IAM1432 – Strategist and Expert Helps Develop Leaders People ‘Want’ to Follow
Special Podcast Interview - Podcast Interview with Halelly Azulay
Halelly Azulay is CEO & leadership development strategist at TalentGrow LLC. An expert in leadership, communication skills, emotional intelligence, and authentic networking, Halelly develops leaders that people *want* to follow. She is the author of two books, Employee Development on a Shoestring and Strength to Strength. She offers actionable leadership insights and advice as a sought-after speaker and workshop leader as well as on her blog and her leadership podcast, the TalentGrow Show.
- CEO Story: Halelly started as an employee while forming her credentials though at some point she kept on thinking of having her own business. One day, a pattern led her to a final concrete decision to leave the job and start her own business when her integrity was compromised. For Halelly, integrity is the most important, and that led her to her final decision to leave the job and start her own business journey.
- Business Service: Developing leaders that people want to follow. Help organizations have a strategic program for their leaders.
- Secret Sauce: Customised solution, tailored fit for each client or organization.
- CEO Hack: Having a small army (e.g. virtual assistant) of people to delegate tasks to.
- CEO Nugget: Your network is your net worth. Also, look to connect with people that can mentor you. Go forward and stick with it. Get help if you're struggling. The book mentioned: Jab, jab, jab right hook by Gary Vaynerchuk.
- CEO Defined: Visionary and someone who executes that vision, makes an impact on the world, and shapes the world the way you want to.
Website: http://www.talentgrow.com
Free Offer from Halelly – 10 Ways to Become a More Engaging Communicator: talentgrow.com/iamceo
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/HalellyAzulay
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HalellyAzulay
Business Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/TalentGrowLLC
Podcast Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/TalentGrowShow
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/talentgrow
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/talentgrow
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/Halelly and http://www.instagram.com/TalentGrowShow
Books: https://amzn.to/2CGYY7O and http://www.talentgrow.com/shop
Episode Link: https://iamceo.co/2018/10/16/iam086-strategist-expert-helps-develop-leaders-people-want-to-follow/
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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.
00:27 – Gresham Harkless
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a guest on the show today. I have Haley Azulai of Talent Grow LLC. Haley, it's awesome to have you on the show.
00:39 – Halelly Azulay
Thank you, Gresham. It's great to be here.
00:40 – Gresham Harkless
No problem. What I want to do is just read a little bit more about Halelly so you can learn a little bit more about all the awesome things that she's doing Haleli is the CEO and Leadership Development Strategist at Talent Grow LLC. An expert in leadership communication skills, emotional intelligence, and authentic networking, Haleli develops leaders that people want to follow. She is the author of two books Employee Development On a Shoestring and Strength to Strength. She offers actionable leadership insights and advice as a sought-after speaker and workshop leader as well as on her blog and her leadership podcast, the Talent Grow Show. Hallelujah. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?
[restrict paid=”true”]
01:22 – Halelly Azulay
Ready and rocking.
01:24 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Let's do it. So the first question I have is just to learn a little bit more about your CEO story, build upon your bio, and let us hear a little bit more about what led you to start your business.
01:34 – Halelly Azulay
Sure. Well, I first spent a good bit of my career as an internal employee and I don't know at what point it came into my mind that I thought that it would be a good idea to have my own business. I don't remember when that started, but I know it was something that I spent a lot of time just thinking about and not doing. And I think that for me I was just getting myself ramped up and ready and feeling like I was. I had the credibility and the experience that could help me differentiate myself and sell myself in a very competitive marketplace.
And then I think there was probably a series of two or three pattern-forming situations at work that showed me something about myself and that was that I wanted integrity. It's a top value for me. I kept feeling like I was in situations where I was doing great work and then something would change and there would be a situation where I felt like my integrity was getting put into a risky space where I Had to choose between keeping my job or keeping my integrity. So finally, after I saw that pattern enough times, I think if I were on my own, I would be 100% in charge of being integrity. And that's when I made the decision to do it.
