Vicky Brown, HR consultant and Founder of Idomeneo Enterprises, joins Jamie and Jody to discuss all things HR, especially the art of delegation at the leadership level. The conversation explores the challenges of managing a team, the necessity of trust and communication, and the complexities of multi-state employment. Vicky also shares insight on building a successful business culture and effectively managing a team.
Episode Notes:
“Delegation is challenging; it requires a lot of thought process and a lot of preparation. But you shouldn’t try to do everything on your own; use your team. Delegation is about giving them enough information so that they know what the end goal is.” Vicky Brown
The finer details of this episode:
Episode resources:
Time stamps:
HR conversation (00:00:14)
The conversation covers the broad scope of HR, including coaching, delegation, and more.
Introduction of Vicky Brown (00:01:42)
Vicky Brown introduces herself as an HR professional and shares her background in opera singing.
Vicky's company and clients (00:02:24)
Vicky talks about her HR consulting company, Dominion Enterprises, and her range of clients.
Transition from opera singing to HR (00:04:24)
Vicky shares her transition from an opera singer to an HR professional and the challenges she faced.
Services provided by Vicky's company (00:07:32)
Vicky explains the comprehensive services her company offers, including regulatory compliance, benefits, and payroll administration.
Employee relations and manager coaching (00:08:27)
Vicky emphasizes the importance of employee relations and coaching managers to enhance leadership skills.
Delegation challenges (00:10:30)
Vicky discusses the challenges of delegation and the need for proper training and trust in the delegation process.
Setting boundaries for delegation (00:14:08)
The discussion addresses the need for clear boundaries and healthy communication in delegation, especially between leaders and team members.
Preparation for effective delegation (00:18:15)
Vicky emphasizes the importance of preparation and effective communication in the delegation process.
The importance of team collaboration (00:20:28)
Discussing the value of incorporating the team's input and perspective into decision-making processes.
Delegating responsibilities in a leadership team (00:21:22)
Exploring the role of a leader in delegating tasks and allowing team members to contribute their expertise.
Creating a culture of trust and collaboration (00:22:43)
Emphasizing the significance of fostering an environment of trust and open communication within the team to create a positive work culture.
Strategies for effective collaboration (00:23:21)
Discussing the approach of setting goals and strategies, and the importance of open communication and feedback in the collaboration process.
The role of leadership in shaping organizational culture (00:25:34)
Exploring how leadership influences and shapes the organizational culture through their actions and interactions with the team.
Building a positive work culture through effective delegation (00:26:47)
Discussing the impact of effective delegation on creating a work culture that encourages creativity and critical thinking.
Favorite HBO shows and final thoughts (00:27:46 - 00:34:10)
Sharing favorite HBO shows and concluding the episode with final thoughts on delegation, trust, and collaboration.
Intro (00:00:00) - Welcome to the Creative Agency Success Show, the go to resource for agency owners looking to scale their business. Join us every week to stay ahead of the curve and position your agency for future success.
Jamie (00:00:14) - All right, Jody, we just got off our recording with Vicky Brown, who is an HR professional, and I loved this conversation. It went a lot of different directions, and I thought we really covered a lot of things that, you know, HR is a really wide umbrella. And the stuff we talked about is the interesting part of HR. I thought.
Jody (00:00:29) - Yeah, we definitely didn't get into the contracts that, you know, normally HR would sign or, or what kind of payroll service or, or, you know, benefit plans and all that kind of stuff, which is what she does actually provide or help survive for clients. But it was a lot more than that. It was like how to coach, how to coach. The, the main, the new managers on how to delegate and, and a lot of different things.
Jody (00:00:49) - I mean, she went from basically doing basically singing in the opera to HBO and some other organizations to being an entrepreneur. And then over 20 years really developing a great company that's, helped clients from as small as two clients to with two employees to, to in excess of 400. So, it's been it was a great conversation and time really flew.
Jamie (00:01:14) - Yeah. No, I agree it flew by. And I think the one thing that you would want from an HR professional is they see a lot of parts of business, and you don't want an HR professional. Let's just say we're just going to do a, B, c I think you want an HR professional that is going to help you with some of these other things they see, like delegation. I think, you'll love Vicki because she definitely has expertise in that area and is not afraid to share it. So, enjoy the show.
