Webinar Replay — She Means Business: Tips for Growth and Resilience

October 2024

· Well, Hello, everyone! I am Rachel Sampson, National Director of Key for Women and Head of Community Banking at Keybank, and I want to welcome you to our program today. October is National Women's Small Business month, a time to recognize and celebrate the achievement of women entrepreneurs

· according to the National association of Women business owners, Nabo. Women-owned businesses are growing at a faster rate than any other segment of the economy.

· As of 2023 women own an estimated 14 million businesses in the United States generate 2.7 trillion in revenue, and employ 12.2 million workers.

· This growth and impact underscores the importance and contribution women and entrepreneurs make to our local and national economies.

· Key for women is on a mission to advocate, connect, and empower women on their journey to financial wellness. We are passionate about helping this community gain access to the experts, solutions, and advice they need to achieve their financial goals and feel confident about their path forward.

· That's why I'm so excited this month for national small business month to celebrate alongside all of these women across our footprint from Maine to Alaska through pitch contests, key for women, forums, local community events, and webinars such as this

· to bring those solutions to our audience and community. And I'm also excited to share that 8 registrants will be selected. Post Webinar, to win a mastercard. Prepaid card, and those winners will be announced. Following our program.

· As always, we want to make this interactive use that chat. Make sure you're connecting with each other, doing business with each other, supporting, encouraging, and ensuring that our networks are what they are, and can be foundational to supporting us in achieving our goals.

· Please make sure you also enter your questions in the chat box for our panelists today, and we'll make sure that we get to as many as possible through our presentation.

· And now, without further ado, I'd like to introduce our talented panel of women leaders for today's conversation.

· 1st up we have Ginger Siegel Ginger is the North America. Small business lead for mastercard. Ginger brings 30 years of industry, leadership, experience as an executive at large, multinational and regional banks in the areas of small business, business, banking and retail, with a focus on strategy and execution payments, treasury management, salesforce and branch optimization

· and revenue growth. She's a frequent speaker at national conferences on the topics of small business and business banking, and has been interviewed by Forbes, Us. News and World Report and U.S.A. Today on these topics her passion is to help clients with overall revenue, growth, customer, acquisition and drive creation of strategy and enable execution. Ginger, welcome to our program.

ginger siegel

03:25

Thanks, so much happy to be here. Rachel.

Rachael Sampson

03:28

Thank you. Next, we have Brenda Abdullah. Brenda is a distinguished authority in leadership, development, and organizational excellence. With her vast experience and unwavering passion. She's become the foremost coach and facilitator dedicated to enhancing the performance of teams and effectiveness of leadership

· as a highly sought after executive leadership. Coach Brenda specializes in working with leaders aiming to enhance their team engagement remarkably over 90% of Brenda's clients successfully tackle their core leadership challenges within just one year of partnering with her. Brenda understands the pressures and uncertainty that present in today's business environment. Welcome, Brenda, to our program.

Brenda Abdilla Executive Coach

04:17

Thank you. Very honored to be here.

Rachael Sampson

04:19

Thank you. And last, but certainly not least, we have Amy Peterson. Amy is co-founder, and CEO of rebel Nell of verified social enterprise and women-owned jewelry company, with a purpose to employ women with barriers to employment and help them. Transition from a life of dependence into self-reliance.

· Living next to one of the city's most well-known shelters gave Amy the unique opportunity to build relationships with many residents. The inspirational stories of the many women shared of overcoming emotional, physical and financial abuse were catalysts for creating rebelnell.

· Amy was adamant about providing women in the shelters an opportunity to lead independent lives. She believes that employment paired with financial literacy, business education, and a focus on life wellness, assist them in regaining the confidence they need to lead them on the path of success, Amy. Welcome to our program.

Amy Peterson

05:20

Honored to be here. Thank you.

Rachael Sampson

05:22

Well, thank you so much. We have such a talented panel today. And I'm so excited for this interactive conversation, I'd like to kick off our conversation, delving into the topic of 1st transitioning right from, as we think about women's small business month, the transition from

· corporate America to entrepreneurship, and

· the many obstacles that we may have to overcome financial uncertainty. Imposter syndrome all the things

· can, Amy. I'm gonna start with you like

· what you know. It's the right thing to do in terms of what you did. But how did you overcome that from turning a passion into a wonderful entrepreneurship? Opportunity.

Amy Peterson

06:05

It's a great question. I mean, I was. I was pursuing my dream job. I came to Detroit pursuing a dream job. I'd always wanted to be the 1st female general manager of Major League baseball team.

· and that's what I set out to do. That's what ultimately brought me to Detroit. I got the opportunity to work for the tigers, and I spent 11 years with them and don't get me wrong. The story is very abbreviated. It was a long road to just even get there. I got a ton of rejection letters, and

· it was a wild ride. But

· I was grateful for the opportunity to come to Detroit, spent 11 years with the Tigers, and

· it was. It was a wonderful learning opportunity. I'm so grateful for it. And this was at the time when I was living next door to the shelter. However, being a woman in the sports industry, you know, it's come a long way, but still at the time. Then it was. It was really challenging, and I was frustrated with

· where I was. And then, you know, parallel, I'm living next door to the shelter. You have also the background of Detroit being in the middle of one of the country's greatest financial bankruptcies, largest financial bankruptcies

· that the country had ever seen. So you know, this is all important part of the the story. So a lot of these women were my friends. I was very active in Detroit. I've always lived in Detroit as long as I've been here.

