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IAM2544 – CEO Runs Residential Heating and Air Company Committed to High Level of Service

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 06:16:16 -0400

Stephanie Postell is the dynamic CEO and co-owner of Anchor Heating and Air, one of Charleston’s fastest-growing and most respected residential HVAC companies.

With a background that spans education, entrepreneurship, and personal training, Stephanie brings a unique, people-centered approach to business leadership in the trades.

A two-time She Shines Award winner and founder of the She Means Business Conference, Stephanie is a passionate advocate for women in male-dominated industries and a sought-after speaker on topics like business growth, branding, and leadership.

Stephanie emphasizes that by investing in top-tier tools, benefits, and support for her team, she's eliminated excuses and reduced anxiety, allowing her staff to show up confidently for customers in crisis.

She also highlights the importance of surrounding herself with people who push her to grow, leading with authenticity, and staying grounded in service to both her employees and her community.

LinkedIn: Stephanie Postell

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Transcription:

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Stephanie Postell Teaser 00:00

So, we are a residential heating and air company. From the beginning, we have just been committed to this really high level of service.

When they walk into someone's home, that person is happy to see them, even though they're in a crisis situation. They provide the solution, and they know how to communicate it.

Intro 00:20

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:46

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast, and I have an awesome guest on the show today. I have Stephanie Postell. Stephanie, excited to have you on the show.

Stephanie Postell 00:54

Thank you so much for having me. I'm very excited to be here today.

Gresham Harkless 00:57

Yes, I'm super excited to have you on as well, too. Stephanie's doing so many phenomenal things that, of course, before we jump in and have a phenomenal conversation, I want to read a little bit more about Stephanie so you can hear about some of those awesome things.

And Stephanie is the co-owner and CEO of Anchor Heating and Air, one of Charleston's fastest-growing and most respected home service companies.

Known for her leadership in the trades, Stephanie regularly speaks on marketing, business growth, and building people-first companies.

She's a founder of the She Means Business Conference, and at two times, she Shines Award winner, recognized both for her mentorship and her impact on the home service industry.

At Anchor, she leads the company's growth, branding, and community involvement, helping position themselves as a standout in a competitive market.

And I absolutely love everything about what Stephanie's been able to do. We were talking a little bit before then.

My family's all from South Carolina. She's been in Charleston all of her life, from what I was reading. And she's a rock star.

She's been a business owner, personal trainer, kindergarten and first grade teacher, and an overall disruptor in her industry.

So, I love everything she's doing, not just because she's creating opportunities, but I think she's kind of creating a voice for people that sometimes don't always get the opportunity to spread that voice, especially with women in the industry.

And one of the things I absolutely love when I was listening to how they came up with their name for their business, she said her sister gave her quote that says “As long as you redeemer, then it doesn't matter how the wind blows or how high the tide turns, you’ll always be in great shapes”.

So, Stephanie, excited to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Stephanie Postell 02:25

I’m ready. Let's do this.

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Gresham Harkless 02:27

Let’s get it started. So, to kinda kick everything off, and let's rewind the clock a little bit, and touch on a little bit more on how you started your CEO story.

Stephanie Postell 02:41

For sure. Well, I wouldn't have thought back in the day that I would be running an HVAC company. I started as a kindergarten first-grade teacher, which, funny enough, has prepared me more than any other career to be where I am right now.

So that's fun. And then, I stayed home with my kids for just a little while. And then I was just really ready to do something else.

I started my own business doing monogramming and embroidery selling jewelry and grew that from my trunk to a retail store and met lots of, of course, people in my community and was able to make an impact that way, as a PTA mom and a business owner, really learned then the value of giving back to the community.

And I was lucky enough to sell that company and went into personal training for a little while because I was kind of in between, of what am I going to do next. And that was a great career, too, right?

It fit right into my coaching and pushing people to do bigger things. And I really thought I was going to go back and get my MBA. And I was training an HVAC owner and his wife. And I said, I'm going to go back to school.

And he said, what if I offered you a job? And I literally said, what is HVAC? What do you do? And so, I said, I think I'm good.

That doesn't sound like me. I'm not sure about that industry. And he called me back on Monday, and he was like, no, I'm taking you out to lunch. I think that you would be great at this position.

I need to be implementing the rules across this company in order for us to be able to grow. And I ended up taking the job and was in that position for about two years, and then became the operations manager.

But as all good things happen for a reason, I got fired because the owner wanted to take the company back over, because I was pretty much running the company, and we had grown to 75 employees.

And so, I was heartbroken, and I went home and I cried. And because I put my heart and soul into creating a company that he was the visionary for, but I was the integrator for. And so, it took some time in order to be able to find what the next thing was.

And we actually were connected with an investor who wanted to go into home services. And we were like, we can start a company. We just need a little bit of help. We know all the people, we know all the ways to do it, all of that stuff.

And so, we literally got married, went on our honeymoon, and came back and opened our first company the third week of COVID, March of 2020.

And so, again, we had done a lot of vetting, a lot of homework, and research. And we ran that company very well. We did a couple acquisitions, very small acquisitions, and we grew that company from zero to five million in less than 20 months tooling right along, 25 employees, we were doing amazing.

And he came in and fired us. And for reasons that I know and I won't share, that was not the best thing that I wanted to happen.

But in hindsight, again, it was God's provision in our life to say, this is not where you need to be.

You've learned again this lesson, and so now you got to do it on your own. And so, two weeks later, we opened Anchor because of the very quote that you quoted at the beginning.

And that was in December of 2021. My husband has been in HVAC for 20 years, so he was our licensed holder. I actually got another job. I was also working a job as well as starting this company.

And here we are, we're in year four, and we are on track to do nine million this year. So, we put in our time, we paid our dues, and we are blessed with an amazing team of people who are high performers, overachievers, and are lucky as we all are to come to a place where we love to work every day.

Gresham Harkless 07:18

Yeah, absolutely. So, I wanted to drill down a little bit more. I know we touched a little bit upon like how you're working with and you're serving a class.

I would love to hear a little bit more on what exactly you're doing, how you're making that impact, and how you're doing what I like to call your secret sauce and doing it in your own unique way.

Stephanie Postell 07:32

So, we are a residential heating and air company. One of our secret sauces is that we have one lane, and we're staying in the lane that we know very well. The biggest thing for us is we've become really good at being a great citizen of our community.

And so, we've embedded ourselves in those places and events where our customers are. And the other thing is, from the beginning, we have just been committed to this really high level of service.

Culture is being able to show up at your job every day and know what to expect. I got the best benefits package in town. I am providing the best insurance.

I'm giving you a boot allowance every year. You got the nicest trucks, the best iPads, all of that stuff, because I am taking away any excuse that my people might have to not be able to do the best job for our customers. And what we found over time is that it reduces their anxiety. It reduces their anxiety of everyday day.

And so, in that, it makes them have less anxiety. It makes them happier. It makes them more successful.

When they walk into someone's home, that person is happy to see them, even though they're in a crisis situation.

They provide the solution, and they know how to communicate it. The person is able to decide which option they want not feeling pressured. They made the decision.

