WEBVTT - Dawn Hendricks Full Interview 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.080 Listening makes us smarter, more connected people. It makes us 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:06.240 better partners, parents, and leaders, and there's no better place 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.280 to start listening than Audible. Audible is where so many 0:00:09.320 --> 0:00:12.600 inspiring voices and compelling stories open listeners up to new 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.760 experiences in ways of thinking. Audible members now get more 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:18.880 than ever before. Members choose three titles every month, one 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:22.000 audiobook plus two Audible originals that you can't hear anywhere else. 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:24.760 Members also have unlimited access to more than a hundred 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:29.280 audio guided fitness and meditation programs. 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Explore all the ways listening on Audible 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:06.360 can help improve mind, body, and soul with entertainment, information 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:08.800 and inspiration. You can get titles from your favorite I 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:12.000 Heeart talent such as Chelsea Handler, Danny Shapiro, Charlemagne, the God, 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:14.399 and Bobby Bones on Audible. Start listening now with a 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:17.360 thirty day Audible trial and your first audiobook plus two 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:20.880 Audible originals are free. Visit audible dot com, slash I 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:24.280 heart or text I Heeart to five hundred, five hundred. 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:26.280 My next guest is a took a leap of faith 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:29.640 to embellished. It took a leap of faith and they 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:33.839 paid off. She's the CEO of FM Talent Source LLC, 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:38.640 a strategic business solutions enterprise. Just fourteen years ago. She 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:42.560 co founded FM Talent with Mr Franklin Uh in two 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:46.400 thousand four. Cool Uh. The company started as a staffing 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:50.080 firm and today is a fifteen million dollar enterprise. Please 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:53.800 work with the money making conversations, um don Hendrix, thank 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:57.440 you for having me a great uh done, um d 0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:00.800 C area tell us about the location and then we 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:04.280 go just expound from there. Okay, so we are in 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:07.720 the downtown Silver Spring area. We're headquartered and located there, 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:11.959 but our services span across the United States twelve states, 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:18.080 almost employees. Now, now what exactly is FM Talent What 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:21.400 exactly is that? So? FM Talent Source is a professional 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:25.440 services firm that provides services in two very distinct service 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:30.280 line Okay, So we provide management consulting services essentially. That's 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:33.720 UM if a client has a solution that they need, 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:39.440 whether that be UH they're implementing a financial services financial 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:42.720 e r P system, or they need audit readiness services, 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:44.680 so our team will come in and provide into in 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:47.920 solutions and services in that regard for them. We manage 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:51.120 those services ourselves. The other business line that we provide 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:54.079 services in is really on the staffing and recruiting side, 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:57.080 and so this could be more staff augmentation, or this 0:02:57.120 --> 0:03:01.799 could be recruitment if they need resources to build out 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:05.160 their teams. Okay, So so how does one Okay, because 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:09.680 your bio you a single moment at the time, UM 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:12.880 enjoying what you were doing, but not fulfilled. That's key. 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:15.000 That's why I created this show to let people know 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:17.480 that just because you're doing something that means that you 0:03:17.520 --> 0:03:19.880 have to do it and then you use the term 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:22.960 leap of faith. A lot of people use that term 0:03:22.960 --> 0:03:25.480 a lot just jump out there, but it had to 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:29.920 be something tied to that. What what got you motivated 0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:32.520 to do the leap of faith? So it was a 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:35.920 couple of things. Um, I was in a Fortune five 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:39.960 company and providing my day to day services and having 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:45.360 issues finding quality vendors to provide similar services you know 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:47.800 that I was actually doing for the firm. So I 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:51.680 saw that there was a major opportunity to expound this 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:53.240 and kind of take it on the road and kind 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:56.320 of do this for other organizations. The other thing is 0:03:56.400 --> 0:04:00.040 that in my capacity in dealing with actual key in 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:02.640 it is, I didn't have the opportunity to really mentor 0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:06.400 or guide or provide you know, additional help and support. 