How You Can Motivate Your Team and Create Work-Life Harmony w/ Laura Liotta
In this episode, Laura Liotta shares her journey of redefining success from an overachiever to a savvy entrepreneur. She emphasizes the importance of setting personal benchmarks for success, challenging societal expectations. Laura's insights on work-life harmony encourage listeners to reflect on their definitions of achievement and fulfillment, highlighting the role of failure in personal growth.
About Laura Liotta:
Laura Liotta is the President and Founder of Sam Brown Inc. Healthcare Communications, an independent mid-size agency specializing in assisting biotechnology and pharmaceutical clients in communicating their value across all developmental phases. With over 35 years of experience in corporate communications, Laura has supported various sectors within the healthcare industry, including life sciences, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, venture firms, healthcare services, patient advocacy, and nonprofit organizations.
Please click here to learn more about Laura Liotta.
About Brad Sugars
Internationally known as one of the most influential entrepreneurs, Brad Sugars is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and the #1 business coach in the world. Over the course of his 30-year career as an entrepreneur, Brad has become the CEO of 9+ companies and is the owner of the multimillion-dollar franchise ActionCOACH®. As a husband and father of five, Brad is equally as passionate about his family as he is about business. That’s why, Brad is a strong advocate for building a business that works without you – so you can spend more time doing what really matters to you. Over the years of starting, scaling and selling many businesses, Brad has earned his fair share of scars. Being an entrepreneur is not an easy road. But if you can learn from those who have gone before you, it becomes a lot easier than going at it alone.
Please click here to learn more about Brad Sugars: https://bradsugars.com/
Build a Business That Gives You More Time, Money & Life:
Get The $100M Playbook: https://go.bradsugars.com/100m-playbook-ebook
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WEBVTT 00:00:00.059 --> 00:00:01.606 <v Speaker 1>They used to call it work-life balance. 00:00:01.606 --> 00:00:03.967 <v Speaker 1>Now the new phrase is work-life harmony. 00:00:03.967 --> 00:00:11.029 <v Speaker 1>What I foster is a community of experts that come together and all bring a valuable contribution to the table. 00:00:11.029 --> 00:00:14.851 <v Speaker 1>So it is intrapreneurship really Success. 00:00:14.851 --> 00:00:16.907 <v Speaker 1>Laura Liotta's had a bunch of it. 00:00:16.907 --> 00:00:19.246 <v Speaker 1>You have to let go of the notion that you can have it all. 00:00:19.246 --> 00:00:20.490 <v Speaker 1>You don't want it all. 00:00:20.490 --> 00:00:27.550 <v Speaker 1>You have to figure out what your all is, which is usually different things in different areas, and then you measure your success against that. 00:00:27.550 --> 00:00:30.983 <v Speaker 1>To me, that's the most important thing, and don't beat yourself up. 00:00:31.123 --> 00:00:32.567 <v Speaker 2>Here she is, Laura Leota. 00:00:32.567 --> 00:00:37.768 <v Speaker 2>Laura, I got to ask you first up what is your view, what's your definition of success? 00:00:38.731 --> 00:00:41.500 <v Speaker 1>Well, winning is my definition of success. 00:00:41.500 --> 00:00:48.408 <v Speaker 1>Professionally, for sure, but if I look at, what's really important is creating the life that works for you. 00:00:48.408 --> 00:00:59.061 <v Speaker 1>So for me, success has been winning professionally and building a business as an entrepreneur that's been successful, continues to grow, but doing it on my terms as a mother. 00:00:59.061 --> 00:01:17.563 <v Speaker 1>So creating a network-based agency 25 years ago, before remote work, was even cool and allowing people really to have their big careers but have more opportunity for family, not moving, working from home, all of those things. 00:01:17.563 --> 00:01:21.640 <v Speaker 1>So success to me is really I guess they used to call it work-life balance. 00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:24.123 <v Speaker 1>Now the new phrase is work-life harmony. 00:01:26.126 --> 00:01:37.581 <v Speaker 2>I remember when Ivan Meisner first introduced me to that term, he said you know I'm done with this whole balance thing. 00:01:37.581 --> 00:01:38.001 <v Speaker 2>I just want harmony. 00:01:38.001 --> 00:01:41.987 <v Speaker 2>When, where did do you think your definition of success shifted at some point, like, was it always this way or how did it evolve? 00:01:42.429 --> 00:01:50.789 <v Speaker 1>It definitely shifts with age, for sure, because I think you know I was always an overachiever, right. 00:01:50.789 --> 00:01:57.471 <v Speaker 1>So all through high school, you know, president of the student council in college, I always wanted the best internships. 00:01:57.471 --> 00:01:58.200 <v Speaker 1>I, you know. 00:01:58.200 --> 00:02:06.822 <v Speaker 1>I came out and started at big agencies, small agencies and I just kept moving and taking risks and taking chances and nothing else mattered. 00:02:06.822 --> 00:02:09.147 <v Speaker 1>I wanted that success, right. 