It's a transactional thing, but becomes relational because we want that customer for long term. And then everybody leaves happy. even if it was a bad situation, right? Even if they didn't have air. Might be a maintenance, right?

So, we're not always dealing with the bad. But honestly, that attention to culture has allowed us to bring in the best people, right? And now those people are recruiting for us.

And listen, their bar, my bar's high, their bar's higher because they've already got great people and great teammates, and so they don't want to bring in anybody that can't hold the bar.

And so sometimes I have to tell them, well, wait a minute, let me decide. which is a great place to be. And as well, then we have people that are looking to come work here because they've heard that the environment is great, that we care about them.

And I just talked with some community people last week about our company. And I said, no offense, I want y'all's business, but I'm taking care of my people first. And when I take care of my people, they'll take care of you. And that's been our experience over the last almost four years.

Gresham Harkless 10:26

Yeah, I absolutely love that. And so, I wanted to switch gears a little bit. And I might have already touched on this, but I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack.

So, this could be like an app, a book, or even a habit that you have with something you lean on that makes you more effective and efficient.

Stephanie Postell 10:40

Surrounding myself with people who are way better than me, whether it's in what I'm doing or it's in what they're doing.

I think it's so important to keep people around you that push you. And I think it's very easy when you're successful. And I feel like we have been very successful in what we're doing.

But it doesn't mean that we can't get better. And so, not, not being afraid to reach out to other people that are doing bigger things than you and losing that ego in order to be able to ask, how can I do that better? I like that you're doing.

So, I don't know if it's a hack. I don't have an app. I'm not good at like, Trello or Monday or something that's keeping me organized. I've become more ADD as I've been a CEO. I never was before.

But I think it, when I am putting myself out there and forgive me, I always say I, but this is not a standalone thing. My husband and I are 50-50 or 100-100, is what I like to say. I couldn't be doing this without him, and he the same.

But I do think that when I'm out there feeling confident, talking about what we're doing in our company, then it keeps me accountable to keep doing that, right?

Authenticity is so important to us. And so, I want to know what other people are doing and surround myself with those people. But I also put myself out there because it keeps me accountable to continue to do those good things.

Gresham Harkless 12:15

Yeah, and so you might have already touched on this as well too, but I want to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. So, this is like a word of wisdom or a piece of advice.

I usually say it's something that if you were to hop into a time machine, you want to tell your younger business, but I almost wonder if you're sitting down at one of these bars at one of these conferences and you see somebody that's younger, that's in the trades, that is looking and craving some type of advice and direction, what type of advice or nugget might you give him or her?

Stephanie Postell 12:39

One, like I said, that my dad said, if you changed anything about anything that's happened, you wouldn't be right where you are right now, right?

So, everything is a lesson. Everything there is a plan in it all. I think if I had to say back to myself, it would have been just like I did, keep going. It's going to be hard.

Some days it's going to be bad, but just keep going because there is a plan. And you just don't know the plan yet, but that there is a plan for you.

We didn't let the things that had happened that we knew were wrong, that were done to us, that all of that, we did not let that take our eyes off of what was ahead. And in all of that, it could have been very distracting, and we didn't allow it to be.

And here we are. So, I think sometimes we do get really caught up in being angry at someone or holding a grudge, or it should have been this way. No, no, no, no, it should have been, it should be this way.

This is the way that it should be. But you're faster to accept that, you'll move forward even faster. And I think that that is definitely been something that has served us very well.

Gresham Harkless 13:53

Yeah, that's such a powerful thing. And I wanted to ask you now one of my absolute favorite questions, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO.

Our goal is to have different quote-unquote unquote CEOs and CEOs on the show. So, Stephanie, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Stephanie Postell 14:04

To build a company of integrity while building relationships and people who can then be the measure of my success.

I want to have an amazing company. I want to have amazing people around me. But David and I are very clear that our success is only going to be measured in what the people that are on our team are able to accomplish. So, if it's all about me and us and how we can have more, this is going to be a very hollow life.

But the fact that we are able to pour into them, pour into our community, and see where we can exponentially increase our reach, that's where we're going to be able to look back and say, okay, maybe we had an impact.

And that's the leadership, that's the light that we need to be for our community. Again, it goes back to that gratitude and humility. And I don't share what we do and all of that to say, look at me, look at what we are doing.

I do it because I feel like I need to be an example so somebody else can say, well, I'm going to do that.

And I can tell you there's a lot of companies in town that are giving back a lot to the community that weren't before. And I want to feel like that's because they're trying to keep up with us. And if that is the case, perfect.

I'm happy. I'm happy to have that because then that means that we're all getting to experience more.

Gresham Harkless 15:39

Truly appreciate that, Stephanie. And of course, I appreciate your time even more.

So, what I want to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know.

And of course, how best people can get out of you, find out about all the awesome things that you and the team are doing.

Stephanie Postel 15:51

Yeah, definitely. I mean, I'd love for you to follow us. We are on TikTok. We're on Facebook, but absolutely happy to give my email. It's spostell@anchorheatingandair.com.

Please reach out to me. I'd love to chat, to help any way that I can.

Gresham Harkless 16:11

Absolutely. Thank you so much, Stephanie. Of course, they make that even easier.

We're going to have the links and information in the show notes so that everybody can follow up with you. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Stephanie Postell 16:20

Thank you so much. I really enjoyed being here.

Outro 16:22

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase; it's a community.

Want to level up your business even more? Read blogs, listen to podcasts, and watch videos at CBNation.co. Also, check out our I AM CEO Facebook group. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

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IAM2543 – Jewelry Designer Creates Versatile Designs with Indo-Western Elements

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 06:16:19 -0400

Jinal Sampat is a visionary jewelry designer and the founder of Sampat Jewellers, a brand known for its elegant fusion of tradition and modernity.

With a background in architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design, Jinal brings a unique design sensibility to her craft, reimagining traditional Indian Mangalsutras into contemporary, wearable wedding chains for today’s modern woman.

Jinal discusses how a blog post showcasing conceptual designs unexpectedly brought in organic leads, validating her niche and sparking the business’s direction.

She emphasizes the importance of staying focused, following the 80/20 rule for productivity, and working on the business rather than getting lost in it.

Jinal offers candid advice about entrepreneurship, including not relying on friends and family for support, embracing storytelling in product design, and building a brand grounded in authenticity rather than imitation.

Website: Sampati

LinkedIn: Jinal Sampat

Instagram: sampatjewellers

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

Transcription:

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Jinal Sampat Teaser 00:00

So basically, usually what they are, they're a traditional chain of black beads, like small black beads. They could be as ornate as you can. They are like big pendants. So basically, married women are supposed to wear them every day.

It's like the engagement ring. We wear it every day. So, the wedding chain is supposed to be worn as a purpose to protect the husband and the couple from evil eye. So that's the idea behind it.

Intro 00:30

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:57

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the IMCEO Podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Jinal Sampat of Sampat Jewellers. Jinal, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Jinal Sampat 01:06

Thank you so much for having me on the show. I'm super excited and pumped up.