· and

· you know. But rebel now is a passion project. That's when I started it as I spent I was still working for 5 years. I was running it just as a passion project, but getting to your point of knowing when you know, if

· if you I feel like you know, it's kind of like childbirth, you're never really ready.

· but you can be more prepared in some situations.

· And

· I, while we talk about the Great Leap. And when I did leave, it took me 2 years to really get to that point.

· and I think if people are considering it, you know, there's something about keeping your day job. If you know you want to have

· some stability while you're figuring it out if you can. I know that it's not a perfect scenario for everybody but you, just for me knowing, was that inner tug, and I know that women in particular can relate to that. We have it inside of us, and I was quieting it for years. I was like, Go go away, go away! But then, finally, the tug was so loud I couldn't ignore it anymore. And it just was an obsession. And I finally had reached that point where

· I'd rather try and fail than wonder what if like that was. That was the big catalyst getting comfortable with that

· And then I yeah. Then I then I jumped in 2019.

Rachael Sampson

08:45

I love it, I love it. And, Ginger, when you think about from your perspective, literally, you know, granted, given how your work evolves, and working with various companies that directly serve millions of small business owners. What are some of the characteristics that you see in successful entrepreneurs when they make that leap, or when they're just starting off, and really just wanting to grow and sustain those businesses.

ginger siegel

09:10

Yeah, well, it's a great question. And you know I just have to say, Amy, what a hard act to follow. What just an amazing trajectory. But you know it's interesting, Rachel. I was interviewed for a magazine once, and they asked me to describe myself in one word, and I said, I'm scrappy, and when I speak to small businesses there's a scrappiness that's needed, and there's also a courage that's needed to not apologize for what you're trying to do.

· And I think when I when I meet with entrepreneurs, I do think, and this kind of gets into this whole imposter, syndrome thing. But I really feel that successful entrepreneurs do not apologize for the path they've taken, and it might be a very strange path, and it's not about well, you don't have experience in that. So why do you think you can do that?

· It's about my entire life

· has given me experience that has brought me here, whether it has to do with my business or not. And so I really feel that it's having that courage to tune out everyone all the naysayers, and really believe and be scrappy in what you're doing, and be scrappy in what you believe.

Rachael Sampson

10:26

I love that, and so well said from you and and Amy about

· just how that really aligns the scrappiness, the passion going in. When I think about Brenda coaching these individuals right like that takes a certain amount of Kahunas to get to that point, to say, I don't care. Let me block it all out. There is a lot of noise. How do you coach individuals on how to overcome that.

Brenda Abdilla Executive Coach

10:50

Well, I think 1st of all, let's look at our reality.

· A major bank is

· targeting women and providing a financial opportunity for them to start businesses and to grow their business. So look how far we've come.

· I think the biggest thing that I find with my corporate clients who are making the transition is the mindset. I think we're enculturated to think that our source of income has been our employer. But that's not really true.

· You are your source of income. You've been supporting your family, you've been climbing, you've been educating yourself, you've been learning. And so also, I think we feel this sense of security from having a job job, but there is really no security. You could be eliminated or laid off or riffed tomorrow. And so once you kind of. Get your head around that and decide that you are betting on you.

· And I agree with Amy. Give yourself 2 years right? It's I've started several businesses, service businesses. And each time I think it's going to take 2 months, and it takes like 24 months right of really hard driven work.

· And so to quiet that imposter brain to say, I'm betting on me. I'm going to either work both jobs or I'm going to dip into my savings or whatever, so that I can launch this thing that's important to me, that will give me more flexibility and more personal power in my life.

Rachael Sampson

12:22

I like that, and I'm going to stay with some some of what you talked about right? If we're going from. We thought it was taking 2 months. It really took 24, you know, as Amy mentioned working the job plus starting the business, a lot of that can lead to a lot of burnout. What

· tools do you use to best position yourself and the resources to help you prevent that burnout

· burnout, and also that potentially might limit your growth in the future.

Brenda Abdilla Executive Coach

12:50

If I may.

· community

· community, there are groups of women, the women presidents, organization, 1 million dollar women which is helping women get to a million dollars

· you need to be in a business community. It can be men and women. But why would you learn everything for the 1st time by yourself.

· You can really shortcut that time that it takes by right, like the very 1st big thing is hiring an admin or hiring a person. It's terrifying the 1st time you do it. But if you're sitting next to somebody who maybe is at 1.3 million, and you're at 30,000, right? Why would you not take their advice? And so that community of other business owners of other business women, I think, is critical.

Rachael Sampson

13:43

Oh, that's great, Amy! Anything to add? There.

Amy Peterson

13:45

I second that like I I host a lot of women entrepreneur businesses, business groups. Here in the city. I'm

· big advocate for it.

· But even even that, I mean yes, that's that's really important, and it can help you. But I think there are.

