IAM808- Consultant Helps Create Business Growth Foundations

Chandra has built successful and profitable businesses through her boutique consulting and public relations firm, Chandra Gore Consulting, working with entrepreneurs to help them create foundations to ensure longevity and growth. Quietly making strides with placements for small businesses, entertainment, authors, therapists, and motivational speaking clients on local and national news outlets she has also been leaving her mark as a publicist in the industry. She is also an author, speaker, podcast host, festival founder, and producer.

• CEO Hack: I have a notebook in that I write down stuff for future references
• CEO Nugget: Trust your guts
• CEO Defined: Being fearless and trusting your mindset

Website: http://www.chandragoreconsulting.com

Facebook: facebook.com/chandragoreconsulting
: facebook.com/chandragore01
Instagram: instagram.com/cgoreconsults
: instagram.com/conversationswithchan
: Instagram.com/shopwithchandra
Twitter: twitter.com/cgoreconsults
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chandragore
: linkedin.com/company/chandragoreconsulting

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKYqVbTneO-Z-zcTykjcnLQ?view_as=subscriber
Medium: https://medium.com/conversations-with-chan
iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-conversations-with-chan-60420855/

Amazon Storefront: www.amazon.com/shop/influencer-9d1df610

Full Interview:

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Transcription

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00:02 – 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.

00:30 – 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. As Chandra Gore of Chandra Gore Consulting. Chandra, it's awesome to have you on the show.

00:38 – Chandra Gore

Thank you for having me. This is a great catch-up situation here.

00:43 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. You're doing so many phenomenal things. Always good to kind of catch up with people doing phenomenal things and in different fields and different opportunities. And just to introduce Chandra to you so you can learn a little bit more about some of the awesome things that she's doing. Chandra has built successful and profitable businesses through her boutique consulting and public relations firm, Chandra Gore Consulting, Working with entrepreneurs to help them create foundations to ensure longevity and growth, quietly making strides with placements for small businesses, entertainment, authors, therapists, motivational speaking clients on local and national outlets, She has been leaving her mark as a publicist in the industry. She is an author, speaker, podcast host, festival founder and producer. Chandra, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:27 – Chandra Gore

I am ready to speak to everyone.

01:29 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome, Let's do it. So to kick everything off, I wanted to hear a little bit more about how you guys started. Can you take us through what I call your CEO story? Well, let you get started with all the awesomeness you're doing.

01:38 – Chandra Gore

I actually started out at 18 with a baking catering company a long time ago, a legit business. But I had businesses before that when I was a kid, but that's how it all started.

01:52 – Gresham Harkless

The paperwork didn't go through.

01:53 – Chandra Gore

No, it didn't. My dad was like, you're gonna work for me, that's it. So, yeah, my entrepreneurial, my CEO journey started at a young age with my passion for baking. And I found out that was a great, you know, a great business people like sweets. So started from there, and then I started catering little small events. Then I went into wedding planning for a little bit. That was not my ministry. So, in the process of running that, I learned a lot about business registrations, and the different levels from federal to state to actual local registrations for businesses. So a lot of people don't realize there was there's a 3 tier process. So from there, I ended up reading about every single county because it fascinated me how many different hoops people had to go through. So when everyone was starting their businesses, they knew that I had done the research.

So they came to me and asked me questions. So that's where I got my feet in with consulting. And I was like, oh, okay. You know, that was my new little, you know, thing. And then from there it just blossomed. I was laid off in 2015 which actually prompted me to get my LLC, get my business started, and go for it and then 6 days later I got another job. So being a parallel entrepreneur just kind of pushed me to look at the different ways a larger company works and apply those to my small business. It actually worked out for me because the certain things that apply to small businesses that wouldn't work with a larger business, but learning all of that helped me to gain clients and explain to them why they can't, I want to be big as Nike.

You know, I had to tell them the truth. Like, no. So it's like, it became, it was a great progression of learning how the markets work and stuff. So that's where I just grew as a consultant and then public relations is something I got in by accident. Because someone wrote a press release, I didn't like it. And I like to, I used to do persuasive writing. So I was like, okay, it's basically we have to sell this to an outlet for them to book a client oh that's easy let me write words that trigger you to say oh I need to find out more So that's where public relations was added and knowing how to strategically tell a message, like especially with community events and stuff like that, to let the community know this is what's going on and why they should be a part of it. So that's where that went with my business consulting and public relations.