02:43 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. And that's great that you do that. I know there's definitely been a lot of people. I know. I myself have been in those situations and positions where you want to make sure that you stay, and keep your job so that you can pay the bills and do all those important things. But you also want to make sure that you can sleep at night, which is also important, so to speak. So being able to kind of navigate that makes it a lot easier when you're kind of. When you have your own business, so to speak.
03:05 – Halelly Azulay
Yes, it's really important.
03:06 – Gresham Harkless
Yes. And now I wanted to ask you, I guess, a little bit more about like how you serve the clients and what exactly you do to kind of help them out. I know you have definitely a lot of things that you're doing. So could you kind of take us through, like some of the products and services and ways that you serve the clients that you work with?
03:19 – Halelly Azulay
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, everything in my work revolves around developing leaders that people actually want to follow. You know how people say you leave a bad manager, not a job? Yeah. And that's really actually true. So. But I've worked with enough managers and leaders in organizations to see that sometimes it's the bad managers. Most of the time they don't mean to be a bad manager. A lot of times they're a bad manager because in most cases people are promoted not because they have management or leadership skills or even capability. It's just because they're really good at the technical aspects of their job. And then they're just thrown into leadership roles. And often they're not really given any development beyond that.
So especially for really fast-growing organizations, at some point, they start doing that. You know, they sort of promote people and promote people and promote people and hope that they can fly. You know, they just throw them off a cliff and hope that they can fly. But at some point, it becomes enough of a problem where they see that really great people are leaving. And when they ask them why they're leaving, they say, my manager isn't good. So this is where I come in. You know, when that pain point is strong enough, I come in and I help that organization that's been fast growing and has enough of a layering system that's been put into place that they know they have enough people in leadership roles, but not enough of a strategic approach to developing them.
And I help them build a strategic, intentional approach to developing leaders. That means that you don't just bring in a workshop or send them to some workshop here and there, or do nothing. But you think about this more from a proactive stance, from the organization's perspective, and build this into the process that the organization uses regularly to build leadership skills, both in the people that are managing and leading, but also in the people that you want to make ready to step into those roles when those roles become necessary or available. So that's the consulting aspect of my work. I help companies and organizations put together a leadership development strategy and program.
But I also sometimes come into organizations either to those organizations where I did that consulting, but also to the ones that already have this together. They kind of have an approach, but they need skill-building. And this is where I speak at conferences and meetings, or I conduct workshops, like half day, one day, two days, and so forth. Workshops around specific leadership skills. And I help develop the leaders around certain areas that they need to get better at.
05:46 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. It makes perfect sense. And I automatically think like what you were talking about, especially with those companies that are smaller and they're growing at a rapid pace. And sometimes, like you said, they promote people that's not necessarily somebody that's they've been with the company and their employee number three out of 3,000 or something. So they automatically become a manager, even though they may not have had those skills to kind of be developed into management skills. So I guess when the business becomes more mature, you have to make sure that you are developing that in your management, but also down the line.
06:18 – Halelly Azulay
Yeah, because you know, when, like when you have a small business, you just fly by the seat of your pants and you make things up as you go along and it's okay. But at some point, it becomes the biggest business becomes big enough that that doesn't work anymore, you know, and once you've reached that point where you have enough layers that the founder can't really keep like this, you know, it's like the sand is slipping between their fingers and they're trying to hold on to all of it, they cannot.
And once you have enough of the layers going on and the different reporting levels and enough people that are doing it, there is a critical mass that it makes sense to invest in it. Because when the business is smaller, it doesn't always make sense. Although there are ways to develop leaders, even within smaller businesses. But at that point, it makes sense for them to bring someone like me in to help them get this organized within their own system so that it's no longer just an afterthought, but that it is something that is a strategic part of their business. Because if they want to function and grow, they have to think about everything from a strategic perspective, as you and I know, rather than reactive.
07:17 – Gresham Harkless
Exactly. You have to change who you are to get to that next level, who you are, and who the business is, I guess as well, to take it to that next level. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce, which is whatever you feel kind of distinguishes you or your organization. Organization from maybe other potential competitors that you might have.