· You can go really dark. I'm just full transparency. I've been there. I've been down. I've been back. I've been down again.

· and you know, every time I get better every time I get a little bit stronger every time I recognize this. The

· the the like little indications of you know it's time to really tap into your strength, because truly entrepreneurship is yes, about. You've got to have sales. You've got to have a business. You've got to have all that, but it's a mental game.

· It is more that than anything else, because

· the doubts are there daily. I mean, I don't know a single entrepreneur who doesn't on a on a daily basis want to like. Sell it all for like a Caseinnati light.

· saying, I've got this. I'm going to be a multimillionaire and put my family in a great position, and that can all happen with a matter of 5 min on a daily basis. That's the exhausting part.

· and just staying true to who you are. And so, you know, I've learned certain mantras along the way that have really helped me, that I say daily, I mean, I'm again like constantly work in progress. But I love to quote Dory.

· Just keep swimming.

· That's my favorite one.

· another one that changed my perspective on life

· because I do feel that you can become a victim without even realizing it in entrepreneurship. Because just so many things happen to you on a daily, you need to switch the narrative from

· It's happening for me, not to me

· is a very powerful one that's changed for me.

· And the other one that I've heard recently is worrying is worshiping the problem. So change your mindset. So those things have just really really helped me. And then I started putting on my blush. You know, I've got the like stick kind like a like little warrior.

· And I say, got this.

· that really that also

· little little tips that after 11 years.

Rachael Sampson

15:58

Love it.

Amy Peterson

15:59

Really has made me stronger.

Rachael Sampson

16:01

Yes, and it really is that mindset right of like, how are you looking at it? And first, st I have to applaud your vulnerability right? Because

· that's the beauty, Brenda, to your point about community. Because I heard a speaker say one time, and I love it. It's like, especially with the advent of social media, and increasingly the usage that we have there is that many times we are comparing our blooper reel to someone else's highlight reel, and it can start to infest us in terms of how we're comparing and thinking about ourselves. We could be winning times a thousand. But yet

· in our minds, like. We're not where X person is and really about, you know I say the same thing. My daughter runs track, and I tell her all the time, like, run your race because, like, if you look left or you look right, you're gonna stumble and fall. But if you run your race down that lane like. It's only you against you, not you against anybody else. So

· I love that. But, Ginger, as we think about that. You know, part of starting the business is also like access to capital. How do we do that? And many times it's growing in your current career, as we've heard about from Brenda and Amy.

· you are phenomenal when I think about the corporate world in in your ability to lead team multinational teams across like what tips for success for those that maybe are still W. 2 employees of like.

· how do they grow in their career, whether it's getting better in their role or climbing the proverbial corporate ladder.

ginger siegel

17:28

Yeah, no, it's funny. Yesterday I led a panel on the lack of venture capital for women today and the average amount of venture capital that gets to female owned businesses is about 2%. And if you're a female of color, it's point 0 0 2%.

· And so when people hear that. It seems like there's such insurmountable odds to do what you want to do. But when you listen to these women that spoke, who have these angel investor groups and things like that. I feel that

· many, many people that want to start a business get caught up in this. I have to be a 20 million dollars business in 2 years.

· and whether or not it's in the corporate world where you see people rise up the ladder who want to be the CEO within 5 min, or if you're a new entrepreneur who literally just kicked off your business, they have to be a 20 million dollars business. So I think it's running your own race

· and taking it at your pace and understanding that if you get someplace a little slower than someone else, it's absolutely okay. And when Amy and Brenda were talking about, you know some of these things around

· looking at other business owners or looking at other people and their trajectory. What I always say is, look, did they have your idea? No, so you had the idea, and just take your time to do it when it comes to access to capital. That's the other thing. Don't shoot for the venture. Those are a very small percentage shoot for the friends and family angel investors.

· Linkedin is such an underused area. If you search on Linkedin, you know all the people out there that are interested in the type of idea that you might have. And so I think people make things much bigger than they are when starting smaller is super important. And I think that's true. Whether it's either you know your own corporate direction or career planning as well as running a business.

Rachael Sampson

19:46

I like that. And we talked a lot about mindsets. And I think a lot of underlying of what we're talking about is that growth mindset versus a fixed mindset. But there's another one that we interject and talk about. And it's about the digital mindset in technology as we talk about social media generative. AI, the ability to connect, you know, as we turn our topic slightly to that.

· as businesses adapt in this digital mindset, we've seen so many changes to websites and trends that we highlight. What are some resources that a business could use, ginger, as we think about how to position themselves for success.

ginger siegel

20:23

Well, 1st of all, some really scary stats. It's near Halloween, so I love to scare people just a little bit. But when Covid hit

· of the 33 million small businesses in the United States. A 3rd of them, almost 10 million, did not have a digital online presence. So just think about what that means. Your storefront was shut down.

· You have no way to reach your customers, and I was talking to a restaurant owner, and she said, I can't believe it that I have all these loyal customers. And I want to do carry out

· and guess what. I don't have one of their email addresses.

