Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: This is Innovate and Overcome. I'm Richard Canfield and today we're diving into the real stories behind extraordinary success right here on NOW Media Television.
Our guest today is an executive mentor, founder and CEO. We're excited to have her on the program. She's been empowering professionals and nonprofits to successfully navigate their path while working to create a lean and effective team.
Welcome to the show today, Sarah. Sarah, Oriana.
[00:00:27] Speaker B: Hi, Richard. Thank you so much for having me on today.
[00:00:30] Speaker A: Yeah, excited for this. Now, Sarah, you've run a very busy life. You've got a lot going on. You're a mom, you're a CEO, a founder. You're involved in so many different things. How have you been able to do so much in your life and your career to this point?
[00:00:43] Speaker B: I would say really great time management, an incredibly easy child to raise, and the superpower of ADHD that allows me to really hyper focus on things and get a lot done.
[00:00:55] Speaker A: I love that. And the fact that you identified it as a superpower, that resonates with me very, very well.
As someone who may be a little bit similar from that vantage point, I find, and you may find this as well, dealing with a lot of high performing entrepreneurs, salespeople, that sort of thing. There seems to be a bit of a, I don't know if it's a trend or a gravitation almost to high performing entrepreneurs having some form of an ADHD type of aspect about them. So what do you see? Because you work with a lot of other CEOs, other founders, a lot of different businesses, especially in some things we'll talk about later in the show around fundraising. But what do you notice about them when you see similarities amongst what you do and how they act in their business life?
[00:01:38] Speaker B: So there's actually really great research out that shows that people with ADHD are naturally drawn to, to be entrepreneurs because we love to solve problems. So I always find that when I work with CEOs that are also ADHD, it's this like amazing complimentary experience because we're both creative problem solvers. And so it's really easy to be, it's really easy to be able to cut through everything and say, okay, here's the problem, now let's talk solutions. And what's best about working with people with ADHD is when they get the chair on their side and on their team. You don't have to tiptoe around, right? We can be like, okay, we're here to solve a problem. Let's throw everything out on the table. And they're willing to hear every possible solution, which I love, because I think the minute we start to limit that brainstorming is the minute we. We miss the perfect opportunity. So when I work with people that aren't adhd, it's definitely a bit more challenging because they constantly want to put you in a box and put your solutions in a box. And so you can. It feels disheartening, if that makes sense. And so you have to remind yourself constantly, like, no, it's okay. I see things differently. I just have to learn to communicate the way they do. So it's definitely a balancing act. But in my opinion, I think it's a superpower. I really do be. Especially when you learn to embrace it and you understand why you do the things that you do. And then when you're able to hone in on that hyperfocus, it's amazing what you can get done.
[00:03:00] Speaker A: Yeah, I appreciate that. I love that. And also, just the recognition that you can turn something that maybe the world or other aspects of the world might view as something of a negative. I mean, it's. They call it a disorder, which I think is odd, because I think that it actually can be the most order that an individual of that style can create in their life. So what comes up for you when you think about working with people who maybe don't have that proclivity? And does it take you a little bit back to some experiences, maybe from your past? I know for me, it kind of jumped into my brain about going to school and having to try to sit still and pay attention and not always being willing to do that necessarily at all times.
[00:03:39] Speaker B: Yeah. I would say when I work with people that are. Are in larger companies with a lot of bureaucracy, that is definitely a challenge for me. And I have to really take a step back, and I have to do. And I don't know if this is just like a female thing. I hate to genderize stuff, but I have to tell myself to halt because I have to really take a step back, and I have to say, okay, am I hungry? You know, is there something going on? I don't want to respond out of emotions. Sometimes it's about walking the dog. Sometimes I've forgotten to eat. Sometimes I need to drink water. And so it's really taking that step back, meeting those personal needs, and then being able to, like, circle back and say, okay, here are the parameters. And when I can get them to define the parameters, then I'm like, okay, I can operate within these, but when they won't Define the parameters. And it's this constant guessing game. I feel like there's no nice way to say this. I feel like the biggest loser. And I'm just like, I suck at this. And so it's really always this constant game of reframing things and understanding things and then taking that into consideration when you work with other people. So I try. This is going to sound really odd, but I try really hard to hold onto these moments and remember them a lot because that will positively aff my interactions with other people and it increases my empathy. So when I can tell that what I'm saying maybe isn't resonating, I can remember situations like this and go, hey, let me take a step back. How do you need me to communicate with you? What is it that you need that I'm not giving you? And I think that's what makes me kind of really great at what I do, because I hold onto those memories and then it's not that I try to reflect them on people, but I use them to say, how can I better work with you? And being open to asking that question and truly wanting that feedback.
[00:05:18] Speaker A: Yeah, interesting. So almost using the past experience as an anchor to help inform future decision making, future conversations that are gonna take place.
[00:05:27] Speaker B: Yes, exactly, exactly. And I would say definitely setting reminders to eat, because I don't know about you, but I will get so hyper focused, I'll forget to eat. And then you just bottom out and you're like, what's going on? So I think that's two really important for people with adhd. Like, I have set mealtimes. And so that's something I would say to all professionals is like, make sure you have set meal times. Because I think that really helps us positively as well.
[00:05:49] Speaker A: I think that's interesting. So I, I do have, my assistant has programmed those in my calendar. I often do not use them. But the benefit of having an incredible wife is that she'll just show up knowing that I haven't eaten anything and bring things to me saying, I think that you need to do this and that's extremely beneficial, having the right people in your life. You mentioned a daughter that was very easy to raise, having a child easy to raise. And so what is it about that that you think helped get you a bit of an edge? And, and, and did that? Was that just luck? Stroke of luck? What do you think created that environment for you?