00:02:09.147 --> 00:02:16.931 <v Speaker 1>I wanted to be on the track to be the best healthcare public relations person out there, went to big companies and things like that. 00:02:16.931 --> 00:02:25.155 <v Speaker 1>Until one day you realize that you're hitting your wall in terms of now, what is success? 00:02:25.155 --> 00:02:31.853 <v Speaker 1>And at the age where you're thinking about getting married, having children, you realize purpose is more important. 00:02:31.853 --> 00:02:39.092 <v Speaker 1>Right Now, at my age today, I can define success completely on its head because health is the most important. 00:02:39.092 --> 00:02:44.272 <v Speaker 1>So it's always health and wealth and love and family and purpose Like. 00:02:44.272 --> 00:02:50.329 <v Speaker 1>So I do think it started really early for me but definitely changed and evolved over time. 00:02:50.650 --> 00:02:53.461 <v Speaker 2>Yeah, so you mentioned always high performer. 00:02:53.461 --> 00:02:57.210 <v Speaker 2>Where do you think in your life you chose success? 00:02:57.210 --> 00:02:59.033 <v Speaker 2>You know, did you as a kid? 00:02:59.033 --> 00:03:00.201 <v Speaker 2>Was it in high school? 00:03:00.201 --> 00:03:00.502 <v Speaker 2>Where? 00:03:00.502 --> 00:03:01.743 <v Speaker 2>Where did that happen? 00:03:02.585 --> 00:03:03.706 <v Speaker 1>That's an interesting question. 00:03:03.706 --> 00:03:12.289 <v Speaker 1>I came from a family where everyone were elementary and middle school teachers and I just knew I did not want to do that. 00:03:12.289 --> 00:03:15.971 <v Speaker 1>I wanted big, exciting business world, new York City. 00:03:15.971 --> 00:03:32.692 <v Speaker 1>So right away I went into communications and business and I interned at Campbell Soup Company, for example, because I just always knew that to me my personal idea of success was succeeding in the big world of business. 00:03:32.692 --> 00:03:35.725 <v Speaker 1>So I would say I guess that hit me in high school. 00:03:36.127 --> 00:03:37.110 <v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah. 00:03:37.110 --> 00:03:41.645 <v Speaker 2>It's funny how, somewhere in our life, we decide this is when it's going to be. 00:03:41.645 --> 00:03:49.902 <v Speaker 2>And it's interesting the number of people that have watched this podcast and said you know, I didn't really choose success until you said did you choose success? 00:03:49.902 --> 00:03:58.567 <v Speaker 2>Is there a formula in your mind then for success, like, is there a way that if you do these steps, it happens, or is it? 00:03:58.567 --> 00:03:59.990 <v Speaker 2>What are the ingredients? 00:03:59.990 --> 00:04:00.671 <v Speaker 2>You see? 00:04:01.139 --> 00:04:05.088 <v Speaker 1>Well, I think success comes from being expert in something. 00:04:05.389 --> 00:04:21.149 <v Speaker 1>I really think that you should specialize, become expert in something and then that really gives you the confidence to go in and always continue to repeat that process right and to continue to do the right thing and to feel really strong. 00:04:21.209 --> 00:04:25.341 <v Speaker 1>Because in my business I'm a counselor, I'm a consultant in communications, so I better have a lot of experience to base that business. 00:04:25.341 --> 00:04:31.132 <v Speaker 1>I'm a counselor, I'm a consultant in communications, so I better have a lot of experience to base that on when I'm giving advice and giving experience. 00:04:31.132 --> 00:04:48.925 <v Speaker 1>But what I think is interesting is I never knew I was going to become an entrepreneur until I hit a wall and couldn't find a job that was going to match my model for success or my goals of what I really wanted to achieve in terms of building the life that I wanted. 00:04:48.925 --> 00:04:51.172 <v Speaker 1>I realized I had to build that myself. 00:04:51.172 --> 00:05:04.170 <v Speaker 1>So that was my path and I think my advice to people is you can be a generalist and, I guess, work your way up into a management position and feel that successful. 00:05:04.170 --> 00:05:12.480 <v Speaker 1>For me, becoming expert just catapulted me because I could then come in with a level of confidence that would be. 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:14.726 <v Speaker 1>You know, you couldn't hold me back. 00:05:14.927 --> 00:05:15.930 <v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah. 00:05:15.930 --> 00:05:20.824 <v Speaker 2>So what in your mind then is the relationship between, say, failure and success? 00:05:20.824 --> 00:05:22.346 <v Speaker 2>How do they relate to each other? 00:05:22.747 --> 00:05:25.694 <v Speaker 1>Well, is there a better lesson than failure? 00:05:25.694 --> 00:05:28.968 <v Speaker 1>I would say probably not. 00:05:28.968 --> 00:05:38.571 <v Speaker 1>The question is, when I look at failure now, like, say, we are pitching a piece of business and we lose, I no longer look at that as failure. 00:05:38.571 --> 00:05:43.771 <v Speaker 1>I look at that as there's a reason why everything happens right. 00:05:43.771 --> 00:05:44.694 <v Speaker 1>So what? 00:05:44.694 --> 00:05:47.822 <v Speaker 1>The failure is going to give you the gift of learning from it. 00:05:47.822 --> 00:06:03.673 <v Speaker 1>But then I feel like it's either going to say something wasn't right about that match, and so what can I do to turn that into something more positive, which is going after the right kind of client, the right kind of sales target? 