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:09.360 And so oftentimes you'll see people that are very capable, 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:13.560 quality qualified people, but just need a little polishing, a 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:17.200 little support, a little guidance. And so I was like, 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:20.240 you know, if I did this on my own, I 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:22.800 want to be able to guide and mentor people and 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:26.160 help them and empower them in their careers. And if 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:29.160 other organizations are having the type same types of problems 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:32.960 that this company is having, then this is happening really widespread. 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:36.200 So that was kind of the thing that was the 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:40.080 catalyst you saw, you saw me, Yeah, and then your 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:43.039 job was to figure out and so you sat down 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:45.640 with Mr Franklin. Okay, how did that? It was that 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:48.560 something a person you knew before? How did that? How 0:04:48.560 --> 0:04:50.400 did that come about? We're just talking about the evolution 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:54.160 of FM town. So we both worked in the same 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:56.880 company doing the same type of things. We had a 0:04:57.040 --> 0:05:01.640 very huge portfolio of clients within our organizations. So we 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:04.320 would just go out to lunch and talk about the 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:08.000 challenges and issues that we saw and you know, kind 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:11.160 of the brain storming and kind of the light bulbs 0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:13.960 going off, like, you know what, we really could do that, right, 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:16.600 I can do this in a really profound way. So 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:19.760 that that's what happened. That happened in a big way 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:23.359 because of the fact that so I just wanted to 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:25.839 slow this downloaking, because I heard a lot of planning, 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:28.200 because I want to make sure people when they hear 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:30.360 the word leap of faith, that wasn't just you just 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:33.400 going out there just so the prayer and you rolled 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:35.320 out there. You know, the business plan was in place. 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:36.920 If you can kind of like, get a little detail 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:39.159 about that, because a lot, because a lot of people. 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:41.440 My job is to motivate people. My job is to 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:43.640 give them the option to be successful in life. And 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:46.240 I do hear that term a lot a leap of faith, 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:48.560 but there's so much more than that, and I don't 0:05:48.600 --> 0:05:50.479 want to I don't want to gloss over that. You know, 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:52.480 in two thousand and four you took a leap of 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:55.480 faith and then fourteen years later, fifteen million and all enterprise. 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:57.560 It doesn't work like now it does not, So just 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:00.479 a little bit more detail on that leap happened to 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:03.920 make that leap happen. Absolutely so we did exactly what 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:07.680 you describe. We created a business plan and a business 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:10.120 model to figure out how we would actually provide the 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:14.200 services and solutions. Um. The thing for me at that 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:17.360 particular time is that I was a single mom making 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:21.520 six figures in my job, you know, with a kid 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:28.440 in private school, and so I had to figure out, okay, 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:30.800 ken I really do this looking at my bank account, 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:34.960 does this really make sense? So it evolved over time. 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:37.480 It took about a year and a half really to 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:40.360 determine that this was something that I was able to do. 0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:44.200 And in that time frame, I was working with an 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:48.279 executive coach, and so her role really was to help 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:52.480 me kind of think through things that would give me 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:55.640 a full on, holistic approach to how we could actually 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:57.880 make this work in a practical way. So did I 0:06:57.960 --> 0:07:02.080 have the savings ready? I actually have a solid business plan, 0:07:02.200 --> 0:07:06.040 what were my contingencies, who was the client? How, you know, 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:08.680 so the full gamut around how we were going to 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:12.360 provide this service and actually be sustainable. So not this 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:14.080 you know thing that We're going to do a year 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:16.040 and the next year I'm going back into corporate r 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:18.240 The B plan was not to go back. It was 0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:21.320 a plan only that's good, that's it. So yeah, So 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:24.240 after about a year and a half, you know, I 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:26.760 felt like I had done all of my due diligence. 