Managing Projects vs Leading People | Episode 115

Welcome, Maryann I'm so delighted to have you here today on Seasoned Women,

Serious Business, because I know, because I've known you for a number of years,

that you are wise enough to want more.

And not only are you, but you also share how to do that for other people.

Let's have a conversation.

This sounds great.

Thank you so much for

having me here, Isabel.

Maryanne and I met while we were figuring out other ways to use

our limitless energy and creative thoughts, and also how to reach

our customers in a different way.

And so for me, that was such a bonus.

And then later Maryanne came on my serial entrepreneur summit in

2021 and shared a lot of wisdom.

So it's good to reconnect with you.

And find out what you've been doing, in the last couple of years.

For my audience, your bio will be in the show notes, but the highlights are

why I so immediately connected with Maryanne is that we both came up in

our business entrepreneurial experience in traditionally male businesses.

Marianne is in the automotive space.

So please, for our listeners and our watchers, Marianne, tell us a little bit

about how you went from the corporate life in finance, I believe in banking, to the

entrepreneur champion that you are today.

Yes, this is my example of why we have to trust the journey, because I actually

grew up in the construction space.

My family had a small remodeling construction business, and I really

admired and respected these people.

They were, to me, the fixers.

They were able to fix anything that was broken and take care of people.

As I got older, I ended up in banking and loved that part of helping people.

Financial literacy, I saw and learned as a really big problem.

And I was so glad to be able to help people with that.

Fast forward a few years later, I ended up having a family.

And my husband, who had been in the automotive space for quite a while,

decided that it was time to open up our own business, automotive shop.

We purchased a business that he had worked at for a couple of years.

We opened up our shop and that was in 1999.

What I realized, was I didn't know enough about the automotive industry.

That was something that I believed.

So I wanted to get really involved with associations and training

to learn and I was like a sponge.

I soon realized what was working for us, what would be what I call our

secret sauce, was that the banking background that I had was very

transferable to help me run a business.

Lessons that I learned in the construction space were really

transferable to the automotive space.

Some of the issues were still the same.

Hiring, customer service, all of that.

So I realized very early on that the skill sets that I had were transferable.

Another thing that I realized very quickly was that there weren't a lot

of women in the automotive industry.

there was a great opportunity for women.

I love this Mary Anne, because it's so aligned to a

recent episode of the podcast.

I talked about why I believe that seasoned women with mature businesses excel.

And it's because as you said, the transferable skills,

the lifetime experience.

You don't leave one thing and then start learning to be something else, you're just

building on what we have already learned and accumulated, which is why I think we

are just like incredible vault of wisdom.

And if I did my math correctly, I think you're 25 years?

Yes, we're celebrating

25

years this year.

Oh, congratulations!

And that's the other aspect of all of this.

The fact that through those 25 years, and I can think historically, there have

been a lot of times when it must have been very challenging for your business.

And you have seen a lot of changes in the automotive industry with the

big box kind of mentality, right?

Oh, there's been a lot of change, yeah.

And to go on, I guess now I'm getting even more excited about our conversation

that your journey, how that led to the evolution of what you also do today.

So what you talked about challenges, you talked about change, right?

And I say, trust that journey because there's lessons there.

There's golden nuggets to be learned along the way.

There was technology, changes in the workforce, changes in the

perception of the skilled trades.

With all of that and getting through COVID, there was no way that Tony

and I couldn't get through the last 25 years without an amazing team.

We couldn't have done it without them.

But learning those lessons to navigate change and be on top of the technology,

stay current, was really key.

I realized that we had a system, a way of doing things that was really working.

And we were able to get through challenges, get through different

obstacles, because we were really focused more on solutions, instead

of getting stuck in them.

And again, with the support of our team, we were able to navigate

through those types of things.

So what I started was forming my framework, putting it together,

my system, what worked for us.

And I volunteered and offered to, at different associations to speak and really

organically with the training that I had, the coaching that I had over the years.

I developed Small Biz Vantage and I help single location auto shop owners.

The idea is to help them get more, right?

Have more, not have to do more, not have to take more time.

To be more productive, to be more focused and be able to have a successful business.

But also have a rewarding life.

Don't sacrifice your life for your business.

And those are the people that are, the absolute ideal and best clients for

me to work with because we're aligned.

We want the same things.

And that's what I want to be able to do is share that with

those clients, those shop owners.

Thank you.