07:36 – Halelly Azulay
A lot of the folks that are out, first of all, there's lots of really great people out there and thank goodness, because there's a lot of need for it. But a lot of organizations or consultants like me tend to have what I see as they're sort of like a one-model, one-trick pony. They get fixated on an assessment or a model or something where everything is seen through that lens and that's what they sell. They end up developing a lot of off-the-shelf programs that they just sell it over and over. So when people come to them for help, they kind of just try to shove every square peg through a round hole or however you say that.
And I don't do things that way. I really look through what the audience needs, what the client needs, and what the people who have problems need in order to help them resolve them. And I go from there. And so everything that I build is customized. Now of course I have things that I use repeatedly because they've worked before, but it's always tailored and customized to the client's needs. I feel like a lot of these problems are so contextual and so situational that I really make an effort to make it fit for them.
08:43 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And a lot of times, even though you might be able to use, like you said, you know, similar clients that maybe you worked with and use similar situations, usually there's so many different variables that you do need somewhat of a customized kind of look at it and have a person with that expertise to be able to answer those questions, to be able to solve those solutions. So it's great that you are able to incorporate both into helping solve your client's problems.
09:05 – Halelly Azulay
Exactly.
09:06 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. And now I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. This might be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but the idea is it's something that makes you more effective and efficient as a business owner.
09:18 – Halelly Azulay
Well, I do have a small business in the sense that I don't have tons and tons of employees. One of the things that I realized in recent years is I used to just try to do everything myself, but the value of my time is much better spent doing what is my secret sauce and doing what my strengths are. And there are lots of things that other people can do just as well, if not better. So taking contract virtual assistants and having a small army of people to delegate work to, to outsource work to, that can help me free up my time to do what only I can do has been a tremendous help.
And I've got a virtual assistant helping me with scheduling, looking for media opportunities for updating my, you know, certain things on my website. I have a virtual assistant helping me with my newsletter. I have another one for transcriptions for my podcast, and I have another one that helps me do the show notes for my podcast. So. And another one who does, like, the editing and the production for my podcast. And this has been an amazing thing. So there's lots of people. None of them are on my payroll or anything like that. So I don't have to worry about, you know, feeding their kids directly, but they free me up to focus on the work where I really add value.
10:31 – Gresham Harkless
That's huge. And I think that sometimes, you know, you try to figure out, you see somebody that's doing so many different things, you're like, how do I have the same 24 hours that they do? But I guess it's all in how you're leveraging it. Is that what you're saying?
10:42 – Halelly Azulay
Yeah. And making sure that you're thinking about not just like, okay, I can do it myself. So I'll give you an example, like editing my podcast. Like, anybody who starts a podcast from nothing, you probably don't come into it with any skills. That's fine. You can build skills around whatever you need. And I could probably figure out how to edit a podcast, but it would take me hours and hours and hours. And when I thought about it, I was like, I don't think I would enjoy doing it. So it would be work that would be grunt work. I would hate it. Probably. It would take me forever.
And then I could take someone who's a professional editor who could probably do it in a third or fifth of the time that it would take me. And they don't charge what I charge my clients for my hour. You know, they charge what is a market fair market share for their time. So for me to spend that money on their hour, I could make that money back and then some in my hour with my clients. Right. So it's just thinking about what is your time worth and how can you recapture the value of the time that you lose to certain things. So making decisions about how you spend your time, even though sometimes it'll cost you money, in the long term, makes you back that money and more.
11:46 – Gresham Harkless
Exactly. I love that CEO hacking. I think that's a phenomenal thing for us to kind of remember as entrepreneurs and business owners. And now I wanted to ask you for a CEO nugget. This might be a word of wisdom or piece of advice or maybe something that you might tell your younger business self.
12:00 – Halelly Azulay
Well, I've found that you don't have to know everything and you don't have to be everywhere but your network is your net worth. Like an old cliche, you can increase your value, you can increase the opportunities you have, and you can increase the access you have to information and resources by growing the right kind of network and nurturing it. And then related to that also make sure that you have mentors. So part of your networking should be connecting with people who can mentor you, who are maybe 1, 2, 10, 100 steps down a similar path further from you, who can give you insights and help you not reinvent the wheel as you're moving on your journey towards whatever your vision is.
