IAM1575 – Life Coach Offers Solutions to Companies Focusing on Improving Morale, Productivity and Profitability

Alice Maples is the CEO and Founder of Recess Everyday. The mission is to make the world happier, healthier, and more connected. Recess Everyday does this through B2B programs, courses, workshops, and more!

• CEO Story: Alice built her company focusing on prevention, lifestyle practices, community, and responsibility both for the individual and the organization with the foundation of a global experience doing internships in Costa Rica and China, and being able to work with a non-profit organization and a corporate fortune 500 company.
• Business Service: Workshops and courses. Corporate wellness, executive wellness coaching, one-to-one coaching to leaders.
• Secret Sauce: Compassionate, understanding, empathetic, and a careful listener. Giving back to the community.
• CEO Hack: Understanding that things do take time. The importance of building a community-loving and supportive team.
• CEO Nugget: Consistency turns average into excellence.
• CEO Defined: Empower, educate, and give love to others as a leader.

Website: recesseveryday.org

Instagram: recesseverydayorg

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00:26 – 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.

00:54 – Gresham Harkless

Hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Alice Maples of Recess Every Day. Alice, it's great to have you on the show.

01:03 – Alice Maples

Thanks for having me.

01:04 – Gresham Harkless

Yes. Super excited to have you on and talk about all the awesome things that you're working on. Of course, before we do that, I want to read a little bit more about Alice so you can hear about some of those awesome things. Alice is the CEO and founder of Recess Every Day. The mission is to make the world healthier, happier, and more connected. Recess Every Day does this through B2B programs, courses, workshops, and much, much more. Alice, again, excited to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:30 – Alice Maples

Yeah. Again, thank you so much for having this kind of avenue. Not only for CEOs to speak, but for also people that are in the community and then also maybe hopeful to be a CEO someday. So I think that this is such a valuable podcast for basically everybody because it is not just a standard CEO that you always hear about in the news. You get to really hear the people of the community, the people doing the work out there. I've been enjoying listening to the other CEOs as well.

01:59 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, I truly appreciate that. I think there's so much power from being able to mastermind, for lack of a better term, and even hear those thoughts and things that people are going through. I think the first time we connected, we had a really valuable conversation just in masterminding, in an impromptu way about all the things that we were kind of working on.

02:16 – Alice Maples

Mm, yeah. Super fun. Just like every time.

02:20 – Gresham Harkless

Exactly. So I guess to kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock and hear a little bit more about how you got started, what I call your CEO story.

02:27 – Alice Maples

I've always had a desire to help people. When I was a little kid I had my little Fisher Price, doctor's kit, and I was like, I'm going to be a doctor. My parents were like, well, you got to go try it out. So then I, as a kid went and I interned in like hospitals, pre post-op, all that sort of stuff. They're like no. People that I work with because I like, would do interviews stuff. I was like, okay, well, interesting. Then in college, I was able to make my own major in international relations in Global health.

I did this really interdisciplinary approach because everything is so siloed in traditional academia. Like there's just psychology, just sociology, just economics. I was like, everything is related. My college, Pitzer College, let me make my own major, which was super cool. Then as a part of that major, I did my senior thesis just kind of like a comparative analysis of healthcare across different countries. So I was able to do internships in Costa Rica, which has nationalized healthcare, and they actually have better health outcomes than most of America on a fraction of the budget because it's all about prevention.

Then I went over to China and I did internships over there in traditional Chinese medicine clinics. We learned about traditional Chinese medicine and the kind of connection and kind of interaction of both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine is really preventative as well. I just had these global experiences about prevention and then just backtracking a little bit. When I was in high school, I had some health challenges and I was just given like, pills and I was like.

The pills weren't the answer for me. This is like my little backstory on how I became the CEO and founder of Recess Every Day, which is about prevention, it's about lifestyle, practices, it's about community, and it's about responsibility, both the individual and the organization. That's really the foundation is this global experience. Then I've also worked in the nonprofit realm. I worked in South Central Los Angeles for a nonprofit in a low-income high school. That provided so much information.