[00:06:19] Speaker B: So I honestly, I had no idea how to parent. I was not raised in a healthy environment at all. And so I knew I wanted to do better, but I didn't know how to do better. So what I decided to do was just talk to my daughter about everything, include her in everything, let her see, let her learn from my mistakes and not make me seem like some perfect mom. And so because of that, I remember being when she was 2 and her saying, mom, I want to play. And I was like, well, first we have to fold laundry. Come help me fold laundry. And then one get to. To playing quicker. And so I think because we always approached everything as a team, because I was just brutally honest with her and talked to her about things and explained life to her, and I would take her to work with me. At the time I was at CEO and nonprofits. And so she got to see and experience a lot of really great things. I think that helped her get a bigger understanding of the world. And then the fact that I always made special time for her, I think that balanced it out. And she was very flexible. And it was always like, we can have special time as long as we're together. So I think that just helped that approach and turning, you know, long work days into positive things. Like, for example, when I was in graduate school, she was four and learning to write. And so I would sit her down with her pad of paper and her pencil, and she would copy words out of my textbooks while I did homework. And we would, you know, she. I would. Sometimes I would read my assignments out loud to her because all she cared about was mama was reading to her. Right? So I think it's finding those creative in ways to have that really good quality time. And now she's 21 and so incredibly responsible and so empathetic. And she'll say things to me like, mom, I think you need to take a break and eat. And I can hear that from her. And because she knows how we've always had this back and forth and she's allowed to say anything, I think that's also what empowered me so much. And she's always. She's my biggest fan too. Like, anytime I get scared and say, b, I don't think I can do this, she'll sit me down and be like, what are you talking about, Mom? You can do this. Let's go. And to this day, she's like, I'll go with you. I'll hold your hand. I'll do whatever. And so I think that also really helped with opportunities, knowing that I had such a big fan in my kid, you know?
[00:08:18] Speaker A: Yeah, that's incredible. What an amazing story. Now I'm curious as you were in the, the taking care of parenthood and going through that experience.
Reflecting back to maybe some of your own experiences as a younger person, as a child going through school, did you notice or were you aware of anything developing as far as how your daughter interacted with the world? Was there some similarities in how she approached things to you? What have you noticed there?
[00:08:41] Speaker B: Yeah, B is very much an introvert and she definitely needed a lot of space to grow. Like she was very mentally mature, but she needed time for her emotions to catch up. And so when I learned that I would see things at school that would have happened to me and where I would get. Go home and get in trouble and my parents would say, you need to do better. Step it up, you have to do this. I would sit her down and I'd be like, hey, Bea, here's what the teacher's saying. Can you tell me your side? And then I would go and fight for her at school and I think, because she would see me fight for her at school and say things to teachers and tell them, no, you're not going to do this to my kid. This is what she needs. And I would say in front of her, I think that helped. And I think it was like you said, because I could look at my childhood and say, I had the same experience and this, it wasn't met. This is what I would have needed at her age. And starting there and then advocating for her so strongly at school, I think that also really, it shaped our relationship that way.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: Well, I think that's really important to share because again, we're speaking to entrepreneurs and they are running busy, busy lives, trying to also manage families, which, you know, take running a business out of the equation. Just running a family is busy on its own. And so there's a really difficult balancing act there. And you, you serve a lot of people. I'm sure you see that show up in just regular conversations. Even in the business setting, there's an overlap to what happens at the, at the household level and how it impacts us in business and vice versa.
[00:10:07] Speaker B: Oh my gosh. Yes. Yes. And so my thing every day, when it would be, has always been to start the day with positivity and with quietness and no yelling. So no matter what was going on, we always found a positive solution and always started the day with laughter. And that meant she had a good day and I had a good day. So it's being very intentional, I think, in those morning routines and how you move forward and then those end of day routines when you get back home and you check in with each other. I think that intentionality right there is what really creates that bond with family.
I would like to say too, you know, people talk about the work life balance and I've read that people say it's a myth and other people say it happens. For me, I, I don't strive for work life balance on a daily basis. I think that's impossible to achieve. I strive for it on either a weekly basis or a monthly basis. And I find by looking at it more of a long term, big scope, I'm able to, and this is something that's very controversial. I schedule family time into my planner and I schedule it like a meeting that allows me to, to have that quality intentional time. And so I think that's important for people to hear too, is you can schedule family time. It doesn't make you a bad person. It means you're being very intentional and.
[00:11:15] Speaker A: Ensuring you have it totally makes sense. I love that. Well, you've shared some incredible tips with us and I'm, I'm so inspired by what you've been able to accomplish yourself. And I'm sure it rubs off on a lot of the people that you connect with. And I hope that people really connect and gravitate to just how you can have that interaction with your, your family life and still be able to be involved in your work setting as well. And I know that there's, you know, people have to figure out what works for them and you've definitely found a path that works for you and obviously work for your daughter as well, which is absolutely fantastic. Now, before we go to our break, I'd love to just get a final thought from you, Sarah, on what would you want someone to know who's a high performing entrepreneur about how to unlock their superpower?
What would you say?
[00:12:01] Speaker B: Such a great question. I would say figure out the routine that works for you and no matter what, stick to it. Be very intentional about your routines because I think that's what allows you to unlock that superpower because you put some things on automation and you can then focus on what really matters.
