Ty Givens: Building a Business That Outlasts You

What does it really take to build a business that outlasts you? In this episode of Unpacked with Ron Harvey, host Ron Harvey sits down with Ty Givens, MBA, a customer experience consultant, operator, and founder with 26 years in the CX space. Ty pulls the curtain back on the unglamorous realities of entrepreneurship and the mindset shifts that kept her in the game when quitting felt like the easier option.

From getting stiffed by her first non-paying client to building the systems that freed her from being her company's only source of truth, Ty offers honest, practical lessons for entrepreneurs, support leaders, and anyone navigating growth without a roadmap. She and Ron trade hard-won wisdom on resilience, discipline, and why the success stories you see online rarely tell the whole story.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

• Why launching a website doesn't make the phone ring, and what actually drives client decisions
• The mindset shift that turned "I quit" into "quitting is not an option"
• How Ty escaped the solopreneur trap by building processes, GPTs, and a team she trusts
• Why she hires for integrity and critical thinking above raw skill, and back-channels every reference
• How "coopetition" beats competition in a market big enough for everyone
• The truth about goal-setting when your real metric is outperforming yourself
• Why she productized her services and got selective about the clients she takes on
• A first look at Reality Check, her new app built from 24 CX playbooks for support leaders

Whether you're on the fence about going out on your own or scaling a team you can finally step away from, this episode delivers the kind of real talk social media never shows. As Ty puts it: you can do difficult things.

Connect with Ron
Just Make A Difference: Leading Under Pressure by Ron Harvey

“If you don’t have something to measure your growth, you won’t be self-aware or intentional about your growth.”

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Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any organization or entity. The information provided in this podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice. Listeners should consult with their own professional advisors before implementing any suggestions or recommendations made in this podcast. The speakers and guests are not responsible for any actions taken by listeners based on the information presented in this podcast. The podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice or services. The speakers and guests make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in this podc...

Transcript

Welcome And Meet Ty Givens

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Unpack Podcast with your host, Leadership Consultant, Ron Harvey of Global Core Strategies and Consulting. Ron believes that leadership is the fundamental driver towards making a difference. So now, to find out more of what it means to unpack leadership, here's your host, Ron Harvey.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Well, good afternoon, everyone. This is Ron Harvey. I'm the Vice President, the Chief Operating Officer for Global Core Strategies and Consulting. Today we always pause and do and record an episode of Unpack with Ron Harvey, where we invite guests from around the world, all industries, all walks of life, to share their leadership journey and experience with you. I will tell you that it's called Unpack because we don't know what we're going to talk about other than leadership. We're going to have fun. We won't keep you more than 20 minutes, but we do want to add value. So I'm excited. So sit back, relax. I'm going to invite our guest to the microphone. She's going to introduce herself and we're going to dive in. So, Ty, let me hand you the microphone.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

All right, thank you so much. Hi everybody, my name is Ty Givens, and I am a, I guess technically customer experience consultant, but that's kind of slightly misleading because I consider myself more of an operator or practitioner. I do a lot of the hands-on work along with my team. Been in this space 26 years, which is weird to say, but it's my truth. And I have gone from, you know, frontline answering phone calls and emails to running the back-end operations of support teams. And that's kind of like my sweet spot. About uh 10 years ago, I went out on my own, founded my own agency. And so we focus on helping customers or excuse me, businesses engage with their customers in the most impactful and beneficial way. And sometimes that is using the right technology, introducing them to what is new in the industry. I mean, everyone's talking about AI, um, and just really helping them to build a foundation that they can scale from. So that's a little bit about me.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

Well, thank you for sharing and sharing your business experience. You've been in the game for a little while. Um, and I'll start off. You know,

Hard-Won Entrepreneurship Lessons

SPEAKER_01 2:10

what what are some things that you've learned the hard way by being an entrepreneur? We have a lot of entrepreneurs that listen. We have corporate people that listen. And sometimes we make it look easier than it really is, Ty. Um, but what are some things that you tell people that are listening to entrepreneurs that are like on the fence, like, man, do I keep this or do I get a WT?

