call it your you if you ever read the book traction, you get caught up on shiny things, and that's the worst thing people do. People see, I see it all the time. Friends of mine, they'll be talking to me in parking lots or wherever it might be. Oh, well, I see this guy making money in this or this guy making money in this. I think I'm gonna do that. That. And I'm like, that person's been doing that five years, ten years, fifteen years. You didn't see the beginning struggles. And that's where people if you focused on what you're doing and became great at it and had a routine with it, you most likely will become very successful. I mean, that's all I do. I tell everyone. People say, Lance, what's your secret to success? I tell everyone this. I'm not the smartest guy in the room. I'm not the brightest guy in the room. I don't speak the best in the room, but I promise you this. I'm gonna outwork you. That that I promise you. You're gonna have to kill me to outwork me. I hope you don't like sleep. I mean, I got back last night at 10:30 from wrestling. And, literally, at 04:00 this morning, I was up doing my routine. Same business as usual. My voice is scratchy from coaching all weekend. And most people just aren't that disciplined. Most people would have slept in this morning, and they would have made excuses, and that's where the breakdown happens. And then if you don't have some success in something, they give up immediately, and they start focusing on other things.

[00:11:41.39] - Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client, or if you hopped into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

[00:11:52.79] - Lance Bachmann

Go for it. Don't be afraid to fail. I tell my son all the time, don't be afraid to lose. Go go for the win. Like, just go for it. Like, so many people are so afraid of what their friends think of them and their family members, but you don't understand. It's not about what them. It's about you. And they didn't have the guts or the Annie to Annie up and go for it, and you did. So I'll take anyone that literally now one thing I always say when I see any youth kid playing any sport, whatever it is, I I saw a young kid. He was probably eight, nine years old yesterday. Give me an example. He was down by eight points going to a third, and he tried to hit the kid in the cradle the whole entire time. He was going for the win the whole entire time even though he's down. He didn't just lay it up and go. That's gonna follow him through in life. Go for the win. Don't be afraid to fail. Third, last, not that last piece of that. Don't worry about what people think of you because haters are gonna hate. People hate people want you to be successful, not more successful than them.

[00:12:51.20] - Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. I I love that. And, 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 Lance, what's this what does being a CEO mean to you?

[00:13:02.79] - Lance Bachmann

I mean, CEO to me is almost the same as being a father. People trust you. People trust your vision. You know, some people don't when they leave. Having to make the right choices, having to make the hard choices, having to put the company, your employees before you. I mean, which is not always easy for someone that went into business to be a businessman to make money. Right? So sometimes making money and doing the right thing don't always align with each other. Right? So because you wanna make money, so you might not you might cut a corner here. You might so I think that's the biggest balancing act. And fortunately for me, I got great people around me. I think being a CEO is making sure your clients are taken care of first, your employees are taken care of second, the company third, then you as a whole. And I think if you have that reverse pyramid, you're gonna have great success, and you're gonna make money. And I always say to people, how much money do you really need? Some people go so overboard where you wind up burning down a house to be greedy, and that's that's that's just not a good thing.

[00:14:01.00] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. I think so many times, as you said, through those external influences, we lose sight of what success actually means to us and making sure that we understand that and and being that father figure as you talked about too to being that father figure as you talked about too to so many different people and many different people and having that father figure as you talked about too to so many different people and having that responsibility and carrying through on so many different levels so that we can, you know, be successful as well is huge.

[00:14:17.89] - Lance Bachmann

Yeah. I mean, I got a hundred plus people have to pay rent, pay their car payments, make sure their insurance is paid, make sure they're feeding their children. That's a lot of responsibility. People don't understand that. People only see me driving the car or going on a vacation on social media. They don't see the stress of me making sure all these males are fed and making sure everyone's taken care of. So if you're a caring person, which I am, and I think that's what really helps separate you as a small business, medium sized business compared to other companies. You're gonna care about your employees, and I call them family. I just think you better make sure you take care of them. That's a lot of responsibility.