[00:12:17] Speaker A: Love it. We'll get more into this when we come back from this incredible break.
We're just getting started. Stick around. More vision, more resilience, and more innovation. Coming up next on Innovate and Overcome.
Welcome back. I'm Richard Canfield and this is Innovate and Overcome on NOW Media Television. Let's jump right back in.
We are back with Sarah today having an incredible conversation. Sarah, you shared so much about Your past, your experience, unlocking superpowers, the joy of parenting while running a business, and being frantic, as many of us are.
One thing I'm really excited to talk about, and I think our guests will be, everyone watching will be really excited about, is this incredible new show that you have launching on NOW Media TV called Breaking Good. So what can you share with us, Sarah, about the program and what are you so excited about that this is launching?
[00:13:08] Speaker B: I was so excited about so many different things. This is actually kind of a big monumental set for me of a lot of different dreams culminating. And it's really interesting how the universe does that without you even realizing it. So Breaking Good will premiere. It'll be on Sunday nights at 5 on Now Media.
And the premise of the show is basically letting people know that there is no such thing as failure and that failure is the greatest thing and that your greatest successes can come from your failures.
And what I really want to do is have people share what they thought were maybe their darkest moments or what they thought were their biggest failures and how they turned that into these incredible opportunities and use that as a springboard to get ahead in their career or make these incredible discoveries or achievements. And so it's going to be a feel good show, which I think a lot of the things that I do are feel good because that's just kind of my personality. It's focusing on the positive and basically how to turn a bad situation into the best situation. Something that's ever happened to you in life?
[00:14:08] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, and there's so many incredible stories like that. I think that's going to be a phenomenal premise and a great show. I'm curious, you know, obviously you have a number of people already that you know that have gone through that type of experience. And I'm sure some of this, the premise, the idea stems from some personal experience. So.
[00:14:24] Speaker B: Oh my gosh. Yeah.
[00:14:25] Speaker A: What's an example that comes up for you off the cuff around where you took one of those experiences and were able to pivot and turn it into something that was a game changer.
[00:14:33] Speaker B: So I would say, just to give you the really high level view, I went through about a seven year period in my life that started off very badly where I left one organization to go to a promotion at another organization. And, and the board chair looked at that as a sign of betrayal, not as a way for me to better myself, make more money and have health insurance for my child. You know, really important things.
And he made it his mission to get me fired from that job. And spent the entire year that I worked at that job setting me up for failure, saying terrible things about me to my new boss, and then my new boss ultimately turning on me because of that. And it was a very, very disheartening situation that really left me questioning people, understanding relig relationships, learning to really reflect back and learn a lot about people based on their actions, not their words.
But then really also understanding the power within myself to pick myself up and move on and to be able to hold my head up knowing that everything that was said about me wasn't true and that the people in the community knew that wasn't true. And really learning how to get that tough skin. So it was really a journey that had a lot of pitfalls along the way. It was hard to keep going, but really understanding that I could be whatever I wanted to be and that it was an incredible opportunity that pushed me forward to take risks like starting my own business that I never would have started if it wasn't for this person. Right. And so in a way, I almost want to go back in time and say thank you and you know, thank you for what you did. Because I started a business, I've written a book. I got to write for several newspapers for years. I've written for magazines. Now I'm getting to do a TV show where I talk about how you can take terrible things like that and turn them into the best things that have ever happened to you. Which has always been a dream of mine. It was actually when I wrote for newspapers. That's what I wrote about every week, was turning bad things into good.
And so I just would love to thank this person, which I think would absolutely floor them. But how they've made me such a positive, optimistic person who is still grounded in reality and can look at people and see the incredible potential within them and help lift them up from the ashes. And that's something that I think is. Is my favorite thing to do, something I just kind of naturally do.
[00:16:43] Speaker A: Rising from the ashes like the Phoenix. So I love that.
[00:16:46] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:46] Speaker A: And it's interesting, you know, a seven year experience and we're not talking about a short period of time. We're talking about something that, that really extended for a while. And I'm curious, like I can put myself in that position that you were in and being in some similar ones. From my own vantage point, I imagine that you had a lot of love for other people that were at that organization. You were so connected to the people. You're very empathetic that it was hard to leave and make that choice around the whole circumstance. So there was probably some things around you that almost held you maybe in that position longer because of the circumstances, that kind of what transpired.
[00:17:20] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And I was working with kids at the time. I was working with high risk kids, helping them learn how to read and do math and level the playing field basically at school with their peers who had the support at home.