00:06:03.673 --> 00:06:06.702 <v Speaker 1>That is the perfect match that you can't fail on. 00:06:06.983 --> 00:06:07.264 <v Speaker 2>Yeah. 00:06:07.264 --> 00:06:16.507 <v Speaker 2>So, laura, it seems to me that somewhere in there, your success dialogue became very internal rather than external. 00:06:16.507 --> 00:06:18.793 <v Speaker 2>It wasn't about what other people were looking for. 00:06:18.793 --> 00:06:21.122 <v Speaker 2>How did you make that transition? 00:06:21.122 --> 00:06:24.168 <v Speaker 2>Was it always there, or which way did you go? 00:06:24.910 --> 00:06:28.601 <v Speaker 1>No, we're 25 years into me having my own business. 00:06:28.601 --> 00:06:35.427 <v Speaker 1>So I think it probably comes out that way because I can tell you fear and anxiety was a big driver in the beginning. 00:06:35.427 --> 00:06:54.511 <v Speaker 1>So you know, I would go into pitching a big piece of business against very established big public relations healthcare agencies, and so I would definitely have that external feeling of they've done more, or they're bigger or they're better, and so that fear propelled me to doing better, doing more. 00:06:54.511 --> 00:07:00.047 <v Speaker 1>So I would say it was always external for a long time, matched with this internal fear. 00:07:00.047 --> 00:07:07.572 <v Speaker 1>Um, objectives, goals and wants right, and we all want to succeed in terms of getting the bigger job, more salary. 00:07:07.572 --> 00:07:10.079 <v Speaker 1>You know, money is a measurement, but it's only one. 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:13.913 <v Speaker 1>So I would say it's absolutely a combination of both. 00:07:13.913 --> 00:07:28.795 <v Speaker 1>And but now, you know, coming on to this point in my career, I I am so much more confident that I can make these decisions from an internal place of of confidence, knowledge, experience, whatever you want to call it. 00:07:29.036 --> 00:07:36.360 <v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, you know, it's interesting how we shift to that internal frame. 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:41.134 <v Speaker 2>When you're coaching and working with people, you've obviously got to help them do that. 00:07:41.134 --> 00:07:44.822 <v Speaker 2>How do you do that with others now that you've done it for yourself, do? 00:07:44.862 --> 00:07:45.103 <v Speaker 1>that? 00:07:45.103 --> 00:07:47.889 <v Speaker 1>How do you do that with others now that you've done it for yourself? 00:07:47.889 --> 00:07:53.617 <v Speaker 1>So I am a media trainer for a lot of the C-suite of our clients that are in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. 00:07:53.617 --> 00:08:00.036 <v Speaker 1>So I can tell you I do really coach them on honing in on their expertise, honing in on what their special position is. 00:08:00.175 --> 00:08:04.791 <v Speaker 1>And strategic communications is really not about increasing communications. 00:08:04.791 --> 00:08:05.372 <v Speaker 1>As you know. 00:08:05.372 --> 00:08:15.925 <v Speaker 1>It's about determining what your business goals are, who's the audience, what's the best channel, what is the right message right to really get them to their goals and their objectives. 00:08:15.925 --> 00:08:29.079 <v Speaker 1>So I feel like all of this really does play together in terms of taking the success that I've achieved and being able to counsel people. 00:08:29.079 --> 00:08:30.101 <v Speaker 1>To say you know this topic better than anyone else. 00:08:30.101 --> 00:08:33.352 <v Speaker 1>The reporter doesn't know the question to ask you to get you to your goals. 00:08:33.352 --> 00:08:36.664 <v Speaker 1>So you need to take control of your communications. 00:08:36.664 --> 00:08:42.118 <v Speaker 1>You need to turn the interview, the podcast, the social media posts all towards that. 00:08:42.118 --> 00:08:56.293 <v Speaker 1>So to me, that's really where I think my success, my entrepreneur journey, helps me do a better job today with the expertise I have to counsel people on strategic communications. 00:08:56.475 --> 00:09:00.671 <v Speaker 2>Yeah, if someone's struggling to bring out their inner strength, what do you do? 00:09:00.671 --> 00:09:02.033 <v Speaker 2>How do you get them to bring it out? 00:09:02.513 --> 00:09:04.255 <v Speaker 1>I definitely think that there's. 00:09:04.255 --> 00:09:06.958 <v Speaker 1>You need to ask the right questions. 00:09:06.958 --> 00:09:11.885 <v Speaker 1>So the person has to ask the right questions of themselves, but you have to. 00:09:11.885 --> 00:09:27.410 <v Speaker 1>I ask them the right questions to get them there and I challenge them, and what usually is the case is they're holding themselves back right, because they know this, or they're afraid if someone hears me say this, they might question it. 00:09:27.410 --> 00:09:40.854 <v Speaker 1>So there's always that little bit of fear and insecurity that holds people back, and I just convince them that every message from every person is needed, is important, because it is different for everyone. 00:09:40.854 --> 00:09:46.256 <v Speaker 1>So what you're bringing is unique and special because no one has your perspective on it. 00:09:46.630 --> 00:09:46.912 <v Speaker 2>Love it. 00:09:46.912 --> 00:09:48.760 <v Speaker 2>You're on the Big Success Podcast. 00:09:48.760 --> 00:09:49.384 <v Speaker 2>I'm Brad Sugars. 