On the producer side, I love comedy. That's one of my loves. So I started producing comedy shows and from there it just took off because it's like It's just like running a business. It's the same thing as running a business. Teaching comedians that they are a business. So, you know, kind of everything crosses paths. So from there, I hosted a festival in 2019. There was no comedy festival run by, Greater, in Northern Virginia. So I ended up launching that. It was a one-woman show. I brought in other producers. You know, they ran different comedy houses across the Northern Virginia area. Pulled that together, a 5 day event. It was great. So it's like, and then with my community organization with the voting registration and stuff, it's like, it's like, it's, I wear many hats. So as a CEO, like, it's like, you can't be pigeonholed to run world role sometimes. So it's like everything kind of, kind of crisscrosses in, but it all works.

05:34 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. No, I appreciate you breaking that down, because I think so many times that we see, like maybe the event, we went to the festival, we saw there was a really phenomenal festival. We don't see all the things that add up to the festival. We don't see the baking business and the information you learn from that and how you're using that today and the consulting with the different businesses. And I think so many times, I think, Michael Gladwell has this 10,000 hours theory where to be an expert at something, it takes 10,000 hours, but So many times we don't see each of those steps that people take in order to get there. We just see the finish line and say, oh, okay, that's all you have to do when in reality there's a lot of work that's behind the scenes to get there. Lack of sleep. Yes.

06:15 – Chandra Gore

I miss sleep sometimes. I really would like to catch up on the sleep that I missed a long time ago. Like, you know, I love to read. So sometimes I get wrapped up in reading different methodologies and different processes. It actually helps me to keep my mind going. And it keeps me kind of on my toes. Yeah. yeah.

06:36 – Gresham Harkless

So, Absolutely. Well, I think too that, and I don't know if you would definitely agree with me. I feel like there's a certain kind of curiosity that I think the best CEOs or entrepreneurs and business owners have. And a lot of them are avid readers. They're, you know, subscribing to every YouTube channel, listening to the podcast. They're taking in so much content to be able to think creatively, sometimes by, as you kind of touched on, bringing what is in 1 industry to another industry. Sometimes that's the most creative thing that you can do.

07:02 – Chandra Gore

Yeah, because it's like, it's, for some reason, like in my head, I don't know, no one can see inside my head, but it's like, you know how electricity is going through different points, right? And it just flows because it knows where to go. So a lot of times I could sit and I'm thinking about something and it just clicked. And it's like, wow, like, wait a minute, I never thought about it that way. And so I ended up having to write down like little reminders, like remember to go back to this and understand like this can work with that. And I never thought, you know, I just, it just, it just flows sometimes because you don't see the parallels in different businesses, which is sometimes it's the same built same train, you know, and it's different trains, but they all run the same track sometimes if that makes sense.

Because a lot of people like, so yeah, it's like, because I never thought of applying how I ran my dessert, you know when I had taken orders for desserts and stuff. So I would only release certain things at certain times of the year. Same with comedy. There are certain times of the year when more people come out to show. So I had to apply that same thing to that. I was like, wait a minute, more people come out during the summer and the fall, and then not much in the winter because people are staying home. So it's like, oh, okay, so I'll reduce the number of shows I'll have in the winter, you know, increase the number of shows I have in the summer, spring, summer, and early fall, and it was successful. And it was like, okay. And I found that sweet spot right before summer ended and fall began to put the festival in. Actually, it was like the perfect week. And I was like, that's, I was like, wow, it worked.

08:43 – Gresham Harkless:

Yeah. It's from the bacon business. It is so funny. I understand exactly what you mean. I feel like you're in my head because I almost don't know if you've ever seen the movie A Beautiful Mind where he's like writing all the mirrors. That's not and I literally am looking at my mirror right now because I have a bunch of writing all over because sometimes when you get those ideas things start to flow together and you see the kind of like the forest for the trees. It provides you with that opportunity, which is what I love. You're doing the consulting business because I think you are able to kind of give and provide so many services from that expertise to people to help them set up their business, as you mentioned, but it also sounds like the PR is a big part of that. Can you talk a little bit more about those ways?

09:19 – Chandra Gore

Public relations, most of the time people come to me the first thing they say I want to get on the news and I'm like wait a minute, what's your business foundation? What does your SOP look like? How are you going to handle the influx once people put eyes on you? And I get the blank stare, like, what do you mean? I just want to know what I'm doing. No, you want to sell your product or service, but how are you gonna handle it once you get that notoriety? I didn't think of that exactly because everybody wants to be seen for the great things that they're doing But if you can't handle Your business is not structured to handle going from 4 4 orders a week to 400 orders a week Then it's going to fail so that press you got is going to turn into bad press And then it's going to turn into cleanup and this is going to turn into crisis management.

