“The one thing that organizations need if they want to attract and keep talent is great leaders.”
Roberta Matuson is a strategic adviser on talent and executive coach. Known as The Talent Maximizer, Roberta helps organizations attract and keep great people. At a young age, she was promoted to the HR executive suite at her company where she was suddenly in charge. She has since then launched her career advising clients on how to hire and keep the best talent and has been doing so for over 25 years.
Author of several books including Suddenly in Charge, Talent Magnetism, and Evergreen Talent, she provides insight into managing expectations, saying no to businesses, improving business strengths, cultivating a success mindset, and the importance of coaching in performance management.
Find more about Roberta here:
Website: https://matusonconsulting.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/matuson
John: Thank you for listening to The Business Sphere don’t forget to subscribe and share this episode. My guest today is Roberta Matuson the Talent Maximizer, she has helped organization find, hire, grow, and keep top talent for over 25 years. Thank you for being on the show today and I’m excited to learn a little bit more about yourself, Roberta.
Roberta: Well, thank you so much for having me.
John: So, I’m gonna start off with a question always ask my guest so, what do people know you by today? And how did you get to where you are?
Roberta: Well, people know me by the Talent Maximizer because I have been working with organizations for over 25 years, helping them hire and keep the best people and I got into that line of work because early on at the age of 24 years old I was promoted into the executive suite where I was suddenly in charge and you know when you’re 24 you think you know everything and of course I thought I knew everything and found out 6 year later that I probably didn’t know much about this idea of managing up and so, if we you know move forward to where we are today. My first book that I wrote and was the book that was published was called Suddenly in Charge and that’s a guide for leaders who are looking to help improve their skills on managing up down and across the organization and you know as life has gone on and I have you know worked with more clients and had different experiences, I have found that the one thing that organization need if they want to attract and keep talent is great leaders and the crazy thing is that that’s something that you can actually have if you are willing to invest in your leaders and hire the right people and that it can be a weapon right? Because so few organizations have that so that’s you know today that’s really on top of mind for me and my clients.
John: That’s amazing and I know back when you first started did you go into your education in this line of work? How did you land your first job and even further back did you have parents that were entrepreneurial?
Roberta: Well, yes I did have my father was an entrepreneurial but as I went through college I never thought about that I did major in human resources management and I attended Northeastern University and later on I got my MBA at the University of Houston I never thought about being an entrepreneur until one day having work in HR as a HR Executive for a number of years I woke up and just said “I don’t wanna do this anymore, I don’t like this and I had in my mind that I need to get out of the HR” and what I discovered later on was that it wasn’t that I didn’t like HR I just didn’t like the way I was applying what I knew and that’s when I started my business.
John: And there’s so many different pillars within HR right? Retention, hiring, progression and there’s that whole workplace environment social aspect. Was there a specific that you are specialized in? Like, were you harvesting and looking for good talent were you retaining them or were you managing a team of HR employees under you?
Roberta: I was managing a team and I was always a generalist because like probably a lot of entrepreneurs you know I like doing a lot of different things and I get bored very easily so doing things over and over again for me is not fun I probably would never have gone down the path of being a recruiter because that’s all you do right? You’re always looking for people your always interviewing people you placing them or internally or externally and for me the fun part is being creative and coming up with strategic solutions for my clients.
John: I see, so what was that pivotal moment? Because you mentioned you rose fairly, quickly in the couple years right? In the ranks of you know in that large company that you were working in. What happened there? What triggered you to make that epiphany a moment to kinda not wanna work there anymore? Like, was there people? Were there stress? Was there something going on in your personal life? Like, what was the trigger?
Roberta: Well, it was all of that.
John: Okay.
Roberta: And then some you know again, being somebody that likes to build things after they’re built and continuing to maintain them for someone like me is not very stimulating and so I was like man okay have built now HR departments from scratch three times. I don’t want to do it for the fourth time you know cause it’s gonna be the same old, same old at this time also I had gotten married and so my husband was living 2 hours away. So, I just said you know and for me to move where he was living the job opportunities were horrible so I decided you know what I’m just gonna start my own business and that’s what I did.