Gresham Harkless 01:11

Yeah, I'm pumped up as well. And I wanted to read a little bit more about Jinal, so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing.

And Jinal is a jewelry designer at Sampat Jewellers. Her focus is on innovation and creation of jewelry pieces that are meaningful and hold long-term value.

She creates versatile designs with Indo-Western elements. Jinal holds her graduate's degree from Rhode Island School of Design. Jinal, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Jinal Sampat 01:36

I am, go for it.

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Gresham Harkless 01:38

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

Jinal Sampat 01:45

Sure. It happened. Interestingly, actually, I belong; I married into the family of diamond jewelers.

So my father-in-law basically used to make jewelry for my family for more than 20 years when we got married.

Right now it's more than 30 years. So, a long time. So that's how we got introduced, and I'm actually an architect in a landscape architect, but so I practiced that I used to practice that but slowly, like the jewelry thing.

I really was interested into it and there was a small niche that I saw and no one was working on.

So, we specialize in wedding chains. Just because having Indian culture, there's a lot of ornate jewelry, and it's not wearable on a day-to-day basis.

It's too much. So, my goal is to have it more versatile so it's more wearable. And that's what I saw people needed around me.

And I really enjoyed creating something unique that the market doesn't have. So that's why I got started in designing jewelry, and it's just on for last five years or something then, yeah.

Gresham Harkless 02:56

Nice, you're definitely on your way for the 30 years then, if you're doing it for five years.

So that'll be you too. But I love that because a lot of times, there's usually some type of opportunity in the market, but you have to be able to kind of see that.

And when you see that, you can definitely create something because it fulfills a need, which is always what I think everybody wants to do whenever they create something.

Jinal Sampat 03:17

Yeah, for sure. Jewelry is such a saturated market in some way. There are tons of designers, tons of pieces, but I wanted to do something specific to our culture and something that would preserve it and celebrate it, basically.

Gresham Harkless 03:34

Absolutely. Like you said, very versatile. So, it's not just you have to wear it specifically on that day, but you can wear it beyond that, which is Something you can use to always remember that day even beyond that day.

So, I truly appreciate you for doing that, and I wanted to hear a little bit more about like some of the pieces. Can you tell us a little bit more on like what you're doing like? And exactly like, even your process, maybe on how you can actually create that.

Jinal Sampat 03:57

Yeah, sure. So, the sort of wedding chains they are actually called Manga Sutra in our culture, Indian culture.

So, I just call them wedding chain to keep it simple. So, people don't get confused. So basically, usually what they are are they're a traditional chain of black beads, like small black beads, like they could be like as ornate as you can.

They are like big pendants. So, basically, married women are supposed to wear them every day.

It's like the engagement ring, we have, we wear it every day. So, the wedding chain is supposed to be worn as a purpose to protect the husband and the couple from evil eye.

So that's the idea behind it. So, what I did was the black beaded chain got too overwhelming. It's just too much. I didn't wear it for five years until I got married.

So, I was like, there should be some way to make this variable and meaningful, it's such a unique piece so, I started designing experimenting with the chain like keeping a fewer, fewer beads and making a delicate chain so that people can go school wear it at work, and not feel like out of place.

So, that's where I started with the chain was number one, and then the pendant started getting simpler and more modern.

So, I try to get elements from the traditional design, but actually try to make it a bit more delicate for daily wear, so it's not that robust.

It's delicate to the eye, and it has those fine elements of our culture like curves and flowers, but still, it has sharp lines of the modern that works for the modern generation.

So that's basically the overall idea, and also there is a lot more to do, like I experimented some with a longer chain that goes down to the belly button like like a fashion piece, but it's solid gold so you can wear it at night parties it just like it's just perfect.

And then a lot more to do with the pendants, basically. It's not just the pendant; there's a lot of design elements.

Once you open up your imagination, there's just a lot you can do with this concept. So I'm really excited, and I think I'm getting a lot of positive feedback from the brides.

I mean, they always say, Oh, I didn't know about you guys. I wish I knew about you earlier.

So, we actually have a lot of brides that are married for more than five years this piece for their first anniversary or their second anniversary, depends on what stage they are.

Some women are fanatic. They collect wedding chains, so we have one engagement ring, but wedding chains can be multiple; have a whole collection of wedding chains.

So, I was really excited about that. So, the market actually becomes bigger a little bit for us.

And also, more women can kind of benefit from mistakes that they have done. Sometimes what I like to do is like also take their existing chain that they have and redesign it.

So, we custom design it to using their same diamonds or gold, whatever they have, for the sentimental value and create something new.

Gresham Harkless 07:15

Nice, I definitely appreciate that and appreciate you being able to see all that. Is it just that you started to create?

I guess certain versions of the wedding chain, and then you started to ask people, and then you got feedback and decided whether to continue to push along with it. Was that kind of like what happened?

Jinal Sampat 07:32

Actually, it was really interesting. I just wrote a blog one day like on like um wedding chains, like I created some designs, and did them in photoshop a little bit to kind of make it visual.

I didn't even create those pieces. It was a test blog, and I just put it out, and I still get leads from that blog.

It was a three or four-year-old blog. So, I, that's when I had the idea. I mean, there's really some interest in here.

I mean, I tried something and it's still working. So, I mean, there should be more to it. So, it was a coincidence that I wrote that blog for, Mandala Sutras, for like modern women.

Something on that lines, like I just I came like 20 or 25 designs and explained each one of them in that blog.

Like what, how is that special and what they can do with it. So, and that's when it got started.

So initially, we were like, we used to make all kinds of jewelry. Like it was just a jewel, jewelers.

That's why our name is like Sampa Jewelers. If it was now, I would change it to something more specific.

But we started it that way, so it's just that way. But the product is quite specific at this time.

Gresham Harkless 08:47

Yeah. No, I love that. I'm a big blogger, obviously. So, I love anything that starts out from a blog.

And I think a lot of times when people have an idea about creating something, a lot of times you're like, okay, I need funding. I need this. I need that. I need all those things.

But a lot of times, sometimes just putting it out in a blog or a podcast or asking a few friends, whatever that might be, you can actually see if there's any, um, if your idea has, she has legs and you do have something like that.

So, it was great to hear that's how that started, and great to hear that you're continuing on with that.

Jinal Sampat 09:15

Yeah, it was exciting at that time. It was just all these positive ideas that were like flowing in my mind.

And it was a hard decision to just focus on one thing. But I think it's the best decision.

It makes me happy and my team happy. So, it's just better that way, or else it gets diluted in the all jewel jewelry companies basically.

Gresham Harkless 09:39

Yeah. It starts getting to be too much. So, and would you consider that to be your secret sauce then? Is it, is it the fact that you have been able to, um, focus on that one thing?

Jinal Sampat 09:50

I think so. I mean, I personally need, like, if I'm working on something, I need a strong concept to keep me going.

If it's like a generic bracelet or generic bangle, I am not, I'm not that excited, but if there's a story, like there was a lady who was celebrating her 25th anniversary.

So, there's a story behind it. So that keeps me exciting, like some kind of concept. And it actually is more exciting for the client too, because they can, when they're wearing it, they can see what each diamond means in that piece.