[00:14:52.10] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. Especially when you're really passionate about what it is that you do and then you have that service based mentality, and that overflows itself in so many different ways. It it definitely is hard, not to be able to do that. So I appreciate you for reminding us of that. Appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know and, of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find out about everything you and your awesome team are working on.

[00:15:16.50] - Lance Bachmann

Well, the best way to get a hold of me is w w w one SEO dot com. That's Samuel Edward Oscar dot com. You'll see all our information there. The best thing I would say to anyone watching this and you wanna be a CEO or you are a CEO and you're struggling, just stay with it, grind through it, have fun, have strategy, leverage other people you know. You'd be surprised how many other business owners wanna help other business owners. Like, that's the one circle you have that really wants to see you be successful. Every business owner I know that I'm friends with, I hope they surpass me. I hope they blow by me and they make tons and tons because as your network keeps growing, they're gonna bring you along with them. And that's that's what's it's all about. About. Utilize your network. Utilize that for education so you have the right strategy, and you're gonna grow.

[00:16:04.89] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. It's all about, being successful. Success is a team sport, as you said so well. And I think when you are able to surround yourself with a phenomenal team, then you get that opportunity to succeed in so many different ways. So truly appreciate that, Lance. I appreciate your time. Again, we will have the links and information in the show notes, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

[00:16:22.50] - Outro

you for listening to the I am CEO podcast powered by Blue sixteen Media. Tune in next time and visit us at I am CEO dot c o. I am CEO e o 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 w w w dot CEO gear dot c o. This has been the I am CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

Title: Transcript - Wed, 01 May 2024 13:37:41 GMT

Date: Wed, 01 May 2024 13:37:41 GMT, Duration: [00:16:20.42]

[00:00:02.20] - Intro

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.

[00:00:29.80] - Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Kim Bryden of Curate. Kim, it's awesome to have you on the show.

[00:00:38.89] - Kim Bryden

Thanks so much.

[00:00:40.70] - Gresham Harkless

No problem. Super excited to have you on and before we jump in, I want to read a little bit more about Kim so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And as an accomplished strategic business development, marketing, and operations professional, Kim has focused her expertise on the food and beverage industry and supporting small business growth at large for more than a decade. Her management experience ranges from working in and alongside governmental agencies to increasing sales at top Fortune two hundred retail management to deploying agile, innovative marketing, and partnership strategies at food tech startups. Since founding Curate in twenty fourteen, Kim continues to build out this multi sec sector public private partnership approach. Whether it's working with the anchor institutions in Baltimore City on localizing procurement to reimagining retail experiences for corner store owners to grocery chains, to developing educational entrepreneurship curriculum for economic development agencies, Curate takes a 03:60 degree approach, and that growth mindset comes from Kim and her passion for learning. Kim, are you ready to speak to the IMCL community?

[00:01:48.59] - Kim Bryden

Oh my gosh. I'm so ready. Thank you for having me.

[00:01:51.20] - Gresham Harkless

No problem. Super excited to to have you on because you're doing so many different things and so many phenomenal things to impact, you know, some of these entrepreneurs and business owners. So before we jump into hearing more about that, I want to rewind the clock a little bit. Could you take us through your CEO story? What led you to get started with your business?

[00:02:07.59] - Kim Bryden

Oh, yeah. So I have been in this this food industry for, like you mentioned, over a decade now, and it started in government around licensing and regulations, and then I moved into grocery retail, in a management capacity, thinking about how, how and why the reasons people buy and what changes consumer buying behavior. How do you create a business that is of and from the communities you're a part of? Then that experience just led me to really thinking about how are people engaging with the things that they're buying and consuming, again, from a food perspective, not just in physical brick and mortar locations, but also online. Obviously with the advent of technology, social media, people are shopping more with their eyes online and so that pushed me into the food tech world and really understanding how technology platforms have created efficiencies and also opened up a lot of opportunities for more people to be seen and heard with their businesses. And over time, I just started thinking about more and more how, companies were being founded and funded and who had access to these amazing opportunities that, our our new world has provided for us. And, I just hit a point in twenty thirteen, the last company I worked for, they had raised multimillion dollars in order to skyrocket their growth, and that was all around, perceived value of what this business could become. I think we've heard the traditional story of, like, the unicorn, if you will. And I just kept thinking, what what is this perceived value? And it's a perceived value by whom and and for whom. And a lot of times, that value is put on a business based on a subset of investors. Or you might hear like you're you're optimizing your profits for your shareholders. And I just kept thinking, I want to be working with businesses that, I don't know, crazy idea, have a business model and care about stable cash flow. What? You know, like