John: Oh that’s good to know because timing is a lot, has to do with a lot of it in terms of this entrepreneurial journey.
Roberta: But there’s also something else if were being completely transparent here which I like to be you know it’s always great to have this dream of jumping off and starting your own business. I can tell you as a person who didn’t get married until I was 37 years old, there is a lot to be said for having a partner who has a steady income so, you can take that risk rather than oh my gosh I’m gonna leave and if this doesn’t happen if I can’t make any money, how am I gonna pay for my mortgage right? I think it’s important for your listeners to assess where they are.
John: Yes.
Roberta: And ask themselves do I have the wherewithal? Do I have the financial backing? You know even if they are not married like, can I do this before I make this huge leap?
John: And it’s great that you’re mentioning this cause it’s all about perspective, everyone goes through the journey differently in terms of jumping into business ownership either your starting your own, you’re buying an existing practice into a field that your not aware of like you gotta do your due diligence you need to really analyze and see if its a good fit and do you have resources of 6 months and a couple years to survive if there’s no additional income. What is that gonna look like? So, in your situation in your case I know you mentioned you got married then you relocated and now you want to start something. How did that go early days? And how, like I would love to dive deep into this because everyone has very similar challenges and I would love to share mines with you as well so I would love to hear how those early couple years went.
Roberta: Well, those early couple years the reason I’m laughing is like a year later I was pregnant with my first kid and I didn’t even know how to tell my clients and so it was sort of funny because most of my clients were men and I don’t think they quite noticed you know they probably looked to me like you know she’s gained a little weight, you know and I used to wear flowing not very tight fitting clothes like you know and so it may not have been so noticeable but I you know remember coming home to my husband and just saying you know “Well at some point I have to tell them I’m not gonna be available.” You know and so, one of my clients I remembered when after I had my first child I you know sent him a note saying “Hey listen, I’m gonna take a few weeks off here just had a baby.” and like he was clueless but I actually thought and again this goes back to being naive I actually thought I wrote to some clients and said you know “Oh, I’m having a baby tonight I’ll be back in the office tomorrow which just doesn’t really happen. So, you know I’m laughing in retrospect I was a little bit naive about how that process would go.
John: Yeah and then your shift right? Happens when you now have a family or you have other obligations right? And especially if they are mainly men and maybe they’re single and they are very driven for their career, their perspective of family is not even you know they cannot gauge time right? Of how much energy is required to raise a family in the right way and be present right? Because of their sole focus is career driven, they don’t understand why you’re not there answering their emails, calls when even though you have a children it’s not a big deal to them.
Roberta: Well, I think that’s interesting what you’re saying and I would agree to some extent but as I wrote in one of my books, how I early on having been a young manager could not appreciate the fact that my employees actually had kids and that these little creatures actually got sick until I was home with my kid like you know 15, 20 years later. So, I don’t think it’s necessarily just like men not understanding but I think young women who are not parents or you know aren’t taking, aren’t caregivers for anyone it’s hard to understand until you are in the middle of it.
John: Yes.
Roberta: And then my kids, my second kid was born 18 months later so, it was a crazy time and in between you know I wrote my first book so.
John: Yeah, there’s a lot of moving parts for sure and it’s great that you’re mentioning like perspective right? Until you buy your first home, until you move to a new country until you get married, until you have these life events you cannot appreciate what other people have been challenged and expressed and talked about because you don’t really understand until you’re in it yourself and these are you know.
Roberta: And that’s a great point because I do a lot of executive coaching and because I have been an executive coach that is why people I mean because I’ve been an executive that’s why people hire me. How do you work with someone you know, how do you hire a coach who hasn’t done what you want to do? How can that person really understand the challenges that go on in the executive suite when they’ve never been there? So, you know I think those life experiences are very helpful so, and they do form and shape your opinions.
