IAM2641 – Founder Works with Retail Leaders to Transform Their Business

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Carlos Castelan Teaser 00:00
A company that's working with a client today that's really a dedicated brick-and-mortar retailer, but looking to get further into health and health services.

So we're helping them design new services and products for their space that will resonate with customers so they can continue to grow and evolve.

So many examples like that, and we've been lucky to be able to do that with a variety of different clients, oftentimes in the Fortune 1000.

Intro 00:26
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?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh 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.

Gresham Harkless 00:53
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 Carlos Castelan of the Navio Group. Carlos, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Carlos Castelan 01:03
Thanks for having me, Gresham.

Gresham Harkless 01:05
No problem. Super excited to have you on. And what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Carlos so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing.

And Carlos is the founder and managing director of the Navio Group, a consulting firm that works with retail leaders who want to transform their business. Carlos, are you ready to speak to the IMCO community?

Carlos Castelan 01:22
Absolutely. Let's do it.

Gresham Harkless 01:24
Let's do it. So they kick everything off. I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Carlos Castelan 01:30
Yeah. So a little bit about my story. I was more of an accidental, I think, entrepreneur, more than anything else. So my, I started my career working at target, here in Minneapolis, worked in a variety of different roles and then went off to business school, did some, basically an internship over the summer doing consulting. I didn't end up liking it at all.

I went back to the drawing board and said, I don't know what I'm going to do. My second year of school, I had a startup at the time reach out to me and ask if I wanted to help out on a project related to toys. I had managed toys at Target when I was there, so it was sort of a natural fit. So, my second year of business school, I started doing these projects.

Consulting projects and from there kind of took off and decided at the end of my two years of business school that I would just try this full time and see if it worked out.

I had about six months until my student loans kicked in so that was sort of my timeline to either make it or break it and kind of took off from there and I've been going strong ever since. So it's been, I would say that's my story. It wasn't anything kind of crazy but more accidental and good fortune I would say.

Gresham Harkless 02:41
Yeah, absolutely. And I love the aspect that you gave yourself a runway, so to speak, to see, you know, whether or not it will, you know, go where you want it to go or go or not go a different way.

But you still have that opportunity where it wouldn't literally wreck everything. I think so many people have that runway, but they turn the other way and they don't actually try it.

Gresham Harkless 02:58
So I appreciate you and commend you for being able to do that.

Carlos Castelan 03:01
Yeah, no, I was just talking to someone else today that's that's going to go out on their own for a bit. I think that that runway or having the sort of kind of pressure that you have on yourself to be like, I'm going to make this work. I'm going to, you know, burn the ship so to speak and do this.

I think it's, it's really helpful for people that are doing it.

Gresham Harkless 03:19
Absolutely. Absolutely. So I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper here, what you're doing with the Navio group.

Can you tell us like how you're, you're working with the clients?

Carlos Castelan 03:27
Absolutely. So we work mainly with retailers. Oftentimes it's brands that are looking to go direct to consumer.

And oftentimes these are retailers that are looking to transform their business. So, A couple examples of that would be a company that's working with a client today that's really a dedicated brick-and-mortar retailer, but looking to get further into health and health services.

So we're helping them design new services and products for their space that will resonate with customers so they can continue to grow and evolve. So many examples like that, and we've been lucky to be able to do that with a variety of different clients, oftentimes in the Fortune 1000.

Gresham Harkless 04:08
Nice. That makes sense. nd it kind of seems like, and let me know if this is true for the clients that you work with, that it probably seems very easy just to kind of create a product or service, but it seems like there's a lot of moving parts and things that are involved with that process.

So sometimes you need to be able to lean on the expertise of people like yourself so that they're able to not only launch something, but to be successful when doing it.

Carlos Castelan 04:28
Absolutely. And I think, you know, oftentimes we found too, it's, it's that expertise and then, You know, teams are strapped, so they have things that they're managing on a day-to-day basis, and they're going, they're saying, you know, I have this P&L to manage, I have these operations, these processes.

So, you're really focused on driving the business, and what we can come in and do is say, that's great, and we'll help you think about the long-term, and we'll take that off your plate, and work side-by-side to do that. So, that's exactly it. I think we found that ability.