So that's honestly why I stayed there for so long, as well as the staff. So it was already really hard to leave such an amazing job. But it was an opportunity to truly just elevate my career. It was really the next step. And it was really the fact that I'd be able to have health insurance for my daughter, which I know sounds crazy, but she hadn't had health insurance for years. And when somebody couldn't understand making a move that was better for your family and your career, that I think was so terrible. And that's why I always have held on to those feelings and that, that what do I want to say? That emotion, so that when I've had employees leave me, I've always turned it into a positive. And I've always said to them, you know, like, hey, I would love to write a letter of reference for you. How can I support you on this? How can I make this transition better for you? I've also used it to identify when I need to have that difficult conversation with employee to say, I love what you're doing. I can't imagine this organization without you, but it's time for you to step up in your career. It's time for you to move forward and do bigger and better things than me. I've seen this job. You would be perfect for it. I know the CEO. How can I help you help you take the next steps for an interview? Because this would take you to that next level. And so I think it's being able to understand that as an employer, you should always want what's best for your employees and you should always invest in them. And it's not just about your organization. So I think that was really helpful for learning that. And we're supposed to be talking about the show, but anyways, those are things and lessons and things I think in life that we need to talk about. And so I think one of the things too is we really need to remove the stigma around failure because we tend to see failure as the most terrible, horrible thing. And honestly, I think failure is the best thing that happens. There's this Japanese belief and I'm not going to even try to say the word that goes with it because I will say it terribly. But the belief is that in Japan, when they'll take like a piece of China that has been cracked and they'll fill the cracks in with gold and they believe that those, those veins of gold is what makes it so beautiful that you, it's good to see your scars, that it's like you're basically born from your battle scars. And I think that's the belief as Americans that we need to take as well. And so my hope with the show is to remove stigma, failure, to get people talking about it, to seeing how failure is an amazing thing and to how it can really point us in the right direction that we're going. And I'm hoping that it will also give people hope. It's really kind of based in that science of hope. I don't know if you're familiar with that, but that's something I love to study. And so they've been able to do research where they've, they've discovered that hope is something that is taught and that you. It's a muscle, basically. Think of it like a muscle. And the more we exercise that muscle of hope, the more resilient we become. And so what I always tell people is we want to be as resilient as a super bouncy ball that when it hits the floor, it immediately shoots back up even higher than from where you threw it. So by working our hope muscle every day, we can get to that point of resiliency. And they've done studies where they've looked at children in foster care and where they've started out in like the low hanging hope. Like, hey, your, your foster care worker is going to come today. Hey, you're going to do this. Hey, you're going to do that. Just those slow, low hanging fruit slings that they can raise their hope and those kids become more and more resilient and achieve more than their peers who didn't have hope. And so those are my goals, is to increase hope, teach how to be resilient, remove the stigma of failure and really get people talking. Because communication and honesty and being vulnerable and authentic is what's going to move you forward in the world.
[00:20:55] Speaker A: It's very interesting for you to bridge the gap between hope and resiliency and that there's almost like a feedback loop created by going through that process. I find that interesting. Can you expand on that a bit more?
[00:21:06] Speaker B: Sure, sure. So there's some great research coming out of the Oklahoma University OU there's actually the science of center center. I'm so excited. I'm. Let me slow down. I'm so excited that I'm getting ahead of myself with words. There's a center that studies hope. And so when I say that you want to think of hope as a muscle, it's basically you want, you need to work that muscle out every day. Because it's been shown through scientific study that the more hope you have, the more resilient you are. So I am honestly a very hopeful person. So when I have a rough day, it's very easy for me now, now to get back up and brush myself off and be like, you know what? It was a rough day. I stumbled a little bit. But tomorrow is going to be better. And so by by creating those opportunities and the low frame hanging fruit. So like, this is something I do every day and you'll either love it or classify me as crazy. One of my dogs, I have two rescue dogs and one of them has severe anxiety and severe separation anxiety. She had a very traumatic start to life. And so she wakes up very slowly in the mornings. So I have these morning mantras that I say with every day. I say, today is going to be a good day. It was a good day, will be a good day. And we go through a couple different ones and then we end with, it's the bestest day to be the best version of yourself. And so for me, that's low hanging fruit because I'm setting myself up for hope and I'm doing it with another person. And I also making it a point every day to wake her up by saying, good morning, good girl. Because they've also done studies where when you say good girl or good boy to your dogs, they perk up more. And so by doing that with her, I know it sounds crazy, right? But by doing that, sharing that hope with my dog every morning, we have that routine. We both start out with higher hope and we've done this huge exercise that makes us both more resilient as the day goes on.
You can laugh. It's okay.
[00:22:51] Speaker A: I think it's great. It makes sense. I mean, it's a good example. I mean, I think it's relatable because you're talking about both the science, but also an example, it's true for you. And, and when you talked about the foster kids, I could really see the impact of that and I recognize that importance. And of course, with that being said, I mean, we're very hopeful that people are gonna tune in and enjoy Getting a chance to be involved with Breaking Good because it's gonna be an incredible program with great stories and stories that inspire people matter. There's been lots of stories, I'm sure, that have inspired you on your journey. And your story will likely inspire many others, even one ones who are watching this program today.
When you think about a story that's inspired you of an entrepreneur, maybe someone that you've served and been involved with with, whether it was a non profit organization or something, what's one that really comes to mind?
[00:23:39] Speaker B: So there's a lot and it's hard not to get emotional.
I work with one nonprofit right now they're here in New Jersey. They're called New Beginnings for Tomorrow. And they're a day program for individuals with disabilities.
And what I love about it is the hope that they have brought into this building. So it's not your typical day program. It's not where people are sitting around watching TV all day. They have clubs, they have interests, they go out into the community every day. They have fears, field trips. They do vocational training. They do soft skill training. And when I got to go and I mean, I got hope just listening to them and the way their director always says my clients deserve the best. And so he has an artist that comes in and paints murals and he's always striving, working to outdo himself. And that gives me hope. But when I got to go and tour the facility and see all the clients and the joy that was on their face and the way they walked up and said, hi, my name is, and shook my hand and one of them said, I'm happy today and it was so contagious. And I said, you know, I'm so glad you're happy today.
[00:24:39] Speaker A: Oh, love, love where this is going, Sarah. We're going to talk more about this when we come back from the break. We're going to talk about that happiness and the hope that was provided.
We're just getting started. Stick around. More vision, more resilience and more innovation. Coming up next on Innovate and Overcome.