SPEAKER_02 2:27

Listen, okay. It's funny you say that. Um, I love that this is just ad hoc and we talk about whatever. I have I I actually completed an app yesterday that I built. Um and along the way, um, I started writing notes to myself about that journey and how crazy I absolutely have to be to do that. Yes. It was crazy. Um, so as an entrepreneur, the first lesson that I learned is that building a website does not equate to customers. I think naively, I was like, I'm gonna start a website, everyone's gonna find me, and they're gonna be like, Yes, I want to work with that person. And that didn't happen.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

Um yeah, that phone doesn't ring because you got a website.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

Right. I I really thought, but this was you know, late in the year, I was like, that's all it takes, right? Um, and that's an example that you um that when you mentioned like you make it look easy, other companies make it look easy. I'm like, I find websites all the time and I become a customer. It doesn't work that way. Um, there's all kinds of psychological things that go on on a website that make you want to interact that you're not even aware of. Um the other thing is that um I didn't know how to communicate why, like the value of what I did. Um, and because I'm an operator and a practitioner, I still talk a lot about how I do the work, which I need to switch and talk about outcomes and values. So that would be my advice to any entrepreneur. Um if you're somebody who gives up easily, this life is not for you. Uh you gotta have a little bit of the long game. I mean, you gotta you gotta keep going when you don't even see what could possibly be. Um, you have to have a certain passion and grit that um sustains you even on the days when you're eating top ramen because those days will come. So yeah, I just think it's about um it's high highs and low lows, but if you are in it for the right reasons, you'll you'll write the way.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

I I I love that you, you know, um, and like I said, it's unpack and and and people know on the show that you know the questions come from whatever they say, and I try to unpack some of that to bring some real life to to what you see because social media has hype, like everybody's doing well. It's a lie. Everybody's not doing well. Uh so social media is it please don't get caught up in in what people are posting on social media. Um, or TV makes it look easy, or it feels like every it's it's it's difficult, it's achievable. But when you think about the the toughest moment that you've had being an entrepreneur, what was it and how did you overcome it?

SPEAKER_02 5:14

Um,

The Unpaid Client And Resilience

SPEAKER_02 5:15

it was the first time that I ever had a client not pay me for services. Yes. Um, and that was at the end of 2017. Um, you know, you when you're starting out, again, you're right, social media makes everything look easy. Um, I thought that I had a good structure. I also thought that people honored their word and their contracts and things like that, and learned that the hard way, but um ended up in a situation where I delivered a service and the client just went cold on me. And so it was hard because at that time I was financially strapped. And I was like, what like I don't know what I'm going to do, literally. Um, but I had I met with uh a lady, um, she has an agency called Concept Bureau and it focuses on like like brand strategy, she's amazing with it. Her name's Jasmine, so I'll tell her about this because I hope she takes a lesson. But she uh I met with her one day before she delivered her uh twin boys, and she told me to um I told her I was gonna quit, and she said quitting is not an option, and once you decide that everything works itself out, and I appreciated that because that's within the mindset that I've taken on since then. So even when things get hard, and they and they do, um, they do. I just decided that quitting's not an option. I didn't get in this is not just something that I'm doing for now, this is what I do. So I have to figure out a way to continue to do what I do.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

Yes, I love it because you know it is what you do. Um, and if quitting is not an option, um, then that means you get to become more resilient and bring more to the table long term um versus just when you get frustrated and it doesn't go well. Um, so thank you for sharing that. For people that are listening, you know, the frame, the mindset, quitting is not an option. Um, and and you hang in there and figure it out.

Owning The Whole Business

SPEAKER_01 7:23

When you start thinking about, you know, you running your own organization, what all are you responsible for other than the product or the service you deliver? Because there's much more than just that thing you do or that thing you serve. This leadership thing I'm talking about. What else are you responsible for in that role?