I've seen many people who are struggling, who come to me for mentoring, who are struggling in building a business. And I often find that what they do is they sort of, they go pedal to the metal, head down, and they work on their work and they don't take the time to connect with other people because to them it feels like, well, that's, you know, there's no direct ROI. If I go have coffee with someone or, you know, if I connect with someone on the phone, so they don't do it. And then only when they need something, they suddenly remember that they know someone you know.
And when you connect with someone after two years, whatever, and all you're doing is asking for a favor that's not really going to entice them to help you. What is going to entice them to help you is that you've kept that relationship alive and have given to them over those two years, offered them insights, advice, thank yous, kudos, recognition, or even just a hello. So that two years later of you doing all of that for those two years. Now, if you have something that you want to ask of them, like a favor, they're itching to help you.
13:39 – Gresham Harkless
Exactly, exactly. And that's at the essence of building relationships where it's not take, take, take, and not give, give, give. You want to be able to balance both of those at the same time because then you're truly kind of empowering each other as individuals, you know?
13:51 – Halelly Azulay
Gary Vaynerchuk has a book called Jab, Right Hook Right, or however he calls it. I'm terrible. I don't know boxing. So it is a boxing metaphor. But, you know, he just says give, give, give before you ask. Right. So I think that that's a similar approach we all should follow. Do not count shits. Do not, like, try to balance the checkbook. You should think about if you're giving endlessly to someone and they never give you anything in return. Okay, check that one. But in general, don't worry about giving more than the other, because that just primes you for having an abundance around you of people eager to help.
14:27 – Gresham Harkless
And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of being a CEO. And we're having different CEOs on this podcast. But I wanted to ask you specifically, what being a CEO means to you.
14:38 – Halelly Azulay
Well, it means being a visionary. It means being someone who executes your vision. It means being someone who has built something from nothing. And you get to control your destiny. You get to make a true impact on the world in a positive way. And you get to shape your life the way you want to.
14:59 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. I love that definition. And Halelly, thank you so much for taking some time out of your schedule. What I wanted to do was pass the mic to you, so to speak, to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know and also how best people can get a hold of you.
15:13 – Halelly Azulay
So I would say go for it and stick with it if you haven't already started. And if you're in there, get help if you're struggling, because there are lots of resources out there to help you so that you can stick with it. I have a gift I'd love to offer to listeners a guide to 10 Ways to Become a more engaging communicator. I find that in your efforts to promote your business, to influence people, to sell, to network, you need communication skills, and you need to be someone that other people find engaging. So that's something that I know a lot about and I'm happy to share. And I can put that on my website, which is the best way to keep in touch with me in general. Everything, my podcast, my blog, my services, everything is on my website. That's talentbrow.com and I'll put that free gift on talentbrow.com imceo all one word.
16:02 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much Halelly. What we'll do is we'll have that link and the rest of your links in the show notes just so that anybody can listen to your podcast, visit your website, and hear about all the awesome things that you're doing. But I truly appreciate you for taking some time out. Hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.
16:16 – Halelly Azulay
Thank you so much Gresh. I appreciate that you invited me and I look forward to speaking with you again soon.
16:22 – 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.
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.
00:27 - Gresham Harkless
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a guest on the show today. I have Haley Azulai of Talent Grow LLC. Haley, it's awesome to have you on the show.
00:39 - Halelly Azulay
Thank you, Gresham. It's great to be here.
00:40 - Gresham Harkless
No problem. What I want to do is just read a little bit more about Halelly so you can learn a little bit more about all the awesome things that she's doing Haleli is the CEO and Leadership Development Strategist at Talent Grow LLC. An expert in leadership communication skills, emotional intelligence, and authentic networking, Haleli develops leaders that people want to follow. She is the author of two books Employee Development On a Shoestring and Strength to Strength. She offers actionable leadership insights and advice as a sought-after speaker and workshop leader as well as on her blog and her leadership podcast, the Talent Grow Show. Hallelujah. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?
01:22 - Halelly Azulay
Ready and rocking.
01:24 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Let's do it. So the first question I have is just to learn a little bit more about your CEO story, build upon your bio, and let us hear a little bit more about what led you to start your business.
