IAM2487 – President and CEO Provides Quality, Handmade, Meaningful Accessories for Men and Women

Speaker 1

00:00 - 00:47

Just in the way we make the jewelry, like I said earlier, we've always been about that sort of message of hope and kind of realizing that comes in the middle of a world that there's a lot of hard things, that there's a lot of difficulty. And so kind of the look, the aesthetic of our product has always kind of got a combination of a little bit of, I don't want to say rough edge, but a more sort of organic kind of look to it where it's not perfect, but always beautiful. And so just even in that look, it's kind of a reminder that, you know, life isn't perfect, but it can be beautiful. Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview?

Speaker 1

00:47 - 01:00

If so, you've come to the right place. Grush values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I Am CEO Podcast. Hello, hello, hello.

Speaker 1

01:00 - 01:09

This is Gresham from the I Am CEO Podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Steven Leonard of the Leonard Group. Steven, it's awesome to have you on the show. Great to be here, Gresham.

Speaker 1

01:09 - 01:25

Thank you for having me. No problem, super excited to have you on. And what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Stephen so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. And for nearly a decade as president and CEO of Leonard Group, Stephen has seen the importance of creating meaningful and quality product.

Speaker 1

01:26 - 02:06

Established in 2010, the Leonard Group has grown from a home-based business into a multi-million, multi-brand company, including lines for men and women, faith-based jewelry, a pet line, and American-based manufacturing. The rapid growth, top-tier partners, growing infrastructure, and a message of hope has poised Leonard Group to see exponential growth in the coming years. Having launched the Stephen David Leonard brand in 2017, in late 2017, Stephen's vision is to help struggling people find their purpose and understand their unique identity, experience, skills, and talents so they can live the life they were created to live. Stephen, are you ready to speak to the IMCO community?

Speaker 1

02:07 - 02:14

I am. Awesome. Let's do it. So the first thing I want to do to do is to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Speaker 1

02:15 - 02:57

Yeah, so my wife and I started the first business in 2002 when our son, our first son was born with special needs. My wife started making jewelry and over time, we realized in relocating to the area we live now that we needed to have a web presence. And so I, along with my wife, I, along with a friend of ours, who was actually in the call group that I was pastor of at the time, built our first website. We began developing our online presence that way.

Speaker 1

02:58 - 03:44

I was doing this in my spare time at that time, as I was a full-time pastor then. And as the business continued to grow through social media and some different things, we realized we needed somebody to step in and do what I was doing full-time, either I needed to do it myself or we needed to hire somebody. And we decided, you know what, it's time to take the leap and kind of go all in with both of us, both my wife and I. full-time and so so I jumped in and started leaving the company full-time and We continue to develop the company It's always been kind of a social social media based company based on you know, just depending on what is kind of happening at the time and Continue to kind

Speaker 1

03:44 - 04:26

of grow from there. So my wife and I've always I think with with the birth of our son we've always been very connected to to Just the reality that there's a lot of hard things in life, that's a big part of life. I think anybody can attest to that, whether it's dealing with illnesses or job challenges or identity issues or lots of things, both internal and external. So, my wife and I, as we've kind of struggled through the issues with our son, and as we've kind of put some of that into the product and the messaging that we put into the business, we've always tried to put something positive, kind of a message of hope

Speaker 1

04:26 - 04:46

out into the world through the business. And so, that's been, I think, kind of the inspiration guiding everything all the way along. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And that's why, you know, I love everything you've been able to build in our building as well, just because a lot of times, you know, your whatever's around you becomes your reality a lot of times.

Speaker 1

04:46 - 05:06

So if you don't know that somebody has, you know, gone through a difficult time and been able to go through it, no matter what it can be like, you know, some of the things you spoke about, you never know that getting through it is something that's possible. But the fact that you've been able to, you know, show that, and then you're showing that and everything that you're creating as well is definitely something that's remarkable. Thank you. Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1

05:07 - 05:19

And I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper in here, a little bit more about, you know, the brand and everything you're building. Could you tell us a little bit more on how you're serving the clients you're working with? Yeah, yeah, for sure. So, so we do two things.

Speaker 1

05:19 - 05:41

Like I said, we, you'd mentioned, we've got lines for men and women. We've got a Christian jewelry line, faith-based jewelry line, pet line. Our kind of key line is called Lisa Leonard Designs, and we do women's jewelry through that line. And then, started the Steve and David Leonard line, like you mentioned, in late 2017, and we were able to purchase the other two lines.