· So that movement, what Covid taught people is that it is a digital world, and you have to be where your customer is. By the same token. Since Covid, 85% increase in the number of consumers that are shopping online.

· So the need for small businesses to serve their customers where they are, but also increase. Their operational efficiency has caused the need for enormous digital shift.

· And there's a lot of resources out there. I will just speak of, you know, one of ours, which is digital doors.

· which is an online tool where business owners can go in. Take a test 17 questions and figure out where they sit in terms of their digital prowess. Their financials are, they're safe and secure, and then it will benchmark them against other businesses. And then we have a ton of partnerships with companies that can help set up websites

· with companies that can help them in terms of marketing tools online. So it's not just mastercard. But there's so many resources out there. The Sba has small business development centers. And, Rachel, I'm sure you've come across those in your role that are all over the country that provide this kind of guidance. And then the only other thing I would say is that it is one thing to get digital. It's another thing to get safe

· over 50% of cyber attacks are happening on small business today.

· If you look at the fact that about 97% of all small businesses are under a million in revenue. If you get hit with a $200,000 ransomware, you could be done.

· So I would say that there's a lot of resources to get digital. But don't get caught up in this mindset that oh, I need a website. And that's all I need. You have to build your digital presence to meet your customers where they are, but you also have to build the safety that surrounds it. And there's a lot of organizations that can help with that.

Rachael Sampson

23:03

I love that, Brenda Amy. Anything to add in how you're leveraging digital technologies to support your businesses.

Brenda Abdilla Executive Coach

23:11

Yes. Well, I have sort of a counter moment. 1st of all, I love digital doors. I will definitely be visiting that. And I agree with. I have cyber insurance. It's a very inexpensive add to your business insurance, which you really want to have. One thing I noticed for those of you that are thinking about starting a business. Somehow we get it in our brain that the 1st step is a website that is not the 1st step you could spend 6 months

· obsessing over your logo and your business name, and what to call your Llc. And writing web copy. Your 1st step is to get a client have a proof of concept. Somebody needs to be willing to write you a check. Then you can build a website. So that was the only ad that I had to. Ginger's brilliant thoughts.

Rachael Sampson

24:01

Yeah, absolutely. And and horrifying statistics as she mentioned

· Amy. Anything to add.

Amy Peterson

24:10

· I totally agree with the hold off on the website. It's important. The other misconception is, if you build a website, they will come. It's not the case anymore, especially post covid. This digital age is

· not what it used to be. And I think because everybody went online.

· Now we're starting to see it level back off. But the 2, 3 years post Covid. We're

· it was so it's so crowded. And then you were spending on digital ads and the digital ad spend was

· used to be very easy to navigate. Then it's impossible. Then you're constantly keeping up with algorithm changes. I mean, it's just it's chaos out there. Build the concept. You're still today. 11 years later, our strongest marketing is word of mouth.

· and that goes to what Brenda was saying, too, is that, you know? Get your client. Your clients are your most powerful like. When someone buys a product from rebel Nell. They're going to tell 5 of their friends because they love our mission, and those 5 friends are more valuable to me and cost way less than trying to get new customers out there in the

· in the Internet world. So I, yes, make those connect connections are are key to to life. Still in general.

Rachael Sampson

25:20

I love that connections are key. No pun intended.

Amy Peterson

25:24

No pun intended.

Rachael Sampson

25:26

But you know you bring up a really good point right marketing and branding yourself word of mouth. Right? How many times have we experienced something

· wonderful or horrific, and we have to tell 10 people about those experiences. So you know you think about marketing yourself, or even your business, whether you're an entrepreneur, or whether you work for a company, it's integral to business success. Right? So what best practices can you 3 share about how to achieve brand awareness and or business growth, and how to market yourself and your brand effectively.

ginger siegel

26:04

I mean, I'll just start really quickly. I think this goes a little bit back, Rachel, to what I started with that number one.

· A brand doesn't have to be as big as Coca-cola.

· You have your niche, you have your segment, and around you are a lot of people that you already know that have a voice.

· And the one thing I'll say with social media. And I agree with everything that Brenda and Amy said that it's not just about a website, but social media has given us a lot of opportunities to spread our brand. I mean, I always use this story. But when I was at Deloitte. I actually got my job at Deloitte using Linkedin. And what I did is I stalked all these partners from Deloitte until someone would accept my connection.

· So I do believe that there is a lot of ways today to start building your brand. There's a lot of tools out there. I was on with adobe yesterday. And they have this really cool new program called Adobe Express. It's amazing how within 10 min you can build this enormous, really cool brand setting piece. So

· there's a lot of resources out there, so you don't have to be a big coke. But I would tell you, and I think Brendan and Amy both alluded to this

· the word of mouth power.

· and not just telling a friend, but asking them to tell 10 more is very important, and then the last thing I'll say is, be real to your brand. I have worked to feel that I have a brand at Mastercard.

· It's being scrappy. It's being very direct. It's being very, very focused with a strong sense of urgency. And that is how I've built my business. So be true to your brand, and don't change it, depending on who you're talking to.

· Love it.

Rachael Sampson

27:59

That that is such sage advice, Brenda! Amy. Anything to add.