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:29.800 I had you know, saved up I and I was ready. 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:32.040 So and I have to be honest, we were kind 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:35.160 of working it on the side. You always tell people 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:36.600 you can get them out a job while you're working 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:38.680 that's right, Okay, that's right. So we were working it 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:41.240 on the side. We were getting some clients in place, 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:45.080 and you know, kind of testing out our service and 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:47.560 expanding it and well done. I want you to be 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:50.120 honest because there's nothing negative about you. Know, I would 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:52.480 tell you that's what I call the secret of success, 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:55.440 because when you're saying, you know, you had a plan, 0:07:55.640 --> 0:07:57.440 but you had a good job, and so that's what 0:07:57.520 --> 0:07:59.760 I would tell people. There's twenty four hours in a date, 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:02.480 learned to use each out and a lot of people 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:04.840 don't understand that, and that's what you're saying. You're saying, 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:06.800 ra Sean, I did my regular job. I still was 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:09.280 a single mom. I still have to be responsible at home. 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:12.320 But also while we were doing this, I carved out 0:08:12.400 --> 0:08:16.080 more time for my for my dream, for my passion. 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:18.720 Now what was the fear? There was a fear in 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:22.080 this change, Like you talked about the salary. You talked 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:24.280 about will you be able to meet the needs you 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:26.360 We're not going to come back, you know, it wasn't 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:29.240 gonna be a one on one year wonder or let 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:31.119 me go see. But I always got a good resume 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:33.679 I can go back. So you were all in, that's right. 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:37.720 Where was Mr Franklin that your partner at this point? Yeah, So, 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:41.600 I mean we were both facing the same challenge, the 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:44.200 same fear. You know, he had a baby that you know, 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:47.679 he just had a new newborn, and so you know, 0:08:47.760 --> 0:08:50.400 both of us and that that fear was all right. 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:56.560 You know, we've got families, we've got people. Really, his wife, 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:59.440 you know, was a stay at home mom, and you know, 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:06.079 of course I'm the only right, that's right. So we 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:08.240 had to figure out, we had to make sure that 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:11.439 what we were doing was gonna work and what's gonna last. 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:13.439 So that was the real leap of faith. And so 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:16.480 that's why the due diligence and the planning and all 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:19.680 of that ahead of time is so critical and making 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:23.360 sure that you've got your client base established. And we 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:26.440 were very fortunate, I mean because once we decided to leave, 0:09:27.160 --> 0:09:29.160 the company that we had come from was going through 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:33.520 a major crisis and they needed a good number of 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:37.959 resources um to help them through that crisis. And because 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:41.680 our reputation was so solid, they brought us back on 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:44.640 as consultant. And so we were able to bring on 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:48.600 a team of consultants from from our company. So your 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:51.880 first big break was the company you left, that's right, girl, 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:54.160 that was the big break. And so we were able 0:09:54.200 --> 0:10:00.000 to put about people on that project. And that's right, 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:03.280 that's right. And so the thing about that is, you know, 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:07.120 our relationship with that firm allow us to take that 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:10.720 and market that to other companies. And so just the name, 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:12.920 recognition of where we had come from and what we 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:16.480 were doing there gave people confidence that we could actually 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:19.520 provide services and solutions to them. So then we got 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:23.880 more big, big name companies that we were able to 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:26.800 provide these same services to. It was a great run, 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:30.560 a great run, and then we had the Great recession 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:35.400 M two. So how did you come on? How did 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:37.880 you because that's the part that you know, we all 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:41.920 plan for the celebration. How do you get past the low? 