0:04

Welcome to the front runner podcast with your hosts Ray Mayfield and Tiara

0:06

Jones to engineers more from

0:09

coworkers to in laws. And now

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business partners, creating a

0:13

safe space to be open and honest

0:13

about what it really takes to

0:16

start or run a business.

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We know it's easier said than done. But you were built for this and you are not

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alone. Join us each week to hear

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stories, lessons learned and

0:22

strategies from trusted advisors

0:26

and new and seasoned

0:26

entrepreneurs on how to endure

0:29

the marathon entrepreneurship.

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Peace yall it's Ray.

0:41

Hey, it's Tiara.

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And thank you guys, for joining us down another great episode. So Tiara,

0:44

what are we going to talk about

0:47

today?

0:48

So today we're

0:48

talking about just like how it

0:50

takes a village to raise a child

0:50

take the village to grow a

0:53

business start and grow a

0:53

business. Okay, facts,

0:56

facts, facts,

0:56

facts. No doubt

0:59

I know we have this

0:59

term solopreneur and, you know,

1:03

yes, there's, there's valid

1:03

however, yeah, nobody is out

1:07

here doing this alone, okay? I

1:07

don't care who you are, you can

1:11

not get through this solo, okay.

1:11

You know, there's different, you

1:15

know, you may not have an

1:15

official team behind you, things

1:19

help you out, but you have your

1:19

unofficial team and what we like

1:22

to call, you know, your Winner's

1:22

Circle, that's gonna be there to

1:26

really, you know, be there to

1:26

get you through it.

1:28

Yeah, absolutely.

1:28

Now, me know, your, your, your

1:31

ideas inside you bounce them off

1:31

of people. That's just that's

1:34

part of your Winner's Circle.

1:34

And the only a trusted few can

1:37

make it in that circle, maybe

1:37

once you in there, it's like the

1:39

mafia may only be out to death,

1:39

but not really. So you really

1:43

have to look at it from that

1:43

perspective, right. It's a, you

1:46

know, some struggle with pride,

1:46

not wanting to ask people for

1:49

help in in a burn themselves out

1:49

to a point where they know they

1:51

fall apart, their bodies get

1:51

sick. You know, don't be afraid

1:55

to ask for help. Don't be afraid

1:55

to bring real people around you

1:57

who are going to be open and

1:57

honest with you at all times.

2:00

Definitely an important part to

2:00

keeping you grounded as you

2:03

grow, will also for them to help

2:03

feed feed, you know, maybe even

2:07

direct you and give you some advice along the way.

2:09

Exactly. And like

2:09

your team, you got to think

2:11

about different people are going

2:11

to offer different things to

2:14

you. So you're not going to use

2:14

one person, to be your sounding

2:17

board to be the one, you know,

2:17

that's gonna give you the

2:20

constructive criticism, like all

2:20

those things, I think there's a

2:24

moment where you're going to

2:24

have different people for

2:27

different reasons. And so you're

2:27

going to have that person that,

2:29

you know, you can bounce ideas

2:29

off of, or someone that's been

2:32

in your industry and have gone

2:32

down that path, and then you're

2:34

going to have people that's, you

2:34

know, just sole purpose is going

2:38

to be an intercessor to pray on

2:38

your behalf. They may not know

2:41

anything about business, but

2:41

they can pray for you. Okay,

2:45

they can be there, you know, in

2:45

your corner, you can go with

2:48

them, no matter the time, you

2:48

know, I know, Sis in our good

2:53

friend, Jules, always talk about

2:53

your 3am friend, you know, that

2:56

three am in person that you can

2:56

call when you can't get a prayer

2:58

through somebody else, you need

2:58

that type of person, like in

3:02

your circle, and then you know,

3:02

the one that can, that's not

3:05

afraid to tell you like it is

3:05

because pretty much you know

3:08

that in many ways that is Ray to

3:08

me, he's, he's just gonna be

3:11

blunt about it. About me about

3:11

myself. Yeah, yeah. That's just

3:16

gonna gonna say it. So the other

3:16

things that people may be

3:18

thinking about us, with, with us

3:18

to each other, we just going to

3:23

say it. Sometimes it's not gonna

3:23

come out in the nicest way. But

3:25

we know that we mean it from a

3:25

place of love

3:30

my spirit rang when you say, it's not going to come out a nice way. To know,

3:32

you sharp now. But yeah, yo,

3:39

ttt, you know, hit all some very

3:39

critical points there, right?