Brenda Abdilla Executive Coach

28:04

Yeah, I think you alluded to authenticity, Ginger. And I think that's important. I think one of the biggest things that you can do to develop your brand, and your network is to do a great job. Whatever your business is, be the best at it like nail. It be very impeccable about your word and about your delivery, that is, to me 50% of the marketing.

· And then my method because I don't like cold calling. I did a lot of it in my 1st business. I was 29 years old, and I wrote an all day sales workshop, and I wanted to do this for a living. I had the blessing of being fired from my job. I didn't have to quit. I was a very headstrong, assertive woman, with a

· disgusting, sexual harassy kind of boss. So anyway, I got fired

· I would. I would call potential clients. I'm living in Denver, and I would say, I'll be in Dallas next month.

· Should I do a workshop for your team? My flight is already paid, and I would pay my own flight. So I did all that scrappy stuff the 1st time around, and then I learned that I really prefer to not have to cold call. And so my strategy is thought leadership.

· I try to give away my best

· content and secrets.

· and and there's a temptation to kind of withhold your best stuff.

· I think you share your best stuff with your audience, because 10%, if you're doing, if you have 800 people, 10% of them are going to be interested in what you do.

· And so I think, thought leadership, and being very generous with the public, the community and your ideas, I think, is the

· easiest way to build your build, your brand.

Rachael Sampson

29:58

I like it. I love the authenticity piece, and also giving of yourself fully of not, you know. Again, the competition sounds like you're not worried about your competition. You're going to give your best self and what you have to offer, and let them do with it as they may, because you're running your race. I like it, Amy. Anything to add.

Amy Peterson

30:18

Yeah, so about like, especially for the competition thing. My gosh.

· I think

· I have a couple thoughts here. So the

· unfortunately, I feel like corporate America bred women to be very competitive.

· There's a time when there was like only one spot, and it was for a woman, right? So it just created this culture of competitiveness which we do not need. A rising tide rises all boats. My gosh! Look at these numbers! There's so much room for us to grow that be supportive of

· your sisters like just there's there's no need to be competitive. Reach out and help people like I don't know. I'm a big believer of that, just because they're in the same industry doesn't mean that, you guys, there's a million clients out there.

· and then, on top of what Brenda was saying. Yes, always do your best, always give it 100. But the reality is

· sometimes things just fall apart, you know, and that, I think, is when your brand really has to show up

· and you have to. You have to own it. You have to. We went through one this year. It was a catastrophic disaster with a corporate client.

· big, big, big, big, big money for us.

· and we did not perform like our our top tier. And man. I called the client. I said, I am. I'm embarrassed. I'm sorry I'm going to do everything in the next 48 h to make this right.

· and we did, and they were appreciative. We got it done. But it wasn't how we wanted it to get done, and just being transparent, being willing to to fix the problem, and whatever you need to do, because those relationships are very important, I believe in never burning bridges.

· I believe you can walk away from a burning bridge, but you don't have to burn it yourself.

· and you know I also believe in that. You know you got to keep your side of the street clean. You do the best you can. You cannot worry about what other people think of you, or how they think you handled a situation. If you know you did the best you did, and you represented yourself, and you were proud of how you represented yourself.

· That's all that matters.

ginger siegel

32:14

And Rachel. I just wanted to add one thing on to what Amy said. What she said is so spot on, and a lot of this is on building your own narrative. Don't let someone write it for you, so you can explain things in a way that no one else can. Don't let them explain what happened. You need to write that narrative for yourself.

Rachael Sampson

32:35

I love that. And you know what actually a couple of things that I think about, you know, to underscore a lot of what all of you said. And I think about from an employee engagement perspective, right? As we were talking about, you know, we had a very passionate conversation, even prepping for our call today. And we were talking about. And Ginger mentioned, too. You know, 60,

· 4% of all of the employees in the United States are employed by small businesses. So when we think about the ripple and the economic impact, you know, you've got your employee component, whether you're a business owner, or you're leading a team. That's hard. What you mentioned, Amy, especially when you've got some top tier performers.

· and you want to keep them engaged. And you have this hiccup? What are some of the tools and resources? How do you keep your team engaged and ready to meet the next challenge when you've just had that lump.

Amy Peterson

33:28

It's difficult. It's

· you have to

· like. We're we're a social enterprise on top of everything else. So we make it a priority to put our people 1st in the same line as our profit, right? So their well-being is of utmost priority for us. But on the same breath we're also not training. And we're not hiring trained employees. We're not hiring trained jewelers. We teach them everything on the job. So we have a bit of a learning curve that typically wouldn't have in our in our business.

· But you know, keeping get everybody's. I think the beautiful thing that worked for a long time is building a culture where everybody's on board. Everybody's on board with the Mission. Everybody loves

· what we do at rebel now. Sure, some days are better than others. I mean, it's a job at the end of the day. But everyone loves and appreciates where we're going. And so when times get tough like that.

· rallying becomes easier

· because it's not just me that's reflected through. We were making, you know, 900 coasters. It's not me being. It's it's them as well.

· And we wanted. So I you know, rebel Nell is not me. It is very much a collaborative, and making sure that your team understands that.