00:09:49.384 --> 00:09:50.470 <v Speaker 2>We're going to be back in a moment. 00:09:50.470 --> 00:09:52.455 <v Speaker 2>Make sure you click that subscribe button. 00:09:53.017 --> 00:09:55.432 <v Speaker 3>It's a fact you'll never get rich by just working for a living. 00:09:55.432 --> 00:10:00.532 <v Speaker 3>The only sure way to achieve real wealth and that freedom it buys is by letting your investments work for you. 00:10:00.532 --> 00:10:08.524 <v Speaker 3>And, as Brad Sugars proves in the Real Estate Coach, the quickest and safest route to that kind of passive income it takes to live the dream is real estate investment. 00:10:09.085 --> 00:10:09.644 <v Speaker 2>All right, you're back. 00:10:09.644 --> 00:10:13.618 <v Speaker 2>Big success, laura, scaling a business. 00:10:13.618 --> 00:10:19.677 <v Speaker 2>Now you not only help others do that, but you've done it for yourself, hands on, hands off. 00:10:19.677 --> 00:10:23.183 <v Speaker 2>What's your theory or philosophy on doing that as you scale? 00:10:26.970 --> 00:10:28.332 <v Speaker 1>your theory of philosophy on doing that as you scale. 00:10:28.332 --> 00:10:28.753 <v Speaker 1>I'm a little hands-on. 00:10:28.753 --> 00:10:35.332 <v Speaker 1>I always I have to admit that I'm always trying to push the team and teach them something new, challenge them, question. 00:10:35.332 --> 00:10:59.592 <v Speaker 1>So I'm I would say I'm hands-on from a strategic and leadership standpoint, not actually tactically, but I do like to know what's going on in the business and I think, just because I'm looking at the business across all of the opportunities, I want to make sure we're cross-referencing, but I have an outstanding leadership team too, so it all works out. 00:10:59.592 --> 00:11:08.815 <v Speaker 1>I think the secret to scale, especially in my type of business where you're a consultant, you can't scale at the risk of quality and service. 00:11:08.815 --> 00:11:11.681 <v Speaker 1>So we provide a service right. 00:11:11.681 --> 00:11:25.543 <v Speaker 1>We're not necessarily selling a product, we sell a website or sell social media, but when you're selling consulting and a service, I always got concerned about getting too big too fast and having the quality and the service suffer. 00:11:25.543 --> 00:11:31.754 <v Speaker 1>So I think that's really the most important thing, as we're all talking to people about helping them scale their own businesses. 00:11:32.476 --> 00:11:34.764 <v Speaker 2>I want to go back with you 25 years. 00:11:34.764 --> 00:11:43.226 <v Speaker 2>You started to grow a virtual business before virtual, I mean now for the young people on my podcast. 00:11:43.226 --> 00:11:46.918 <v Speaker 2>This is before the internet was really a thing. 00:11:46.918 --> 00:11:52.383 <v Speaker 2>I mean, geez, laura, I don't want to admit the fact, but I had a numbered email account back then. 00:11:52.383 --> 00:11:59.403 <v Speaker 2>What led you to creating a virtual company 25 years ago? 00:12:00.269 --> 00:12:11.643 <v Speaker 1>Yeah, so we did have email and the internet, but we did not have video, which a lot of people I talk to now that post COVID, right, they're just like how did you run a meeting without video? 00:12:11.643 --> 00:12:18.011 <v Speaker 1>Well, we traveled more and we were on the phone and we just got the work done and email was amazing. 00:12:18.011 --> 00:12:26.852 <v Speaker 1>So, again, so the reason I started it is because I just didn't want to have talent from Philadelphia only, where I am. 00:12:26.852 --> 00:12:38.251 <v Speaker 1>I wanted talent, talent across the country, and I had worked with a lot of agencies who were servicing with junior people and and it wasn't always the best team on the best piece of business. 00:12:38.251 --> 00:12:54.601 <v Speaker 1>I wanted to create an agency that had senior people that, can you know, work in oncology or HIV or whatever, uh, whatever therapeutic area we're working in across the country and, at the same time, I wanted for myself and others to have a life. 00:12:55.091 --> 00:13:04.158 <v Speaker 1>So I created this model where I was giving everyone the ability to work from home, wherever they were, and they had to come to it as like an expert right. 00:13:04.158 --> 00:13:06.865 <v Speaker 1>They were, and they had to come to it as like an expert right. 00:13:06.865 --> 00:13:14.409 <v Speaker 1>So they were almost these, these, bringing together all of these entrepreneurs to build a business that turned out to be such a great formula for the clients, for the, for the team. 00:13:14.409 --> 00:13:20.820 <v Speaker 1>They just, you know, they were working on great work they loved, but maybe some of them were 30 hours a week. 00:13:20.820 --> 00:13:27.620 <v Speaker 1>Some were a full-time but didn't want, but wanted, to stay in Mexico City or Colorado. 00:13:27.620 --> 00:13:29.123 <v Speaker 1>So it just really was. 00:13:29.123 --> 00:13:43.572 <v Speaker 1>The model was based on a need for what I saw clients should get, for better quality and service, and a need for me personally, being a mother, then, of three children and not wanting to spend two hours a day commuting to the big cities. 00:13:44.475 --> 00:13:49.764 <v Speaker 2>You had a 20-year head start on everyone when COVID hit and everyone had to go virtual. 