And I believe that there are more of us out there who, as seasoned entrepreneurs,

realize it was hard shit to get through and the lessons were costly.

So why wouldn't we want to lift as we climb and give a hand up to

somebody else who would benefit from the education that we've had.

I really appreciate you doing that.

there's lots of people that are coaches, today in the world, especially, they're

coaching from a textbook, but you're coaching from hands on experience

as you learned over the decades, over the years with your business

through good times and bad times.

Yeah, being a practitioner definitely has an advantage because

you're very relatable to people.

You understand.

And with talking to clients, and meeting people, shop owners at

different conferences, or even online, when they reach out to me,

I found that there are a lot of women that are supporting these men.

They may not even be on the payroll, but they could be a family member, a wife,

a girlfriend, a, daughter, a sister, and they are actually supporting in

a lot of ways and have a strong role.

And a lot of times that role really isn't recognized.

So this was another opportunity to open up the door and validate

women that are in the industry and encourage more women to come into it.

Even if it's not the career that they initially started out or the industry

that they thought that they would be in let them know that a lot of the

skill sets that they have are very transferable and that they're needed.

There's an opening.

There's an opportunity for them.

This is especially true in small business, right?

Every single skill set is required.

You can't be a specialist in those foundational years.

You have to be a generalist, but we should never underestimate what our

contribution could be or how we earned it, like what we've learned in our life.

Or, even our, just our own strengths or personalities.

As women generally, we are considered more of a nurturing,

supportive, collaborative group.

You spoke about your team and I'm sure that, although I don't know

Tony, but the fact that you have that built in way of doing things

that you were able to develop a team.

As small business owners always, Challenging to find the time to step

away and see these things; like get away from the windshield in your vernacular

and really see where are the problems.

I know that you hold some events, for.

people in your industry to help them, like your 3 Day Weekend,

The 3 Day Weekend

is actually a program.

It's coaching along with, a system that I created and basically what

it is it's showing them how to gain, 10 hours a week in 90 days.

And it's amazing what they do when they're able to free up that time, right?

Is it working more on your business now than in it?

Is that what you need to do?

Is it spending more time with family and friends, whatever it is?

Because here's the thing, every single business out there, as

Isabel, it's, there's nuances to it.

Every single automotive shop is not exactly the same.

So I don't want to come up with a cookie cutter approach to people.

And it's not only, I think this is really relevant to you and your podcast, it's

not only the stage of business that you're in, but it's also the stage of

life that you're in as well, right?

That's so important.

So my goal is to help clients design the business that works for them.

At their stage of business and their stage of life.

And as they grow and they go into a different stage, then

the needs will change, right?

And we customize that.

So that's really the idea.

I do lives every week, at 2 p.

m.

on Tuesdays, Eastern.

time They're quick..

They're called business leadership in 15 minutes.

I'll share the link with you, but, people can sign up and it gives

them a taste of what, the, three day weekend system and coaching is like.

Who wouldn't want to have a three day weekend?

You don't have to be a slave to the business and deny yourself

a full, rich life and prioritize things that are more important.

I like to say more and different.

My conversations with women at business owners now, because my audience is

primarily female business owners, at this stage in life or that stage in

the business is OK wanting more, and whether that's more freedom, More

time, more fulfillment, more financial certainty, we all want that, and more fun.

That transcends all industries, but especially for those of us that are

in the baby boom generation or coming up into it, that life has taught us

that, it isn't just all work, that there is more to developing our legacy, but

it doesn't mean that we can just walk away and let everything fall apart.

We still have to be the leaders of the business.

So I'm really glad that you're there in a position to share leadership tips.

I love what you said about what it is that people want more

of and it's individualized.

And I love that because the idea.

Of course, a business needs to be profitable.

we all know that.

But I think there's two more pieces to that; it also has to be sustainable

so we don't burn ourselves out.

And A lot of times people forget it needs to be enjoyable

so we still love what we do.

So if you were to picture, a Venn diagram, I believe that your business needs to be

profitable, sustainable, and enjoyable, and they're all equally important.

So that, yes, exactly what you were saying.

I couldn't agree more that you have that fulfillment and you find your

business rewarding, but you also have a fulfilling life as well.

I

used to absolutely hate the term work life balance because I thought

there is no such thing, especially if you're a mother, working mother,

and involved in community and family; we have a busy full life, right?

So I thought that is so much bullshit that we're supposed to just be balanced.

but I love the idea of deciding where the balance goes like a teeter totter.