· and is and feels a part of it, not just understands it, but truly feels it

· is. Those are very different things.

· and

· that that's what gets us through the hiccups.

· and we've had a few, but that you know you gotta

· you gotta keep. You gotta keep going. Just keep swimming.

Rachael Sampson

35:02

That's gonna be the thing. Just keep.

Amy Peterson

35:04

Swimming.

Rachael Sampson

35:05

So, Ginger Brenda anything to add.

Brenda Abdilla Executive Coach

35:09

Yeah, I would add that

· entrepreneurs are not necessarily great leaders. We're often great with the vision.

· I had to work hard on my communication with my team. The joke about me is that I think you can read my mind, and I always tell my team like, if you could actually become psychic. That would be super helpful.

Amy Peterson

35:32

Right.

Brenda Abdilla Executive Coach

35:33

So I think we have to work on our leadership. The other thing that I see with my entrepreneur clients is that as you scale and grow sometimes. Those wonderful, loyal people that were there with you at the beginning are not the right fit for the middle and for the big growth, and that can be like a heart rendering process.

· But you will hamstring the company and its growth

· if you're not aware that you might not be able to keep the same people for the entirety of the business. If you are in a growth

· stratosphere.

ginger siegel

36:16

Yeah. And I would just add on to what Brendan Amy said. There's a great book out there called the E-myth.

· and it's a really fabulous. It's very short, and I know there's a sequel to it. But what the book says is that

· small business owners didn't get into business to do leadership spreadsheets, financials, budgets. They got into business, because one night in the middle of the night someone woke up and said, I don't want to do this anymore. I want to do that.

· And it is that passion that they signed up for. So there's a lot of areas in business that are very new to people. Even in the corporate world. There's lots of people that struggle in a lot of these areas. So it's about recognizing the gaps that you have.

· and then going to support, like a Brenda, like books like organizations that are there to help like Keybank and your bankers.

· So I think it's really important to understand that it's okay if you don't like to do some of this stuff because some of it's like yucky, and that's not what you signed up for and for all of us, even in the corporate world there's stuff we don't like to do either, so I just think it's important to recognize the gaps and then look for the lane, where at the end of the lane is someone to help you fill that gap.

Rachael Sampson

37:39

I love that especially filling the gaps there. Because I think sometimes to your point, Brenda, when we talked about, you know, making sure that we give everyone our authentic selves all that information, you know, when you have those areas of opportunity of growth for yourself. Sometimes it's hard, right? We want to shelter those, but hire for them instead. You know how powerful is that to say

· I can be very true to myself, and understand. You know what I am not the best at X. So I will hire for that, whether it's on my team or in my business to ensure that when you put those 2 things together, and you give them an opportunity to have open and honest conversation, dialogue and challenge processes. That that's where the magic lies. So I love that, you know, Ginger, you and Brenda talked about something, too, and Amy as well.

· That was interesting. We talk a lot about being scrappy. We talked a lot about. Okay, we might have to do both for a while. We have to be able to set these boundaries. But then there's the other side right.

· the caregiver gift, the mom gift, the boundaries we need to set so that, you know we don't. I think I saw a meme where, like the wine glass was probably as big as the woman's body.

· You know. How do we deal with whether it's work, life, balance way?

· What are some of the things that you do to help you to be able to navigate the pressures of demanding professional careers and saying that that's okay, that I want this thing.

ginger siegel

39:13

Yeah, and and, Rachel, I'll be very vulnerable here. My daughters are much older now. One of them has her own children, and you know, as I was working when my kids were younger, I made that a main focus, and later on, in the years, you know, my daughter came to me and said, You know.

· I have issues now, and part of my issues are because you weren't there for me.

· and I don't want to ever be that way for my kids.

· and I came to realize, and and I mentor so many women, and and men at at Mastercard. I have that honor.

· and what I always tell them, and I love Mastercard.

· Never think. At the end of the day you're going to die with an empty inbox.

· and never think, at the end of the day.

· that your family

· is not more important than the company you work for, and so I have encouraged people to force themselves to have that life balance like I tried to be at. You know she was a great pitcher. I tried to be at her softball games, and I thought I was doing my best, but clearly I didn't.

· And as we've talked through it over the years, and I see how she is with her kids. I feel that my inadequacies at that time actually have helped her to be so much better. So I think it's remembering that career above family.

· It's never going to end well.

· it's never going to end well, and that's just my view. Having gone through this, and having a very outspoken daughter like her mother, who had the nerve to tell me what she thought.

Rachael Sampson

40:48

Wow! That's incredible. And just.

· I'm in the moment in the things and relating. And and you know I totally get it.

· Amy Brenda, and thank you, Ginger, for that, because that that's an incredible, you know story to share for us that as we think about for some of us like myself who are still in it.

· just seeing.

· you know someone like you to be able to say at the end, it really worked out, but it was tough getting through it, and you know, and managing through. I remember the days when I started traveling I'd have every single meal lined up, every single outfit, and then I had to come to the point to say if they didn't die and the house is still standing. We're good.

· Yeah, but I'm curious.