We could probably talk about that for a long time. Then I also have one, worked with Fortune 500 companies and I've also worked with the government and they're all different but there's a lot of common themes so nuggets there. That's kind of my origin story. Just a little super-fast version.

05:08 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more here, a little bit more on how you're working with your clients. Could you take us through how that process goes and how you make that impact?

05:16 – Alice Maples

Yeah. So one of my greatest strengths and greatest downfalls is I love everybody and I love to do so many different things. But right now with recess every day, I am looking to expand my business by doing a kind of corporate wellness. This can take place in many different facets. So for one, it can be executive wellness coaching. Just kind of that one-to-one coach-to-leader. Because leaders have tremendous influence and it's like sometimes it could just be talking with a leader about how to influence and improve their organization.

Then also for organizations and companies and individuals or whatever, I do workshops, I design courses, I What else do I do? Yeah, one-on-one coaching, group coaching. So I just love it all. The goal is always really tied into that mission to make the world happier, healthier, and more connected. Whatever people's or organizations' or group's pain point is, it's like we kind of look at what it is. What do we want our outcome to be? That's like the most important part is what you want your outcome to be. Then let's build a bridge to get there.

For example, currently clients, I have a military client, I'm a national franchise client, I have a small business client. Then I also have just like private clients. So when people are like, well, what specifically? Well, it totally depends on your organization or who you are as an individual and what your needs are. So I can't simplify it into one thing except the fact that it's customized.

06:58 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Would you consider that to be part of your secret sauce? The thing you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique? Is it that ability to have that coaching perspective and to be able to kind of understand that, but also the experience and different, I think knowledge that you have and bring to the table?

07:15 – Alice Maples

I mean, you're also a great listener. Yeah, I think that really, I mean, yeah, I guess being able to be a compassionate, understanding, empathetic, and careful listener is, unfortunately, something that I wish wasn't like a special skill set right now.

07:36 – Gresham Harkless

Right.

07:37 – Alice Maples

Like what? Compassionate listening is not something that we all possess. The answer is no. There's historically, I think in the old, let's just say like maybe old methodologies, it's that top-down, do as I say kind of methodology right across the board. It's like, I'm better, you're not, you're beneath me. I think that's an outdated formula I'm the boss. Now we have more women in the workplace and we are much more collaborative. I'll tell a little story about that. So one of the things that's very important to me is no matter where I am in life, super successful, just in the dumps. Whatever it is, it is a value of mine to always give back to my community.

My current vessel for that right now is the Junior League which is a national women's nonprofit. I think that one of the benefits of being a member and a leader of this community is, how can I inspire. How can I support my teams? How can I develop them to develop their teams? Because it is like I am working directly with leaders and then they are with their teams. It is like, what do we need to do? It always starts with that, listening. Then what do you need help with as a leader? I am there to help, I am not there to tell. I am there to support you and that's my methodology.

09:06 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that makes so much sense. I wanted to switch gears a little bit. I almost wonder if that's part of your CEO hack. The thing you feel kind of is the app, book, or habit that helps you be more effective and efficient. Is it that understanding and awareness that things do take time, that you can't just snap your finger and hit that health goal, run that marathon, or be the ultimate leader for your team? Do you feel like that's part of the thing that can be more of, I guess, a habit or a hack that can help people to be more effective and efficient?

09:37 – Alice Maples

Yes because I prepared my answers to these questions. One is actually the importance of having a community. I am so fortunate that I have a rock-solid team of advisors in every single industry. I can pick up the phone and be like, listen, I've got a challenge or I've got a problem. What do you think? I think that my secret hack is building a community of like-minded people that love and support and have a similar vision of the world and that are. Oh my goodness. I heard I listened to this. Little things like it's like if you have a little flame.

There are two types of people, right? There are people who like it when the wind comes, they help you cover your flame and protect your flame, your light. Others come up and they blow it out. So I really think about that as my kind of life hack. Is. Is this community supporting and nurturing my flame and my light or are they trying to blow it out? If you are not on my team, you don't get to be a part of it. You are outside of it.