John: Exactly and it’s great that you had work experience working with executives to then start your own company that focuses on your skill set and experience because without that and without you know the relationships and contacts that you’ve built informed over many years it’s very hard to get established and get started right? Can you share with the listeners like how was the first couple I know the first couple years were challenging a lot going on in your personal life but how hard was it to start getting clients and what was going on after your children got you know settled a little to then focus more heavily on the business?
Roberta: Well, you know it is a slow climb you know the most successful people that I’ve seen that have come out and become you know consultants and are very successful those are people typically who have come out of a consulting firm like a McKinsey and now all of sudden they’re an individual consultant or somebody who has been an executive and they have tons of contacts in their own organization and maybe they’re an executive in a fortune 500 company and like a gillette or something and then they go off on their own and they’ve got all this these contacts I didn’t really have that so you know for me it was a very slow climb you know just like one project at a time and over time I also changed my direction in the beginning I was very much somebody who would come in and help you startup your whole HR function and then I was like I don’t want to do this anymore and I realized that I was really great at strategy and helping organizations develop strategies on how to attract and keep great people and then I discovered I was really great at advising clients and so over time you know I sort of, I morphed into what I am today which is really a strategic advisor on talent and an executive coach so where you think you are going isn’t necessarily where you’re going to wind up.
John: And that’s great advice that you’re telling the listeners because everyone has this dream of being their own boss right? Freedom, 4 hour work week trying to you know all these books and all these you know people saying a lot of great things that you wanna hear right? To take that plunge but no one really talks about the relationships, the struggles, the time commitment, the sacrifice, the energy, right? The you know the focus really because it’s a mind shift, a mindset shift from employee that rat race to trying to increase your profile in the corporate structure to then independent and you had leverage on the brand that you were working at the relationship people already knew you because you worked at that established company that was formed for many decades right? Or generations now, when you’re on your own, you’re gonna start from scratch again and you know it and it’s great that you had some you know some contacts but again you mentioned it’s hard right? At the beginning just trying to figure out where you wanna play and whatever you wanted when you first start is never where you end up you have to you know there’s gonna be peaks and valleys, there’s going to be a lot of wiggling left and right, and discovering., and pivoting on different business ideas and profit centers, and what you enjoy doing as well because what are you sacrificing time and business to do something you don’t really want to do right? Doesn’t resonate with your values or you know it doesn’t really give you that energy boost of like fulfillment at the end of it.
Roberta: Well, you know and also something that is important to understand it’s like even when you quote, unquote get there you know you have to stay there and so an example of this last year when the pandemic hit in February my newest book “Evergreen Talent” came out and that book is all about how to seed grow and cultivate a sustainable workforce and in March the pandemic hit. So, it was like okay who cares right? We have to just keep our business alive and our people alive so after having you know written that book and you know all the blood sweat and tears that went into it, it short of went up and then it came down. Now of course today it’s back on the you know hit list but in the meantime I had to go after another book deal because I was like okay I got to keep moving forward or I’m gonna fall behind and so then in September my latest book “Can We Talk? Seven Principles for Managing Difficult Conversations at Work” came out so you know that was book number six you would think like after your first book like wow I’m an author this is great everyone’s gonna buy my book and they’ll hire me that’s great but you have to keep going and so you know you have to have that energy and that desire to help people and that takes a lot of work.
John: No, that’s great to hear and maybe I’m gonna pivot a little bit about your you know being an author because I’m in the process of working on my first book and maybe this is something when you first started. Did you, I know it’s a lot of work, it’s a lot of time commitment, it’s a lot of blood sweat, tears just very similar to running a business. How did it end up like you put so much energy into your first one and when it gets published you expect things to be huge right? This whole there’s gonna be a flood of people knowing who you are and wanting to buy your book and then you’re gonna get bookings left, right and center but in reality how did it work out? And, what kind of tips and tricks you would you advise people who are starting that whole journey of writing a book.