00:13:49.764 --> 00:14:02.484 <v Speaker 2>What are the top two or three things that you learned that you share with others now about how virtual business can work, how to manage your team, how to keep the team together all that stuff. 00:14:03.169 --> 00:14:08.611 <v Speaker 1>So I often say that I'm very cool with very high expectations. 00:14:08.611 --> 00:14:16.413 <v Speaker 1>So if you need to leave in the middle of a day to go to a kindergarten play, I'm very cool with that. 00:14:16.413 --> 00:14:21.030 <v Speaker 1>But we all come together knowing that we're holding each other up as a team. 00:14:21.030 --> 00:14:32.932 <v Speaker 1>So if we have goals to hit and we have objectives all of that to be successful in a remote business, you have to be very clear on the expectations, on what the goals are, what you're all trying to achieve. 00:14:32.932 --> 00:14:52.642 <v Speaker 1>We bill hourly, so there is tracking mechanisms for us, but all business, if you're going to work remote, you need to be able to track, you need to be able to trust, you need to hire the right people and respect them as professional to do their job, and if they don't, it all falls out right in the wash. 00:14:52.642 --> 00:15:08.078 <v Speaker 1>But I think you can create an environment where everyone is very successful in a model like that If the expectations, performance and everything are clear and if you're constantly you know um being respectful hey, just a quick one. 00:15:08.099 --> 00:15:19.475 <v Speaker 2>Uh, when I look in the back end of this something that's quite surprising to me I noticed that it says that 82 of you who watch the channel regularly haven't hit the subscribe button yet. 00:15:19.475 --> 00:15:23.003 <v Speaker 2>So it'd be of great favor if you could hit that subscribe button. 00:15:23.003 --> 00:15:23.792 <v Speaker 2>Let me tell you why. 00:15:23.792 --> 00:15:33.041 <v Speaker 2>See, over the lifetime of channel, we scale the show and get better guests, better production, better everything by having the number of subscribers. 00:15:33.041 --> 00:15:39.163 <v Speaker 2>So if you hit subscribe, it helps us plan better, do more, get better guests and so on. 00:15:39.730 --> 00:15:42.980 <v Speaker 2>Scaling production and making the show bigger is something we all want. 00:15:42.980 --> 00:15:44.616 <v Speaker 2>We want more success for you. 00:15:44.616 --> 00:15:46.153 <v Speaker 2>We want more success for the show. 00:15:46.153 --> 00:15:46.836 <v Speaker 2>Bigger is something we all want. 00:15:46.836 --> 00:15:47.578 <v Speaker 2>We want more success for you. 00:15:47.578 --> 00:15:50.547 <v Speaker 2>We want more success for the show and we want to be able to get the best guests to give you the best information. 00:15:50.547 --> 00:15:54.398 <v Speaker 2>So one favor, click that button. 00:15:54.398 --> 00:15:59.118 <v Speaker 2>If you've watched this show before and enjoyed it, just please click that button to subscribe. 00:15:59.118 --> 00:16:06.710 <v Speaker 2>Hit the notifications bell and make sure you're part of it, because as the show gets better, your success gets better. 00:16:06.710 --> 00:16:08.352 <v Speaker 2>Simple as that. 00:16:08.352 --> 00:16:11.198 <v Speaker 2>I promise I'm willing to uh, make you do. 00:16:11.198 --> 00:16:16.917 <v Speaker 2>We have a deal if you do better and subscribe, I'll get better guests and make it a better show. 00:16:16.917 --> 00:16:19.182 <v Speaker 2>Thanks for subscribing you. 00:16:19.182 --> 00:16:23.739 <v Speaker 2>You have a philosophy on entrepreneurship that I think is really unique. 00:16:23.739 --> 00:16:24.019 <v Speaker 2>Share. 00:16:24.019 --> 00:16:27.899 <v Speaker 2>Share that with everyone, because I think there's a lot to learn from you on that subject. 00:16:28.260 --> 00:16:42.451 <v Speaker 1>Well, I think when someone decides that they're going to work from home, either be a consultant or join as an employee or a part-time employee or whatever it is they are making the decision to leave the career track they were on and become their own entrepreneur. 00:16:42.451 --> 00:16:59.582 <v Speaker 1>Even if they don't hire 50 people like I did and they're just an independent person, they really are an entrepreneur and they've really come to us with a set of skills, whether it's media relations or digital and social, or a writer. 00:16:59.582 --> 00:17:03.658 <v Speaker 1>So what I fostered is a community. 00:17:03.658 --> 00:17:12.710 <v Speaker 1>Almost even though we're a team and many are employees, we foster like a community of experts that come together and all bring a valuable contribution to the table. 00:17:12.710 --> 00:17:19.003 <v Speaker 1>So it is intrapreneurship really, because you're an entrepreneur but you're coming into a network. 00:17:19.003 --> 00:17:32.321 <v Speaker 1>And the one thing I'll say for many years people have said to me is we love being a consultant and feeling that sense of independence and freedom, but we miss being on a big team and having a common goal. 00:17:32.321 --> 00:17:36.455 <v Speaker 1>So this model really gave everyone all of that. 00:17:36.717 --> 00:17:42.093 <v Speaker 2>Yeah, Now a big part of your formula for success is retention of the team. 00:17:42.093 --> 00:17:46.403 <v Speaker 2>What are the key factors to doing that in a more virtual world? 