Welcome back. I'm Richard Canfield and this is Innovation and Overcome on NOW Media Television. Let's jump right back in.
Sarah, before we cut to the break, you were telling us an incredible story again tied to hope. We've talked a lot about hope here today and the power of resilience. Love to just kind of close that loop, walk us through this incredible story and finish us off. What was so incredible about this experience?
[00:25:22] Speaker B: Because normally when you are in an organization that serves individuals with disabilities, it's very sterile, it's not warm, and there's not a lot of hope. And the fact that all of these clients had hope, they walked up and said that they were happy. They wanted to shake my hands and there was laughter, clear laughter in the environment, just gave me even more hope and showed me how to even portray them better in fundraising and grants and how to speak to the organization more powerfully so that other people would be infected by the host hope and fund them for even more projects.
[00:25:57] Speaker A: Infected by hope. That's. That's got a nice ring to it.
If there's a disease you want to pick up, that's the one that you want to get.
Now that's really interesting. You kind of tied into fundraising a little bit, and that's really where I wanted to go next. Now, you've spent a great deal of time in your career working on fundraising packages, helping different types of organizations find ways to raise capital. So you're a bit of a ninja at it, I would say. I don't mean maybe you don't have the dojo and the sword and all that cool stuff, but you can skill set.
And so what exactly, when you're helping people, you know, write for grant submissions, helping to find capital to grow, how exactly that even evolved for you, how did that, you know, become a format you found yourself developing in?
[00:26:39] Speaker B: So I guess completely fair to say, just disnomer here, just full disclosure, I never planned to work in nonprofits. It's something that happened. I just fell into that.
And as I fell into that work, I naturally wanted to learn more and how to do more. And that's when I learned grant writing. But I am very much self taught as a grant writer. And so because of that, I developed all of my own tools and I did a lot of research, which ultimately led me to graduate school for social and community services, which is how to run a nonprofit. And then I turned right around and went back to grad school for public health with a focus on epidemiology. And by learning everything that I learned in those two graduate courses, and then by having the opportunity to sit down with funders and actually ask the questions, I was able to really understand what is needed and develop the tools that are needed. And so I think the most important thing that people forget, and it can sound a little negative, but it's not, is that every grant should be written around a problem. And so the first thing you need to do is clearly identify the problem and say, within the community, I have identified this Problem, maybe it's apples won't grow here anymore. Right. It's a really silly example, but just something really, really basic like this is the problem I've identified. Then you need to say, and I've identified this as the target population. And within that target population, I've gone in and asked them, do they agree that this is the problem and what do they think is the solution? And we've come together and created this solution so that you show buy in from the people that you're going to serve and then you start asking for funding. And when you take that approach, funders are so engaged and they love the, that you've taken more of a public health approach that you've gone in, you've asked the people that you want to serve if they agree and what they think the solution is. And that's what really sets grant applications apart and makes it really powerful. Also conversations and building really good relationships. And so years and years ago, I did this series on Facebook called Creating Connections. And that's what it's all about, is creating a connection with that funder. And so often people think foundations are almost like the irs, right? Like they're untouchable. You don't want to call them, you don't want to ask any, any questions. But here's the secret. Foundations really do wanna talk to you. They really do wanna answer your questions. They really do wanna help walk you through that grant application. And so it's just picking up the phone. Well, I tend to email and ask when a good time is to pick up the phone. I don't, I don't just call or I call and ask for an appointment to talk to them about it. You know, always be very respectful about people's time. Make that appointment and then go in there with a list of questions, run through all of your questions about the, about the gr.
And while you're getting that information, look around their office, see what there is that you can connect with them, form that connection, start building that relationship. My goal is always to make people laugh because I feel like when you make people laugh, that's where that real connection comes from. And then once you've made people laugh, you've created that connection, you've asked your questions, tell them about your program, and if they ask you questions that you don't have answers to, don't be afraid to say, I don't have that answer. But I'll get back to you by email by the end of the week and then follow up in an email with those answers that they wanted something else that's really vital to in fundraising. They're kind of the old school rules that we would laugh and say that's what our grandmother taught us to do. But sending handwritten thank you cards, you know, like, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for what you taught me. Sending them a Christmas card. One of my favorite things now that I can do when I work with organizations that can do this, I work with one that works with toddlers who are deaf. I asked them to save me art, and I send art in the thank you card to the foundations. Foundations love getting art. Right. Just little basic things like that that really make the difference and set you apart. And so remember with whenever you're doing fundraising, it's about identifying a problem, identifying who you're serving, and then getting them to agree that one, that is a problem and two, that is the solution. And honestly, when I work with small businesses and I'm helping them create a strategy and I'm helping them also create a business plan, I take the same exact approach because is honestly, I think small businesses should really operate on that same exact premise. And then that solution that you, that you've created within the community should drive all of your marketing and all of your branding. And that's what creates a successful small business as well as a successful nonprofit.
[00:31:02] Speaker A: Well, from a business standpoint, it sounds like, I mean, going through that method, really focusing on the community, it's really, who's that target market? Who's that niche avatar that you're looking to serve? Curve and getting that refined in such a way so that it, it actually is exactly the person. Because there's lots of market segments. People will talk about high level things. Well, people who've gone to university and people who've done this, or people who are boomers, but those are just these really broad, generic things. It doesn't actually speak to that individual in a way that really connects with that.