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:44.480 That's that's the valley part, so you can you can 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:46.800 see everything with the top of the mountain that valid 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:49.520 part you're looking up, you can't see anything. That's how 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:53.120 about that? Because you know that it hit everybody maybe 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:55.480 a weary of the stock market that period. I would 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:59.199 be with my account stock broken. Other day's said, with 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:02.600 that little period, I didn't trust anybody. I stopped investing 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:05.880 and so people stopped investing in jobs. So you have 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:08.640 a staffing company, that's your goal. How do you get 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:11.560 past that period? Well, that's right, So, um, all of 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:15.959 my clients on the corporate side. They were not receptive. 0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:19.480 They were like, Okay, we're gonna reroll all these people 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:23.800 off and so um. I think for us we were 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:26.839 really fortunate that, you know, in the high times, we 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:30.200 were saving our money. See, I gotta stop you. You 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:33.680 use uh for what you did. You but you were thinking, 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:35.840 you know you, you you thought of here. You are 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:37.640 a planner, and that's why I keep I don't want 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:40.360 you to undermine uh act like what you're doing is 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:44.600 a leap of faith of luck. You know, no, no, no, 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:46.720 you knew that when you do a business, you should 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:50.079 keep six months of revenue in the account so you 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:52.680 can run your business as those are the principles to 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:55.160 a successful business. So when you hit these bumps, you know, 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:57.240 running around, you know, worrying about how many slices of 0:11:57.320 --> 0:11:59.520 bridge you're gonna eat, you know, how much gag can 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:02.000 I'm half a can't fill up on this one, you know, 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:03.920 and then we just kind of like driving no air 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:10.439 on say some games the job. I've used all the techniques, 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:13.400 y'all'll laughing, y'all won't do now. Peanut butter and jealous 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:15.440 sales sound good when you got money and you don't 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:18.640 have money, okay, and so so so I just want 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:21.040 you to let you know that on this show is 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:24.040 that it's about your brains. It's about the success story 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:26.440 that you created. And so when we come back, I 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:30.280 really want people understand the value of this type of 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:32.920 agencies that you have. How they impacted me when I 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:34.360 was out there looking for a job and I didn't 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:37.600 have anything on my resume that allowed me to be hired. 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:40.079 But you could a loust people. Your your your company 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:44.040 allows people to build resumes, makes them impoable. I'm back 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:48.440 with more, Mr Don Hendricks FM Talent. She's fantastic and 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:53.080 I'm just building her brand to another level. My main 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:57.679 conversation be right back. Hi, This Sean McDonald and you're 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:00.960 listening to money making conversations. And to me is the 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:05.520 CEO FM Talent Source LLC, a strategic business solution enterprise. 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:08.280 Just fourteen years ago, she co founded FM Talent with 0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:11.240 her business partner Mr Franklin and two thousand four and 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:14.800 now today her staffing firm is valued at fifteen million 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:18.040 dollar enterprise. That's a lot of money. That's what they called. 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:20.120 That's why your money making conversation when you when you 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:22.640 say fifteen million dollar. That's a money making conversation. So 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:27.920 FM Talent, you know, tell us about again why it 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:31.560 is important to you to have created that company. You 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:34.240 did it while you're working with your other four type jobs. 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:36.040 In other words, you look at the twenty four while 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:37.720 as you look at I'm gonna have to divvy something 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:40.240 for my my job. I'm a single mom. I have 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:43.520 a divvy job, divvy up time for my child, and 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:46.960 then I divvy it up something some time for my future. 