00:17:46.869 --> 00:17:52.659 <v Speaker 1>Well, I think people want to be seen, they want to be heard, they want to contribute. 00:17:52.659 --> 00:17:57.542 <v Speaker 1>I think that if you think they only care about the salary, that will you cannot. 00:17:57.542 --> 00:18:00.175 <v Speaker 1>You cannot assume that right. 00:18:00.175 --> 00:18:08.877 <v Speaker 1>I think compensation is important fair, competitive, good compensation for good people, I think, recognizing performance with increases. 00:18:08.877 --> 00:18:11.784 <v Speaker 1>I am a very generous bonus person. 00:18:11.784 --> 00:18:17.365 <v Speaker 1>We have a lot of um, since we're not all together in one location. 00:18:17.365 --> 00:18:22.759 <v Speaker 1>Once a year we go on a fabulous retreat and celebrate our anniversary and our successes. 00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:29.323 <v Speaker 1>So I think there are many ways that you can keep everyone motivated, even in a network or remote model. 00:18:29.829 --> 00:18:42.195 <v Speaker 2>Yeah, now a lot of that leads to and another part of your scale and your success has been getting new business through word of mouth, and you've got some again some unique takes on how to do that. 00:18:42.195 --> 00:18:43.228 <v Speaker 2>Give us your top few things on how we can get more word of mouth. 00:18:43.228 --> 00:18:43.692 <v Speaker 2>And you've got some again some unique takes on how to do that. 00:18:43.692 --> 00:18:46.540 <v Speaker 2>Give us your top few things on how we can get more word of mouth. 00:18:47.121 --> 00:18:54.602 <v Speaker 1>I always tell my team that the number one new business strategy is to do a great job on the business you have. 00:18:55.605 --> 00:19:00.663 <v Speaker 1>And when we are continuing to grow the business, we have doing a great job in our industry. 00:19:00.703 --> 00:19:08.241 <v Speaker 1>A lot of our mid-sized clients are discovering pharmaceuticals that they're going to then be acquired by the bigger big pharma companies. 00:19:08.241 --> 00:19:12.538 <v Speaker 1>So what happens is there is a lot of turnover in our industry. 00:19:12.538 --> 00:19:20.441 <v Speaker 1>So word of mouth is really the number one way that we get business, because our clients go to other locations. 00:19:20.441 --> 00:19:21.584 <v Speaker 1>They go to start. 00:19:21.584 --> 00:19:32.357 <v Speaker 1>They either start fresh in new company with a new venture firm go into another company bring us with them is one way or they tell other people about the work that they've achieved with Sam Brown. 00:19:32.357 --> 00:19:37.289 <v Speaker 1>So that really has been the best advice. 00:19:37.289 --> 00:19:40.518 <v Speaker 1>And I also think we need to use tools and be proactive. 00:19:40.518 --> 00:19:43.471 <v Speaker 1>As you can imagine, as a sales expert like you are, that we need to use tools and be proactive. 00:19:43.471 --> 00:19:47.442 <v Speaker 1>As you can imagine, as a sales expert like you are, that we need to cultivate those old relationships. 00:19:47.442 --> 00:19:58.070 <v Speaker 1>We need to reach out to people we haven't talked to quite often and use conferences, pick up the phone, email and LinkedIn networks and things like that. 00:19:58.491 --> 00:20:09.585 <v Speaker 2>Yeah, now, that's an interesting one, because when I read your philosophy on that yeah, that's an interesting one, because when I read your philosophy on that I thought you know, people just don't reach out to their old colleagues anywhere near enough. 00:20:09.585 --> 00:20:15.507 <v Speaker 2>Do you have like a standard for your team or suggested how often they should do stuff like that? 00:20:15.507 --> 00:20:18.567 <v Speaker 2>Because I just don't see it happen enough. 00:20:19.228 --> 00:20:21.768 <v Speaker 1>We just recommend that you contact two people a week. 00:20:21.768 --> 00:20:25.993 <v Speaker 1>We also reward on business being brought in and things like that. 00:20:25.993 --> 00:20:29.162 <v Speaker 1>So there's always an incentive, as you can imagine, as with any sales. 00:20:29.162 --> 00:20:31.113 <v Speaker 1>But no, we don't. 00:20:31.113 --> 00:20:49.271 <v Speaker 1>I wouldn't say it's a formal process, but we have trackers when teams go to new businesses and I think the nature of the business that we're in, which is strategic, communications, counseling, C-suite issues, crises, going public, things like that they're going to go work with someone they really trust. 00:20:49.271 --> 00:20:51.978 <v Speaker 1>It is a trust-based kind of relationship. 00:20:51.978 --> 00:20:53.903 <v Speaker 1>So that definitely does help. 00:20:53.903 --> 00:20:58.402 <v Speaker 1>And again, if you have high quality, high service, that is your best marketing. 00:20:59.431 --> 00:20:59.671 <v Speaker 2>Love it. 00:20:59.671 --> 00:21:01.375 <v Speaker 2>You're on the Big Success Podcast. 00:21:01.375 --> 00:21:03.961 <v Speaker 2>We're going to come back and we're going to look at scaling up. 00:21:04.609 --> 00:21:07.633 <v Speaker 4>Laura Liotta is the president and founder of Sam Brown Inc. 00:21:07.633 --> 00:21:19.042 <v Speaker 4>Healthcare Communications, a fiercely independent midsize agency with deep expertise, helping a wide range of biotechnology and pharmaceutical clients communicate their value through all phases of development. 00:21:19.042 --> 00:21:22.905 <v Speaker 4>To learn more about Laura Liotta, please visit sambrowncom. 