Will I love you kindly from afar? Absolutely. Will I support you in times of need? Absolutely. But you don't get to be a part of my inner circle. That is my life hack having a loving, supportive team that's in line with my vision and that helps me and I help them.

11:12 – Gresham Harkless

So nice. I absolutely love that and I think so. It's kind of the quote and I always kind of butcher it sometimes in order to go farther. You go together rather than go alone. I think so many times when you try to realize the impact of having those different thoughts, perspectives, people from different industries, as you're able to kind of lean into it allows you to not just kind of protect your flame, but I almost feel like grow your flame even more, become stronger because you have those different thoughts that help support that and it helps you kind of ultimately to see in a different way.

11:44 – Alice Maples

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Oh my goodness. Somebody told me a quote because I was saying this one of my networking groups and it's like, oh, I'm not a one-man band, but I'm. It's like me. It's a party. Oh, I butchered that. Sorry.

11:59 – Gresham Harkless

No worries.

12:00- Alice Maples

I'm a big party.

12:02 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that's my. I love it. I'm the king of butchering quilts. So there you go. Exactly. So what would you consider? You might have touched on this too. A CEO nugget. A little bit more words of wisdom or a piece of advice? I like to say it might be something you would tell your favorite client or if you have to do a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

12:24 – Alice Maples

This is my guiding light for I'm not sure how long, but it is. Consistency turns average into excellence. I will repeat it a couple of times because it is so beautiful and so powerful. Consistency turns average into excellence. I literally have that on my whiteboard back here, I talk about it. It is like, whatever you want to be great at, you must do consistently. If you want to be great at health, you must do it consistently. If you want to be a great community member, you have to do it consistently.

If you want to have a really strong business or sales, you've got to do it consistently. That leads to some of the three core values that I am or that I have with recess every day. One is, of course, we've kind of touched upon it is just having that compassionate leadership, compassionate listening, goal-oriented leadership. Two is being responsible. As the CEO, you are responsible for the results, but then also inspiring responsibility of your employees and of your team members.

Both parties are responsible for the success. It's not dependent on one or the other. It's dependent on both. So it's being in 100% ownership of your success. It can be in relationships, it can be in work, it can be on your volunteer teams. Right? Then the last kind of like a continuation of these nuggets. This is my favorite of, like my 10 top favorite things. It's the concept of Kaizen, and that is the art of small continuous improvement over time. Kaizen is the art of small continuous improvement over time. My old favorite word used to be iteration, but then I learned kaizen. I was like, okay, well, now it's kaizen. That's kind of like at the heart of recess every day is that what, let's get 1% better, let's consistently Kaizen.

14:32 – Gresham Harkless

I definitely appreciate that. So now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which we might have touched on a little bit, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO and we're hoping I have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So, Alice, what does being a CEO mean to you?

14:46 – Alice Maples

Means to empower, educate, and give love to others as a leader. Then to inspire that amongst not just my direct team, but for that to carry on outward. It's not that eloquent, but you get the message.

15:06 – Gresham Harkless

No, I absolutely love that. Alice, truly appreciate you for all the awesome things you're doing. Of course, I appreciate your time even more. So what I want us to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. Of course, how best people can get hold of you, find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

15:24 – Alice Maples

Well, thank you again. So much for having me and make sure to like follow, and subscribe to CB Nation here, what's up and keep in touch. I think I'm on Instagram a lot. I usually post every single day. So you can follow me on Alice Maples on Instagram or recesseveryday.org. Then also I have new projects coming out. So the great AM ritual will be kind of launching within the next few months.

That is just like the practice, the consistent practice of visualization, movement, of mindfulness that you can do in the morning. So that's going to be launching soon. So that's the one-to-many offering that I'll be having. So. So check that out as well. Again, thank you so much for having me.

16:09 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, I definitely appreciate you and we'll definitely have the links and information in the show notes as well too, so you can hear about all the awesome things that you're working on and of course that you do. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:19 – Alice Maples

All right, thank you too.

16:21 – 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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