Speaker 1

05:43 - 06:12

The thing that we do is we try to embody in our jewelry a couple of things. One thing that's very important to us is meaning. You can buy a lot of jewelry out there, you can buy a lot of stuff, but there's so much in the marketplace that's just another thing. And we have always seen that when you're wearing something on your hand or around your neck or on your wrist, it's nice to have pretty things and that's legitimate, but we've always worked to put meaning into those things.

Speaker 1

06:12 - 06:57

And so we do a lot of personalization and people put their kids' names or significant dates or inspiring messages so that as they're going through their day, they're kind of remembering those things that are important to them. And then the other thing is just in the way we make the jewelry, like I said earlier, we've always been about that sort of message of hope and kind of realizing that that comes in the middle of a world that there's a lot of hard things, that there's a lot of difficulty. kind of the look, the aesthetic of our product is always kind of got a combination of a little bit of, I don't want to say rough edge, but a more sort of organic kind of look to it where it's not perfect, but always beautiful.

Speaker 1

06:57 - 07:37

And so just even in that look, it's kind of a reminder that, you know, life isn't perfect, but it can be beautiful. So those are a couple of big things and then we we tell that that story through the writing that we do on our blogs and social media And kind of continue that same message Nice, I love that and um, and i'm not sure if that you know is what what you would call like your secret sauce But the thing that I love, you know a lot about it Is that a lot of times people especially in this day and age where you know, you have everything at your fingertips you can you know follow anybody on social media or you can research anything and You can really make purchases based off of things that you're truly passionate about and you can give meaning to your purchases by doing that.

Speaker 1

07:37 - 07:50

And I love the fact that again, your brand kind of represents that, but then by people, you know, supporting your brand, they're supporting those ideals as well. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Would you consider that to be like your secret sauce or would you consider it to be something else?

Speaker 1

07:50 - 08:23

Well, I think it relates to our secret sauce. I think our secret sauce really is that it's real. And by that I mean, I can think of other companies that talk about meaning and sometimes you read a company's story and It kind of rings like a corporate story trying to sound meaningful, right? For us, my wife and I never really intended to go into business in the first place, especially not to the level that we're at now.

Speaker 1

08:24 - 08:48

We've kind of followed our noses as things have developed. Because of that, it's always been important to us to really root everything we do in our story and to root everything we do in that story of hope. We work very hard to keep things grounded in reality. We've come up with cool marketing slogans at times.

Speaker 1

08:49 - 09:13

you know, things like that, that, you know, that sound really nice. And then we stop and think about it and ask, like, okay, what does this actually mean that what are we, what are we really sounds great, but what are we really trying to say? And if we can't, if we can't root it back into into reality, and into actually trying to put a good message out in the world and a positive message that's rooted in something real, we'll ditch it. And And come back and find something real.

Speaker 1

09:13 - 09:44

And so I think that's our secret sauce is that, you know, that that kind of integrity between who we are and what we're putting out into the world. And my experience in business is that's pretty rare. I think a lot of companies, a lot of folks in business, and not that there's anything necessarily wrong with this, but there's a lot of people that what their company does and what they do, it's just another product out into the world. And sometimes some of those products meet great needs and we're thankful that we have them.

Speaker 1

09:45 - 10:12

But I think that's something that's unique to us is that integrity between the real story and what we do. Yeah, and I would definitely use the word authenticity as well too, just because a lot of times, you know, like you said, you know, a lot of people are trying to, you know, take courses and do things and read books or whatever to be authentic, but there's nothing that you can do better than being authentic and being authentic for lack of a better phrase. I need to read a book to find out how to come across as authentic.

Speaker 1

10:14 - 10:28

Exactly. But that's what's happening a lot of times now when in reality, you don't have to read a book, you just have to kind of be yourself and be true to your story, be true to everything that you stand for. And a lot of times, you know, we sometimes forget that and get caught in that. So I'm glad you're definitely, you know, reminding us of that.

Speaker 1

10:29 - 10:57

I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack, and this might be an Apple book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient. I think a few things come to my mind, but I think something I'm kind of proud of is I am a reader. Again, being a business leader is not something I started off to do, and so I feel like I'm playing catch up a lot and just have a lot to learn always. So anyway, I read a lot.

Speaker 1

10:57 - 11:18

And one of the things that I've come across is that a kind of big issue for any company is the actual execution of plans. It's easy to do a lot of planning. It's easy to have great ideas. It's, you know, all those things, you know, entrepreneurs and CEOs tend to be pretty good at that stuff, but execution is where things fall apart.