3:42

The Winner's Circle the prayer

3:42

that right people really need to

3:45

bounce ideas off, you know,

3:45

those who are going to be that,

3:48

you know, that that sandpaper?

3:48

For your rough idea to smooth

3:51

things out? Very important. You

3:51

know, it's, it's, it's needed,

3:56

right? I mean, just think about

3:56

it, right? You know, where would

3:58

the world be if everyone's lied

3:58

to each other, and then, you

4:02

know, keep it real, and help

4:02

shape your long way, especially

4:04

those within your circle, man,

4:04

it's a tough place to be tough

4:06

to be

4:06

exactly. And then you kind of need those people that are in different

4:08

industries. And that can in the

4:12

first, you know, we kind of talked about a thing on the last episode, talking about

4:13

different, you know, bartering

4:17

services, you know, with other

4:17

entrepreneurs and things like

4:20

that. You don't want to just

4:20

stay with people that's in your

4:23

industry, but you want to get to

4:23

know, other people that are

4:26

doing other things that you have

4:26

no idea how to do and maybe you

4:29

don't want to do. And so you can

4:29

not only, you know, barter, but

4:33

also invest in them. Invest in

4:33

your business by investing in

4:37

their business and supporting so

4:37

that I mean, that's huge for us,

4:41

you know, looking within, you

4:41

know, our local networks and

4:44

things like that and be like, okay, we don't want to do this for ourselves. Who can we go to,

4:45

and be a blessing to them, you

4:50

know, really, and so they can

4:50

back and be a blessing to us.

4:53

And so we're always the ones

4:53

we're not looking for handouts.

4:56

We're not looking for discounts

4:56

or anything like that. We want

4:58

to be a blessing we are huge givers. That's One thing that, um, that was important to both

5:00

of us starting in this business,

5:03

we are very good, you know, or

5:03

it's very important to us to be

5:07

givers. And so in the sense,

5:07

like, No, we will pay full

5:11

price, we know you know what you

5:11

offer, we know that you're good

5:13

or whatever. Right, but to grow,

5:13

absolutely, because you know, if

5:17

you sow into good ground is

5:17

going to come back to you. And

5:19

so making sure that you're

5:19

networking outside of your

5:23

industry, and so you can not

5:23

only help yourself, but help

5:27

others that are coming along and

5:27

be like, hey, do you know

5:30

someone that does X, Y, and Z,

5:30

we like actually I do. And so

5:33

because I mean, there's enough

5:33

work, there's enough, you know,

5:36

clients, customers, all that out

5:36

there for all of us. And you

5:40

know, even for people that are

5:40

in your same industry, still

5:43

network with them as well, because there may be opportunities where, you know,

5:45

there's maybe a customer that

5:49

needs a large order, or you're

5:49

doing a contract together, and

5:53

you don't have you know, all the

5:53

resources to support it, but you

5:55

still, you know, want to be

5:55

involved in it, then you can

5:58

partner and go in together and

5:58

so don't be the one to just be

6:02

like, Nah, I'm not about to work

6:02

with them, because they're my

6:04

competition. Yeah, if it doesn't

6:04

work out that way,

6:07

but there's no competition, right? So you should take every approach

6:09

though, that's, that's the philosophy you have, there's no

6:11

competition outside of yourself.