Jamie (00:01:34) Hello everybody. Welcome to the show. I am very excited about today's guest. She is a self-described HR dweeb is what she told us just before the show.
Jamie (00:01:42) - So I'm gonna let her explain that to you a little bit, but I'm excited to have Vicky Brown on the show. Welcome to the show, Vicky.
Vicky (00:01:48) - Thank you so much. I'm thrilled to be here. Somehow, I knew that would show up again for me.
Jamie (00:01:55) - I wrote it down, so yeah, I had to use it. And as always, we're joined by, Jody Grondin as well.
Jody (00:02:02) - Yeah, thanks. Thanks, Jamie. And what he didn't say. Vicky is he. He is a self-proclaimed dweeb. Period. So, we've got that. Yeah.
Jody (00:02:10) - My people get that in common.
Jody (00:02:13) - No qualifiers on that one.
Jody (00:02:16) - Definitely.
Jamie (00:02:17) - Cool. Vicky, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, a little bit about your background, and, just give us a little our listeners a little bit so they know who we're talking to.
Vicky (00:02:23) - Sure.
Vicky (00:02:24) - Well, so I have, it's an interesting when people, talk about themselves and they lead with, this is what I do for a living.
Vicky (00:02:32) - But that's kind of, you know, the 95% of my existence. So, I run a human resources consulting company, and we actually focus on HR infrastructure. It's called Dominion Enterprises. And the best way I can, kind of give you a little backstory on myself is it's named Idomeneo. Every marketing person everywhere has asked me when I'm going to change the name. I'm not. I just look at them and say, Adidas. And the reason it's name is Idomeneo's, because it's named after an opera by Mozart. Because in the other part of my life, I actually was an opera singer for a number of years. So, it kind of reminds me of left brain, right brain every day. So, we've been around for about 23 years. Oh my goodness. I have to lie down. And we work with clients nationwide. So that is a brief overview.
Jody (00:03:21) - How big is the table client for you?
Vicky (00:03:24) - we actually, my sweet spot used to be 20. And then I had a bunch of clients that had 400 employees.
Vicky (00:03:30) - So there you go. but I would say that. So, we have clients with as few as two, but really, when they start getting to 40, 45, 50, that's when the landscape of employment compliance really changes for them. And so that's where people kind of feel the most value. So anywhere from like 40 up to 80 or so is a really, really good, good lane for us.
Jody (00:03:55) - Yeah, that's awesome because that's pretty much what our market. We're finding out what our target market is and that's listening to the show. So, it'd be it'd be really good for a lot of folks out here to, kind of buckle up a little bit and listen to what you have to say.
Vicky (00:04:07) - Perfect, perfect.
Jaime (00:04:10) - Awesome.
Jamie (00:04:10) - Someone I love when we have guests that have, one career and then moved on to another career. And I'm always curious about how they translate. So, I want you to start there. So how does opera singing translate to HR and how did you go down this path?
Vicky (00:04:24) - Oh, that's really simple.
Vicky (00:04:24) - It doesn't at all. They have absolutely nothing to do. So, when I was going to, school way back in the dark ages, I had to, you know, get a job to go through school. So, I started working in business really, really early. and I worked as an admin assistant at a, advertising agency because I thought it would be, like Bewitched, and it was not. And, so ultimately, I, transitioned and continue to work and, ultimately ended up in entertainment, worked for HBO for, you know, a bunch of years and a couple of other media companies and then ended up at a technology financial services company back in the 2000. It wasn't really the 2000, it was really 2000. and I, and that was during the, the dotcom, kind of boom and bust. And we ended up going down with the bust part. And the head of that company suggested to me I was the chief HR officer. He suggested that I start my own companies like you do a really great job, and I never gave you any money, but you created this great department.
Vicky (00:05:37) - And I said, thank you very much. That's fantastic. I think not, not absolutely not, not going to happen. And I'm going to go get a job. And he said, okay. And that was in February of 2001. And by April he had a new gig, and he reached out to me and said, I have a new thing. And, you have drummed into me that I need HR support, so I need you, but I can't afford you. So, you should be a contractor for a while and just do these couple little things. And I said, fine. And from April. And by the way, for those out there who have independent contractors, I'm an HR professional. Don't try this on your own. I really did qualify as nature as an independent contractor, but, yeah. So, what are you.
Jody (00:06:18) - Doing out here?