You know, our business model is a little bit different because we're able to come in and work alongside existing teams. to help them do that. So support the work that they're doing and acknowledge it, but then also help sort of think a little bit further out and bring the business along that way.

Gresham Harkless 05:10
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And I'm sure everybody who's listening has been in those meetings, whether it be board meetings or team meetings or whatever, and you hear this new idea and you're like, oh, that really sounds good, but who's gonna actually do it?

And it's great to hear that you can actually not only come up and execute on those ideas, but also alleviate some of that stress that might come with that.

Carlos Castelan 05:28
Absolutely. And we try and do our best. So it's not a black box and we're just off somewhere doing something crazy and come back and I go, well, what were you been doing all this time?

Like, this doesn't make any sense. No, we, uh, we work with those teams because we understand the challenges we've been there before. You know, we've worked as operators.

Gresham Harkless 05:42
So, absolutely. Nice. That, that, that makes perfect sense. And, and so now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce.

So you might've already touched on this, but this is the thing that you feel kind of sets you or your organization apart and makes you guys unique.

Carlos Castelan 05:54
Yeah. What's interesting about consulting or professional services. is I don't know that clients necessarily look for something unique and differentiated.

It's actually about, have you done this before and can you do this? And I think what we draw upon is to say, we've actually worked with a lot of different clients. And we've had experience working with Target, working with Whole Foods, working with Kraft Heinz and Heiser, Bush, InBev. So we've worked at a lot of these bigger companies.

We've seen how they operate, some of the things that they do really well. And so what we're able to do is have this unique experience and bring it all together for our clients to say, We have this sort of diverse set of experiences and companies and we're able to bring this all to you so that you don't have to go out and learn how to do this over the years. We have that today because we've seen that.

Gresham Harkless 06:40
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And I can imagine and definitely correct me if I'm wrong, like there's somebody that might be listening to this thinking of starting a consulting firm, and they're trying to figure out like, how do I, you know, set myself apart?

How do I create that secret sauce or show that? But it sounds like just like in your story, a lot of times you look back at your experience, you know, and what you've done, and that is what you can consult on because you already have had some type of experience.

Carlos Castelan 07:01
Absolutely. Oftentimes, the twist is about how do you basically jumpstart the learning for the client because you've done that for so long. I think that's the way I always think about it. I've spent this many years doing this.

And that, you know, you don't have to go through that. Like we have that experience. So you're absolutely right. I think leveraging that experience and thinking about that in relation to how that was unique at the company and then the broader market is really helpful for people to think about as they enter consulting or any sort of other professional service.

It could be accounting, it could be all sorts of stuff.

Gresham Harkless 07:37
Yeah, absolutely. It's kind of like a cheat code, so to speak, where you're playing a video game and you understand you can happen to this person's expertise so that you don't have to spend all those years that that person has and put into what they're doing.

Carlos Castelan 07:50
Absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 07:50
Nice. And so I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an app, a book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Carlos Castelan 08:01
Yeah. One of the funny things too, you know, we spend a lot of time traveling around the country. So we're oftentimes on the East Coast or the West Coast. One of the lucky things about where I live, you know, I live in Minneapolis, I'm in the middle of the country.

So it's, you're never super close to anything, but you're never, you know, a long distance away, which is great.
But one of the things that I found to be, you know, for my travel and just in general is to be able to get seven or eight hours of sleep a night. I found that the more consistent I am about that, about going to bed at a good hour and getting up regularly, just helps me have so much more energy throughout the day to be able to sort of be fully present and to bring that same level of energy to client meetings or the work that I'm doing, as well as that ideally, you know, work out.

Gresham Harkless 08:44
Yeah, nice. I definitely appreciate that. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget, and this is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Carlos Castelan 08:55
I think, you know, in terms of what I tell myself, one of the things that I've, um, and I have my wife to thank, I think for this, but her attitude oftentimes is, why not do something? You know, I think oftentimes as someone that, you know, if you're successful at times, you worry about things or you sort of talk yourself out of a lot of stuff.