Roberta: Well, you know be realistic because I think you hit the money you know right there when you were like oh you think everyone’s gonna call you. What was interesting is like one of my bigger deals that I got, I got an opportunity to work with general motors and it wasn’t because of my first book suddenly in charge it was because when my second book came out “Talent Magnetism” I did an author dinner and a woman from gm came and said “I loved your first book, I just had to meet you right? So, like if I had stopped at book number one, I never would have met her, I never would have worked with general motors so you know it’s this you have to constantly be thinking what’s next it’s also you have to decide, am I gonna publish a commercially published book? Which mine all are or am I going to self-publish right? And each part of that each part of the process you think it’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done and when you get to the next phase it’s even harder right? So, I don’t know where you’re at in your journey maybe you can tell me.
John: Yeah and thank you I’m just finishing my writing with my writer so I’m not the greatest at writing but I have people that are helping me, assist me. So, I still think I’m early stages but I know there’s gonna be a huge learning curve of everything like in business just like when I started podcasting or I started speaking, I started Youtubing all these is that journey and trying to hit them at the right time because I know even on a launch date it never happens like you’re gonna amplify, market, you gotta learn about like strategy to get people to know who you are why you’re doing it, it’s like that whole journey right?
Roberta: Yeah, well what you have to understand is launch day is really not launch day it’s like launch year and so this year on launch day I was in Italy so I mean I knew better than that I knew I didn’t have to be here like because I knew there wasn’t gonna be any you know ribbons and balloons going up or anything. So, it’s you learn right? Your first time you launch you know you’re expecting all these you know present to show up and all this excitement and you’re just like really that’s it.
John: Yes and I think that transaction you first relationship or your first child your expectations are so much bigger than they really turn out to be right? And then you realize how to you know I guess your expectations are now jaded or more calm because
Roberta: Realistic, they’re realistic.
John: Yeah exactly and the you can then judge and plan and then have a future plan because then you can continue moving on your gaps. What did you learn from your first time to improve and get better? And like you mentioned your book launch is one year which you have to do a tour of speaking and relationship, PR, struggles, and getting on all the shows because that’s all marketing because people don’t know who you are you need to constantly be out there to let people in on who Roberta Matuson is right? So, let people in because a lot of people have never heard of you.
Roberta: Well, not yet but after your show obviously they will.
John: Yes, but that’s why I mean like the whole constant battle of attention there’s so much clutter out there. How do you get people to know what you do and how beneficial is for their organization right?
Roberta: Well, you know I do think that sometimes we get lost in this need to have everybody know who we are when really like who are trying to attract I mean you know I’m on LinkedIn I have over a quarter of a million followers so what? You know like, so what? Right? I mean I’d rather have a hundred CEO’s that know me well, who would say hey come into my company or I need your help. So, it really depends on you know why you’re doing all this and I think so often we get lost and we follow everyone else because everyone else is doing everything we feel like we need to rather than what are the three biggest things that are gonna drive business my way.
John: I totally agree. People are into this new age of social media right? Where they want the most shares, the most likes, the most followers but in reality it’s more about just hitting the right people to want to do business with you if you can target niche down and focus on that it will allow you to not just profit it’s great that you’re anticipating this huge influx of business when you first launch a book but in reality until you have done it a couple times until you learn expectation and realistic expectation and judging, anticipating what needs to be done and where the gaps are and how you can improve it’s all about getting in, learning and then evolving and getting better every time.
Roberta: Yes and as I mentioned to you earlier my book “Evergreen Talent” that you know published last year although if you look at the numbers you would say that that’s probably the lowest performing of any of my books which given what we went through I’m not surprised but last week I closed my biggest deal ever because of that book. So, I’m okay with the low number of book sales like I’m fine with that I’m glad I wrote that book.
