IAM907- CEO Helps Clients Create and Live Their Best Life

Connie is a successful CEO & Business Owner, Global Speaker, Award-Winning Author, and a Highly Recommended Educator on a mission to help you create and live your best life. Her experience with her own company, At Your Service Events Planner LLC, versatile professional experience, and educational background have prepared her for the next step in her professional journey. She would love to have you along for the ride!

• CEO Hack: I do my social media in the morning and also respond to my emails
• CEO Nugget: Listen to your customers' wants and need
• CEO Defined: Responsibility for everything

Website: https://www.connieamosparsons.com/

https://www.ayseventsplanner.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atyourserviceeventsplanner/
https://www.facebook.com/PeaksValleysOvercomingTheOdds/
https://www.facebook.com/celebrationsministerconnieMDVA/
Instagram: https://www.Instagram.com/plannersrock
LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/connie-amos-parsons-075865b
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/oneweddingdiva

Check out one of our favorite CEO Hack’s Audible. Get your free audiobook and check out more of our favorite CEO Hacks HERE

Transcription

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today! 

Please Note: Our team is using the AI CEO Hacks: Exemplary AI and Otter.ai to support our podcast transcription. While we know it's improving there may be some inaccuracies, we are updating and improving them. Please contact us if you notice any issues, you can also test out Exemplary AI here.

00:15 -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.

00:44 -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 Connie Amos Parsons of Connie Amos Parsons.com Connie. It's awesome. Happy on the show.

00:55 – Connie Amos-Parsons

Thank you so much, Gresh. I appreciate it so much being here.

01:00 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. I appreciate you jumping on the podcast as well, too. I know you're doing phenomenal things and I wanted to read a little bit more about Connie so you can hear about some of those phenomenal things that she's doing.

Connie is a successful CEO and business owner, global speaker, award-winning author, and highly recommended educator on a mission to help you create and live your best life. Her experience with her own company at Your Service Events Planner LLC, her versatile professional experience, and her educational background have prepared her for the next step in her: professional journey. She would love to have you along for the ride. Connie, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

[restrict paid=”true”]

01:38 – Connie Amos-Parsons

I am ready.

01:39 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Well, let's do it then. So they kind of kick everything off. I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and we'll let you get started with all the awesome work you're doing.

01:48 -Connie Amos-Parsons

Okay well, I didn't think I was going to be in business because I worked in the federal government for quite a few years but my mother was an entrepreneur And I had that spirit about me. I used to help her. She was a hairstylist and a nutritionist. So I learned from her about business, how to handle business, how to be responsive, and how to treat your customers. But I had no idea that I would go into business for myself. So once I retired early from the federal government and stayed off a year, my yearning was to have my own business.

So I started my business at your service events planner LLC. First I started off by doing bus trips because I was in my hometown Lynchburg, Virginia at the time. And then I transitioned to doing weddings and corporate events. And I love it. I enjoy what I do. I enjoy my clients. I enjoy talking with people and meeting people. And my team and I get along really well. I enjoy working with my team. And so that's how I got into being an entrepreneur and owning my own business, it's something that it satisfies me, it's self-gratification, it really does. It makes me feel like I'm helping people to reach their goals and to reach their dreams.

03:17 – Gresham Harkless

Gresham Harkless: Absolutely, And it's great to hear that you had the entrepreneurship blood running through your veins, it sounds like, without even knowing exactly that you would do that. But you're so right. And I'm glad you talked about all those different aspects of business that sometimes we forget, you know, of course, we want to serve our clients and that's incredibly important, but also our team members, the people that work for and with us, the people that sometimes, you know, see our kind of success and our growth as entrepreneurs and business owners. There's so many people, we so many times kind of zoom over that human aspect and how impactful we are when we're you know doing what we're kind of called to do.

03:53 – Connie Amos-Parsons

And I can't forget my wedding professionals and colleagues that I've worked for with and throughout Virginia, DC, and Maryland, and I cannot forget them because they are really, they're my teammates. I mean, I know hundreds of wedding professionals and event professionals all over the state of Virginia, Maryland, and DC. And without them, it could be my business would not have been as successful.

04:22 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. And that environment and the people that you connect with and sometimes don't even do the same business that you do, but sometimes do kind of 1 of those connecting businesses or in the same industry are so important in terms of us, you know, being able to kind of be successful because a lot of times your altitude is determined by the environment and the people that you have around you. And so, Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper. Could you take us through a little bit more on what you: do and how you serve the clients that you work with?

04:52 – Connie Amos-Parsons

Okay, well, I'm going to start with my newest website, which is connieamersparsons.com. I have been speaking probably for maybe 15, or 20 years. I started in the federal government and I spoke at my church in different women's organizations. And now I'm a global speaker. I've done podcasts before and seminars for global people in my class, and the audience, and this is something that I enjoy doing too. So I'm also an educator for the same type of audience. I do a Facebook Live, which I'm gonna do. The next one's gonna be January 4th. And I am also an author. I've written 2 books. The first 1 was written in 2017, Peaks Valleys in Overcoming the Odds, Stepping Out on Faith and Confidence. And that is a short autobiography. How, and I started with my grandparents, my parents, and in school, And then I moved up to talking about the trauma that I had when I was in my 20s with my first husband.