So yeah, it's always meaningful to do something. I say no to people that is like not, it's just like they give me a designer, can you make this?

I'm like, I don't want to even if I make him make it, but I don't want to copy someone else's design.

This happens a lot in jewelry industry. Like they see a design somewhere else and they want the exact same. But it's something that I don't enjoy, so we don't do that at all.

Gresham Harkless 10:47

Yeah, no, that makes perfect sense. It's not quite the same, but I do a lot of web design.

And I always try to ask people what their story is, what makes them unique, things like that.

Because you can show that just like you can in the piece of jewelry. You can tell the story in a symbolic way.

And a lot of times, if you don't know that story or people don't want to tell you that story, then a lot of times you miss on what could be really a phenomenal piece. So I definitely understand that.

Jinal Sampat 11:11

Yeah, definitely.

Gresham Harkless 11:14

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

Jinal Sampat 11:24

So, I recently started doing this, 80, 20%, and I think I really am enjoying it. So, basically every Sunday, me and my husband, basically both of us write down like 20% of the things that will move us 80% ahead.

Just focus on three or four things that week. And then smaller things that can be achieved after noontime.

In the morning time, focus on the top 20% that moves you forward. I think that just keeps you very focused because I work from home, and it's just very important for me to stay focused and learn a lot of new things.

Because we have an e-commerce business, it's an e-commerce thing, and there's a lot to learn with SEO and all of these, like email marketing, like chat.

So, there's a lot to do constantly in this people chain. So, you have to be focused, kind of constantly make those revisions, and learn new things. So yeah, I think 80-20 rule is really helping us so far.

Gresham Harkless 12:30

Yeah, definitely. I definitely agree with that. And yeah, especially in the digital marketing world, there's so many things that are changing.

Sometimes you have to also to figure out what is something you should pay attention to versus something that maybe you should put off to later or not even pay attention to, which often is the case as well.

So, it's great to hear that rule because it's definitely important for every business owner. Now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO, your CEO nugget.

And this is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Jinal Sampat 13:01
I think every time we try to do something, we always like, I mean, I used to always say, Oh, I don't have a store. That's why I'm not getting customers.

For example, I still say that sometimes, but like, there's like more, more to it. Like think about like how, how you can do it with what resources you have, and also at the end, what experience you're giving to the customer.

Basically, I didn't want myself to complain what I didn't have versus work with the resources we have.

We have internet. I mean, that's super powerful. I don't think we need anything more. We're already in the better side.

Gresham Harkless 13:40

Yeah. No, I think that's very true. And especially in this age, just like you touched on, with the internet and all those things out there, there's kind of unlimited ways you can build a business and you can build a business according to you.

So, you have to make sure that you're the measure of what is success and what is not success.

Because a lot of times, if you're listening to external influences that you don't have this, you don't have that, or you should do this or you should do that, you'll never ever reach success because you're always going to have to do the next thing.

Well, even if it's not in alignment with what you want. Now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO.

And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show. So, Jinal, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Jinal Sampat 14:17
Being a CEO is not actually working in the business, but it's actually working on the business. That's number one lesson.

Like if I catch myself doing like smaller tasks like Photoshop or something crazy, then I'm not actually doing the right thing.

So, it's a different thing to have a vision, but it's a different thing to get work done.

Gresham Harkless 14:39

So, I think that's an incredible definition. And Jinal, I truly appreciate your time.

What I want to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know.

And then, of course, how they can find out about all the awesome things you're doing.

Jinal Sampat 14:53
Yeah, sure. So, one thing I would like to tell everyone is like expect the least from your close family members and your friends when you're starting a company.

I think that's a mistake I made. So, you think your friends would buy from you, or your family, extended family would buy from you to kind of support you.

But I think that's a really false expectation. Don't tell people right away like, okay, I've done this show people what you have done to get the most support.

Because I've seen a lot of people who start their company, create the Facebook page right away, and get likes from their friends first thing, versus like if they actually found, like got likes from real audience that they're trying to woo, the family will come automatically.

They can definitely check out our work on our website sampatjewellers.com and our Instagram sampatjewellers. I'm really active on that Instagram, so a process behind the scenes and everything is mostly on Instagram. It's such a cool, fun platform. That's one of the 20% things I have on my list this time. To do more on it.

Gresham Harkless 16:09
Yeah, we will definitely have those links in the show notes so that everybody can follow up with you.

But I appreciate you so much again, and I hope you have a great rest of the day.

Jinal Sampat 16:16
Thank you. Thank you, Gresham. Thank you for planning. It was really nice chatting with you, and being able to see you actually makes a huge difference.

Gresham Harkless 16:23
Exactly, exactly.

Outro 16:24
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase; it's a community.

Check out the latest and greatest apps, books, and habits to level up your business at CEOhacks.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

[/restrict]

The post IAM2543 – Jewelry Designer Creates Versatile Designs with Indo-Western Elements appeared first on Holisticism

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Michelle Pellizzon Teaser 00:00

And that's what we really try to do with holisticism is empower people to make the best choices for themselves and have really what we call personal sovereignty when it comes to their health and wellness choices by providing them free resources, educational content, and then really accessible access to practitioners.

Intro 00:22

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective waays to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:49

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Michelle Pellizzon of Holisticism. Michelle, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Michelle Pellizzon 00:58

Hi, nice to be here.

Gresham Harkless 01:00

Super excited to have you on, Michelle. And what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about you, so people can hear about all the awesome things that you're doing.

And Michelle is the founder of Holisticism, a wellness tech company providing affordable, accessible, holistic wellness care.

A former professional dancer turned tech founder, she started Holisticism after overcoming an epilepsy diagnosis at 17 using holistic medicine.

After spending six years in Silicon Beach, working at various startups like Thrive Market and Laurel and Wolf, Michelle started Holisticism as a passion project and has quickly grown it to a community of over 45,000 people. Michelle, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Michelle Pellizzon 01:39
I am.

[restrict paid=”true”]

Gresham Harkless 01:49

Awesome. Let's do it. So to kick everything off, I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Michelle Pellizzon 01:47

Yeah. Yeah. So, I am definitely an accidental founder, or a reluctant CEO for sure. I started my company holisticism, honestly as a passion project that I thought maybe would die a natural death about six months after I started it, as most sorts of fun passion projects or hobbies do.

So you already mentioned it, but when I was 17, I was diagnosed with epilepsy. Epilepsy is a seizure disorder that doesn't have a cure, and I was put on a really intense prescription drug in order to manage my seizures.

My doctors kind of couldn't tell what was wrong with me exactly, and I didn't get a really firm diagnosis other than epilepsy, which is sort of an umbrella term for seizure disorders.

And so, I was put on this medication to manage my seizures day to day, and it made me really, really sick.

I had a whole host of symptoms that affected my day-to-day life. And for about six years, I took that medication every day.

And eventually, I kind of was at my wit's end. I had essentially lost my short-term memory. My mood and personality had changed, and I just wasn't functioning the way that I knew I could.