John: And that it’s not even the number, it’s about hitting people that really want that content to then connect with you because they see value that they need it and the more you know niche down refined target that you want to go after versus amplify unless that’s your target audience and you wanna hit everyone at that stage of the buying process to want to then absorb your content and want to take action right? But really all you need is a couple good clients to keep you around right and that’s SMB, small business owners are all about right? It’s about survival but also wanna harvest good clients along the way.
Roberta: Yeah, I look at it is more than survival I wanna thrive I mean if i want to survive I’ll go back into the corporate world and take a job doing something but to me that’s not really thriving that’s not really what I wanna be doing so you know I gotta thrive.
John: Yeah and that’s says a lot because you’re very ambitious, you wrote a lot of book, you’ve been on this journey for so many years and you had that corporate climb early in your early 20’s so you know what it takes the energy and time involvement, the sacrifice and now that you’re maybe children a little bit older you can then dedicate more time and energy back to this you know entrepreneurial journey of yours right? Because I know how much energy it takes to be present for your little ones right? And you know you have to value your time and if business is it or if you have children, or your family, or other obligations you just have to figure that out.
Roberta: Exactly but you know then you also have the motivation of you know college tuition is coming up so.
John: Yes, that’s true and that gives you another burning desire to accomplish more right? Like you have triggers in life you need to figure out financially, how to set yourself up and there’s a lot of people that are okay with working the corporate environment because of social aspects you know the environment and its just that learning curve right? Until you your mindset is shifted to running your own kinda business there’s much more of that learning curve but it’s not for everyone and you gotta figure it out.
Roberta: It’s not and you know there’s a reason why people stay in corporations you know they do it because it’s right for them, it’s where it’s the right time for them, they enjoy the social aspect, they enjoy the work, they’re compensated well you know so, it’s great to talk about being an entrepreneur but that it’s not for everyone.
John: And one of the biggest thing is that 9 to 5 that you’re used to incorporate, say goodbye to that.
Roberta: I was gonna say are you working 9 to 5? Because I’m not.
John: But early days like if you set yourself up and things start happening, yes you can potentially but for the most cases you probably have to sacrifice a lot more time, energy, and you know resources right? Like at the beginning you’re probably not making what you used to make in your corporate environment right? You have to plan ahead you have to be ready for those ebbs and flows and anticipation of those deals coming in right away it never is that case when you’re starting off.
Roberta: Yeah and then I’m sure you know there are times that you work weekends because you’ve got a big project and you know so it’s all about choice.
John: Yes and that’s the good thing about being a business owner you have a lot more opportunities and choices of who you wanna work with, who you wanna hire, where you wanna market but it’s a lot going on so it’s not you know you have to be prepared to have clarity on what you ultimately want in your life. So, I’m gonna take that next pivot from the book to now about what’s going on in your business and what do you enjoy most about what you’re working on? Like, I know you’ve been writing all these books, working on working with a lot of these companies, what do you enjoy most now like what what’s the next phase of your business life, Roberta?
Roberta: Well, I have been slowly shifting more to being a strategic advisor and also an executive coach you know in years past I would do a lot of tactical projects and today I’m like you know what I’m gonna, I’m available to advise you on how to do this and then your people can implement it. So, I’m you know I’m doing that for a number of reasons first of all I think it’s better for the organization because you know one day I will step away and then they’ll be able to do it for themselves so they’ll do that sooner rather than later it also gives me the ability to work from anywhere so if I wanna go spend a month in Europe and I wanna work from there, I can so that’s you know that’s how I’m setting up my next phase.