Maybe this month you want to be more all in on your business to upgrade something,

change something, expand something.

And maybe next month it's, I'm going to go with the grandkids and we're going

to go and just have a great time, right?

Or maybe there's a health concern.

that you need to devote more attention to.

So that customizable, appropriate for the individual's circumstance,

stage, personal interests.

I like the term work life fulfillment instead of work life balance, because

just as you described, there may be a situation where You have a project at

work and it's a transitional thing that's happening, something new, and it's going

to take more time, but if you were to explain that to your family and talk

about something that you'll do after that project is over or that you'll arrange

your schedule that you'll be at your, child or your grandchild's, soccer game,

and you plan around that, your family, your friends can actually support you.

And then you plan something that you're going to do with the family.

And you feel like you're getting everything you need.

And you're there for your family, but you also feel like

you're there for work as well.

The project that you're working on and you're giving it your all.

So I agree.

I'm not crazy about work life balance, but I do work life fulfillment because

at times one will need more and the other may need more, but you feel fulfilled

and you feel that it's rewarding.

Yeah, I'm a hundred percent with you.

This is so fun because, I recently, created a program for women entrepreneurs

called the Crossroads Clarity Solution because of the conversations I'm having

in my networks that we're at this age and stage where we're not really sure

what is the most important or what we want to do or how to get to it.

It's fun because, it's that analogy also of being in the driver's seat,

which is a term I know you use as well in your business, and actually taking

a tour through the various options in business, whether that's, Just doing a

360 check and saying, no, this is good.

It's exactly where it should be right now.

Whether it's deciding that maybe, I've come to the end of the road,

is it, oh no, I want to go big.

I want to scale up.

This is the time in my life, or for many baby boomers.

This is the time to consider selling.

or transferring ownership.

Ultimately it's all about transforming your relationship with your

business and how you view yourself as the shareholder in a business.

Not that, clenched to the steering wheel, "I got to do it.

If I don't do it," which we know that's an accident waiting to happen, right?

If something happens to your health, nobody's able to take the wheel for you.

I couldn't agree more.

I think that, a lot of, in my world auto shop owners, struggle with seeing

their business as a separate entity, is not seeing it as part of themselves.

And that.

is the best thing once they make that shift and they see their business as

something separate from themselves.

They have that clarity then that they can go in and set up the business

in a certain way that they don't have to be there every single day.

They can be consulted, they can be informed about certain things, but they

don't have to be there every single day in the day to day operations.

Now, I'm not suggesting that you, if you've never done anything like this,

that you go and, leave the country for, two, three weeks, a month.

I'm not suggesting that.

You want to start off small, but being able to empower your team

and delegate and take things off your plate and trust them is huge.

If your business is manageable by someone else, and you don't have to be the one

that's there in the day to day, that your business will stop if you are not there

for a few weeks, if it's manageable by someone else, it's actually sellable.

Oh my gosh, Marianne, you are on the money and this is something, and I

know you do this because through your life experience, we're able to share

things that we've learned how to do, but also what we've learned not to do.

And that was a Huge mistake of mine in that I was the chief asset in my company.

I had not done enough of the work to make the business independent of me.

And I see this as a big problem in a lot of small businesses, right?

Because of that hands on the wheel, got to do everything.

So when a prospective buyer looks at the company, they will learn pretty quickly,

if you're missing from the picture, the value of the business Is gone, right?

So there's three parts, to the three day weekend system and the

coaching that goes along with it.

One of the parts is being able to gain control of your business.

I find that a lot of people think that means micromanaging, but actually what

we help them with is going from that micromanaging to leading and letting go.

So that's huge.

They can actually gain control of their business by letting go and not having

to be caught up in the day to day.

The biggest struggle that I see, I saw this in corporate when I was in banking

and I saw it in small business as well.

To simplify it in the name of time I see a lot of people, owners,

confusing leadership and is

management.

So when I define it to them, say management, when you put a manager

in place, Managers are really responsible for the outcome.

A lot of times there's KPIs that will give them, whether it's sales related

or how many widgets we're going to sell or, those types of things.

And so they are looking for that outcome.

Leaders are responsible for the people.

That's the biggest difference.

So I see a lot of people that are put in a management role and

say that they're managing people.

We don't manage people, we lead people.

And that's the biggest difference when I work with clients and they have that light

bulb moment and they understand that!

One example that I'll use is you'll talk about a project manager.

When we talk about people, we'll talk about a team leader.