SPEAKER_02 7:39

Uh, I always say I work in the business and on the business. Um, so in the business is the strategy and consulting for our clients. Yes. Um, anyone who comes through the door, I'm working with my team, I'm building the strategy, then I'm handing it off to our head of client success, and it's her role to bring it to life. And she works with our tech consultant and then other members of the team who help with some of the other work, but she kind of heads it up to make sure that it happens. And if anything goes, you know, off course, then she comes back to me. I rework the strategy, we move forward again. Um, now working on the business, that's um marketing. So it is it well, that's one of the things. There's finance, there's accounting, there's marketing, there's operations. Um, I have to do all of those things. And so I think that I don't think that's talked about enough. Like when um I meet with or talk to other people who are in consulting, um, or starting out, let me say, not so much seasoned people. I think you would you would get this, but someone who's kind of thinking, oh, I'm gonna go out on my own, what they think is that I'm gonna put up a couple videos on LinkedIn or Instagram, and then the clients are gonna knock my door down, and that's all I'm gonna have to worry about. But you know, 10 years in, I made my my mistakes very early, which was I would get a client, focus on that client, that client's project's done, and now I'm like, I need another client. So, one of the things that I learned to do is to um constantly put out content and information, always have something available, always be uh like front of mind because the service that we offer is not one that people are gonna always need, they're gonna need it when they need it. So it's up to me to like be memorable, yes, hopefully. They need it, they are like, Oh, yeah, I remember that one lady who keeps showing up in my feed talking about customer experience. Let me call her. That's ideal.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Yes, I love it because when you become an entrepreneur, you know, they may not be a client for 10 years, they may be a client for for 10 days or 10 months, and you gotta continue to PP. What do you tell

One Boss Becomes Many

SPEAKER_01 9:53

the person that says, hey, you know what? I got this W2, I'm tired of my boss, I'm tired of these nine to five, and I'm going to get I'm gonna start my company so I ain't gotta work for nobody.

SPEAKER_02 10:01

Oh, you know what? I feel like I I've heard that before, and I'm like one boss from many. You go from having one boss to many bosses. The difference though is that you have more control over your time. Yes. Now, you may have less time, but you'll have more control over how that time is utilized. So, for example, I would love to tell you that you know, I operate Monday through Friday. Sure, if you go to the website, you'll see that. But the reality is that I haven't had a day off going on four weeks now because that's just the nature of the work that I do. But the difference is that I'm doing the things that I love and want to be doing. That's I think that's the win. So, one of the reasons why I actually left um being in like running teams directly is because I had responsibility for so many people, and I found that that wasn't actually my niche. I'm more of a builder um and a scaler than I am, someone who wants to kind of like keep things going at steady state. I'm I'm more of a creative mind, so it wasn't for me. But I couldn't find a role that was going to allow me to focus on the operational part, and so I created it. Um, but you know what I'll say though is that if you think for a second that it's going to be easier, that's not it. The thing is, is if it's something that you feel really strongly about and you love doing, then that's the part that you have to focus on because being on your own is not easier. You work harder. Um, sometimes for you know, you get you get paid a whole lot, and then sometimes you don't get paid as much. But if you are doing something that you really enjoy, you know, your passion will sustain you during the low times.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Yes, I love it. I love it. We talk about leadership a lot uh and running an organization is is super important that like what your leadership skills are.

Scaling With Process And AI

SPEAKER_01 11:58

What are some things that you had to develop once you became the owner of the company from a leadership perspective? Where do you where did you have to grow at and how did you do it?

SPEAKER_02 12:06

So um, my and I it's I'm still working on it. I wouldn't sit here and tell you that I got it together. Yeah, anyone from my team will tell you that this is my biggest opportunity. Um, a lot of stuff lives in my head, which is ironic because part of the work that I do for clients every day is to help them get out of their heads. But that's easy. Um I spend all my energy helping them, not helping myself. Um so that what I mean by that is um I have like um we have one of our clients who's been with us coming up on I think three or four years. Um and a lot of things that have happened with them are just in my brain. So when they uh send a message over to us and say, Hey, can you check on this? One of my team members, she's only been with us in September. So when she looks at it, she'll go, Well, they're asking for this, and I'm not sure. And I'm like, oh no, we did that back in blah, blah, blah, or check here. But I didn't give her anything to reference, right? It's just in my head. So one of my opportunities is getting out of being a solopreneur to leading a team of people where I'm not the only source of information. Um, now I'm using and leveraging AI to help with that, and so um we build GPT. So we have our tool um that we use for our um for all of our engagements. And so there's two sources of truth for us there's Slack, and then there's this product called teamwork where all of our projects live. So the GPT is based off of what goes into those two areas. So you can, with some, you know, direction of certainty search to find out like, did we ever do this thing for them? And if so, about when did we do it? Because it'll be documented in either place. But that's it's still a learning. I mean, it's still a learning. It's not it's not something that you just wake up doing. You you you fail a lot and then you realize I gotta do something different.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