Vicky (00:06:19) - All right. So, from April to August of 2001, he kept adding responsibilities. I needed a handbook. Oh, I need you to handle payroll.
Vicky (00:06:27) - Oh, I think I need benefits. Oh, I think you need this and that. And he knew that my compliance gene was going to kick in at any point. So, in August, I was like, I'm handling too much confidential information. We need a contract. I need a corporate veil. You need I need insurance, you need protection. so, I incorporated and that was his evil plan all along. He was my first client, and ultimately ended up being my largest client. And actually, they were worldwide. So, for a while, we were international. I'm not doing that anymore. but,
Jody (00:07:01) - It was a.
Vicky (00:07:02) - It was a really fun ride. So, he is part of the he actually is the domino origin story.
Jamie (00:07:13) - Great. Yeah. So, let's, H.R. is a pretty big umbrella, and I think I know we run into the same thing as being virtual CFOs. A lot of people don't really understand exactly what it what it means when you hire an outsourced, CFO.
Jamie (00:07:25) - So I'm curious for our listeners, what would you include under that umbrella of HR for the services you provide?
Vicky (00:07:32) - Sure. Well, I describe it as your HR department that just doesn't sit in your offices. And that used to be harder to describe back in the day. But now it's very easy since very few people sit in in the business's offices. But so, we handle the full lifecycle of the employee. We handle regulatory compliance, which is, you know, kind of the big kahuna of HR. So, it covers all of the employment laws and the handbooks and the posters and the sick leave tracking and all of that. someone's going off for leave, and we handle the FMLA documents and getting the doctor's notes. And so all of that, I used to call it administrative, but you know, all of the management of, of those, of those duties. And then we do benefits administration, which is exactly as it sounds, and payroll administration, which also is exactly as it sounds. The thing that's a little different for us is we don't just do the infrastructure stuff.
Vicky (00:08:27) - We really do consider ourselves your HR department. So that means we spend a significant amount of time on the phone every day with employees. They know us, they know their HR representative. They talk to them all the time. so we do a lot of what's termed employee relations. And we work, as I mentioned before, a lot with managers, because really kind of our mission is to help managers grow their leadership tool belt, because when you're an employee, the company can have a mission and a vision and all these lofty ideas, and that's fantastic. And as a business leader, it's our responsibility to communicate that on a regular basis and make sure that it's kind of juicing people up so they know what they're doing and why they're doing it, and what the ultimate goal is. But in reality, their day to day experiences with their manager. So that color, so much of their impression of what the company is and what the company stands for. So, if you don't support the manager, the folks that are actually dealing with the employees on a regular basis, then that's a real kind of break in the line of communication and mentorship and, you know, everything.
Vicky (00:09:34) - So and mostly people get promoted to manager because they're good at a job, but then they're managers. That job is to incentivize and, and coach and you know, problem solve for people to do that job. That's a different muscle set, completely different muscle set. So very often we don't support them quite as much as we should. So, we Idomeneo kind of stands in the gap.
Jody (00:10:02) - Yeah. So, it sounds like delegation is a big issue or a big thing that you probably tackle. Because with when you go from the worker bee to the manager, it seems like the manager wants to be the worker bee still. And so, we, a lot of times don't delegate properly or we abdicate, which is even worse, you know, giving it to somebody without having, you know, you know, I think you're following me on that. So, what is your take on delegation? And do you, do you see that a lot with what you're, what you're training your, your team or the managers to do?
Vicky (00:10:29) - Yeah, absolutely.
Vicky (00:10:30) - If I could, I would point at you and say what he said because it really is exactly what you're talking about. It's delegation and not abdication. So, there are a couple of things there. First of all, and this isn't just for line managers. This is this is a disease that strikes the head of the company 100% of the time. We started the company very often. We had a very, very clear vision of what we wanted to, to have happen. And very often we started off being one of one and doing it all ourselves. So, we know how to do it. We know the fastest way to do it. We probably know the best way to do it. We know our way to do it and getting someone else. In that role. To do that thing is a study in patience and trust, but it's also study in training because we bring people on and we're like, oh, you have experience in this, so go ahead and do that for me. You know, you're a marketing person.