So to alleviate It going to that progression. I sit down and I ask I asked that question once you get this media recognition let's look at your business to make sure that you run the testing so that you can actually handle the influx and handle the looks and handle everything. Let's look at your media presence. Let's look at what you've done online, personally, and in business to make sure when those eyes are on you, you are a perfect box that people can palette, it's palatable and not offensive or a misunderstanding or I didn't mean to say that. Let's make sure you're ready for that kind of scrutiny because some people aren't, they'll find the old tweet from 2010 and hit, hit your business closed.

That's where it's like, you have to understand it. You know, public relations is not just the, you know, I'm, I'm here. Let me show y'all what I have. Most of the time that's what all the publicists will do. The duality that I have as a consultant is I will not take on a client that I can't, that I don't vet and look at everything because they could have done something 20 years ago and I will never be able to get them pressed because of what they have done. I have to vet everything as a process. Because it is public relations And especially if you have a really, I always tech gauge the community as well. Like, you know, hey have you heard of such and such? What are your views? I check every site that can get a review of a company. If they're a service provider or a public, you know, they work directly with the community. I check all of that because the issue is, it's like if you don't fix that 1 deficit that you had, what's the point of getting the press? You know?

11:57 – Gresham Harkless

You're absolutely right. It ends up becoming kind of like a house of cards. So that's why I love that you're able to make sure that you have that foundation. As you mentioned, you don't have that tweet from 2015 or 2000, probably not 2000, it was on Twitter then but you get what I'm saying. Reviews back then. Exactly. Exactly. And especially in this day and age at the kind of the speak of a smart speaker or the type of a phone, you can really find out so much information and do that due diligence.

And it's so important that not only that you might have created this really phenomenal product or service, but that you have that foundation and you have an art showing and being consistent with the brand and the publicity that you could potentially get. So I love that you're able to kind of merge and bring together that duality so that businesses can be successful and take and go from there. Would you consider that to be kind of what I call your secret sauce, the thing you feel kind of sets you apart is that ability to bring in those 2 different things, but also the experience that you had as well too?

12:54 – Chandra Gore

Yes, that is the one thing that I think sets me apart because I don't just look at, Oh, I have a retainer for 5 grand a month and I'm just going to start pitching to me. That's, that's not doing that personal service. And I will not take on a client that I know is not ready. my conscious and my integrity mean more than a check, you know? So it's like, I would rather if they are not ready help them to get ready and put that money towards investing into getting their business ready Then we'll talk about public relations because some people's businesses are a mess like some people. Oh, I got an EIN. Okay, that's cute. Where's your registration? Like, where's your trademark? What are you doing to protect yourself? Do you have insurance?

Have you had the proper licensing to go put these TVs up on the wall and somebody's like, all of these things come into play, like, and a lot of people are like but you know but I'm popping on Instagram that's cute? Instagram can be deleted as you like it's all of these things that don't matter in the grand scheme of things having your structure correct and you know just in case something happens you'll lose it all you know and so it's like telling being honest and I think in a consultation I'm brutally honest.

14:08 – Gresham Harkless

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?

14:18 – Chandra Gore

I have a notebook. This notebook is not a client notebook. It's like, it's talking like points that you know that I reference back to And I have posted notes that I use in the notebook that make me remember like this is, you know, when I have this problem, go back to this and it's, it helps me to keep in a way it helps me to remember certain things like even though like every if I have 10 clients, but every single client has that one thing that they, every, it never fails, it's that one thing. So I write down what usually precedes it and how I handle it. So I don't, I'm not racking my brain.

15:00 – Gresham Harkless

Now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. This could be a word of wisdom or piece of advice, could be around PR consulting, or if you hopped into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

15:11 – Chandra Gore

If I could, trust your gut, always trust your gut.

15:16 – Gresham Harkless

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 Sondra, what does being a CEO mean to you?

15:23 – Chandra Gore

Being fearless is because to be a leader, you have to put your fear to the side sometimes and trust your mindset, trust what you actually put together.

15:36 – Gresham Harkless

Truly appreciate that definition. I 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 an overview and find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

15:49 – Chandra Gore :

Thank you for having me. I can be found on all things social media, Chandra Gore Consulting or under Chandra Gore 01, and also Conversations with Chan. I write about different entrepreneurs. I interview different entrepreneurs on a publication. So you could find out a lot by asking the right questions. So that's how you can stay in contact with me.

16:14 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, Chandra, We will definitely have the links and information in the show notes as well too, so that everybody can follow up with you, but I appreciate you again, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:23 – 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.

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