01:34 - Halelly Azulay
Sure. Well, I first spent a good bit of my career as an internal employee and I don't know at what point it came into my mind that I thought that it would be a good idea to have my own business. I don't remember when that started, but I know it was something that I spent a lot of time just thinking about and not doing. And I think that for me I was just getting myself ramped up and ready and feeling like I was. I had the credibility and the experience that could help me differentiate myself and sell myself in a very competitive marketplace.
And then I think there was probably a series of two or three pattern-forming situations at work that showed me something about myself and that was that I wanted integrity. It's a top value for me. I kept feeling like I was in situations where I was doing great work and then something would change and there would be a situation where I felt like my integrity was getting put into a risky space where I Had to choose between keeping my job or keeping my integrity. So finally, after I saw that pattern enough times, I think if I were on my own, I would be 100% in charge of being integrity. And that's when I made the decision to do it.
02:43 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. And that's great that you do that. I know there's definitely been a lot of people. I know. I myself have been in those situations and positions where you want to make sure that you stay, and keep your job so that you can pay the bills and do all those important things. But you also want to make sure that you can sleep at night, which is also important, so to speak. So being able to kind of navigate that makes it a lot easier when you're kind of. When you have your own business, so to speak.
03:05 - Halelly Azulay
Yes, it's really important.
03:06 - Gresham Harkless
Yes. And now I wanted to ask you, I guess, a little bit more about like how you serve the clients and what exactly you do to kind of help them out. I know you have definitely a lot of things that you're doing. So could you kind of take us through, like some of the products and services and ways that you serve the clients that you work with?
03:19 - Halelly Azulay
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, everything in my work revolves around developing leaders that people actually want to follow. You know how people say you leave a bad manager, not a job? Yeah. And that's really actually true. So. But I've worked with enough managers and leaders in organizations to see that sometimes it's the bad managers. Most of the time they don't mean to be a bad manager. A lot of times they're a bad manager because in most cases people are promoted not because they have management or leadership skills or even capability. It's just because they're really good at the technical aspects of their job. And then they're just thrown into leadership roles. And often they're not really given any development beyond that.
So especially for really fast-growing organizations, at some point, they start doing that. You know, they sort of promote people and promote people and promote people and hope that they can fly. You know, they just throw them off a cliff and hope that they can fly. But at some point, it becomes enough of a problem where they see that really great people are leaving. And when they ask them why they're leaving, they say, my manager isn't good. So this is where I come in. You know, when that pain point is strong enough, I come in and I help that organization that's been fast growing and has enough of a layering system that's been put into place that they know they have enough people in leadership roles, but not enough of a strategic approach to developing them.
And I help them build a strategic, intentional approach to developing leaders. That means that you don't just bring in a workshop or send them to some workshop here and there, or do nothing. But you think about this more from a proactive stance, from the organization's perspective, and build this into the process that the organization uses regularly to build leadership skills, both in the people that are managing and leading, but also in the people that you want to make ready to step into those roles when those roles become necessary or available. So that's the consulting aspect of my work. I help companies and organizations put together a leadership development strategy and program.
But I also sometimes come into organizations either to those organizations where I did that consulting, but also to the ones that already have this together. They kind of have an approach, but they need skill-building. And this is where I speak at conferences and meetings, or I conduct workshops, like half day, one day, two days, and so forth. Workshops around specific leadership skills. And I help develop the leaders around certain areas that they need to get better at.
05:46 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. It makes perfect sense. And I automatically think like what you were talking about, especially with those companies that are smaller and they're growing at a rapid pace. And sometimes, like you said, they promote people that's not necessarily somebody that's they've been with the company and their employee number three out of 3,000 or something. So they automatically become a manager, even though they may not have had those skills to kind of be developed into management skills. So I guess when the business becomes more mature, you have to make sure that you are developing that in your management, but also down the line.
06:18 - Halelly Azulay
Yeah, because you know, when, like when you have a small business, you just fly by the seat of your pants and you make things up as you go along and it's okay. But at some point, it becomes the biggest business becomes big enough that that doesn't work anymore, you know, and once you've reached that point where you have enough layers that the founder can't really keep like this, you know, it's like the sand is slipping between their fingers and they're trying to hold on to all of it, they cannot.