00:21:23.267 --> 00:21:23.846 <v Speaker 2>And we're back. 00:21:23.846 --> 00:21:26.769 <v Speaker 2>Hopefully you hit that subscribe button while we were gone. 00:21:26.769 --> 00:21:35.596 <v Speaker 2>If you haven't already, okay, laura Sam Brown Agency you've worked with, put aside your company just for a second. 00:21:35.596 --> 00:21:40.494 <v Speaker 2>You've worked with companies that do good and companies that do amazing. 00:21:40.494 --> 00:21:45.994 <v Speaker 2>What do you see as the difference between a company that is good and a company that is great? 00:21:46.497 --> 00:21:47.019 <v Speaker 1>The people. 00:21:47.019 --> 00:21:48.695 <v Speaker 1>I mean, it's the people. 00:21:48.695 --> 00:21:50.688 <v Speaker 1>So I think it starts with hiring. 00:21:50.688 --> 00:21:56.917 <v Speaker 1>You have to hire the best people to have the best company, and that means strong leadership. 00:21:56.917 --> 00:22:07.241 <v Speaker 1>And then you have to have a differentiated product or service, and in my business, some of the services are similar, but the quality of the service is not similar. 00:22:07.241 --> 00:22:21.124 <v Speaker 1>So I think you have to find what really sings to your audience and make sure that you're honing in on it in terms of giving them a service or a product or a business that is highly competitive in a differentiated way. 00:22:21.403 --> 00:22:32.452 <v Speaker 2>Yeah, now you go into some companies and their goal is to be 10% better than last year and other companies where their goal is to grow into a multi-billion dollar. 00:22:32.452 --> 00:22:45.332 <v Speaker 2>You know, the latest unicorn type thing Describe for me those leaders, the difference in characteristics of those leaders who are just going for 10% versus those going for massive. 00:22:46.173 --> 00:22:54.252 <v Speaker 1>I think they know how to motivate, drive a team towards a common goal and achieve against that goal. 00:22:54.252 --> 00:23:08.041 <v Speaker 1>I don't know, this is a little tough one for me in my business because for me, my success model, as we started from the beginning, was really about other measurable things in your life, not just your career. 00:23:08.041 --> 00:23:20.616 <v Speaker 1>If I were to look at my clients, who are the most successful, they're the ones that take the biggest risks, drive everyone to have the same enthusiasm for that goal and to keep everyone motivated. 00:23:20.616 --> 00:23:30.962 <v Speaker 1>And you can't achieve that level of success without taking major risks and you have to be okay with failure if you're going to take a big risk like that. 00:23:30.962 --> 00:23:32.958 <v Speaker 1>And it has worked out really well. 00:23:32.978 --> 00:23:46.086 <v Speaker 1>I've worked with some companies that have just been phenomenal in terms of taking 10 shots at a new medicine and knowing that eight might fail, but they believe in it. 00:23:46.086 --> 00:23:55.818 <v Speaker 1>And then they've worked through their expertise, knowing when to leave the ones behind that are not successful and when to go all in on some of those. 00:23:55.818 --> 00:24:08.647 <v Speaker 1>And then, when you invest, your risk all starts to work out If you know how to invest on a scalable way, to where you're taking your hits, having your failures and then all of a sudden, the two or three rise To me. 00:24:08.647 --> 00:24:16.037 <v Speaker 1>Those are the companies that are going to do best on Wall Street, right, they're going to do best in terms of acquisition targets and things like that. 00:24:16.037 --> 00:24:18.542 <v Speaker 1>So I guess the summary is leadership. 00:24:18.950 --> 00:24:21.451 <v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, love that, love that. 00:24:21.451 --> 00:24:25.414 <v Speaker 2>So let's go backwards a couple of steps then For your business. 00:24:25.414 --> 00:24:38.844 <v Speaker 2>It wasn't always about scale, it was about harmony Harmony is the new word, not balance, okay, and when you look at it from that, you've managed to do both. 00:24:38.844 --> 00:24:43.866 <v Speaker 2>Though how do you manage the balance and the scale? 00:24:45.048 --> 00:24:46.328 <v Speaker 1>Yeah, so I have. 00:24:46.328 --> 00:25:02.394 <v Speaker 1>I have been very fortunate to achieve a very good growth and success year over year and I feel like I have to say again that it goes back to delivering quality product and having really clear, good targets of that growth. 00:25:02.394 --> 00:25:04.178 <v Speaker 1>So I've been so. 00:25:04.178 --> 00:25:07.272 <v Speaker 1>I'm so proud of the success of my team at Sam Brown. 00:25:07.272 --> 00:25:09.178 <v Speaker 1>I'm so proud of what we've been able to do. 00:25:09.178 --> 00:25:16.022 <v Speaker 1>We've worked on incredible important medicines and worked with really influential people who are changing healthcare. 00:25:16.022 --> 00:25:18.198 <v Speaker 1>So all of that is critically important. 00:25:18.198 --> 00:25:31.596 <v Speaker 1>But at the same time, I've also launched three incredible children into college and off and I felt like I was always here for them, considering I still had this big career, so I was able to do both. 00:25:31.596 --> 00:25:38.223 <v Speaker 1>So to me, my success model I have been able to check off the boxes and feel really good about all of it. 00:25:38.650 --> 00:25:39.795 <v Speaker 2>So let's flip that. 00:25:39.795 --> 00:25:48.076 <v Speaker 2>Then I meet a lot of people as I travel and teach and stuff, and there's a lot of you can only have that or that. 00:25:48.076 --> 00:25:51.784 <v Speaker 2>How did you develop the and mindset the? 00:25:51.784 --> 00:25:54.030 <v Speaker 2>You can do both sort of thing. 