Yes, I love it, Ty. I mean, and for those of the listening, what Ty is speaking to is what are your processes? You know, if if you're gonna be there, what's the process that outlives you, outlasts you? And for me as an entrepreneur, you know, I was I fell into the same trap that you fell into, Ty, where everything that was happening, I was the end all, be all, start all. If you needed to know it, come talk to Ron. And that's not a business, that's dangerous. Um, because you know, your clients will pay the price if something ever happens to you. Because if the buck stops with you all the time, that's solopreneur, which is not scalable. Um, and so I had to learn that the hard way. So, those of you that are listening is go back and look at how much are you actually responsible for every day, all day in your company. And if it and if it hits the 45% market higher, you probably need to figure out how do you start getting that out of your head, get it into a database, get into a process, get into a system. Chick-fil-A has a system to get you through that drive-thru in three and a half minutes. Yes, they do, and everybody knows it. Yep, not just the operator, everybody knows that system. Yeah, so the question for us as business owners or leaders in corporate America does everybody understand your processes and systems, and are you being disciplined with them?

SPEAKER_02 15:14

Yeah, being disciplined is a big thing. Like um, we used to do a lot of bespoke services, and as a consultant, that's difficult to do. So now we have more productized services. And I'm even locking it down even more to um really be clear about who we work with and being very selective with the clients that we take on, um, and instead focusing more on um diagnostic work to help people determine where they need to focus. And then if they want us to do it with them and they're a fit, wonderful. But if they uh want to do it on their own, providing additional resources for them to deliver a DIY experience.

SPEAKER_01 15:51

Wow, wow. So you think about your ability to communicate. Let me shift, let me change the question. You know, when you first start your company, it's your baby. Let's

Trust-Based Hiring And Flexibility

SPEAKER_01 16:00

call it. And I tell I say I tell people, be careful to call into that, but people still call it their baby because you know your first kid, man, you don't want to send it to daycare, you you spoiling that kid.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

And I don't have any kids, but I can imagine because of my business. So yes, okay. I think my niece was even closer to the child, and you're right. Like I cry when she goes back to college and she and you know, she's grown. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:26

So how do you how do you when it's when when when you see it as as this thing that it's what you built up, it's all yours, it's your heart, your passion, your dreams, your vision. How do you let other people in?

SPEAKER_02 16:38

You know, I only work with people I trust. Um, I only work with people I trust and people who have the highest integrity. Um, and the reason why is because I don't want to manage people, and I need people who represent like what I would deliver. So I need somebody who can speak in a room when I'm not there, and I feel confident that that person's not going to be misleading, that that person's gonna move with integrity, that that current person is going to uh listen to our clients and treat them with dignity and respect, same way that I would. So that means that when I'm screening for a role, it it takes time. Um, and the resume for me speaks a lot. I do a lot of back channel references because you know I'm pretty connected in the community, so I know a lot of people who know a lot of people. Yes, when I'm talking to the person, what I'm trying to get from them is how authentic are they? Yes, how real are they? Um, and I think that being in a space where I'm working with people that I can trust, that allows me to feel okay when I have to step away or feel okay when I have to leave a decision to someone. My my um one of my favorite things is to say is like, do what makes sense because I've I've already pressure tested your critical thinking. So I know that you know what makes sense. So you don't have to ask me because I wouldn't have you in that seat if I thought you couldn't make that decision. So for me, it's been about working with people that I trust and people who have a vision to be of service to others in this particular way, and also people who want to live a full life at work and at home because I found that some people don't want the flexibility that we offer because it doesn't feel right, it feels weird to them. So, you know, the fact that I don't care if you what time you start the day, as long as your stuff is taken care of, and if you have a meeting, you're on time with clients. That doesn't work for everyone. I thought it was, but it doesn't it doesn't work for everyone. So I think that those are the key things that really matter the most.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