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:51.319 All that and FM Talent was born out in two 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:53.600 thousand four. Hit a little rough patch in two thousand 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:55.959 like we all hit a rough patch when they're when 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:59.480 they're housing loans, backfired and everything. And that's when the 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:02.000 President Don't Bamba came in and had to really save 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:05.400 this country at that time financially. And so with that 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:09.640 being said, FM Talent, where is it located? Nearly two 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:14.079 employees or twelve states. Give us a little background, take 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:16.120 your time, okay, because we want to know because my 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:20.640 listen of it. Man, she went from what yep so 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:25.960 UM from talent source. We are headquartered in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:30.960 and we're providing UM financial management and grant management and 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:35.120 human capital solutions to our clients, our client based The 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:38.120 great thing about FM Talent is, you know, everyone really 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:40.880 is a client, but we are able to we provide 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:44.760 services to the federal government, commercial and nonprofit entity, so 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:49.400 we really span the full gamut and everyone needs augmentation, 0:14:49.440 --> 0:14:54.760 staff augmentation. So truly what doing the break you know 0:14:54.800 --> 0:14:56.600 that with the word out of man, I'm gonna see 0:14:56.600 --> 0:15:00.400 it first. So yeah, so so truly what that means 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:03.960 is if an organization is building out their staff and 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:07.200 they don't necessarily have headcount for a full time person, 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:10.720 they'll bring in a firm like ours to augment their staff, 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:14.560 so to just build up their staff in the interim. UM. 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:16.520 The other thing that we are able to do is 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:20.880 if they need full time recruitment services, then our team 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:24.520 UM really can provide those resources for them as well. 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:29.080 So we identify, vet and recruit people for their UM 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:32.080 you know on a permplacement side. And then the third 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:35.080 layer of that is really the management consulting side. So 0:15:35.200 --> 0:15:38.720 that's us coming in managing the deliverable, managing the solution 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:43.400 and running that into in for the client, just coming 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:47.080 in doing your thing and you do you make a presentation, 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:49.680 So yeah, so a lot of times the work that 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:53.320 we do, we have to UH submit a proposal. So 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:56.520 they'll want us to identify our solution, how we're going 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:59.200 to manage it, of course, what the costs are that 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:01.840 will be in ward, and then of course we'll put 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:04.840 our project team on there to manage end to end, 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:08.400 making sure that we are able to deliver the service 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:12.200 on time, on schedule, on budget. Now let's talk about 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:15.160 two thousand and eight. Okay, we know what you're doing. 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:18.600 Good got their first brig relationship two thousand eight. How 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:21.680 do you grow your business when you when you hit 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:24.720 this bump? How did you out? Okay, this is with prayer. 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:27.080 Really is needed that? Okay, prayer came in strong at 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:29.400 this point. Yes, and I'm not ever running away from 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:33.160 that because faith plays a lot of motivation into whether 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:34.800 you how you wake up in the morning, how you 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:36.400 go to bed in the morning, what drives you the 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:39.600 next day? So how do you expand your business when 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:42.520 it's suddenly starting to bottom out? Yeah, so we had 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:46.360 to rebrand ourselves. We had to recreate ourselves UM for 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:52.440 a completely different UH industry markets. So primarily our our 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:56.680 services and solutions were being provided to corporate and nonprofit 0:16:56.720 --> 0:16:59.600 into teams. UH in two thousand eight, we had to 0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:01.600 figure out how are we going to remain viable in 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:05.680 a space that no longer was utilizing our services. So 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:09.600 we we decided to take our our corporate experience and 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:13.320 leverage it into the federal government. Now, the federal government 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:18.359 is a completely different beast. Their process, their cycle, the 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:23.360 way in which you actually engage with them is significantly different. 