00:25:54.451 --> 00:25:57.539 <v Speaker 1>Well, first of all, you have to let go of the notion that you can have it all. 00:25:57.539 --> 00:25:59.432 <v Speaker 1>You don't want it all you want. 00:25:59.432 --> 00:26:03.561 <v Speaker 1>You know you can't do everything perfect a hundred percent. 00:26:03.561 --> 00:26:05.517 <v Speaker 1>There's not enough hours in the day, right? 00:26:05.517 --> 00:26:10.173 <v Speaker 1>You have to figure out what your all is, which is usually not all. 00:26:10.173 --> 00:26:15.144 <v Speaker 1>It's different things in different areas and then you measure your success against that. 00:26:16.291 --> 00:26:20.901 <v Speaker 1>So to me, that's the most important thing, and don't beat yourself up, right? 00:26:20.901 --> 00:26:27.657 <v Speaker 1>I think there's paths for everyone that are very different, and you have to determine what is success for you. 00:26:27.657 --> 00:26:31.855 <v Speaker 1>How are you going to achieve that and what are you sacrificed for? 00:26:31.855 --> 00:26:35.144 <v Speaker 1>For me, you have a good team. 00:26:35.144 --> 00:26:47.473 <v Speaker 1>You can step back sometimes on the business You're no longer a single entrepreneur and then you can spend more times on other thing you love, because you need to do things you love, to be a good leader, right. 00:26:47.473 --> 00:26:59.242 <v Speaker 1>All these life experiences travel, meeting people, social events, going to the school and working on the PTO all of that works together without you even realizing it. 00:26:59.242 --> 00:27:04.887 <v Speaker 1>So it's not always two separate success tracks or four separate success tracks. 00:27:04.887 --> 00:27:09.183 <v Speaker 1>They're all working together and the secret is good time management. 00:27:09.183 --> 00:27:13.175 <v Speaker 1>It's near impossible some days, but it works really well in others. 00:27:13.175 --> 00:27:14.640 <v Speaker 1>Give yourself a break. 00:27:15.402 --> 00:27:18.730 <v Speaker 2>Yeah, look, I just keep coming back to you. 00:27:18.730 --> 00:27:20.192 <v Speaker 2>You can only do how much you can do. 00:27:20.192 --> 00:27:21.614 <v Speaker 2>You can't do more than you can do. 00:27:21.614 --> 00:27:24.057 <v Speaker 2>So take that thing, all right. 00:27:24.057 --> 00:27:34.058 <v Speaker 2>I go into the fast topic now, where I just shoot you a word and I want your one or two word answer as to how you succeed at these things. 00:27:34.058 --> 00:27:37.876 <v Speaker 2>So number one how do you succeed at relationships? 00:27:37.876 --> 00:27:39.340 <v Speaker 2>One or two word answer. 00:27:40.089 --> 00:27:47.451 <v Speaker 1>Communication my thing, so it's good or two word answer. 00:27:47.471 --> 00:27:49.894 <v Speaker 2>Communication my thing, so it's good, helps when it's your thing. 00:27:49.894 --> 00:27:51.076 <v Speaker 2>How do you succeed at goals? 00:27:51.076 --> 00:27:51.518 <v Speaker 2>Write them down. 00:27:51.518 --> 00:27:54.222 <v Speaker 2>How do you succeed at personal or self-development? 00:27:54.743 --> 00:27:56.471 <v Speaker 1>Peers and peer groups. 00:27:56.471 --> 00:28:05.805 <v Speaker 1>I like meeting with groups and, like women leaders in other industries, I love peer-to-peer growth opportunities in that way. 00:28:06.184 --> 00:28:06.826 <v Speaker 2>Fantastic. 00:28:06.826 --> 00:28:08.977 <v Speaker 2>How do you succeed at health? 00:28:09.671 --> 00:28:10.796 <v Speaker 1>I'm a good sleeper. 00:28:10.796 --> 00:28:21.683 <v Speaker 1>I could always exercise more and but I you know all you know water, sleep, good food choices and keep moving. 00:28:22.711 --> 00:28:26.353 <v Speaker 2>And final one on that subject, then how do you succeed at enjoying life? 00:28:27.095 --> 00:28:30.781 <v Speaker 1>oh, spending time with people you love and laughing I like it. 00:28:31.323 --> 00:28:39.694 <v Speaker 2>So my final question is always this what's the best quote you ever heard or the best advice you ever personally got on the subject of success? 00:28:40.396 --> 00:28:48.835 <v Speaker 1>so I think, just to keeping in the theme of what we talked about, my favorite quote is never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life. 00:28:49.916 --> 00:28:50.618 <v Speaker 2>I love it. 00:28:50.618 --> 00:28:52.593 <v Speaker 2>I love it, Laura Liotta. 00:28:52.593 --> 00:28:55.815 <v Speaker 2>Follow her, learn her stuff, follow and do all the things. 00:28:55.815 --> 00:28:56.739 <v Speaker 2>Hit the show notes. 00:28:56.739 --> 00:28:58.576 <v Speaker 2>This is the Big Success Podcast. 00:28:58.576 --> 00:29:01.138 <v Speaker 2>We'll be back next week with more for your success. 00:29:02.810 --> 00:29:08.480 <v Speaker 5>You've been listening to the Big Success Podcast with the number one business coach in the world, Brad Sugars. 00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:18.000 <v Speaker 5>To learn more about how to achieve business and personal success, as well as how to level up or listen to past episodes, visit wwwbradsugarscom.