And I think that's, you know, operating out of a sense of fear, but also, you know, sometimes just not wanting to fail. And I think thinking about things in relation to instead of trying to convince yourself to do stuff, like trying to talk yourself, like spending time actively being like, well, why shouldn't I do this? And is it like low stakes?

I think That's one of the things that I've learned to do doing this is you can't, you're not doing this for other people, you're doing this for yourself because you want to do it.

And so thinking through how do I like, you know, how do I take appropriate risks, but then also like just continue to go out and do stuff and push myself to learn and grow. And I think thinking about things in terms of why not is a really helpful way to go about it.

Gresham Harkless 09:55
Yeah, I definitely would echo that and it's kind of glass half empty or glass half full. And when you're saying why or how or I can't or any of those things that kind of creep into our minds, if you say, why not?

Why can I not do that? Why can I not be like that person? Or so on and so forth. It changes your mindset and then it starts to, it can change your actions and everything and it starts to change your results as well too.

Carlos Castelan 10:16
Yeah, and I think there are definitely times where there's probably stuff you shouldn't do, or maybe it's too big of a risk. But I think starting from the point of, yeah, I'm going to do this, and maybe you figure out this isn't exactly what I'm going to do, but I'm going to take a slight deviation and turn this way. But I think it's so easy to talk yourself out of stuff. And so taking that leap, I think, is important.

Gresham Harkless 10:37
Yeah, especially when it's like, like you said, there's so, so easy to do that. There's so much sometimes pulling at us not to do and take those risks that sometimes when you do ask those questions, that's in contrast to that. A lot of times it can, it can prompt you to start doing those other things. Absolutely.

Nice. And so 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 Carlos, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Carlos Castelan 11:03
I think, you know, one of the things that I learned at, in terms about being a CEO. And I don't have, I learned this from someone else who was one. And one of the things that he said is like, you're not, you're not always going to be the most well-liked person. So don't strive to be the most well-liked, but what people seek from you is fairness.

And I think if people feel like they're getting a fair shake, they will ultimately respect you and see you as a good, you know, leader is what I would use as another word. But, and I think that's really important.

So thinking about basically how you set clear expectations and how people can achieve those, and not basically holding people to different standards, essentially, but having that same expectation of people and providing that feedback, I think is really important. So, I think that concept of fairness, not in the sense of, you know, it's equitable, but in the sense of how you treat people and that expectation, I think is how people become good CEOs.

Gresham Harkless 11:55
Yeah, absolutely. And I think expectations are definitely, you know, everything, because if you understand or when you're working with somebody or somebody who's on the team, you set that expectation of what might be the most important value or the most important or what the values of the company or organization are, why you make the decisions that you're going to make. It sets the bar for, you know, other decisions that happen down the line.

You understand that, okay, this person is being consistent with what the brand is or what the company is, what they stand for, value, so on and so forth. So I think it starts to set that table, so to speak, and set those expectations for future conversations.

Nice, well, I definitely appreciate that, appreciate that perspective, and also appreciate your time even more, Carlos. What I wanted to do was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know, and then, of course, how best people can get ahold of you.

Carlos Castelan 12:41
Yeah, I think for people that are interested in doing this, I think there's never been a better time to be able to go out be an entrepreneur. There are so many resources out there to be able to figure out how do you start your business. It's never been easier to start a website. As you know, like There's tons of these resources.

You can find developers out there that will help you with whatever you need. So I think the question often just is, it goes back to the why not. If you're really interested and passionate about doing something, figure out how you can do it or what circumstances will make it work and just go out and try it.

There's no expert on entrepreneurship really.
It's about finding your own path and figuring out how to do that. So.

Gresham Harkless 13:22
Yeah, absolutely. I definitely appreciate that.
And people that want to reach out to you again, what's the best way for them to do that?

Carlos Castelan 13:28
Yep. So email is carlos at the Navio group.com. So T H E N A V I O group.com.
And then you can reach us on our website.

Gresham Harkless 13:39
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. We'll have those links again in the show notes, but thank you so much again, Carlos, and I hope you have a great rest of the day.

Carlos Castelan 13:42
Thanks as well.

Outro 13:43
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by CB Nation and 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.

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

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