[00:04:30.19] - Gresham Harkless

Who would have fucking And

[00:04:31.80] - Kim Bryden

so I just feel so strongly that food is someone's heart on a plate or in a package and also provides such ample opportunities for economic development and growth, to create more agency and purpose in one's life. And, that's when I left that that last role that I was in and started Curate because I just had this fire in my belly of how food could be this really strong economic engine and actually be again of and from you could create businesses that were of and from your community and that money could circulate back back into the local community and local economy in which you are a part of.

[00:05:14.39] - Gresham Harkless

Alright. So I absolutely, love that and and love, you know, why you started everything. And I I appreciate you for for listening and paying attention to that fire in your belly and taking those steps in order to do that. Because I think so many times we forget, like, kind of the power we have and some of the decisions that we make. But I think you've taken it, you know, lots of steps forward, past that because not only do you recognize that, you recognize the power of food as you said, but recognize and are able to kinda educate and empower those people that are starting these businesses and organizations and those companies with the tools and the know how in order to execute on that.

[00:05:50.19] - Kim Bryden

Exactly. We often say at Curate, you may make jam but not know how to run a jam business, and you've become us. Because so much about starting any venture is, for sure you have your product or service that is your unique value proposition. It is your your main crux of what you do, but there's all of these other aspects to running a business that isn't actually about the product you're selling. And so we really dive deep with the small businesses we work with on the supply side of of the coin. Like you said, it's creating this empowered food and beverage supply. What does it mean to actually meet this changing consumer demand, and and how do we do that?

[00:06:32.80] - Gresham Harkless

Nice. So, yeah, I absolutely love that. And and it's so funny because I think the beginning of the book, one of the books that I often reference is the E Myth, and it talks about not pie, but I think it's not jam, it was actually pie. And, how realizing that running a business is so much more than kind of that pie and and how most people don't really understand all those aspects. So that's why I love, you know, your business and everything you're doing because it takes that, you know, to an entirely different level. So, I I know you touched on a little bit and and I did as well when I introduced you. Could you take us through a little bit more on how exactly you work with the clients you serve and how exactly that process goes?

[00:07:08.00] - Kim Bryden

Definitely. So at Curate, we have these three core tenants, and they all work together and sort of funnel into one another. So on that building and empowered supply, that first vertical is called courses. And so we are hired by economic development departments or workforce development nonprofits, anyone who sees entrepreneurship as a means for job creation or overall economic growth to a city metro area. And so we run cohorts of entrepreneurs through our curriculum that we've created. And again, like we're talking about the it's all, it's all about running the business side of a food business. And we've seen over a hundred and fifty businesses through our programs to date. So that's been pretty incredible. And over time, graduating different cohorts of businesses, we get a ton of inbound emails ranging from, you know, I'm in the farmers market, what's next? Or maybe I'm in Whole Foods, like now what do I do? And so we started thinking about, okay, where are these larger areas of opportunity to shift the dollar back into these local small businesses that aren't maybe the traditional verticals you would think of. So a lot of times when people think about local food, you may think of farm to table in a restaurant or or that grocery store. So we decided, okay, if we're not thinking about restaurants and we're not thinking about grocery, who else has a sizable amount of budget for food procurement? And so we started looking at food service in universities, hospitals, pension centers, corporate cafeterias, this other supply chain that a lot of people maybe don't think about as often. And so that led to this second vertical of our business, Connect. Curate Connect is our proprietary procurement platform where we become the local purchasing team at these larger anchor institution accounts. So they'll say anything to us from, we want more vegan products, you know, a very broad ask to something very specific, like, we need kombucha. And so we then act as that local purchasing team and bring those products into their operations to change up their product mix on their shelf and, and ultimately drive sales for everyone. Right? Like, this isn't we're not a nonprofit. You know, this is a for profit business, and we're trying to make money for all stakeholders involved. So courses is, again, building that empowered supply to meet this change in consumer demand that then happens with Connect. And then the last piece of it is consulting. There are different entities who want us to help them reimagine their retail experiences. And, and think about how, I mean, shoot, we're living in these now times of COVID-nineteen, right? And so there's a lot of change happening in how people spend their money and where and, and what the face of cities or even suburban or rural areas look like. And so we've become a part of these different initiatives to reimagine, again, retail experiences and also like food systems at large. And and how can we think about it now going into this next twenty twenty decade and beyond?