John: And that’s great because planning it so that you’re also working on what you ultimately want your lifestyle to be and that’s great to hear because when I started my agency back in 8 years ago I only hire remote and I could be in Asia, Africa, Europe, anywhere across the US and still operate because I have people doing what they need to do. So, just setting it up so that you can then live the life you want to live and not every business model allows for that especially bricks and mortar and if you are a one on one kind of consultant and they rely on you being face to face can you now go virtual and what is the expectation or can you do one to many? Can you do more speaking? Can you do more ability, with technology allows you to then break down those borders that it used to be reliant on? And expectations so it’s more about clarity with you and your partners.
Roberta: Well, I think we’ve already proven that we can go remote right? Because you know 2020 nobody was in anyone’s offices and so you know that was a great moment for those of us to pivot and just say okay in the past whenever I was doing an executive coaching assignment at a minimum I’d come i and meet with the client you know face to face for the first session maybe a couple of session and then we go remote but now it’s like “Hey, we’ve done this so many times already we know it can work I don’t need to fly to Alabama, you don’t need to set aside a half day to see me.” so, we know it can work it’s just how as a business owner you set it up for yourself.
John: Exactly, so it’s great to hear that your plans are in motion and it allows you to have more of a lifestyle that fits you right? The business should not dictate how you run your business. You should actually have more control on how you want to run it and that’s what a lot of business owners early days don’t get right as well, they feel they’re obligated to what the customers want and they’re going to pick they’re going to take on every client because early days you just need revenue but then you have more clarity and who you wanna work with, how you wanna operate, how you want your systems and processes implemented and as you mature in your business and hopefully you continue enjoying that process and evolution. You will get smarter, you’ll work more efficient, productive, you’ll hire more people that are the right people for your organization and then you evolve but these are new challenges and again it has to be the right person that thrives in this kinda environment.
Roberta: Well, I think the hardest part is saying no to business I mean what was so interesting to me is that you know a week prior to closing this huge deal I was asked to do an executive coaching assignment and it was way below what I normally charge and I was 99% confident that all the coaching in the world wasn’t gonna solve this problem and I didn’t want to be on that path because I didn’t think it was gonna work and so even though I had nothing else lined up I turned it down and just said “No, I can’t do this is, I’m not gonna do this.” and then a week later another opportunity came my way so you sometimes you do have to say no.
John: And once you get good at saying no because you know exactly which lane you wanna operate in, you have complete clarity on who you wanna pick and choose in terms of fitting in your system because when it deviates and they might be asking for too much or you’re undervalued then there’s other companies that will service them better than you would and understanding that is you know very much about clarity about your business right? And that’s why I learned, I like as I evolve in this business and this as I mature in this industry I’m always trying to learn about who I wanna become, who I wanna be known as, how do people perceive you and who would be the best fit for my kinda agency right? But it takes time right? Like anything there’s always gonna be a lot of pivoting a lot of turnover, there’s a lot of change of clients and expectation and you gotta listen, you gotta learn about the environment as well, there’s trends going on, there’s always stuff and you got to be at the post especially if you want to continue thriving in your industry. So, how do you stay up to date? And what’s going on and you know what is going on with you? If you know I know you’re doing a lot of book launches, are you also on tour a lot? Are you promoting more now than ever like how have you kinda shifted your business?
Roberta: Well, you know we’re talking about incorporating your lifestyle right? So, when I discovered that my book launch date was going to be while I was in Italy and Croatia, I decided to have an international book tour and so I took my book can we talk with me and you know I took photos and put it up on Facebook and LinkedIn and you know all across, all platforms and I you know put the book in different situations so I took the book on tour and I even had a book launch party at a wonderful little Italian restaurant with three other people you know so like you just kinda adapt and you know you just go with the flow an you make do with what’s going on because as you mentioned the likelihood of you or me being in a room with 500 people right now you know who might be interested in buying your book or reading your book is fairly slim. So, how do you get the word out at a time when it’s different,
John: And that’s great to hear because you’re able to be nimble right? And then think as an entrepreneur what would actually make sense today? And this pivoting idea of bringing it and marketing and I think a lot of business owner don’t spend enough time marketing their business brand because they think once you publish it or they they’re out there as a business owner there’s going to be a flock of people or you have a storefront and signage and the best location in times square and you have a huge boom where people are gonna call you the phone’s ring off the charts it never happens so.