Yeah, some people need to be in structure, and some people can have the flexibility, and you got to know that because it it causes conflict for everyone. So when you think about your growth, you're in you're in business, you've been in business for a while. How important was it for you to do one or two things? You know, have a mentor or coach and be a constant student of learning the business.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

Um, I'm not a good mentor or coach uh haver. Um that might sound terrible, but that's not true. Um because I like to move when I need to move. And so I like I'm not a person who is, I'm not big on meetings or anything like that. Like send me a text message and I'm good. Um, so I don't introvert, it's not my thing. Um, but constantly learning is something that I try to do. Um I I am definitely active in the community as far as like customer experience goes. I need to branch out of that and be more active around not just CX, but like operations in general, um, also marketing, product, these places, these all of these functions are adjacent to the work that we do, and the work that we do impacts all of these spaces. So I feel like I have an opportunity there. Yes, but um for the most part, I'm just you know, I'm I'm trying to stay on top of like what's happening as best I can, um, and juggling trying to be in the past, present, and future and work across people, process, and tech concurrently, which is not easy. Yes, um, but I think I I do a decent job. I mean, there's opportunities, of course. There's always an opportunity to improve, but I think I do a decent job. I try. Yeah, I always rely on my team. Sorry, I rely on my team. Um, one of the guys on my team, uh Jordan, he is uh he always stays on top of like what's happening with any um org that we're partnered with. So he'll like send us a message like, hey, they're getting ready to roll out this or hey, they're changing that. And that enables me to put something together for our previous clients so that they have some information so they they have something they can work off of.

SPEAKER_01 20:43

Yeah, I love it. I love it that you brought that in too, um, because if it's not your sweet spot and it's needed in your business, you you need to hire someone that that you don't have the same thing that you know that they have. So I love it. You got someone that's out there doing it, that's making connections, that's researching, because it's important. I think all of it's needed in the business. That doesn't mean you have to do it.

SPEAKER_03 21:01

Right.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

So what you don't like doing as an entrepreneur, you bet it's important that you find someone in your organization that that doesn't mind doing it. Hire them if they're good at it. So you don't you don't destroy your business uh or not do things that need to be done? Hire someone to do it so they can help you within your business.

Goals Instincts And Work Rhythms

SPEAKER_01 21:18

When you think about you know the where you are now in your business and where you were, how important for as a leader uh of an organization was it for you to set goals and how do you do that? Um honestly, yeah, give us the real deal. Pull that curtain back. Go ahead and let us behind the curtain.

SPEAKER_02 21:36

Go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

All right.

SPEAKER_02 21:37

So I have set goals and forgotten about them.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

Um, I have a little board in my office, and sometimes I'll write something down to kind of like remind myself a lot, and then eventually that just becomes white noise in the background. I don't see it anymore. Um I think that for me, One of the things that's important for me is to continuously outperform myself. And because I'm always outperforming me, the goal is constantly moving. So is the success metric.

SPEAKER_03 22:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

So it's like for me, a goal is a it's a moving thing. It's not a um it's not static.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 22:29

And um a lot of times, like I'll like let's say that I like I'll give you an example. Not that these are goals, but I'll have a task list, right? Of things that I'm like, oh I can't forget to do this, I can't forget to do that, and I'll make a whole list, and then I just start doing things that I need to do. Yes, and then I'll go, oh, that's right. I need to check the list. And I'll look at the list and I've knocked everything out on that list, and I've done a few more things because I'm moving intuitively.

SPEAKER_03 22:57

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 22:57

This sounds weird, but I trust my instincts a lot more than a list. And I trust myself to push me further more than I do whatever I write down.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

Yes. And it's not weird. I think it's important that that um even if it may sound weird to other people, it works for you. And I think that's so important when you're talking to all of us. You know, if you listen to the show, what works for Ron or for Ty may not work for you, and you got to figure out what works for you. What's the recipe for you? That's why we have so many different restaurants with the same meal but a different taste. Yeah, figure out the recipe for how you're gonna operate and what works for you. Um, I'm a morning person. After 9:30 at night, I'm like, yeah, I'm not good at that time. You may not want to give me something that's important. Uh, I am disconnected, disengaged, and probably irritated by that time. But if you wake me up at five o'clock, let's do this. I'm all bells and whistles. And that morning person, like, I wish you go back to bed.