So that's like a light bulb moment for people, because when you're a

leader, you're helping your team grow.

What is it that makes them tick?

What motivates them?

It's going to be different.

What are their circumstances?

So you're going to get to know what that person needs and you're

going to be able to support them.

Of course, they have to do the work, but you're going to be there to support them

and give them the resources that they need so that you can create more leaders.

That

is such a good explanation of the difference between the two.

I really appreciate that, thinking that a manager is responsible for

the outcome of something, and a leader is supports people to grow.

I love that.

Thank you so much.

Is there anything that is new or that you want to share with my audience who

maybe they own an automotive business?

or maybe they know someone who does, that they would get in touch with you.

And before you answer that, I realize I'm also asking, does what

you do apply to other industries or other kinds of businesses?

Yes, it does.

Business is business.

So there's, Five areas of business in every business.

You have the people, you have the operations, the financials, you have

the sales, and you have the marketing.

And really, when you think about those five areas or five

pillars, every business has those.

A lot of time, owners tend to complicate it.

But yes, this will work in other businesses as well, just that my world

is automotive and I have a lot of connections with associations and, events

that I go to that are in that space.

But yes, the principles that are taught will work in other

businesses as well.

Okay.

Because I know you have very good blogs, on your website, I would recommend for

everybody that is, looking to enhance your understanding and maybe your practice of

leadership versus management that, and of course, put the link to Marianne's

blogs and her company information there.

You're a true resource and I really appreciate your generosity, Marianne.

It's a pleasure.

So there's been a lot of gems in our conversation today, but is there

a specific pearl of wisdom that's coming to mind for our listeners?

Yes, I've been thinking about this recently and I do have one.

A lot of times people are resistant to make change.

Owners are resistant to make a change in their business and they'll think

of I have a lot of limitations right now of what's not going to, work.

Maybe I don't have the money, the time, I don't have the help that I

need, different things like that.

Or, my business needs me, I can't step away.

If you hold on to those limitations really tight, or you defend them constantly,

here's the thing that I realize.

You get to keep them.

You own them.

So the best thing to do is actually take a step back, or even if you're driving

that car, that analogy that you gave.

Take a look in that mirror, right?

That rearview mirror and see how far you've come.

Don't get stuck there or stay stuck there.

Let go of them and you will be amazed how freeing it is.

I so love that.

You're absolutely right.

Okay.

I'm pretty dang certain we're going to need to do a part two of this, a sequel,

because we've just barely touched the surface of this really important pivotal

time in our lives as business owners where we're at this level of, "Oh maybe, yeah, I

want to do something different, something more, but how do I get from there to

there, in a healthy, enjoyable way?"

So before I wrap up today, I would like to ask you, this is a fun part for me.

This is tough, I know, because you're a pretty prominent on social and

you're well known in your community and in your associations, but what

might be one thing that we would not find out about you on Google?

The first thing that comes to my mind is when I'm driving, I

love to sing with the radio on.

I absolutely love it!

I like the oldies, so I'll turn them on, especially, when I'm out

doing errands and things like that.

There's something about singing in the car that's just so uplifting

and pumps me up and fuels me.

So yeah, that's my little thing that I probably haven't shared

with many, if any people.

Have you got any recommendations for me to add?

Oh my

gosh, there's so many.

I go back to the 70s when I was in school, any of the fun music from there.

Bruce Springsteen; like really just get up and you want to dance; Billy Joel.

I think you touched on the magic formula!

It was the music of, and I'm older than you are, and I'm very

proud to say I'll be 70 very soon.

Good for you.

70 years.

Yes,

It is such an exciting time of my life.

The music of that era made us want to get up and move, right?

It was joyful, wonderful, freeing.

We released a lot of tension and emotion.

I think that's why there's more anxiety and stress today because we worked it

out by sweating to the oldies, right?

Exactly.

It's just fun.

Yeah.

Our dear departed Richard Simmons, sweating to the oldies.

That was his theme, right?

All right.

Thank you so much.

I know that you have businesses to run and other business owners to help.

I am very grateful for your time today.

I think this is a fabulously beneficial interview for everybody who has listened.

And I'm going to encourage you all, if you have questions for Marianne, of

course, her contact information will be in the notes, but also reach out to me

at hello at the Encore Catalyst and give me some ideas of what other questions

I can ask her when she comes back.

for her next interview on the show.

Thank you so much, Isabel.

All right.

Thank you.

See you soon.