[00:31:32] Speaker B: Right, right. And you want to be as specific as possible and you want to bring in as much data as possible. And so that's one of the things now that I love about AI is that it can help you collect that data and it can help you do those searches so quickly, but it will also cite all of where it gets that data from. So you can actually cite that as well. And you know, it's not fake Internet made up data.
So for me, that has cut my research time down to probably like one tenth of what it used to be. And it puts it all in one place. It's a very nice, neat little package with all your citations. And so it's very easy to use in grant writing. But I think that a lot of what we do, it needs to be data driven. And so I know it works. Was a trend several years ago to talk about data driven decision making.
It's. It might not still be the trend, it might not be what we talk about, but that needs to be worked into as well as everything else, you know, is how can we use the data that we have to show that this is working and also that this is a need.
[00:32:24] Speaker A: And you identified a lot of, you know, very simple things. Like you said, the old school rules, sending the handwritten notes and so on and how that actually matters. And I think, you know, people who run a business where they serve clients, I mean, those are still things that are done very commonly today. They're still, they're still talking about trainment. And also, also, I think in a modern world where everything is tech oriented, getting something physical, snail mail or handwritten in. In the mail, it adds even more. It's an amplified degree of impact relative to what it might have been in the past, because everyone used to send letters in the past. Now nobody does it. So you stand out from the crowd, I think, in that environment. And you've identified that in the grant writing process, which is very interesting to hear.
[00:33:02] Speaker B: Yeah. And something I always tell nonprofits and small businesses alike is do postcards, right? Don't get a card, because when you look at a thank you card, there is so much white space to fill up. You really don't need that much white space. Get a postcard, because you just need that room that a postcard gives you, Right. That's really all that you need. And on the front of it, you can have your logo or a picture or something that is representative of you put on there that will really bring to mind, oh, this is from this company. This is what's important to them. And, oh, it's a, it's a handwritten note. And it's not as much white space to fill because people don't. They get intimidated. I taught a writing course at an army installation years ago, and the biggest thing is people would say is, I just stare at the screen. And it was Ernest Hemingway has this quote that's like, just start writing, right? Like, just don't stare at the white space. Just start writing. You can edit it all out. And so I would always start my class with that Ernest Hemingway quote. And that's what I tell people now too, is you Know, first of all limit the white space that you have. But just start writing and don't be afraid either to get those books. I have three of them that are what to write in cards. You know, Hallmark used to put them out. Don't be afraid to get those books. Use your resources well.
[00:34:05] Speaker A: And I Suspect that know ChatGPT and other AI tools can help you come up with some different ideas there and you could have a whole thread just based on ideas to write for for thank you cards and under a certain amount of characters to, to keep it simple. It's interesting. I, I think about as you're saying that just start writing. Thinking about writing my own emails and and while I do have an assistant help me with some of that, I tend to write really really fast and I was never trained on how to use the keyboard and so all I see is the red squiggly line of all the misspelled words words and it's really entertaining for me a little bit when I have my assistant or someone else on the line and their, their brain is so focused on the misspelled word because they would have never went past that word where if I've got two paragraphs of stuff that virtually you can't read but I know what it is because I got it out of my brain fast and I can go back and clean it up.
[00:34:51] Speaker B: I do the exact same thing. I'm the exact same way as you is like I never learned how to type. So I taught myself. I don't worry about the misspelled words. I don't worry about the grammar. I just worry about getting the thoughts out. And by doing that and then going back and editing, I think that's one what makes you a quicker writer, it makes you a better writer. It allows you to connect with your emotions and be authentic. But it also makes the writing process easier than agonizing over every single word. You know?
[00:35:17] Speaker A: Yeah. And similarly I, you know we're kind of circling back to some ADHD things here a little bit. But watching other people write who, who almost have a need and a desire from their perspective, whether it's a perfectionist level or just a fact finder type world from a cold be identifier is that they need to go slow, make sure each thing is right before moving on. They'll delete something and then rewrite rather than cleaning up later. And I, I watch it, you know, in real time on a zoom call and I think wow, I mean I think we could be done by now and oh, oh my gosh interesting, the perspective that individuals have differently and it's like. But I also respect that you need to do it your way and that's your process. I don't want to interfere with it. I don't want, I don't want to infuse my way onto you, you. But I'm just thinking, wow, like, maybe I could do something else while this is taking place.
[00:36:02] Speaker B: Exactly, exactly.
So way back when I was a CEO for the very first time, I learned a very important lesson and I've titled it the Art of Good Enough. And I think what's so important as a leader is to understand where to put your energy to get it perfect and where good enough works. And I think for you and me, our writing process, while we do get it to that perfection level, we start with good enough, right? Like, let's just get our ideas out, then let's go back and clean it up. And I think that gives you a lot of freedom when you understand it just has to be good enough sometimes it doesn't have to be perfect.
[00:36:33] Speaker A: Yeah, Absolutely. Fantastic. Now, Sarah, we're having an incredible conversation. I'm excited about where we're going to go next. I think we're going to talk a little bit more about the impact of AI in the future. And we already spoke a great deal about hope. And so we're going to add to some of that hope when we come back from our next segment. Talking a little bit about creating a powerful level of a bigger financial future, a bigger future of positivity and hope around the utilization of technology in your business, your endeavors, and how you can really maximize everything that you want to achieve in your bigger future. Can't wait.
We're just getting started. And stick around. More vision, more resilience and more innovation coming up next on Innovate and Overcome.
Welcome back. I'm Richard Canfield and this is Innovate and Overcome on NOW Media Television. Let's jump right back in.