And once you have enough of the layers going on and the different reporting levels and enough people that are doing it, there is a critical mass that it makes sense to invest in it. Because when the business is smaller, it doesn't always make sense. Although there are ways to develop leaders, even within smaller businesses. But at that point, it makes sense for them to bring someone like me in to help them get this organized within their own system so that it's no longer just an afterthought, but that it is something that is a strategic part of their business. Because if they want to function and grow, they have to think about everything from a strategic perspective, as you and I know, rather than reactive.
07:17 - Gresham Harkless
Exactly. You have to change who you are to get to that next level, who you are, and who the business is, I guess as well, to take it to that next level. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce, which is whatever you feel kind of distinguishes you or your organization. Organization from maybe other potential competitors that you might have.
07:36 - Halelly Azulay
A lot of the folks that are out, first of all, there's lots of really great people out there and thank goodness, because there's a lot of need for it. But a lot of organizations or consultants like me tend to have what I see as they're sort of like a one-model, one-trick pony. They get fixated on an assessment or a model or something where everything is seen through that lens and that's what they sell. They end up developing a lot of off-the-shelf programs that they just sell it over and over. So when people come to them for help, they kind of just try to shove every square peg through a round hole or however you say that.
And I don't do things that way. I really look through what the audience needs, what the client needs, and what the people who have problems need in order to help them resolve them. And I go from there. And so everything that I build is customized. Now of course I have things that I use repeatedly because they've worked before, but it's always tailored and customized to the client's needs. I feel like a lot of these problems are so contextual and so situational that I really make an effort to make it fit for them.
08:43 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And a lot of times, even though you might be able to use, like you said, you know, similar clients that maybe you worked with and use similar situations, usually there's so many different variables that you do need somewhat of a customized kind of look at it and have a person with that expertise to be able to answer those questions, to be able to solve those solutions. So it's great that you are able to incorporate both into helping solve your client's problems.
09:05 - Halelly Azulay
Exactly.
09:06 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. And now I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. This might be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but the idea is it's something that makes you more effective and efficient as a business owner.
09:18 - Halelly Azulay
Well, I do have a small business in the sense that I don't have tons and tons of employees. One of the things that I realized in recent years is I used to just try to do everything myself, but the value of my time is much better spent doing what is my secret sauce and doing what my strengths are. And there are lots of things that other people can do just as well, if not better. So taking contract virtual assistants and having a small army of people to delegate work to, to outsource work to, that can help me free up my time to do what only I can do has been a tremendous help.
And I've got a virtual assistant helping me with scheduling, looking for media opportunities for updating my, you know, certain things on my website. I have a virtual assistant helping me with my newsletter. I have another one for transcriptions for my podcast, and I have another one that helps me do the show notes for my podcast. So. And another one who does, like, the editing and the production for my podcast. And this has been an amazing thing. So there's lots of people. None of them are on my payroll or anything like that. So I don't have to worry about, you know, feeding their kids directly, but they free me up to focus on the work where I really add value.
10:31 - Gresham Harkless
That's huge. And I think that sometimes, you know, you try to figure out, you see somebody that's doing so many different things, you're like, how do I have the same 24 hours that they do? But I guess it's all in how you're leveraging it. Is that what you're saying?
10:42 - Halelly Azulay
Yeah. And making sure that you're thinking about not just like, okay, I can do it myself. So I'll give you an example, like editing my podcast. Like, anybody who starts a podcast from nothing, you probably don't come into it with any skills. That's fine. You can build skills around whatever you need. And I could probably figure out how to edit a podcast, but it would take me hours and hours and hours. And when I thought about it, I was like, I don't think I would enjoy doing it. So it would be work that would be grunt work. I would hate it. Probably. It would take me forever.
And then I could take someone who's a professional editor who could probably do it in a third or fifth of the time that it would take me. And they don't charge what I charge my clients for my hour. You know, they charge what is a market fair market share for their time. So for me to spend that money on their hour, I could make that money back and then some in my hour with my clients. Right. So it's just thinking about what is your time worth and how can you recapture the value of the time that you lose to certain things. So making decisions about how you spend your time, even though sometimes it'll cost you money, in the long term, makes you back that money and more.