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:26.400 And on the corporate side, you can go in, you 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:29.119 kind of give them your value proposition, and at the 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:31.360 end of the day, you've got a deal and they say, 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:34.359 let's go for it. On the federal side, you've got 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:37.400 a six month, nine month, twelve months cycle because you've 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:41.199 got to submit your proposals, they've got to review it, 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:43.840 and then they've got to make a decision, and then 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:46.919 you start your onboarding process. So the cycle time is 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:51.480 significantly greater. The way in which they procure services, you've 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.600 got to have all of these different vehicles available. So 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:57.639 the eight A program or G s a schedule. So 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:00.520 it took us a lot of ramp up time to 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:04.520 actually get ready to be able to do business with 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:08.119 the federal government. UM. But once we were in once 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:12.240 we learned that process we were in, so we partner 0:18:12.320 --> 0:18:14.399 didn't let the process push you away. Now that's what 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:16.159 a lot of people do, you know they I hear 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:19.320 the work people, that's how much paperwork? I guess what 0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:22.440 that's That's how people, the same people keep getting the 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:25.240 job because they're not afraid of the paperwork. But also 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:27.560 in that paperwork gets about educating yourself, right, putting the 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:30.680 right team around you. So and that's what we did. 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:32.360 So that's where I was getting ready to go. So 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:36.879 in order to be you didn't well, I mean, you know, thinking, 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:42.240 but um we actually um they're they're all types of 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:46.280 free resources out there to help you complete the paperwork. 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:49.399 And so you know, instead of us paying someone to 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:52.000 do this for us, we kind of jumped in, kind 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:55.280 of got our you know, feet wet, and um figured 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:58.000 the process out ourselves. So we did our eight A. 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:01.200 I actually did the eight all of the paperwork for that, 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:04.520 and then we completed the paperwork for two g s 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:07.960 a schedule. So once this is stuff you have to 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:11.120 have to even bid, that's right, that's right. So this 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:15.160 is the price of admission into the federal process. So 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:17.000 once we were able to do that we were kind 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:20.639 of on our way. We decided to partner, and uh, 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:27.200 I say, our first partnership experience was our best worst experience. Yeah. 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:29.840 To get in, we had to get in. You have 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:32.320 to get in with somebody who's in there already. That's right, 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:35.119 And I mean this is how you learn, and uh 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:38.879 we learned. Boy did we learn. Um. So we were 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:41.719 fortunate because we were doing business with the Department of Justice, 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:44.840 so we were able to get a security clearance, but 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:48.560 we never got paid one red sense clearance the work, 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:52.200 but we got the clearance. Good. But we were in. Yeah, 0:19:52.560 --> 0:19:56.639 but we also had, you know, had bills to pay, 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:00.399 so getting paid for all those services it would have 0:20:00.400 --> 0:20:02.119 been nice. It's like it's like being at the party, 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:03.399 but you can't go to the bar because you know, 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:06.439 I can't afford to drink the drinks. You gotta pa 0:20:06.520 --> 0:20:10.399 for drinks at this party. Yeah. So yeah, so so 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:12.280 so many years later, I can say it was my 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:14.440 my best worst experience. I was like pulling my hair 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:17.920 out during that, you know, when we were in there. Um. 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:20.840 But yeah, I mean we just continue to navigate and learn, 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:23.600 and that's really important. That the reason I wanted to 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:25.160 break that down a little bit more because a lot 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:27.520 of times, when you get into these situations where you 0:20:27.600 --> 0:20:30.320 have no relationships, where you have no experience, you have 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:34.520 to partner with strangers, and these strangers can tell you certainly, 0:20:34.640 --> 0:20:37.800 just make sure that you create an agreement that allows 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:39.520 you to be able to say this is what we said, 0:20:39.560 --> 0:20:41.760 we're going to do it together, and hold that person 0:20:41.840 --> 0:20:45.000 to that agreement, and that's really hot works. Don't ever 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:47.439 do anything on a handshake deal. Don't even say I 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:49.840 got your back, Don't ever do anything on the hook up. 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:53.040 Don't ever get into relationship where you're afraid to ask 0:20:53.080 --> 0:20:56.840 what you want. You have to ask what you want 0:20:57.080 --> 0:20:58.840 because it will come back to bite you because you're 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:01.159 afraid to say if you if, if this person is 0:21:01.240 --> 0:21:04.320 so powerful, a so omni president in your life that 0:21:04.400 --> 0:21:07.479 you can't say I want this and and and they 0:21:07.520 --> 0:21:10.960 won't professionally say you do that because you are bringing 0:21:11.000 --> 0:21:13.000 something to the table the wouldn't be other wouldn't be 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:15.800 partnering with you. So I always realized that you have value. 0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:17.840 And so that's why it's important as part of the 0:21:17.840 --> 0:21:21.320