We're having an epic conversation with Sarah today. Sarah, of course we're excited about the launch of your new program, Breaking Good on NOW Media tv. It's going to be fantastic. Now we talked a little bit about AI and how it's helped you here recently and how you're using it to save time on research, citations, etc, specifically around grant writing. But you serve a lot of entrepreneurs as well. You serve people in just a wide array of areas.
What are you finding and what do you see in the use cases that you're hearing from others on how they're leveraging AI to help them not just save time, but maybe reactivate and change the way they think about things as they move into a bigger future.
[00:38:02] Speaker B: I've worked with one entrepreneur who likes to ask AI questions. She's writing a book, and so she'll ask questions and, like, have a whole conversation with AI to help get her motivated for the section or chapter that she's writing, which I think is fascinating. I've not ever done that with ChatGPT or copy AI. And then I work with another entrepreneur who has leveraged AI to have conversations for his podcast, which is something I never would have thought of is being able to use AI as like a guest host, asking them questions and getting those subject matter expert answers. And I thought that was fascinating and I really enjoyed watching it because it was a very concise conversation that was very focused. And I don't think you would have gotten that with. With people.
Some of the best uses for AI. Personally, what I think is emails and email responses. Because, you know, we both talked about how you and I are just writers. We just get it all out there, and I'll find that I'm very verbose. And so my email responses will be ridiculously long. And so I love being able to just write it all out there, make sure I've said everything I want to say, and then ask AI to clean it up and make it more concise and put it in an order that makes sense.
And I think that's really powerful how we can just kind of word vomit, get everything out there, and then have a tool that helps us with grammar, helps us put things in active voice, helps us with the tone, helps us remove emotion because maybe you had an emotional response, but you don't want to show that in the email. And so I think that's very powerful to be able to use those things. And I think especially for entrepreneurs, when you can ask questions like in a city similar to mine, have you seen a solution similar to mine that is successful and being able to kind of get these hypothesis answered so, you know, if you're on the right track or do you need to tweak something? And that's very powerful because normally in the past we would just have to try things, right? It was constant, try and pivot, try and pivot, try and adapt. And now we can put this all into AI and say, run a simulation and show me what the results would be. And then to be able to take those results and build off of them, you know, I think that's really powerful.
[00:40:08] Speaker A: Yeah, fantastic. I love Those, all those use cases make a lot of sense to me. I know I've used a number of those exactly as you described.
I'm very fascinated by some of the AI cloning options that are there. I know I have one that people can actually phone and they can speak to AI Richard, if they like. And that's been a lot of fun to have. And so there's so many great use cases. And I know the different types of agents or customized ones where you have a data set set, a knowledge base provided where you can query and ask very specific things about a niche oriented aspect of a business or a structure. Those can be really, really beneficial. And I would imagine you've seen some of those come to pay, come to pass with different entrepreneurs that you serve and probably in the nonprofit area as well.
[00:40:54] Speaker B: Oh, definitely, definitely. Because here's the thing, when you are doing so, it's part of fundraising, but it's not necessarily part of grant writing. Right. Is an annual appeal. And that's when you send out that letter annually asking people to make donations. You know, that's. AI is a very powerful tool. You can say, here's what I wrote. What. How is this going to be received? What do you understand by this? What emotion does this evoke? And I think being able to test it like that until you get the, the message that gets the response that you want is very powerful because, you know, we want to walk the line where we're not the. All of us know, the ASPCA ads with the very sad puppies and Sarah McLachlan song Arm of angel and we all cry. Right. We don't necessarily want that response, but we also don't want a response where it's like, oh, things are going so great, they don't need our help. We want to hit somewhere in middle. And AI can really help you hit somewhere in the middle while still retaining your voice and your authenticity.
[00:41:48] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that's interesting. I would even expand on that one step further. You know, if, if a, a different group, a business or a nonprofit has their CRM, they've got their contact list, but they've been able to data mine that a little bit. They know a little bit about age, certain dynamics, maybe some geography of where people live. You could now actually customize that even further and say, hey, I want. This is what we want to send for our donations this year, but we want to send it to this group differently and this group differently in this group differently. So you can appeal to maybe some of the emotional or the more relatable aspects of those individuals. And then you can get more customized, a little bit more granular, but probably a lot more effective as well.
[00:42:27] Speaker B: I think so. Because honestly, as a writer, there's only so many ways that I can see something. There's only so many ways I can say something. And by being able to utilize AI as, oh my gosh, I love it as a thesaurus, I love looking up different words and what words mean and getting examples, that has been so powerful and increased my perspective. But there's still only so far I can get. Because no matter how much I want to say I'm out of the box thinker, I'm still right here. And AI can just give you such a broader worldwide perspective. And I love how you're saying, and that's brilliant. I can't believe I've never thought about that. It's like, you know, breaking down your CRMs and having multiple different annual appeals that you send out that are customized to those age groups and brackets and everything. I think that's brilliant. But that is something you would need AI to do because for a team to come up with five different annual appeal letters, that's a lot of work, like an insane amount of work. And so by being able to leverage AI to help you with that, you could take what was a month long project now to a week or less. And that would be very. It's very powerful, very time consuming. It saves time. And I think when you use AI appropriately, it's almost like adding an extra person to your team.