Vicky (00:11:24) - You have experience in marketing. I want you to handle my social media. When you've been handling your social media up till now, you've created the thumbnails, you've created the posts, you kind of have the rhythm of what the copy is, and then you bring in someone who has marketing experience and you go, go do this thing with no guidance. No. And then they do it based on their experience. And you're like, you might not be the right person because this is not what I expected. Well, that's not fair. You haven't given them any kind of parameters or training or anything. So that's a challenge. And really understanding how to not only trust people, but give them the proper training and then the proper amount of time to kind of absorb that information and get you to the place that you want them to be, get themselves to the place where you want them to be. The other piece, you know, the other end of the pendulum, of course, is just going great.
Vicky (00:12:20) - You do it by and just taking off and coming back and expecting results. And it really is. Delegation is challenging. It requires a lot of thought process and a lot of preparation. And I would say so much of our jobs as leaders at the top of the organization in particular, is around properly giving the proper tools and environment and the proper thought process to the people who are doing the job, you need to give them what they need to do the job you want them to do. So yes, you want them to have skills. Yes, you want them to have experience. But in order for that to for them to really fly with that, they need to understand what are the ins and outs of your Idomeneo. How do you like it? What's special about the way you do it? So, I think that's really critical.
Jody (00:13:10) - Yeah. Piggybacking off of that. You know, like we have a leadership team ourselves. So, it'd be you know, we have a, you know for our group, I, you know, I'm the CEO.
Jody (00:13:18) - And then my partner Adam, he's like the he's the operations guy. So, it's a if you're looking at like traction or iOS, you're looking at, well I'm he's the implementer I'm the visionary. And then we have our leadership team that goes into there like Jamie being one of those members. And so, but my question of you, when is it or when do you find or how do you coach either an owner or Jamie in this case, you know, heading in an apartment, how do you coach them to what are the appropriate boundaries? You know, as a visionary, I'm throwing all of these different daggers at them all the time. Hey, this is just all this new shiny object, you know, can you go figure out how to how to make that work? You know, or, you know, and Jamie has the right to push back a little bit and say, no, that's not going to work. And here's why. But where do you see the boundaries? So that Jamie and I have a healthy relationship all the time? versus I'm just coming at him all the time.
Jody (00:14:08) - He's coming back and pushing back and the friction, you know, you know, comes to play.
Vicky (00:14:13) - Yeah, I understand, I my team has had this challenge with me over the years. I would go to a conference, or I watch a YouTube video and find some new technology, or I talk to a colleague who runs another company and, oh, they're doing that. That's really interesting. And then I come and they, you know, my team would just say, we don't go, don't ever go out of the office like, we can't, we can't deal with you. When you come back, you're just we're going to do this. And when we do that we're going to do the other. So, some of that honestly not to put it all back on you, but some of that is self-discipline. We have to understand that we can't just throw things at our team and expect things to actually be accomplished. So, what I found, particularly with my old team, is, you know, they've kind of put me in a nice little box.
Vicky (00:15:01) - We can talk. We actually have, you know, a little section of innovation. So at that meeting we can talk about all the innovative ideas and bounce them around. And as long as I have an outlet to put those things forward, then I can be much better at not every single day sending an email that goes, I just found this. Let's do that. Or I just found that. Let's do that. And so, if I know that there's a place, there's an outlet for that, and then we can really address it and, and you know, really evaluate, do we have the resources? Does it make sense or do we have too many goals on our plate this year or this quarter? Is this something that is in conflict with another goal that we're doing? We really just have to be organized about it. And then on Jamie's side, you know, good luck with that. That's it's a delicate.
Jody (00:15:49) - You met Jamie. All right, I can tell.
Jody (00:15:51) - Well.
Jamie (00:15:52) - Here's what I do.
Jamie (00:15:53) - I always tell Jody I'm like, oh, great idea. But here's the other things I'm working on. Which one of those do you want that to replace? Right. Like I can give them the list of like yeah. So I can totally take that on. But which are these other things I'm working on? Do you want me to stop doing. Because it will definitely take place on one of those. That's one of the tips I have there.
Vicky (00:16:10) - So you're absolutely right. And one of the things that you can do is you can select. So for instance we use product management system asana. And so, you can slot it in, maybe you're going to slot it in for 180 days from now, or 365 days from now. But when my team comes back to me and says, okay, our resources are all focused on a and you want to do Y, which is great, we find that we can start addressing that in a realistic way at this point. Let us know if you want to move.