And someone recommended I try working with a holistic medicine practitioner, sort of as a last resort. And I rolled my eyes because I am a totally analytical science-based person, and I have a neurological disorder.

So there's a lot of science that goes into understanding it. And I just thought, if my neurologist couldn't figure out what was wrong with me, I doubt that this sort of woo-woo energy practitioner can help me.

I hate to say it, but that was definitely my perspective. But I guess I'm an optimistic skeptic, and I thought I might as well try and see how this goes.

And, so I went and saw this person who was recommended to me, and after one appointment with them, I never had another seizure again, and I was able to go off medication, and I've been seizure-free ever since.

I was almost eight years ago. And I just, yeah, it was amazing. And, I was really lucky. I was living in New York city and had, although I was a professional dancer making about $10 an hour, had some access to, lower cost practitioners.

But I realized that there was a really big gap in the market, and it was something that really bothered me that so few people had accessible wellness care and complementary or alternative medicine care.

I mean, healthcare in general and affordable, accessible healthcare is a huge issue, but Western medicine is really only one side of the story.

It's a really good side of the story. Western medicine is really important, but there are other opportunities that people need to know about in order to really take their health into their own hands.

Som I started Holisticism as a newsletter really for my friends to talk about alternative and complementary medicine in a way that felt accessible.

And like you were talking to me, like, my tech friends who I would, you know, drink coffee in the break room with and talk about everything from acupuncture to energy medicine.

But in the way that you do when you're normally just like, been game. And so, I started this newsletter and two years ago for about 100 of those people, and it grew really fast into what it is today, which is this massive community that's growing, growing like crazy.

Gresham Harkless 05:17

Yeah, that's awesome. Well, obviously, I'm sorry to hear you know, all of that happened.

But I kind of feel I always usually say things, sometimes happen for a reason. And it sounds like you've been able to get over the epilepsy and the diagnosis and everything, and being able to do that and learn more, and also help other people out with that.

It seems like it's definitely something that has been, to the benefit of not just yourself, but also to other people. Sounds like.

Michelle Pellizzon 05:42

Yeah. Yeah. And I think that that's the biggest thing that I, I want to share with plasticism, like, listen, I'm not an expert practitioner, although I did go back to school and actually get a secondary degree in holistic health and nutrition.

But really, I think sharing our stories and different things and different pathways to healing ourselves and becoming the best versions of ourselves is one of the greatest gifts that we can give the world.

And just saying, this is what worked for me, and it might not work for you, and that's totally cool, but you should try it if you're interested.

Gresham Harkless 06:42

Absolutely. And I love that you said personal sovereignty. I love that, especially in this day and age, everything's kind of at everybody's fingertips, where you're able to get so much information.

But a lot of times I always say, and I've always heard people say to some, a lot of times you're your best doctor. So, sometimes you have to be able to figure out if that works or not.

And it sounds like you guys are definitely built, haven't have a platform that allows people to figure that out for themselves.

Michelle Pellizzon 07:06

Yeah, totally. And I think that consumers in general are just a lot smarter than they, they're a lot more savvy, than they used to be. Right. Because we do have everything at our fingertips.

And so, like that, that crosses over into everything from how we market to consumers and how we talk to consumers, but also how we empower consumers. Right.

Instead of saying that my brand is the best, I think that companies need to say, well, here's where we're staking our claim.

This is why we believe in what we do, and it might not work for you, and that's totally okay. But if you vibe with this, great. Then we have some crossover and like, hopefully we can work together.

And when it comes to health, healthcare, or wellness care, really empowering people through education is, is the way to, I think, to get into their hearts and to really, gain their loyalty and their trust.

And to be honest about the fact that we don't have all the answers, we might be wrong about some things, we might make mistakes even, but we're always gonna try and press up to them.

And at the end of the day, I'm not trying to sell you one thing; I'm trying to be an advocate for you.

And I think that's probably why our readers and our community really vibes with us.

Gresham Harkless 08:30

Yeah, absolutely. And I think, like you said too, when you started out the newsletter and just building it on a very like conversational term, like you're just talking with your friend, and do it that way as well too.

Because sometimes when you get the educational part or all the knowledge, sometimes it's at least, so it can be over my head a lot of times when you read a lot of this stuff.

So, it's great to kind of hear that somebody is actually talking to you just like you're a friend, you're talking to you to understand, so that you have the knowledge and power as well too.

I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce, and it could be for you or holisticism, but what do you feel kind of distinguishes you or sets you apart, and you might have already touched on that?

Michelle Pellizzon 09:04

Yeah. Yeah, I think our secret sauce is listening. Like working in tech has been awesome, right? I've had a very weird career path. I was a professional artist for a really long time, and then took a pivot into the tech world.

And something that I see in both art and in technology are people with vision that's very, it's sometimes so laser-focused that it's myopic.

So, seeing what they think is the right answer because they're the visionaries, right?

And sometimes they're correct, and these visionaries see things that other people don't.

And those are amazing stories when we hear them, right? When we're like, oh, this guy, like the founder of Peloton, he worked so hard for 10 years to get Peloton to where it is, and no one believed him until finally, now they're a billion-dollar company.

But I think that sometimes in the tech world and in the art world, we get so entrenched in what we think the product or the piece or whatever the work should be about that we forget to look outside of ourselves and really ask, like, what is the purpose of this product?

What is the value I want to bring to the world? And how can I do that in more than just this way? And I've had to learn that lesson a lot, over and over again, of having a vision and thinking like, oh, this is the answer.

This is what people need. And then actually listening to people, the people that I'm trying to serve, when I tell them I have the answer, and they say, actually, I need this thing, and sort of pivoting and really listening to what what they're asking for as opposed to trying to force my own vision on them.

So that marriage, I think, is really important. And I think listening to yourself too, getting really clear on your purpose and your why and your intention every morning when you wake up and you go out into the world and asking yourself, am I building this thing because it lights me up?

Am I building this thing because it's important and it's what's needed? Or am I building this because of something in my ego? And then trying to check that ego whenever you can, because that will only get in your way.

Gresham Harkless 11:26

Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think it sounds like you, um, you know, have developed that, that strong mission as well too.

Cause I think when you're always, even though the vision might not necessarily be clear, but you have a customer focus value system.

I guess you can say you ain't able to do those interviews and be able to talk to people and hear exactly what they're looking for.

It allows you to have the vision. That's an alignment. You just may not necessarily know exactly what it is at that time.

Michelle Pellizzon 11:49

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Gresham Harkless 11:51

Nice. And I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack.

And this could be like an Apple book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Michelle Pellizzon 12:02

Yeah. I would say I have a lot, but I'm a wellness tech CEO, so I'll do one for wellness and one for just pure technology.

I find that meditation, as annoying as it sounds, because everyone's saying it constantly, is the number one way to optimize yourself in all the ways, right? Burnout is becoming such a huge problem.

They recently actually are making it a clinical diagnosis that people can take time off of work for.

It's similar to fatigue. Right. And you can get brain scans and see, you can get this thing called a QEEG actually, and you can see how your brain works and where it's firing and what's working well and what's not working well.