So I talked about how people can identify with spousal abuse. And I got out of this situation, but I did not talk about it until 2017 in my book. And I just decided to go ahead and tell my story. I've gotten 5-star reviews on it. And then last year I decided I was going to talk not only about how I overcame and how my life is doing well now and how I raised my children by myself and became successful, went back to college twice, got my undergrad, got my grad in leadership development program from Johns Hopkins University. But I also talked about small business tips and what I learned from being an entrepreneur in my first book.

So my second book was about how to teach people how to empower women to be the best that they can be and to empower themselves and to just if they want to transition in their career, they want to go back to college, but are fearful to do that. If they want to just strategize about how to improve their career, I wrote about those goals and strategies and how to plan ahead to be successful in your career. So the second one is a book to accompany the first one in terms of now that you've overcome your situation, this is how you get into the workforce or change jobs or even volunteer on your own business. And this is how you do it. And I outline in detail how you do it.

And so that's what I'm doing now with Connie Amos Parsons.com. Speaking about my book, Empowering Women. I have a phenomenal women, phenomenal woman walking in your purpose conference that I've done for 2 years in a row 2018 and 2019. We couldn't do it this year, obviously, but we're going to have it next year in 2021. In 2021 I have speakers to come in and then the man joined us this year, early this year which was, oh I did have one in March this year right before the pandemic and they came in, they wanted to talk about it too.

So I enjoy giving back to the community. What I do now is I'm working with At Your Service Events Planner. I have 3 assistants. one does the web design and helps me with weddings and events. And the other two are assistants who helped me with my travel. And we specialize in sandals and beaches, resorts, and I'm training them as well. And for the past, let's see, it'll be 14 years in March, I have trained all of my assistants on not only wedding and events planning and also travel, but I've also trained them on values that I have for my business and how I treat my clients and my customers. And that's what helps us to make a difference and differentiate ourselves from other businesses.

09:27 -Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. And 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 efficient?

09:40 – Connie Amos-Parsons

What I do in the morning since I have a long day and I put in my office is 9 to 5 or 5.30. I get up in the morning early because I need to do my social media. I'm the admin for all of my social media pages. Since 2008, I have not let anyone be the admin. So I have 6 different, 7 different pages for Facebook. And I have over 200 groups on Facebook that I belong to. Plus of course your Twitter and your Instagram and all of that. So in order for me to be able to do that and read my email, I get up early in the morning, say 6:30 to about 8:30, and do my social media respond to my emails, etc.

10:27 – Gresham Harkless

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

10:38 – Connie Amos-Parsons

I'm gonna start off with my clients. You know, you are digital marketing. So I just took my marketing course. So I know about that now, But your customers know all about your business before they even contact you. So they talk to their friends, their followers, they're online, they're reviewing your business, they're looking at Google, they're looking at your reviews, they're looking at all of that. So the best thing to do now is to listen to your clients, to listen to your customers. Don't try to push anything on them to listen to what their wants and needs are.

11:17 – Gresham Harkless

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

11:27 – Connie Amos-Parsons

Okay, other than of course, chief executive officer, we're responsible for everything from hiring to firing to their training to their growth to making them your team or your staff successful. For your clients and your customers, for your advertising, for your marketing, for your expenditures, for staying under budget, for payroll, for position descriptions. We're responsible for everything.

12:03 – Gresham Harkless

I appreciate that. And 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 I can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things that you're working on.

12:15 – Connie Amos-Parsons

Okay, you can reach me at Connie Amos Parsons.com. And that is for education. Any classes you want me to teach small business class leadership classes, and empowerment? I speak on empowerment, women's empowerment, goal setting, and leadership for women. And I also am an author of 2 books Peaks, Valleys, and Overcoming the Odds, Stepping Out on Faith and Confidence. And that is on Amazon and Kindle. The second book is, it was self-published, and if you want to pre-order that, you can contact me at aysevinceplanner.com. Ayseventplanner.com, and ayseventplanner.com. My cell phone and text is 434-944-1077. My Facebook page is at your service events planner, LLC, and I'm getting a new website. It's a YS events planner.com.

I'm getting a new one in a few weeks. But it's aysevensplanner.com. And I have several Facebook pages. My book is Peaks, Values, and Overcoming the Odds. And my business is at your service events planner, LLC. You can look at Google, I have great reviews from WeddingWire, The Knot, and on my website. And let's see what else. I wanted to just thank you so much, Gresh, for interviewing me for the CEO. It was a pleasure talking with you. If anyone wants to contact me, feel free to do that. And I just can't thank you enough for allowing me the opportunity to speak about my business.

14:21 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. Yes, I appreciate you Connie for all the awesome work that you're doing. We will have the link information in the show notes as well too, so that everybody can follow up. Thank you so much again, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

14:32 – 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.

[/restrict]