Vicky (00:16:46) - You know, let's talk about if you need to move that up, but let's actually like schedule it. And honestly, the truth is, by the time we get there, I've probably moved on to something else. And I'm not thinking, that's such a great idea anymore, you know what I mean? But I know that it wasn't lost in the ether, so it really is. It is a delicate, managing CEOs is tough. So.
Jody (00:17:09) - Yeah.
Vicky (00:17:09) - But possible.
Jody (00:17:12) - Yeah. I don't think it's tough.
Jody (00:17:14) - Well, I didn't.
Vicky (00:17:15) - Think it was tough either. I don't know what they're talking about.
Jody (00:17:18) - Yeah, yeah.
Jody (00:17:19) - You're definitely wrong on that.
Vicky (00:17:22) - We're a piece of cake.
Jody (00:17:25) - Yeah. Yeah. Definitely.
Jamie (00:17:26) - Jody.
Jody (00:17:27) - Yeah.
Vicky (00:17:29) - I'm not getting in the middle of that.
Jamie (00:17:34) - So I do have a question for you. So, I'm looking for that golden nugget. Right. So, one of the things that, a former HR person I was working with when it came to delegation, told us, and this is something I'm telling my team all the time is just a question.
Jamie (00:17:46) - I think this comes from Bernie Brown. What is done look like. Right? And I'm telling both sides of the team to ask that all the time. And I think that goes into a lot of what you've talked about. And that's something that I'm always telling my team, because I think that's if both sides are clear on what the finish line looks like, I think it's easier to have better communication on, on, delegation. So that's one of the nuggets I use. I want you to give me another one. So, what's something else I could be using when I'm helping my team learn to delegate? What's the one expression or tip I can give them that will help them take that next step?
Vicky (00:18:15) - I'll actually pull back and get a broader view for a minute. It's really all about preparation for the head of the team or the head of the company. It's about preparation. If you don't know what done looks like, if you don't know what you're going after, if you don't know what are the important milestones for you, maybe it's not even about just the finished product, but maybe there's a specific milestone in that process that's really important to you, or really important to the process, or the company or whatever.
Vicky (00:18:44) - So if you don't know those things, how can you communicate it? And it really is all about communication. We use shorthand a lot. Or if you're me for many, many years, I could not understand why people could not read my mind. I'm thinking about it. Why don't you understand what I'm saying to you? You know, and that kind of thing doesn't do justice to the person that you want to accomplish the goal. And it doesn't really do justice to the organization or your ultimate vision. So, it really is about sitting down, taking the time. Stop doing quite so many things on the fly. I'm really busy, so I have lots of things on my plate, so I do things very quickly. I give out instructions very quickly and I move on to the next thing. I have to stop and have some thinking time and really figure out what kind of preparation do I need to have before I tell someone else. I want you to accomplish A, B, and C. It doesn't mean micromanaging.
Vicky (00:19:39) - It doesn't mean having each step already laid out. So, you're telling them exactly what to do. I'm not talking about creating an SOP. I'm talking about giving them enough information so that they know what the end goal is, what you're going after, and again, what success looks like either throughout the process and at the end of the process.
Jamie (00:19:59) - Great preparation. That's a that is a word I agree that goes a lot into what done looks like. Right? Like you walk into a meeting and say this is what done looks like, and then you get asked to follow up questions. You're like, oh, I'm not sure about that. So yeah, I think a lot of preparation does go into being able to properly delegate. So that's a that's a great answer.
Vicky (00:20:15) - And also use your team. I mean, don't you know I very often I tell people, listen, I'm a Leo, I'm a soprano, I'm a CEO. I was born this way. It's like you can't get I'm an only child.
Vicky (00:20:28) - I mean, please, you know? So, in my way, it's not my way or the highway. My way is the only way. But the reality is there are other people and they have great, experience and talents. And the reason I brought them on is because they're fantastic. So, if I don't use them, I don't have to come up with every idea myself. I don't have to come up with a way to execute on that idea myself. I have to use the team and they will see things that I'm not even thinking about because I'm looking at my particular forest. They have a much, you know, they have a different perspective that they can bring to the party. So, it really is important to remember to fold your team into the process, particularly if you have a leadership team, use them, use them, use them. It's one when I created the team for my business, it's one of the best things I ever did.
Jody (00:21:21) - I can't.
Jody (00:21:22) - That's 100% right. So great people that can act because, you know, I've been asked a lot, you know, why don't you take over the accounting? Because Jamie's screwing it up all the time or not? Well, not really.