And lots of CEOs have what's called severe chronic under rest. So, they're super smart people, but their brains aren't firing as fast as they could because they're exhausted and they're burnt out.

And that's a sleep issue, but I think it's an anxiety issue. And at the end of the day, meditation is something that can really help with that. Even a short five-minute meditation practice every day.

Gresham Harkless 13:13

Absolutely. Well, I appreciate you for sharing both of those with us, especially meditating, obviously, especially with all the things that are going on, you gotta sometimes just be able to find peace in the presence of the current moment.

And then I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget, and this is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Michelle Pellizzon 13:37

I think that when you always have the right answer. It's something that I would tell myself, and also, life is just about making the next best decision.

So, I think so often we get into a culture, especially around analytics and quantifying ourselves, and, trying to make 10-year plans.

If you're, if you're pitching to a VC, they're asking you what your 20-year vision for your company is.

Gresham Harkless 14:06

Absolutely. No, I love that. And I appreciate that. And, I always say if you're running your own race, not somebody else's race, not the race you think you should be running, you can never really lose just because you're riding alignment, doing exactly what you should be doing.

I appreciate your time. And what I want to do is ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO.

We're hoping to have different CEOs on this show. So, Michelle, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Michelle Pellizzon 14:30

Being a CEO means creating the world around you for the better every day. And, being in choice around that.

Gresham Harkless 14:42

Absolutely. I love that. And I definitely appreciate that definition, Michelle. I appreciate your time.

Again, what I want to do is pass you the mic just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know.

And then of course, how best they can get a whole review and find out about all the awesome things that you're doing.

Michelle Pellizzon 14:56

Well, thank you so much for having me. And if anyone out there is interested in learning more about holistic wellness and alternative medicine, head over to holisticism.com.

We have amazing free resources, and we host weekly seminars with our experts and guides.

We love to grow our community, and we're trying to make wellness as accessible as possible to as many people as possible in order to heal this world.

If you're interested, definitely join, and my inbox is always open. I love to talk to people and learn more about what they're up to and how holisticism can be useful to them.

So you can find my email on the website, and you can find us at holisticism.com and on Instagram at holisticism.

Gresham Harkless 15:46

Awesome, awesome, awesome. We'll have those links in the show notes as well, but thank you so much again for telling your story and all the awesomeness that you're spreading and doing.

And I appreciate your time again. I hope you have a great rest of the day.

Michelle Pellizzon 15:57

You, too, thanks so much.

Outro 15:58

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase; it's a community.

Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and everywhere you listen to podcasts. Subscribe and leave us a five-star rating. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

[/restrict]

The post IAM2542 – Founder Provides Affordable, Accessible Holistic Wellness Care appeared first on I AM CEO Podcast.

IAM2541 – My Surprise Birthday Secret

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 06:16:43 -0400

In this special episode, Gresham Harkless showed appreciation for his development so far, even if results haven’t matched his initial goals, recognizing that unpredictable market conditions and widespread hesitation have added complexity to the path.

A recent coaching session prompted him to recalibrate his target client profile and shift focus toward building referral relationships, particularly through rejoining a BNI networking group and leveraging his podcast as a platform to connect with potential partners.

He recognizes the importance of using digital marketing not just for direct leads but as a tool to foster strategic connections and enhance credibility.

Gresham admits he wasn’t in the right place to begin his journey this way—balancing fatherhood and a steep learning curve—but he’s now more equipped to move forward with clarity and a focus on building meaningful relationships.

Blue Star Franchise: http://bluestarfranchise.com
Browse the Franchise Inventory: https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise
Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment
Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site – coming soon) – http://franchiseceo.co

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Intro 00:01

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:28

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO Podcast.

And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet, so to speak. I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to document my journey into starting what is now called Blue Star Franchise.

We're also going to do a kind of sub site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that.

But just wanted to give you a little bit more insight, give you a little bit more color in some of the aspects of why I'm actually doing this.

Because one of the things I was doing as I was going through training to start up this new business was realizing and hearing from the founder of FBA, the Franchise Brokers Association, that it'd be really cool to document your journey going through and building this out.

I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.

But frankly, if you're starting anything, any type of business, I think it's really cool to kind of just even see the journey and how it's been going from there.

So, I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the, from the first couple of videos that have been created.

But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube, check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where we're going to post this.

So, I'll have that information that's available to you. But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing.

The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build and needs you to be your unique self.

So, make sure to run your own race, because nobody can run your race like you.

This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

And just like that is day 203 of the franchise broker journey. And today happens to also be my birthday.

So, I was woken up very amazingly by a crying baby boy that went to, I think, sing me happy birthday, but who knows, might've wanted food as well too.

But all jokes aside, I'm very happy, grateful to kind of be where I'm at, to have the opportunities that I do have at my fingertips.

Like I've mentioned many times, like I'm shocked that it's been 203 days. I'm even more shocked that I haven't had the success that I hoped to have in the very beginning, but I don't think I'm by myself in this year.

[restrict paid=”true”]

I think it's been a tumultuous economy, so I think that definitely has not helped, and I think that a lot of times people are unsure of what to do, how to do where to do it.

But with that being said, I had a kind of a coaching session yesterday where we kind of recalibrated what might be my ideal clients and targets.

And I started to like execute on that, like right there, right then, and right there. I really want to see what I can do to try to maybe build those referral partners and relationships and look at my podcast as a way to kind of make that happen.

So, I actually put in an application to rejoin the networking group that was a part of the BNI chapter, different BNI chapter.

We'll see how that goes. I'm going to start to connect with people, build relationships, see what ultimately happens.

But I want to try to connect with as many people as I can to see like where these things go. And then, after that, I really want to look into what are going to be my next steps.

I really think that scaling back on the Google ads and maybe, you know, using some other platforms are going to be a way that I start to figure out what's going to be my target client.

I think by having conversations and relationships and seeing who I get referrals to and how those referrals work out, or connections with and how the podcast works, I think I have a lot more at my fingertips than I did.

Honestly, I probably would not have been able to do this route from day one. So, there's also that.

But like I usually try to say, like if I was going to start today, which I've been comparing myself against myself.

Like if I was starting in April, May, June timeframe, which is where I think I would have started after, the little one got a little bit better, wife went back to work, things like that.

So that May, June timeframe, I think would have been where I would have started at least doing training and then going down the line from there.

But I really do feel like I learned a lot, humbled a lot, but I am not done. I'm just recalibrating, shifting, changing, and pivoting in what I'm doing.

And I think that one of the things that I really have to do, one of the things that I have not done as great a job at with digital marketing that I could do better that I know that is an opportunity is using digital marketing not to necessarily get direct referrals, but using digital marketing to connect with potential referral partners and opportunities. and build your esteem that way.

And that's the way that it does take longer, but I think it's absolutely in flow.

I think being able to kind of leverage and use the podcast to be able to create connections and relationships is exactly like right in par with who I am and what I want to ultimately be with that connection broker, mindset that I was talking about.

I'm looking forward to this because I thought this was going to be the next step of the thing that I was going to do, but maybe it should have been the first step.

But frankly, who knows within those first five months or so if I would have had the bandwidth to do that.