SPEAKER_02 23:46

See, I I call, uh, I get a hit the afternoon slump. So I'm like, I do all my thinking work in the morning. In the afternoon, I always tell them, I'm like, you gotta wait till tomorrow because I don't know what I'm gonna deliver to you. Uh yesterday, funny quick story. I was down in the kitchen and I had um I had a coffee mug with me. I knew I had a coffee mug with me. And then I'm looking for it to refill. I'm like, what did I do? Like, I had no idea where the coffee mug was. I checked the dishwasher, I'm like, okay, my kitchen's tiny. There, it couldn't have disappeared. I'm like, I feel crazy, I'm not gonna worry about it. Later on in the day, I go downstairs, get ready to eat something, I warm up some food, open the microwave, I had put the cup in the microwave. When did I do that? And I said, I need a break. And so yesterday I made myself leave and go take my quick little walk and get some sun because I was like, you need it, because you, ma'am, you've lost your mind. That's what happened when it's gone. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:42

Yes, I tell you, unpack. You don't know what you're gonna hear, but we're gonna we're gonna pull the curtain back. We're gonna take because often we we make it feel like you gotta have it all together, you got all the answers, and life is perfect, and uh life happens. But what we figured out is how to navigate it when it does happen. How important is it for you to you know for you to have a circle of people that you can validate or invalidate stuff

Reality Check Playbooks And Community

SPEAKER_01 25:03

with? Um, because you may be thinking this thing, do you have anybody that you bounce ideas off of?

SPEAKER_02 25:07

Yeah, um, yeah, quite a few people actually. And I the reason why I laughed when you asked that is because um, so I've I I the app I mentioned that I'm working on or it's going into beta now, but it's called Reality Check. And um it's actually a tool that I developed for support leaders who are in that same exact spot where let's say that you are, and I I only know customer experience. So if anyone's like that happens everywhere, I have no idea. I've never worked in rural. So if it does, I I believe you because I I you know I get it. But um, so on support, like let's say that you join a startup, um, and say you're 20 years old, 21 years old, you join a startup, and you become the star because you are really engaging with customers, they love you, you're getting all of these kudos and things like that. From the outside, the CEO might see, oh, Ty is really good with customers. I'm gonna promote her to manager. Now I'm the support manager and I'm responsible for direct reports because I was good with the customers, but our CSAT's tanking, we've got all these negative reviews online, and all these things are happening, and I don't know what to do because I've never been in this position before. And I'm also afraid to ask for help because when I go to my boss who's a CEO and say, I need help, they're saying that's what you're here for. So I don't have anybody that I can really go to. Now there are communities and things like that, but for the most part, some people are embarrassed to say, I don't know. So what I did with reality check, I had developed 24 playbooks, they've been around for about a year, still working on new ones. But I took the essence of those playbooks and put it into this app. So basically, what a person can do now is when they feel like they're not sure about what to do next, they can run a reality check. And so, for example, our CSAT's tanking, I don't know what's going on, like how can I bring us, you know, get us out of it? You can ask that question and it's gonna look into the playbooks that I've created and it's gonna say, in order to pull yourself out of that, you need this, this, this, this, and this. And you can say, Well, how do I do it? It's gonna say, This is how you do it, because I've already done the playbook for you. So I've created that for other people. I have spaces and communities of people that I talk to all the time that help me validate, you know, am I on the right path or am I doing the right thing? Um, and I think that that just comes over time. I work, um, or I should say I connect with a lot of other consultants because I don't believe in competition. I know that might sound weird, but I don't I think what's for you is for you, and that's just that on that. So I'll work with another consultant, I'll help them. They help me, it's not a problem. Um, so I kind of have a community of people in space where I can talk about um things that I'm trying to develop or gaps or concerns in the area to validate whether or not you know we're doing what we need to do.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

I love it, Ty. I mean, and and I um the the the part of I don't have competition is is the same philosophy I live by as well. And so all of you that are listening, it me and Ty are on the same page on that one. Um, simply because I believe my competition, um, if if that's what they want to call themselves, I call it co-opetition. I cooperate with my people that call themselves competition. I like it. Um, because it because there's the world is big enough, and I think we can do more. Um, I'm not intimidated or threatening. I hope I'm not intimidating or threatening anyone about how good they may be. I've gotten better by being alongside someone that's good, right? Right. I they've made me better because I like, oh, that's what Ty doing. I gotta figure this out. I mean, so it it nudges me, it pushes me, it encourages me to not get comfortable or complacent because if you do as an entrepreneur or as a leader, you'll find yourself on the sidelines really, really quick. Yeah, complacency will hurt you.