[00:10:39.39] - Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. 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 like an Apple book or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

[00:10:50.20] - Kim Bryden

I don't know if it's a hack, but it is a thing that I have always done and will continue to do. And that is I don't I do not consume content that is just of my industry and I think it's really important for everyone to be an expert generalist in a way and understand how like, movements in blockchain or artificial intelligence or whatever. You might think it's a completely disparate disparate industry, biodiversity. But so much of our world obviously is very interconnected. And so I I force myself to listen to podcasts, read news articles, find books that are outside of just me staying in food culture world.

[00:11:44.70] - Gresham Harkless

I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or piece of advice. It might be something you would tell yourself, you would tell a client, or even tell yourself if you were to hop into a time machine.

[00:11:55.29] - Kim Bryden

I guess something past Kim did that is really beneficial for present Kim, is that I think that this developing the skill of active listening cannot be underestimated. And what I mean by that is oftentimes when you're in a networking event or on a panel discussion or on a podcast. Right? Like, there are so many spaces where you might be thinking about what you want to say next as opposed to really hearing what the person's telling problem I have. And so you have to be able to problem I have. And so you have to be able to know, yes, like, what is the goal or objective you might be having in that situation? But you need to actively listen to what that person's problem actually is. Because at the end of the day, like, business is about solving problems and having someone pay you for your solution. But but what if the problem they're having is, like, they want to impress their boss. Right? And that might like what does your product or service have to do to help them achieve their goal of wanting to impress their boss? But but they're not gonna flat out say that. You know what I mean? You need to you need to pick up on those cues in a conversation in order to really feel what is it that the that that person wants in their life. Like, what do they define, success as and what motivates them.

[00:13:34.50] - Gresham Harkless

I definitely appreciate 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 all gonna have different quote unquote CEOs on this show. So, Kim, Kim, what does being a CEO mean to you?

[00:13:46.89] - Kim Bryden

It means personally having more agency and ownership of my time, and sometimes that that ideal can, you know, at times be in contrast with something like financial stability. Right? Like you're you're stepping into this one thing you value, and it's possible that these other things are a little bit more askew. But that is something that I personally value a lot, but in the context of running an organization, I feel so strongly that the CEOs of now and in the future need to be developing businesses that are that are so values aligned.

[00:14:29.70] - Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, Kim, truly appreciate that perspective and I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is pass the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know and, of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things that you're working on.

[00:14:44.50] - Kim Bryden

Oh, thanks so much. And truly, I am so eager to chat with anyone who's listening. You can go to our website, which is curate dot co. It's c u r e a t e dot co. That's also our Instagram handle curate co c u r e a t e co. And, yeah, on the website, you can sign up for the tidbit newsletter that I referenced. It's also a podcast that you can find on iTunes and Spotify. Just different business lessons learned ranging from overall entrepreneurship top topics to very specific, food industry knowledge. So really eager to hear from you and, learn about your business endeavors.

[00:15:29.20] - Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much again, Kim. We would definitely have the links and the information in the show notes, and I appreciate you arming us with the knowledge so that we can, arm ourselves and see the change in our in our community. So I definitely appreciate that message and all the awesome things you're doing. I hope you have a great rest of the day.

[00:15:44.70] - Outro

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.