Jody (00:21:37) - But.
Jody (00:21:39) - I guess what? What, as an entrepreneur, as an owner, and you could probably. You'll probably share the same sentiments. I don't want to do what Jamie's doing. I don't want to do what my marketing person is doing are my business development person. I don't want to do any of that. I want to do what I'm the best, most comfortable at. That's being the visionary for the firm, right? Guiding the firm into that next step. You know, I want to be able to give direction. You know, I want to be able to say, you know, hey, here's where I want the ship to go. And, you know, maybe this is how I want it to go to. I wanted to take this canal and going over this direction. and I think it's Jamie's job at that point to say, you know, hey, you know, I like that direction, but maybe this direction is better. Let's talk about it, you know? You know, something like that.
Jody (00:22:18) - Or maybe that vision is not going to work at all. And here's why. But and but when it comes down to it, you know, I've always got the final say, you know. Right. So because I'm the owner, I'm the I'm the one that's taking the risk. I'm the visionary. But I think it's important for me to listen and to and to incorporate Jamie a lot into those discussions. And, and I think what happens is then we become a we get a better answer than what either one of us probably would have came to the table with initially.
Vicky (00:22:43) - You're absolutely right, because you have more information and a broader perspective of what's going on. I'm with you. I'm not I'm not in favor of decision by committee. It's my company. The buck stops with me. And for better or for worse, you know, I'm the decider, so I'm very clear about that. But also, I need the input. I need the ideas. I need the pushback. I need the oh, I'm not sure that's going to work very well, Vicky, perhaps.
Vicky (00:23:10) - Didn't we try that two years ago? And I'm not really successful. So, I need that. And it's up to me to incorporate it into my thinking process.
Jamie (00:23:21) - Yeah. What I've been telling Jody a lot lately is, is, you know, tell me the rules of the game and then let me coach the team, right? Like, okay, what do we want to accomplish? And then I'll come up with some strategies that I think are going to get this there. And that's what I'm running by. Jody is okay if you tell me these are the goals one, two, three I think these three strategies will get us there. This is what I'm working on. Jodie might come back and be like, I love one and two, but three I think might not work because I've seen it in the past. And that's kind of where how Jodie and I've been working together lately, and I can't tell you how many times I said that to Jodie in the last year or so. I was like, just tell me the rules and I'll come up with some strategies and then we can have ideas back and forth.
Jamie (00:23:52) - I think that's worked really well for us.
Jody (00:23:54) - And I think the, the, the reason why that does work is because when we talk about it, you know, and I say, Jamie, that strategy's not going to work. And here's why. You don't take it personal. So, it's not like a personal attack on you. It's just we brought you brought three things together. Let's talk about it. Let's come up with something and let's agree on it and arm wrestle or which one's better and then go with it. I think that's the key. And so, there's got to be that give and take on both sides. Right. So, there's got to be the give and take the hey I'm willing to listen as the owner. And then Jamie's coming to me with the issue, but also coming with some solutions to those issues. I don't have to agree on all three of them, or two of them, or even any of them. We may go back to the drawing board and come up with other solutions, but the idea is that we're working together.
Vicky (00:24:38) - And what people don't understand is that's culture. You know, when people say, oh, I want to have a good culture at the organization. I, you know, our culture needs to be improved. Everything you do every day, every interaction you have, the two of you have created trust. So, you're not you don't take feedback in a personal or negative way because you've created an environment of trust between the two of you. And you know that there's give and take. You know that your opinion is valued, and there may be legitimate reasons why you decide not to do that A, B, or C, but and that is creating a great culture. That's exactly what culture is. People say to me all the time, what is culture? How can I created? And I would say, well, every word that comes out of your mouth, every expression on your face, every way you handle a challenge or celebrate a win, every single one of those things creates culture. And, you know, the big secret is that leadership doesn't create culture.
Vicky (00:25:34) - It's the team that creates the culture. You create an environment where culture can thrive, but the team is going to be the ones to create the culture. So, depending on what environment you create, that's the culture you're going to get.