Brenda Abdilla Executive Coach

41:29

And then they order pizza anyway, even to have everything perfect.

Rachael Sampson

41:33

They wanted. They wanted the pizza, so.

Brenda Abdilla Executive Coach

41:36

Broke my heart with what you said, and I'm sorry that you had to endure that. I think you know, as children become adults, they get to have their own perspective on their childhood.

· My mantra for myself is that my mother was an immigrant with 7 children, and that she did enough domestic slavery for all of us, and so I did choose to have a smaller family. I have one son

· yet I don't believe in guilt. I think it's I think it's very dangerous.

· I think that guilt is sort of put in us to keep us like from murdering somebody, but beyond that

· I think that it's a it's a very useless.

· corrosive emotion.

· And so what I always tried to do. I also traveled. I out earned my husband, but he worked way more hours than I did. I had all the. I was so frustrated by work and motherhood that I wrote a book about it called what's your lane to kind of help women make their choices choose the lane. That's right for them, because I think we do lie to each other like part. Time is the best or full time is the best, or stay home is the best.

· One of the things I think we forget is that there's this whole other entity. You have your work, you have your relationship, you have your children.

· and then you have a home and all the relationships to maintain, and all the psychological overhead of being a parent, and you have to. Unless you're a single parent.

· then you're going to need some help. But you have to push some of that onto your spouse.

· and you know Steven Spielberg has a spouse, so why isn't his parenting as important as the mother of his children, and so I believe in balance. But I also believe in equity and getting help, and really stamping out that guilt.

· Man.

Amy Peterson

43:41

You guys, I'm learning so much. Those are so powerful and

· taking it in, I have an 8 year old. So I'm in the thick of it. I'm also own a couple other businesses, and

· they are all my children in many ways.

· some have more more needs than others.

· and I've always struggled with the word balance.

· I don't necessarily

· I don't know. It's it's it's a hard word for me to like

· comprehend, because some days I'm a kick, ass, CEO, and a shitty mom. Other days I am a phenomenal mom, but I dropped the ball on something at work.

· and then they've got. You know I've got an amazing partner. I have a husband. So I

· I kind of look at the totality of a month and be like I did the best I could right? And and that gives me the comfort because I I do love my job. I love what I do, and I do think to be an entrepreneur. You have to make a lot of sacrifices you don't always want to make. It's part of the beast.

· and my hope is that I can communicate that in a way with my son.

· or find ways to where

· it can make sense for all of us as a family.

· But am I failing in some areas? Absolutely.

· But there's also the the flip side of it. I'm an entrepreneur.

· I have. I pick which 80 HA week. I want to work

· so I can be a little more flexible with my time. I'm there at school pickup every day, almost

· and so I can get that quality time, and I can work when he's asleep. So that that's also the the

· the balance, if you will, or the the kind of give take is that you can pick when you when you do certain things because you are in control of your own destiny. But it's a it's a challenge it really is. I think it's a beautiful question. And I loved these answers. And, Ginger, thank you for being so vulnerable. I think it's funny. My mom was chasing the corporate ladder.

· and I I have a lot of tension with that

· and here I am in many ways

· doing something similar, just in a different

· field.

· But making sure I pick up my kids on time is like the hill I'm dying on.

· and that was, that's a big thing for me. So I mean, I'm I'm kind of rambling because I think this this question is just a more reflective one than than maybe having a great answer.

· Now.

Rachael Sampson

46:08

Well and and to your point as I sit here it it is so emotional as we say.

Amy Peterson

46:12

Yeah.

Rachael Sampson

46:13

This, whether you have children, whether you have pets, whether you have loved ones that you're caring for, and I think about. You know the model that we share.

· And I think that's such an important piece of why I love the vulnerability that all 3 of you have shared, because

· I will tell you, even from my perspective. So we just celebrated kudos to our Albany team, who had our key for women Forum. Not too long ago in September. We had a Pittsburgh one that happened last night, and unfortunately I couldn't make it right. I try to get to as many key for women events as possible and support throughout the country, and I couldn't go, and I was very apologetic to the team, but I had to travel the week before and the week after, and it was just really tough.

· and I've kind of set the boundary to say I can't leave my daughter that many weeks like back to back to back. And what was

· the most which probably makes me the most emotional is the team was like, you know what, Rachel, we really appreciate, that you did that because that set the tone for us to be able to say that. Yes, there are boundaries

· that we, too, can say we really are passionate about this. We love it. We're all in. But yet we do have other responsibilities, too, and it doesn't mean that it's any less important. It just means just not this time. And so, as I think about the example that all of us can set as leaders, whether it's

· we identify as women or not. We have a responsibility of each other because it might be my children today it might be your dog tomorrow. It might be a dance class. It might be anything. But the more that we can support each other through what's important to us, whatever that looks like, the better off we'll all be.

ginger siegel

47:54

And and, Rachel, I love what you just said because it it like I talked about the impact on my on my daughter. But what you're talking about is the impact on all the people that work with you and for you. And if we set an example, it's kind of like leaders that send emails at, you know, 2 in the morning.