So, needless to say, I'm here now. I'm looking a lot more into what this process looks like, where I'm going to be really thinking strategically as much as I can around my next steps.

And yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to everything that's going to happen, what it looks like, and then just taking it from there.

So, I've got to go hop on a podcast, do some birthday things later on, hopefully catch a nap or some good sleep somewhere in between.

That's really the best thing that I would like for my birthday gift. As much as I love my son singing, I think he was singing to me at like 3 AM in the morning. 2 AM, 3 AM into 4 AM.

Because he didn't go to sleep for like an hour. I'd much rather have gotten a little bit more sleep. So we'll see what happens.

I'm blessed. I'm extremely grateful. And then looking forward to, you know, this opportunity. I'm 38 today.

So, looking at two years into being 40. So, I'm on the sprint to see like what I can make out of these two years and beyond. So, looking forward to everything, and we'll see where everything takes us.

Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help. And of course, I look forward to giving you more and more updates.

Outro 06:22

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase; it's a community.

IAMCEO Podcast Transcript

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Speaker 1

00:01 - 00:28

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Grush values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I am CEO podcast.

Speaker 1

00:28 - 00:31

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast.

Speaker 1

00:31 - 00:47

And this is a special episode of our I am CEO podcast. And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet. So to speak, I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to document my journey into starting what is now called blue star franchise. We're also going to do a kind of subcite within CB nation called.

Speaker 1

00:48 - 01:08

a franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that. But I just want to give you a little bit more insight, give you a little bit more color in some of the aspects of why I'm actually doing this. Because one of the things I was doing as I was going through training to start up this new business was realizing and hearing from the founder of FBA, the Franchise Brokers Association, that it'd be really cool to document your journey.

Speaker 1

01:08 - 01:28

going through and building this out. I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously, for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises. But frankly, if you're starting anything, any type of business, I think it's really cool to kind of just even see the journey and how it's been going from there. So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the from the first couple of videos that have been created.

Speaker 1

01:28 - 01:41

But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube. Check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where we're going to post this. So I have that information that's available to you. But Regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing.

Speaker 1

01:42 - 01:50

The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build. It needs you to be your unique self. So make sure to run your own race because nobody can run your race like you. This is Gresh signing out.

Speaker 1

01:50 - 02:07

I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day. And just like that is day 203 of the franchise broker journey. And today happens to also be my birthday. So I was woken up very amazingly by a crying baby boy that went to, I think, sing me happy birthday, but who knows, might've wanted food as well too.

Speaker 1

02:07 - 02:38

But all jokes aside, I'm very happy, grateful, you know, to kind of be where I'm at, to have the opportunities that I do have at my fingertips. Like I've mentioned many times, like I'm shocked that it's been 203 days. I'm even more shocked that I haven't had the success that I hoped to have in the very beginning, but I don't think I'm by myself in this year. I think it's been a tumultuous, tumultuous, tumultuous, economy so i think that definitely has not helped and i think that a lot of times people are unsure of what to do how to do where to do it but With that being said, I had a kind of a

Speaker 1

02:38 - 03:05

coaching session yesterday where we kind of recalibrated what might be my ideal clients and targets. And I started to like execute on that, like right there, right then and right there. I really want to see what I can do to try to maybe build those referral partners and relationships and look at my podcast as a way to kind of make that happen. So I actually put in an application to rejoin the networking group that was a part of the BNI chapter, different BNI chapter.

Speaker 1

03:06 - 03:20

We'll see how that goes. I'm going to start to connect with people, build relationships, see what ultimately happens. But I want to try to connect with as many people as I can to see like where these things go. And then, you know, after that, I really want to look into what are going to be my next steps.

Speaker 1

03:21 - 03:48

I really think that scaling back on the Google ads and maybe, you know, using some other platforms are going to be a way that I start to figure out what's going to be my target client. I think by having conversations and relationships and seeing who I get referrals to and how those referrals work out or connections with and how the podcast works, I think I have a lot more at my fingertips than I did. Honestly, I probably would not have been able to do this route from day one. So there's also that.

Speaker 1

03:49 - 04:20

But like I usually try to say, like if I was going to start today, which I've been comparing myself against myself. Like if I was starting in April, May, June timeframe, which is where I think I would have started after, you know, the little one got a little bit better, wife went back to work, things like that. So that May, June timeframe, I think would have been where I would have started at least doing training and then going down the line from there. But I really do feel like I learned a lot, humbled a lot, but I am not done.

Speaker 1

04:20 - 04:44

You know, I'm just recalibrating, shifting, changing and pivoting in what I'm doing. And I think that one of the things that I really have to do, one of the things that I have not done as great a job at with digital marketing that I could do better that I know that is an opportunity is using digital marketing not to necessarily get direct referrals, but using digital marketing to connect with potential referral partners and opportunities. and build your esteem that way.

Speaker 1

04:44 - 05:16

And that's the way that it does take longer, but I think it's absolutely in flow. I think being able to kind of leverage and use the podcast to be able to create connections and relationships is exactly like right in par with who I am and what I want to ultimately be with that connection broker, you know, mindset that I was talking about. I'm looking forward to this because I thought this was going to be the next step of the thing that I was going to do, but maybe it should have been the first step. But frankly, who knows within those first five months or so if I would have had the bandwidth to do that.

Speaker 1

05:16 - 05:34

So needless to say, I'm here now. I'm looking a lot more into what this process looks like, where I'm going to be. really thinking strategically as much as I can around my next steps. And yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to everything that's going to happen, what it looks like, and then just taking it from there.

Speaker 1

05:34 - 05:52

So I've got to go hop on a podcast, do some birthday things later on, hopefully catch a nap or some good sleep somewhere in between. That's really the best thing that I would like for my birthday gift. As much as I love my son singing, I think he

IAM2540 – Speed Up Your Franchise Journey!

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 06:16:07 -0400

In this special episode, Gresham Harkless reflects on the importance of maintaining momentum and acting with speed in business.

Gresham shares insights from a recent call with a potential client tied to a traditional franchise brand, which highlighted major gaps in digital marketing and innovation, areas where many franchisors still fall short.

This experience emphasizes a clear gap in the market and reaffirms Gresham’s belief that there's a real opportunity to support and add value in this space.

Gresham recognizes that staying active, testing ideas with low risk, and leveraging networking groups are essential steps forward.

Blue Star Franchise: http://bluestarfranchise.com
Browse the Franchise Inventory: https://bluestarfranchise.com/franchise
Is franchising right for you? Check this out to see: http://bluestarfranchise.com/assessment
Franchise CEO (A CBNation Site – coming soon) – http://franchiseceo.co

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Intro 00:01

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:29

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO Podcast.

And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet, so to speak. I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to document my journey into starting what is now called Blue Star Franchise.

We're also going to do a kind of sub site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that.

But just wanted to give you a little bit more insight, give you a little bit more color in some of the aspects of why I'm actually doing this.

I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.

But frankly, if you're starting anything, any type of business, I think it's really cool to kind of just even see the journey and how it's been going from there.