6:13

Right? You know, you know, we

6:13

talked about, you know, in the

6:16

first episode, introduction

6:16

about, you know, if God gives

6:19

you a vision is yours, you know,

6:19

I'm saying there's no other

6:22

competition out there, stay true

6:22

to you know, the original intent

6:26

and remember the end game and go

6:26

get it. And along the way, you

6:29

know, you're going to you're going to meet people, you're going to need people, whether

6:31

that's, you know, others were in

6:34

the exact same business as you,

6:34

you know, when we did our

6:37

Facebook Live, our good friend,

6:37

Geomyra Pollard, um, you know,

6:41

check out creative creative

6:41

coach for creatives sorry

6:43

Geomyra. She said, you know,

6:43

she, she came from the wedding

6:47

planning industry, and leverages

6:47

another wedding planner to do a

6:51

different business venture

6:51

together. So and she flourshing

6:54

and so think of it from that perspective, right? You know, there's going to be people who

6:56

are in the same industry as you,

6:59

who you may want to partner with

6:59

collaborate with whatever it may

7:03

be, and there's going to be a

7:03

cost benefit to come from it,

7:05

right? That gives that person an

7:05

opportunity to see you as not

7:09

competition, then that gives you

7:09

an opportunity to learn what

7:12

makes them tick, and then share

7:12

game with them, which in the end

7:14

will make you better, sharper,

7:14

stronger, smarter, faster, all

7:17

that good stuff, right. So you

7:17

know, just just be just be

7:20

fluid, right? And be be be open

7:20

vessel mesh, you can get fed,

7:24

most definitely.

7:24

And know that, you know, God has

7:26

is always making provisions, and

7:26

he has made the provisions

7:29

before you even decided to, you

7:29

know, go down this road. And so,

7:33

don't be the one that, you know,

7:33

says no to someone that God has,

7:38

you know, strategically place

7:38

for you to say yes to, you know,

7:41

to help you out. And so there's

7:41

just making sure that you're,

7:44

you know, staying close to him,

7:44

and knowing who was he setting

7:47

down your path in order to help

7:47

you instead of just saying, Nah,

7:50

I got this, I'm a solopreneur,

7:50

or whatever, I'm gonna do this

7:53

on my own, that is not really

7:53

the meaning of that word. And so

7:56

just be open, to accept the help

7:56

that God has placed, you know,

8:01

for you to get things done,

8:01

because God's not gonna, you

8:04

know, get us to or, you know,

8:04

give us the purpose, or to do

8:09

something that he hasn't

8:09

already, you know, made

8:12

provisions for that he's already

8:12

haven't set a path down. So you

8:15

have the resources that you'll

8:15

have the people that He who will

8:19

make the time available, He'll

8:19

make the finances, you know,

8:22

there for you to utilize. And He

8:22

also is going to put those

8:25

people in place, there's going to be people that you would have never thought of I mean, look at

8:27

me and break. Yeah, I didn't

8:30

think about this. But even back

8:30

when, when I was interviewing

8:33

straight out of college, He had

8:33

all of this in mind. And he was

8:36

already making those previous

8:36

provisions. So just thought,

8:38

just think if I was to have the

8:38

if I would have said yes to that

8:44

other job. Look at Oh, you know,

8:44

how much I could have missed out

8:47

on. So yes, God could have

8:47

still, you know, took me down a

8:50

different route where I we kind

8:50

of still got here, but it may

8:53

have taken longer or things

8:53

might not have happened like

8:55

they were supposed to. And so

8:55

there's so many things that we

8:58

don't see down the road. So we

8:58

just have to be very sensitive

9:02

to God's voice in what he's

9:02

doing. And like, really just

9:05

trust him. When He says

9:05

something be like, I don't know,

9:07

God, no, just trust Him. And I

9:07

know, it's hard, but just drag

9:11

him.

9:11

Yeah, stay faithful man. I mean, you know, just just remember man, like,

9:13

you know, the, nothing, nothing

9:17

worth having comes easy. You

9:17

know, I mean, there's, there's

9:19

going to be challenges along the

9:19

way. You know, just to stay true

9:23

to a man you're going to, you're

9:23

going to go through the highs

9:25

and lows, you're going to ride the roller coaster, all those crazy sayings. But at the end of

9:27

the day, you know, God's plan

9:31

for using it for you. He's gonna

9:31

bring people around, they're

9:33

gonna he's gonna bring both

9:33

people around people that help

9:36

you and people to distract you.