11:46 - Gresham Harkless
Exactly. I love that CEO hacking. I think that's a phenomenal thing for us to kind of remember as entrepreneurs and business owners. And now I wanted to ask you for a CEO nugget. This might be a word of wisdom or piece of advice or maybe something that you might tell your younger business self.
12:00 - Halelly Azulay
Well, I've found that you don't have to know everything and you don't have to be everywhere but your network is your net worth. Like an old cliche, you can increase your value, you can increase the opportunities you have, and you can increase the access you have to information and resources by growing the right kind of network and nurturing it. And then related to that also make sure that you have mentors. So part of your networking should be connecting with people who can mentor you, who are maybe 1, 2, 10, 100 steps down a similar path further from you, who can give you insights and help you not reinvent the wheel as you're moving on your journey towards whatever your vision is.
I've seen many people who are struggling, who come to me for mentoring, who are struggling in building a business. And I often find that what they do is they sort of, they go pedal to the metal, head down, and they work on their work and they don't take the time to connect with other people because to them it feels like, well, that's, you know, there's no direct ROI. If I go have coffee with someone or, you know, if I connect with someone on the phone, so they don't do it. And then only when they need something, they suddenly remember that they know someone you know.
And when you connect with someone after two years, whatever, and all you're doing is asking for a favor that's not really going to entice them to help you. What is going to entice them to help you is that you've kept that relationship alive and have given to them over those two years, offered them insights, advice, thank yous, kudos, recognition, or even just a hello. So that two years later of you doing all of that for those two years. Now, if you have something that you want to ask of them, like a favor, they're itching to help you.
13:39 - Gresham Harkless
Exactly, exactly. And that's at the essence of building relationships where it's not take, take, take, and not give, give, give. You want to be able to balance both of those at the same time because then you're truly kind of empowering each other as individuals, you know?
13:51 - Halelly Azulay
Gary Vaynerchuk has a book called Jab, Right Hook Right, or however he calls it. I'm terrible. I don't know boxing. So it is a boxing metaphor. But, you know, he just says give, give, give before you ask. Right. So I think that that's a similar approach we all should follow. Do not count shits. Do not, like, try to balance the checkbook. You should think about if you're giving endlessly to someone and they never give you anything in return. Okay, check that one. But in general, don't worry about giving more than the other, because that just primes you for having an abundance around you of people eager to help.
14:27 - Gresham Harkless
And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of being a CEO. And we're having different CEOs on this podcast. But I wanted to ask you specifically, what being a CEO means to you.
14:38 - Halelly Azulay
Well, it means being a visionary. It means being someone who executes your vision. It means being someone who has built something from nothing. And you get to control your destiny. You get to make a true impact on the world in a positive way. And you get to shape your life the way you want to.
14:59 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. I love that definition. And Halelly, thank you so much for taking some time out of your schedule. What I wanted to do was pass the mic to you, so to speak, to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know and also how best people can get a hold of you.
15:13 - Halelly Azulay
So I would say go for it and stick with it if you haven't already started. And if you're in there, get help if you're struggling, because there are lots of resources out there to help you so that you can stick with it. I have a gift I'd love to offer to listeners a guide to 10 Ways to Become a more engaging communicator. I find that in your efforts to promote your business, to influence people, to sell, to network, you need communication skills, and you need to be someone that other people find engaging. So that's something that I know a lot about and I'm happy to share. And I can put that on my website, which is the best way to keep in touch with me in general. Everything, my podcast, my blog, my services, everything is on my website. That's talentbrow.com and I'll put that free gift on talentbrow.com imceo all one word.
16:02 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much Halelly. What we'll do is we'll have that link and the rest of your links in the show notes just so that anybody can listen to your podcast, visit your website, and hear about all the awesome things that you're doing. But I truly appreciate you for taking some time out. Hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.
16:16 - Halelly Azulay
Thank you so much Gresh. I appreciate that you invited me and I look forward to speaking with you again soon.
16:22 - 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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