Roberta: Yeah, you know it was interesting you should say that because I was saying to a friend of mine like you know I don’t get I like I’d really like to this you know I’d like to be on Good Morning America or you know one of those talk shows you know with my book and she’s like you know even if you are on one of those shows do you really think like the people who are watching those shows you know they’re making breakfast, they’re getting their kids lunches ready you know you think they’re gonna stop and get a pen and paper out and write down the name of your book like you know it’s just this ego thing right?
John: Yeah, it’s a brand right? It’s like, oh I wanna be on entrepreneur of Huffington post or I wanna be on medium, these big huge articles sites PR sites but does it resonate with your ideal audience for them to trigger to purchase the book or want your services? And if you’re doing mass media, radio, television, whatever like videos and stuff how many of their audience members are your ideal type of clients? So, you know as you dig deeper in business ownership and dealing with a lot of businesses you kinda realize like this whole marketing machine is very important for every business, understanding where your customers ideal customers are looking for services like you and then being closer to that funnel throughout that journey right? Where you can hit them with different content pieces throughout so that they know you exist and then when they’re ready they know who to turn to.
Roberta: Right and I think you know in again the spirit of transparency what I have found and I don’t know if you found this to be true right now there are a ton of people who are more than willing to help you right? Like you know you’ve got the PR people who reach out, you’ve got the social media people who reach out you’ve, got the people who can help you create a course. So the other day I was on this call and it was about creating courses and I have a bunch of courses, on LinkedIn learning so, I never had to do my own. So I’ve been very fortunate and so this one woman I private messaged her and I said let me ask you how much are you how much have you invested so far to get your course created? I about fell off my chair when she’s like 35 000 dollar and I’m thinking now my math is not my strong suit but at 99 dollars a course or even like a thousand dollars of course how many of those do you have to sell? And who’s gonna be buying them? And but you know we get so caught up because people are like oh you should really create a course around that but yet we haven’t even thought through how the heck are we going to sell it? And if we do what is it gonna cost to create it and are we really gonna make any money? a\And is it gonna lead to other business? Like no we just think we have to have a course
John: So, they’re sold on the idea without really knowing the numbers and what’s expected in you to actually make it successful but it’s great that a lot of people are reaching out and you’re being more open to understanding how course creation is even YouTube videos or podcasting a lot of time and energy is involved and a lot of investment where you’re not making anything but you’re hopefully planning on potentially hitting someone with the right content that resonates with people to then make that decision and purchase. So, I’m glad that you’re at least learning about that I just have a couple of other questions, Roberta and I really want to thank you so far it’s been great you know with this conversation. Can you explain like maybe some share what has been your biggest strength in terms of acquiring new customers and for the new business owners where can you guide them like what do you think you could have done differently if you were to start today starting your business knowing what you’ve known for the last 20 years?
Roberta: Well, I’ll start with that question first. I would have hired a coach I do have a coach myself, I would have done that because like you said you know here you are you’re doing this podcast I gotta guess that you hired someone to help you get all those moving pieces into place you know you didn’t just buy a mic and start standing up and you know recording and if you did you probably wasted a ton of time and made a lot of mistakes that you could have avoided so I really would have hired someone who could guide me as I went to you know create my brand and figure out how to price thing and things like that so I would have done that and I think that’s really important.