So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the, from the first couple of videos that have been created.

But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube, check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where we're going to post this.

So I'll have that information that's available to you. But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing.

The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build and needs you to be your unique self.

So make sure to run your own race, because nobody can run your race like you. This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Day 202 of the Franchise Broker journey. And today is like a reminder of making sure that I'm moving faster.

[restrict paid=”true”]

But I actually had a call with a potential client who has a franchise who actually came across largely because of this.

And this is one of the benefits that I thought I saw from being able to kind of be in this space a little bit more and learn a little bit more or even from a marketing perspective I feel like there's a there's a gap there.

Unfortunately, this brand is very old school it seems and that was kind of disheartening to ultimately see because they may not allow the innovation amongst the franchisees.

So this Zor, from what I looked at, doesn't invest a lot into digital marketing is not really there.

And I think looking at what I've seen, from my perspective, they're, they're not doing really well there.

So it's going to be of the utmost importance to try to leverage, things like social media, try to also be able to leverage other parts, because just on a quick look, I saw that there was a tremendous amount of gaps, from the brand standpoint.

But, I'm continuing to kind of look and see, what this looks like from a franchise broker standpoint.

But I think the thing and the revelation that I've had more than anything else is that you have to move fast in business.

Like, I don't care if you're a Zor, I don't care if you're a Z, I don't care if you're a business owner, you want to move fast, that that speed is going to be super helpful.

And to be able to do that at a low risk standpoint is going to be the biggest thing.

So if you can do something, you can move fast and you can hopefully gauge how things go and then move on from there.

That's going to be the best opportunity for success. So with that being said, I'm super excited to kind of just see how everything comes to fruition and what it ultimately looks like.

I definitely want to continue to kind of build relationships and connections with people.

I think by going back into the networking groups, it's going to allow me to give that foundation.

And based on the pivot that I want to make, I wanted to try to, get some things rolling. They haven't rolled as fast as I thought they would.

But I think definitely, at this standpoint, I would have been looking into maybe going through training, probably would have been finished maybe by the end of the month at training if I was starting, a little bit later and then just kind of go from there.

But, I'm continuing to kind of see what can be done, what I can ultimately do, where the opportunities lie.

But I think that speed is definitely the name of the game, as John Madden used to say on the Madden game. The more you can move fast, the more you can make adjustments quicker, the better off you're going to be.

So that's kind of like where I'm at. I need to get back to doing that a lot more. I kind of got, a little bit stuck in where I was and we'll see how everything goes and just ultimately kind of take it from there.

Please let me know if there's anything I could do to help. And of course, looking forward to giving you more and more updates.

Outro 04:52

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.

IAMCEO Podcast Transcript

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Speaker 1

00:01 - 00:28

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Grist values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I Am CEO Podcast.

Speaker 1

00:29 - 00:38

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I Am CEO podcast. And this is a special episode of our I Am CEO podcast. And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet, so to speak.

Speaker 1

00:38 - 01:01

I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to document my journey into starting what is now called Blue Star Franchise. We're also going to do a kind of subcite within CB Nation called a franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that. But I just want to give you a little bit more insight, give you a little bit more color in some of the aspects of why I'm actually doing this, because one of the things I was doing as I was going through training to start up this new business

Speaker 1

01:01 - 01:22

was realizing and hearing from the founder of FBA, the Franchise Brokers Association, that it'd be really cool to document your journey. going through and building this out. I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously, for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises. But frankly, if you're starting anything, any type of business, I think it's really cool to kind of just even see the journey and how it's been going from there.

Speaker 1

01:22 - 01:37

So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the from the first couple of videos that have been created. But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube. Check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where we're going to post this. So I have that information that's available to you.

Speaker 1

01:37 - 01:49

But Regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing. The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build. It needs you to be your unique self. So make sure to run your own race because nobody can run your race like you.

Speaker 1

01:49 - 02:00

This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day. Day 202 of the Franchise Broker journey. And today is like a reminder of making sure that I'm moving faster.

Speaker 1

02:00 - 02:43

I think that so many times when you get in a place and sometimes things are working, sometimes they're not working, you get in this like, uncertainty where you're not sure what action to take and that's why it's really cool to see something related to franchising but I actually had a call with a potential client who has a franchise who actually came across largely because of this and this is one of the benefits that I thought I saw from being able to kind of be in this space a little bit more and learn a little bit more or even from a marketing perspective I feel like there's a there's a gap there. Unfortunately this brand is very old school it seems and that was kind of disheartening to ultimately see because they may not allow the innovation amongst the franchisees.

Speaker 1

02:43 - 03:12

So this Zor, from what I looked at, doesn't. invest a lot into digital marketing is not really there. And I think looking at what I've seen, you know, from my perspective, they're, they're not doing really well there. So it's going to be of the utmost importance to try to leverage, you know, things like social media, try to also be able to leverage other parts, because just on a quick look, I saw that there was a tremendous amount of gaps, you know, from the brand standpoint.

Speaker 1

03:12 - 03:34

But, you know, I'm continuing to kind of look and see, you know, what this looks like from a franchise broker standpoint. But I think the thing and the revelation that I've had more than anything else is that you have to move fast in business. Like, I don't care if you're a Zor, I don't care if you're a Z, I don't care if you're a business owner, you want to move fast, that that speed is going to be super helpful. And to be able to do that at a low risk standpoint is going to be the biggest thing.

Speaker 1

03:34 - 03:55

So if you can do something, you can move fast and you can hopefully gauge how things go and then move on from there. That's going to be the best opportunity for success. So with that being said, I'm super excited to kind of just see how everything comes to fruition and what it ultimately looks like. I definitely want to continue to kind of build relationships and connections with people.

Speaker 1

03:55 - 04:21

I think by going back into the networking groups, it's going to allow me to give that foundation. And based on the pivot that I want to make, I wanted to try to, you know, get some things rolling. They haven't rolled as fast as I thought they would. But I think definitely, you know, at this standpoint, I would have been looking into maybe going through training, probably would have been finished maybe by the end of the month at training if I was starting, you know, a little bit later and then just kind of go from

Speaker 1

04:21 - 04:38

there. But You know, I'm continuing to kind of see what can be done, what I can ultimately do, where the opportunities lie. You know, but I think that speed is definitely the name of the game, as John Madden used to say on the Madden game. The more you can move fast, the more you can make adjustments quicker, the better off you're going to be.

Speaker 1

04:38 - 04:49

So that's kind of like where I'm at. I need to get back to doing that a lot more. I kind of got, you know, a little bit stuck in where I was and we'll see how everything goes and just ultimately kind of take it from there. Please let me know if there's anything I could do to help.

Speaker 1

04:49 - 05:07

And of course, looking forward to giving you more and more updates. Thank you for listening to the IMCEO podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at imceo.co. IMCEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.

Speaker 1

05:08 - 05:24

Want to level up your business even more? Read blogs, listen to podcasts, and watch videos at CBNation.co. Also, check out our I Am CEO Facebook group. This has been the I Am CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr.

Speaker 1

05:25 - 05:26

Thank you for listening.

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