SPEAKER_02 28:51

Yeah, and listening to podcasts helps because um you don't have you know, they they say take what resonates, leave the rest. Sometimes you'll listen in and you'll hear something, you're like, you know what, that's not a bad idea. And um, and it'll it'll kind of like kind of spark your interest. Like when I first started, um, my company was called the Workforce Pro. This was back in 2016. I used to listen to NPR, how I built this. And when I would listen to that, the reason why I listened to it is because it was a lot of stories of failure. Yes, and I think that because, like you said, social media, which is a farce, gives us all these success stories. Nobody really talks about when they dropped the ball or when they failed. And this particular podcast really did focus on like the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. And I was like, oh, so I don't think they do it anymore, it's old, but it was it was helpful at the time.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

Yes, yes, yes.

Final Advice And How To Connect

SPEAKER_01 29:39

Well, Ty, it's been great. I mean, you shared a lot of great information. Um, I love the energy. Um, what would you leave people with that are listening? Um, so so one good nugget, and then can you give us your contact information? What's the best way to reach you and why should they call you so they can use your services?

SPEAKER_02 29:54

Yeah, so if I'm really being with one thing, remember that you can do difficult things. Yes. Remember that you can do difficult things, you don't have to like it, you just gotta get through it. Um, and I'm reminding myself of that every day. You know, I can do difficult things, you can do difficult things. Um, why should you call me? Well, if you are in a space where your business is scaling and you have more customers than you can handle, but you don't want to throw all of your additional revenue at people, that's the sweet spot that we sort of operate in.

SPEAKER_03 30:29

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 30:30

Um, and again, we have lots of resources. There's a lot that's done for you, or done um, or you can do it yourself. And you can visit um cxcollective advantage.com. That's where the um the do-it yourself um options are. And I always start there because I don't know everybody's budget. But if you get to the point where you want something done for you, cxcollective.com is the right place to go to.

SPEAKER_01 30:58

Wow, yes, yes, yes. So they can find you on your website. Are you also on LinkedIn if people want to go there and find you?

SPEAKER_02 31:03

Yeah, I am on LinkedIn and I'm very vocal on LinkedIn. Um so it's Ty Gibbons, but Ty Gibbons slash, um, sorry, Ty Gibbons comment M B A, but the Ty Gibbons has a star in the front. So that's how you know it's me. Um, and uh yeah, please connect.

SPEAKER_01 31:18

Yes, yes, yes. Please, please connect with um with Ty and the work that she's doing. I will tell you it takes an entire community to make it work. Um, and we're business owners. We love to have an opportunity to earn your business. And I say that sincerely, like we want to earn it. Um, and and I think both of us want to create partnerships um with organizations, so it's long-term for both of us. Um, you can find me on LinkedIn and you can find us on our webpage, you know, for Global Course Strategies and Consulting. And if you know someone that you think will be a great guest, um, you've listened to our podcast and you realize that someone has some value to add to our audience, please send them our way. We'd love to have them on. Um, we will screen them and make sure that they understand we're talking leadership, we're transparent, we like to have fun, but we want to add value. So if you know someone that'll be a great guest, we love that too. Thank y'all for hanging in with Ty and I today um on this version of Unpack with Ron Harvey. Um, and until next time, Ty and I will sign off and tell you thank you. Hope you enjoyed the podcast and come back and join us every single Monday.

SPEAKER_00 32:14

Well, we hope you enjoyed this edition of Unpack Podcast with leadership consultant Ron Harvey. Remember to join us every Monday as Ron Unpacks Sound Advice, providing real answers for real leadership challenges. Until next time, remember to add value and make a difference where you are for the people you serve. Because people always matter.