John: And this is great because hiring someone that’s gone through what you are planning on doing with experience, proven track record, success, someone you trust will shrink time this is what a lot of experts in every industry form trade special, from financial, from any expertise, health, they’re in it with experience 20, 30 year track record and if you can ask for advice, get some guidance someone that experience and maybe you being an entrepreneur someone that’s thinking of starting a business that have been doing it for 5, 10, 20 years that have worked on 10, 20, 30 businesses proven track record, success and you plan on exiting or you plan on having this a lifestyle business find someone that 20 years down the road you can picture yourself being like them and reach out to them and see if this is someone you can work with or hire them so that you can plan and execute accordingly versus trying to struggle early days because you’re gonna make mistakes but if you make less mistakes and you know shrink time instead of trying to do it for 10 years and not going anywhere but you do it for one or two years and then figure it out and then it multiples and amplifies it will expedite your success, really.
Roberta: Absolutely and I think it’s helpful to have a sounding board you know and that’s when you know I come in as a strategic advisor on talent a lot of times I’m working with the CEO or I’m working with an executive and I’m their sounding board so they can say you know what do you think of this idea? Well, I think this idea will work or well I don’t think I’d invest my money in this idea, I think if you want to do this you can do it this way. So, just having that ability to bounce things off of someone who Isn’t necessarily your life partner who may not know anything about your business, who’s watching that wallet like saying nope we’re not going to invest 10 dollars in that you know new piece of equipment I think that can be harmful so it’s good to get that fresh perspective.
John: And that’s great to hear because it’s good to have abundance amount of people to support you and guide you throughout that entire stages of your journey right? Early stage, mid-stage, exit stage right? And life is gonna throw a lot of challenges at you and personal to different pillars in terms of career work and then relationships and a lot goes on. So, what’s driving you today? I know business is very important in your life, your children might be a little bit older so that they could be you know in starting their post-secondary education and you’re traveling a lot right? So, what are the main drivers today versus when you first started?
Roberta: Well, first of all they’re not starting their post-secondary I’m still trying to get them through college.
John: Oh God, I’m sorry.
Roberta: But that’s okay you know the drivers for me is really about having a healthy balance in my life and you know making time to do things that I want to do and not being a prisoner to this business and doing what I enjoy and so that’s really where I’m at these days, I don’t have to make a million dollars, I don’t you know if it’s gonna be doing work that I don’t enjoy doing, I’m not doing it. So, I’ve gotten to that place where you know I have there are certain former clients that I know if I reached out tomorrow, they engage me again and I’m like I don’t want to put myself through that, that was painful like I don’t wanna do that again that person was difficult to work with or wasn’t any fun. So, I’m just looking to do work that is satisfying that doesn’t stress me out that allows me to give back and give a ton of value to my clients and gives me to flexibility, to go see my kids you know they’re in Philadelphia right now or go travel wherever we’re able to travel and do what I wanna do.
John: And that’s a great ending to this episode because it’s all about choosing the life you anticipated when you started your journey of business and it finally is coming to this right? Because early stages everyone thinks they’re gonna get there a lot sooner but in reality a lot of things get thrown at you right? From personal to work, to good clients, bad clients, to pivoting on you know where you kinda pick yourself of kinda of working with types of clients, which industries niches, markets there’s a lot to consider so many moving parts but as you mature and you become more wise you realize what’s really important, what really brings happiness in your life and if it allows you more flexibility it could be shrinking you know time to spend more time with your family traveling, doing things that you really are passionate doing like servicing the community, by volunteering, supporting more of your you know causes right? Whatever it may be finding that ultimate happiness is what life is about and if you’re able to do that with your business it’s actually way more you know happiness comes from it because you’re making difference and so I love hearing that thank you so much, Roberta. How can any of the listeners get in touch with you? Reach out? Check you out if you don’t mind sharing some of your you know contact info?
Roberta: Sure! Well, they can go to my website matusonconsulting.com they can send me an email [email protected] they can also connect with me LinkedIn if they mention your name and this podcast I’ll be happy to accept that invitation and they can follow me on twitter @matuson
John: Amazing, we will add that to all the show notes I wanna thank you for being an awesome guest today. I’ve learned a lot and I’m glad that we connected so thanks a lot, Roberta.
Roberta: My pleasure.