[00:43:31] Speaker A: Yeah, amazing. And I know, at least for our business, we've actually made it so that, you know, everyone has the book, AI is your team, teammate. And we want everyone to start utilizing it in a way to figure out how they can create more systems, more procedures, more things that make them not only enjoy their work, but also add more value to the business while adding value to their life at the same time. And I think that's been really, really a lot of fun, at least in our organization. Now, during our break, Sarah, you mentioned something about the importance of program design. Something that when you're helping serve people today, it's really activating you. And something that you find is one of the most critical elements that sometimes is missing in an organization. Talk to us a little bit about program design.
[00:44:10] Speaker B: Sure, sure. So a lot of this is rooted in my experience as a grant writer. When you're writing grants from an organization, you don't want to reinvent the wheel. So it's the same as when you're answering RFPs, right? You don't want to reinvent the wheel. And so when you have a very strong program design, when you have outlined and clearly defined what is the goal of this mission, what are the objectives of this mission? Or you know, what is the mission statement? And I'm saying mission, it should be programmed, right? What are all these things, things of the program and you clearly define them, then that gives you a very powerful set of tools of this is how I operate this program. Here are my boundaries and my parameters. And now when I write about it, I can literally write the same thing in five different RFPs or I can write the same thing in five different grant applications. And the power of that is that it lets you be more focused, concise, and it simplifies your reporting process because you're reporting on the same things, which I think allows you to focus more on the reporting and less on the differences. So you produce more powerful reports which obviously make people want to invest more money with you.
[00:45:08] Speaker A: Well, reporting I think is a key element. KPIs and you know, there's so much capacity with the level of technology today to do that at a more granular level than people have done in the past. But I still find that, you know, in some business structures they don't even know what they should be measuring. And that's sometimes one of the issues. So I think a little bit what you're talking about with the programs, having the specifics in place allows you to really dial in to what numbers are actually the most important important that then you can leverage in different areas, whether that's grant seeking, more money, more capital, fundraising, etc. But now you have an information based level to make decisions that actually matter in the organization.
[00:45:45] Speaker B: Right. Something I want to point out here, and I think that this is something really powerful as a business owner, an entrepreneur or somebody in non profits, is when you are fundraising or seeking investments, it's very important that you use the vocabulary of the audience that you're speaking to. You don't want to use your internal audience, right? So, or internal vocabulary. Excuse me, you want to make sure that you're not using jargon or setting KPIs or information or collecting data that only makes sense to you and your organization. You want to make sure that this matters also externally as well as internally, if that makes sense. And by doing this program design that lets you see what information you need to collect internally versus what you need to report outwardly externally. And it allows you also to use more generalized vocabulary, which I think is very, very important because I work with a lot of medical organizations and they want to get very deep into that medical terminology. And it's like, this is great, but your foundations aren't going to understand that. Let's speak to them on a business level. And so I think that's important to also note.
[00:46:46] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely incredible. I love that. Now you help small and medium sized businesses turning their ideas into real results.
What's an example of that that comes to mind for you that you could share with us?
[00:46:58] Speaker B: Sure. So right before the pandemic, I worked with a gentleman who wanted to start a lawnmower company and it was really brilliant idea and I really focused in on helping him build that business plan. And by really digging in and understanding what his goals were for it, we were able to set goals in his business plan that were very powerful and allowed him to report back to the bankers and the investors on what could possibly be a good investment for them.
[00:47:31] Speaker A: That's an excellent example. I love that. Now Sarah, of course you've added a ton of value to us here today. We'd love to be able to share, show how people can best get a hold of you. What's the appropriate way for them to be able to do that?
[00:47:43] Speaker B: Sure. So you can email me, Sarah raptor consulting.com the number three raptor, like the dinosaur consulting. Or you can go to my webpage which is 3Raptor consulting.com I always tell people, you know, look for the dinosaur and you'll know you have found me. Because it's a very easy to find logo and branding that hopefully speaks to the inner child in you and makes you a little bit intrigued. That was my goal about that. And you can find me on LinkedIn at Sarah Oriana or at Three Raptor Consulting on LinkedIn we're really not hard to find. I would say just reach out and send us a message. I would love to speak to you.
[00:48:18] Speaker A: That's fantastic. Now Sarah, before we wrap up, I'd love to get a couple of final thoughts from you on not only your message of hope, but what, what final tips could you provide business owners watching today on how they can turn the dial and create a better future?
[00:48:33] Speaker B: I would say to really take a step back for a minute and ask yourself, what is the vision of my organization? What do I want to achieve long term? What is the mission, which is how you're going to achieve that long term goal and then break that down into long term goals, short term goals and daily activities and then by focusing on those daily activities and really not having a narrow vision, but knowing if I accomplish these things every day, I'm moving towards my goal and building routines, very powerful routines for you personally around those daily goals. You're going to be able to quickly, more quickly, quickly and easily see your business grow than if you just look at it from an oh my gosh, I need to accomplish all these things. And so I think it's being very intentional on setting goals and working those back to daily activities and routines, and that's what's going to take you to that next level. It's also the activities that are going to build your hope because we've all had those days where everything goes wrong. It feels like every employee is upset with you. It feels like every client's unhappy with you. But when you can say to yourself, I know I'm achieving my daily goals, when you can check those off, off on your, your planner, when you go back to those routines, you can build that hope, muscle and pull yourself out and feel that resiliency pop in right away.
So that's that nugget that I would leave you with so that it's very easy routines that automatically build your hope and help you be more resilient to overcome those challenges that we know are going to face us.
[00:49:52] Speaker A: Awesome. Sarah, thanks for being with us today. It's an incredible program. Tune in next week as we continue to innovate and overcome with the entrepreneurs of of tomorrow.