· And people think they have to answer those emails. So I think what you said is super important in terms of understanding, if, particularly if we are leaders that have very much of a visibility to the company. People are going to look at what we do, and think that we want them to do the same unless we explain differently. So I love what you said.

Rachael Sampson

48:37

Awesome. Thank you so much, Ginger. Well, that is a great time to pause. This has been such a good, invigorating conversation for Friday. I'm like totally thrilled to step into our weekend right now. What I want to do is talk about before we get into additional Q&A from our audience is to share our QR code for anyone in the audience that is not currently a key for women. Member, I invite you and

· I highly encourage you to join our complimentary programming where we bring you great events and tools and resources webinars like today. We don't spam you, but go to key.com forward, slash, join K. For W. Or use the QR. Code on your screen.

· Also, I'm excited to announce on November 5th our next key for women webinar, the ownership mindset how to bounce back from anything

· really continuing on the conversation that we're having from today that we'll talk with Carrie Siggins, CEO and Board of Director for Stone Age, Inc. So with that, thank you all so much. I want to get back to some of the conversation and questions that we've had throughout our program, and one is really around overcoming obstacles and setbacks. You all have been so vulnerable. So I love for all of you to kind of share.

· There are obstacle or setback that you thought you weren't going to be able to overcome, or was like that big rock at some point in your career entrepreneurial journey that you can share with the team of like what it was. And how did you overcome it?

Brenda Abdilla Executive Coach

50:06

I I think, for me.

· It wasn't an obstacle as much as like one of the most painful business things I ever had to do which was

· to stop taking the wrong clients

· like when you're an entrepreneur and you're being scrappy. You say yes to everything and anything that's revenue, and you change your product, which you learn not to do later, but it because of one of my mastermind groups.

· The subject came up of ideal client, and how dangerous it was to not serve your ideal client, but to try to serve everyone. And so I made a conscious decision at that point to only focus on my ideal client, and to say No to revenue from people that were not a fit. It was like physically painful. Because you are, you know you need revenue.

· and I would say it was the most powerful thing I've ever done. I now have an entire calendar of engagements and clients that I adore.

· I love them. I want to help them. I love their complexity, and where they're at I love their team. I don't have anybody that is a nonfit, but that was a and a huge decision that I had to make, and it was not easy.

Rachael Sampson

51:33

Amy, any thoughts.

Amy Peterson

51:36

Yeah, I mean, I think there's been so many downtimes, and there's been so many high. How you navigate the tough challenges, I think what Brenda said is spot on. Look as an entrepreneur. You're going to chase the shiny things, and sometimes you have to. You never know there may be an opportunity, but you'll know enough.

· and you'll know

· after a couple like all right, that's not worth my time. I can't do that. It's not the right shiny thing. So I think that's, you know. Give yourself some grace with that, because it is part of the learning journey.

· But you know we've gone through obviously surviving. Covid was wild surviving.

· surviving. You know we had we had to do our 1st layoffs, and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, like, especially with

· the business that I'm in, and and I know every family, and I know their situations. But you know that makes you stronger. It makes you make decisions differently. We've been in situations where

· we've bled a lot of money. And then we've, you know, when you get to that point and the the easiest thing is to close down.

· I think those are the moments where the easiest thing is to call it a day. So I was grateful. It was a good run.

· but being able to

· rally yourself.

· and then rally your troops

· to come out of it like we're coming out of something, Major, right now, and I'm really proud of us. And boom! It's easy to tell in a 4 second conversation about it, but the strength that goes into that from a mental.

· You tap into some deep stuff. That's why it's important to do the work every day. You don't necessarily know the work's happening, but you know. Do the 5 min meditation. It's all that stuff adds up, and it comes up in those key moments. And that's when you become a warrior.

· And there's no turning back when that warrior

· light turns on

· and you ha! You'll fall, and you'll fall, and you will cry on the floor for days, and you'll go through all the emotions.

· But some point in time you'll come through.

· and when you do

· your warriors, your your outfit stronger, your chainmail stronger, and you are. You cannot be messed with.

· and those are the moments.

· and I can think of 3 at the top of my head, and every time I'm stronger you can't see it. In the moment.

· When you come out you're like, Damn okay.

· So.

Rachael Sampson

54:06

I love it. Warrior moments, Ginger.

ginger siegel

54:09

Yeah, well, I and I'm so glad, Amy, that you coined that word because it fits perfectly so. I had been a victim in my past during the the financial crisis where I got laid off for my 1st time.

· and I had the the first, st you know, week of crying, and how the heck am I going to do this? I was the key breadwinner in my family.

· And it was devastating. But then it's so weird what you said, Amy, because then I got really annoyed, and I got really really mad like who the heck are you

· to pick me

· to have to go when I've contributed this much, and I completely clicked into warrior mode, and I swear to you, for 10 HA day. From 7 in the morning

· I sat at my computer

· and I didn't move.

· I would cry at my computer. I would scream at my computer. But I

· was so intensely focused on finding a job and making sure that that company knew what they had lost. And in 3 months I got an amazing job.

· And so the tenacity. So it's like switching some of that pain off into, I think. Warriors good me! I was just so angry, and I channeled all of that to get what I wanted.

Rachael Sampson