Jamie (00:25:47) - Well, that's it's 100% true, because the same way that Jody is working with me, I'm working with the team members under me. And then I'm sure they're applying that same strategy all the way down. So, it is just that it's that creating that culture from the top that okay, yeah, I'm going to give you the rules, you're going to play the game and then I'm going to have some discussions with you. I tell the same thing to my team at a okay, those three things I just came up with, I'm going to give one of them to this person, and they're going to be able to do what they want with it, but they're going to come back to me and say, is this the direction we want to go? And I'm going to do the same challenging that Jodi did to me.
Jamie (00:26:16) - And so it just it trickles its way down. And I agree 100% creates the culture of an organization which is which is important and which is why people go to work each day is okay. What am I going to walk into? Am I going to walk into a place where Jody is telling me what I have to do, when I have to do it, and exactly how I'm going to do it, or I'm going to create an idea where he's going to give me some latitude to accomplish the goals in the ways that I think is best, and that that really is what gets you up each day.
Vicky (00:26:38) - Absolutely. Because am I using my brain in a creative way, or am I just, you know, being a cog?
Jody (00:26:45) - Exactly. Yep.
Jamie (00:26:47) - Great. So, we've got the part of the, the show here. We get a fun question. So I, I told you I'd throw you a curve ball at the end. And so I'm going to reach back on something you said very early on and you said you worked at HBO.
Jamie (00:26:58) - So I think HBO has some of the best programming on TV in terms of like series. And so what I'm going to ask each of you guys is, what is your either favorite HBO show? And if you can't remember what network something's on, it could be Showtime or any other you know of those prestige TV channels. But I'll start just to give you guys a little bit of time to think. And because honestly, I've been rewatching, entourage lately. And so that's where I'm at right now is I've, I've kind of enjoyed getting back into that series because it really is just like very short episodes. Each episode takes the story forward where you want to watch the next one, and it's fun characters. So that's where I'm at right now is I've really enjoyed rewatching entourage, which like, what is that, like 15 years old or something like that. But it's been kind of kind of fun to go back and get involved with those characters again. So that's my answer. So, I'm going to, since Vicki has the HBO experience, I'm going to throw it over to you next.
Vicky (00:27:46) - Well, that is a new release compared to what I'm about to say, because it was.
Jody (00:27:52) - You know, The Untouchables, right?
Vicky (00:27:57) - Exactly. Well, actually, I was at HBO, before HBO did its first original made for a movie. So, yeah, I know I look fabulous, but I'm way older than you think. but in any event, so I'm going to have to say sex in the city just because, you know, it's. Yeah, I have to reach into the Wayback Machine, but yeah, I'd have to say that.
Jamie (00:28:22) - That's a great choice.
Jody (00:28:24) - What about the, kind of adding to that? What about the movies afterwards? Is that like a.
Vicky (00:28:27) - I'm going.
Jody (00:28:28) - To say, the original.
Vicky (00:28:29) - Sex and the city? I'm going to smile.
Jody (00:28:31) - Because I.
Vicky (00:28:32) - Still know people in the industry and move on. Oh.
Jody (00:28:37) - We don't want to get in trouble. I don't want to get you in trouble. All right.
Jamie (00:28:42) - Jody, what about you?
Jody (00:28:44) - Kind of like entourage.
Jody (00:28:45) - Mine suits. It's like I everybody said, hey, you gotta watch it. You gotta watch. I pushed it off. I don't I'm not interested. And then, my April and I, my wife, we started watching it. I was like, shit, this is pretty cool. And, it was just kind of fun. Where the you really. The one episode really drew you into watching another episode? And thank God I don't binge watched because I would be probably I take a whole weekend and probably get through a couple seasons pretty easily because it's that it's that entertaining for me to actually keep it going, and the characters are a lot of fun. I'm only in the third season, so I'm not the that. I mean, I think there's about six more seasons or something like that to it. So I'm not, I'm not that far into it, but it's kind of fun to be able to take a couple of shows and watch them together with my wife and, and we even made a rule that you can't watch a show without each other.
Jody (00:29:32) - That's not fair.
Jody (00:29:35) - You've got.
Jody (00:29:35) - To be there when we're.
Jody (00:29:36) - Watching it.
Vicky (00:29:38) - I love it, it's a great series. I actually watched rewatched it a couple times myself.
Jody (00:29:43) - You did?
Jody (00:29:43) - Oh, don't tell me.
Jaime (00:29:45) - No. No spoilers. Awesome.