9:36

Right, you know, so stay stay

9:39

sharp in that regard. And, you

9:39

know, never never hesitate to

9:42

network locally, on, you know,

9:42

look at other opportunities that

9:45

are out there. Like Google is my

9:45

friend. You know, if there's a

9:49

dominance or hurdle, no matter

9:49

what it may be, I can always

9:52

type in in Google and find

9:52

something that I helped me or a

9:55

point of contact to call or just

9:55

look at my Rolodex and ask a

9:59

friend if they know anybody who's dealing with this, you know, there's there's multiple

10:00

avenues of approach to get the

10:04

answers you need. Just don't be

10:04

too prideful to leverage any or

10:09

all of them for a few for sure.

10:11

Absolutely. And people make the difference, I know want to raise favorite

10:13

books is good to great. And it

10:17

really just breaks down how

10:17

people are like the backbone of

10:22

the foundation of your business,

10:22

like you could have the best

10:26

plan, you can have all the

10:26

money. But if you don't have

10:29

the, the people around you, or

10:29

you know, working with you, the

10:33

right people working with you,

10:33

around you, everything can go

10:36

down, hill quickly. And so it's

10:36

so, so important to really have,

10:42

you know, good solid people

10:42

around you. And that's why you

10:45

know, our whole motto is stay

10:45

solid. And just be consistent,

10:49

you know, and who you are, and

10:49

be there, be there for yourself

10:52

and be there for the people around you.

10:54

Yeah, absolutely. Man, you know, you want to have like minded individuals who

10:56

share your vision, I'm along for

11:00

the ride those who really wants

11:00

to really help you succeed as

11:03

much as possible, but it's not

11:03

as you succeed you helping each

11:05

other. Exactly. Um, so you know,

11:05

just keep that in mind, man, it

11:08

definitely takes a village, when

11:08

you're looking at starting

11:11

running and managing your own

11:11

business. When you look at you

11:14

know, you can't you can't be the

11:14

CEO, COO, President, Vice

11:19

President, PM, you can't do it

11:19

all. So there's, something's got

11:22

to share. So you know, just be

11:22

confident, know your role. Make

11:27

sure that people who are helping

11:27

you understand their role and

11:30

what's needed for them on a day

11:30

to day basis to and then

11:33

communicate amongst each other.

11:35

Absolutely, it's all about the support system. And so don't look at it as Oh,

11:37

I'm always going to these

11:39

people, ask them for help, you

11:39

know, you're really just going

11:42

to them, as you know, as a

11:42

network, as a family as a, as a

11:46

as a support to what you're

11:46

doing, because you never know,

11:50

when you may be going to them to

11:50

look how to just, you know, vent

11:54

in some senses, sometimes you

11:54

just need to talk it out. And

11:57

you could be helping them

11:57

because you don't know what it

11:59

is that they're dealing with. It

11:59

doesn't even need to be, you

12:02

know, related to business, but

12:02

the way that you're overcoming

12:05

something, or the way that

12:05

you're kind of talking through

12:07

it, and how you're navigating

12:07

through challenges, it could be

12:10

a blessing to them. So, you

12:10

know, think about it in that

12:13

sense on how you continue, you

12:13

can continue to support, you

12:16

know, one another in different

12:16

ways and make an impact.

12:20

Definitely,

12:20

definitely. So, you know,

12:23

there's a passage from a book, I

12:23

just want to read what everybody

12:26

it says there are three types of

12:26

people in the world. There are

12:29

the wills, the wonts, and the

12:29

can'ts. The first accomplish

12:31

everything, the second oppose

12:31

everything, and the third fail

12:34

in everything. And that's by

12:34

Swint Martin. So, you know,

12:38

remember that take that approach

12:38

and doing all things and be a

12:42

will, not a won't or a can't.

12:42

Alright, thank you guys for

12:44

joining us and we look forward to seeing you next time.

12:47

Peace. Stay solid.