Speaker 1

11:19 - 11:32

I'm no different. Execution is where I fall apart sometimes as well. Nice. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget, and this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice, or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Speaker 1

11:33 - 12:11

Yeah, I think it goes to some of the things that we've discussed. I think really to understand who you are and pursue your vision out of who you are. Don't try to be somebody else. I know it sounds simple, and I'm not the first person by a long shot to say that, but I think it's really easy to get distracted by either trying to be somebody else, trying to copy another company, seeing what somebody else is doing and thinking, well, I can

Speaker 1

12:11 - 12:31

just copy that and do it or whatever. And I think we can be inspired by things that we see out there. We're all inspired and that's true, but I think, yeah, I really think that one of the most powerful things that we can do is be ourselves. We can be who we were each created to be.

Speaker 1

12:31 - 12:52

I like your saying, you said about nobody can run your race. Again, it's simple, but I think there's a lot of things that pull any of us toward trying to be somebody else or trying to measure ourselves. You get really discouraged. measuring yourself against somebody who's doing what you're doing, but 10 years down the line and you think, Oh, I haven't reached that yet.

Speaker 1

12:52 - 13:18

And it's like, well, they've been at it a long time, you know, and, uh, uh, you know, we don't tend to measure ourselves against what somebody is doing, you know, what they were doing the same, you know, year one or the same time that you're doing it. And so, uh, And with that, I think there's just a lot of hard work. So anyway, I would say be pretty dogged about being who you are and staying true to your vision. You're not getting distracted by others.

Speaker 1

13:19 - 13:54

Yeah. And again, I love that just because, and I'm glad you brought up, you know, a lot of those different things because a lot of times you, you know, whether you're reading a book or taking a course or whatever, or you see something on social media, you automatically, you know, I guess without even knowing kind of measure yourself against that person or that business or whatever, And understanding like there are those things that are competing for your attention. I guess you can say to do that, but to really work at being yourself and being authentic and understanding even who that is because a lot of times things will tell you what you should be or measure you according to that.

Speaker 1

13:54 - 14:06

And it's important for you to kind of stay true, understand that, and then pretty much fight for it. 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 this show. So Steven, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Speaker 1

14:08 - 14:17

Yeah. Um, you know, my first real answer is I have no idea. I'm figuring it out day by day. That's why I'm asking the questions.

Speaker 1

14:17 - 14:44

I don't know either. Yeah. I think being a CEO, I guess I'll say it this way, the way I kind of joke with our team, I think that a huge part of my job is being the chief belief officer. You know, we spend a lot of times in an organization solving problems, you know, and it seems like as soon as you solve one, two more tickets place, you know, and somebody in the organization has got to believe in a, in an extraordinary way in the mission and

Speaker 1

14:44 - 15:07

the vision and what you're trying to accomplish and to keep everybody looking at that. And so, I think the way a huge part of my approach to being a CEO is being that chief belief officer and reminding us of what we can do. And in our company over 10 plus years, we've experienced really good times and we've experienced really difficult times. And each of those has its challenges.

Speaker 1

15:07 - 15:31

You know, I think sometimes you think, ah, with success, it'll be so much easier. Sometimes those are some of the hardest times, but holding to the vision and the the vision, the mission, you know, kind of keeping everybody looking forward, no matter what's going on, I think is, I think it's a very orienting thing so that you're looking at the horizon and not just, you know, kind of the up and down of what's, what's happening. So that's probably my big thing is, is kind of leading in the, in the belief in what we're doing.

Speaker 1

15:31 - 15:46

I love that definition and I might borrow that a few times. So I appreciate that. And Steven, I truly appreciate your time. What I wanted to do was fashion the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know, and then how best to get ahold of you.

Speaker 1

15:46 - 15:58

I would just say if you want to learn more about us and you want to kind of follow our journey, you can go to lisaleonard.com and stevendavidleonard.com. There's our product. You have access to our blogs. All of our social media links are there.

Speaker 1

15:58 - 16:14

People can come and check us out and see what we're all about. Awesome, awesome, awesome. And we'll have those links in the show notes as well just so that everybody can follow up with you and see all the awesome things that you're doing and support the cause, of course. And I appreciate you again, Steven, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Speaker 1

16:14 - 16:26

All right. Thanks a lot, YouTube Gresham. Thank you for listening to the IMCEO podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at imceo.co.

Speaker 1

16:27 - 16:43

IMCEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Want to level up your business even more? Read blogs, listen to podcasts, and watch videos at CBNation.co. Also, check out our I Am CEO Facebook group.

Speaker 1

16:44 - 16:49

This has been the I Am CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.