Jamie (00:29:50) - Well, great. Great answers. I appreciate, as always you guys playing along with me. And so let's, let's get to our final thoughts. I know I have one, but I'll, I'll wrap it up. So, let's start with you in the final thoughts for the for the show. Jodie.
Jody (00:30:01) - Oh, my final thought is, man, Vicky brought a lot of great ideas and great. You know, the cool thing about, I guess, what you and what you're doing is that we've had a lot of, HR companies. And when we when we talk HRcompanies, it's more on the surface and air company. And they really don't do a whole lot behind the scenes. And for meeting you and doing a lot of research before the show, it seems like you're the real deal.
Jody (00:30:25) - I mean, you're, you're the, the person that's going to help hire people. You're the person that's going to help manage those people, teach them up if they need to coach them, if they need to, you'll do the administrative stuff, whether that's your benefits and payroll or, you know, really, whatever it is. And I think that's something that a lot of companies really try to do themselves, and they really screw it up. And I think, bringing somebody in like yourself, I think is, is huge and pretty much should be a necessity for any company that's $1 million or above, I think, for sure. Maybe even below that. And maybe I'm starting at too high of a point for folks. But if you really need a solid HR company, especially if you decide to venture into other states, then it becomes a complete, complete nightmare that you probably no, no, no, no responsibility or no, reason to do it yourself. Because you can have some huge liabilities when you cross borders.
Jody (00:31:17) - So my, my thing is, man, take a look at what you've got to offer. I think that, especially knowing you now, I think it's a real huge benefit.
Jamie (00:31:27) - Great, great. All right, so, Vicky, I want your answer as well. Kind of. So just final thoughts for our listeners, but as part of it, please let everybody know how they can get hold of you so they can follow up with, Jody's great endorsement there.
Vicky (00:31:37) - Oh, terrific.
Vicky (00:31:38) - Well, first of all, Jody, thank you so much. That is I'm going to take you with me on every prospect call. but,
Jody (00:31:45) - perfect
Jody (00:31:46) - You don't want that. Trust me. Yeah. You gotta hand. You okay with that? We're good. Works for me.
Vicky (00:31:53) - But I will say that, we do have a little gift for, for your listeners, so, you can. And it also, gets you in touch with us. So, I'm a fan of really long URLs, but, it's called more human, more resources, dot info at, sorry, more human, more resources, dot info slash podcast gift.
Vicky (00:32:17) - That's what I was trying to say. So more human, more resources, dot info slash podcast gifts. So, we have a little gift for you. and as far as final thoughts, every single time you say something, I think about a million things that I want to have said. So my final, final thought I think will be, you mentioned, being in multiple states, and I just want to put kind of a bug in everybody's ear, who's listening that you may accidentally be in multiple states because so many people are remote now, and you kind of need to know where your employees are working from because you might accidentally have become a multi-state employer. And that means a lot of things for you. So, so that would be my kind of, golden nugget for the day.
Jamie (00:33:00) - Great. That's very important. And we will put your link in the show notes, because I'm sure people were trying to type it down real fast. So, we'll make sure we have a link in the in the show notes to your link there.
Jamie (00:33:08) - So I appreciate giving you that. So, my final thought is three words that I think every listener needs to write down when it comes to delegation. You mentioned trust. You mentioned patience, and you mentioned message or you mentioned training. I think those three things are important. And I think if you get too far right or too far left with any of those three, you're kind of falling off the delegation bandwagon. You don't want to be too trustful, but you want to make sure you trust people the right amount. And so, I think all three of those things are really important. And that's what I'm going to start thinking about when I'm talking about delegation with my team is, okay, where are we on the spectrum of those three things? If you could be in the middle of all three, and I think you're becoming a very effective delegator. So, appreciate that tidbit. And I think that's really a great thing that I learned today.
Vicky (00:33:50) - Excellent. Well. Thank you.
Jamie (00:33:52) - Awesome. Well, I appreciate both of you guys coming on the show.
Jamie (00:33:55) - I think this is a good one. And hopefully we have a lot, a lot of listeners, reaching out to you because I think there's you do great work, and we're excited to have more companies find that awesome air companies. So, I appreciate both of you guys joining the show. And, hopefully we'll get you back soon.
Vicky (00:34:09) - Thank you.
Outro (00:34:10) - Enjoy this podcast? Visit our website Summitcpa.net to get more tips and strategy for achieving business success. We're here to be a resource in this ever-changing industry.