How to Fuel Startup Innovation with Intuition and Data - Laura Wells is RightOffTrack | Anya Smith

how did you honor the right path for yourself
because it looked like it was so diverse
yeah I would say listen
listen to that voice
if something is nagging at you
and you feel like you have more to contribute
and your voice there's a
larger voice than you that wants to be expressed
listen to find good people to talk to
find mentors
find good friends
find people whose path or whose way of being
whose expression you do
perceive to be full and authentic
talk to them and start to get ideas
but give voice to that voice
inside you that's nagging at you saying hmm
there's more for you to do here
there's more for you to contribute
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enjoy this episode
going off track is taking a chance in yourself
following your poles of curiosity
it's making your own decisions
the most wonderful adventure
hey friends
welcome to another episode of Right Off Track with
Anya Smith Today
we're venturing into exciting corner of the
entrepreneur world where teamwork and innovation meet
we're talking about awake teams
a platform that's redefining the way we work
making more about connection and collaboration
less about the daily grind
if awake teams hailing as a GSV Cup Elite 200
World's Most Innovative ADTEC Company
and a startup to watch by Startup Grind
Laura is reshaping how we think about team dynamics
let's give a warm welcome to Laura
so excited to have you here
hey Anya great to be here with you
my absolute pleasure
I know it took us a little bit of time to get
the schedule
but here we are
I am very curious
how have things been
last time we chatted
there was this very innovative work happening
you're growing the team
lot of exciting things were happening behind the scenes
where are you now with everything
yeah thank you for asking
so we are in market
as you know
with awake teams
and so awake teams develops interpersonal skills
within workplace teams
so teams of four to 10 people who actually
depend on each other to some
to some extent for success
go on this learning journey together
series of three month modules
and so um the
the most exciting news is so the
the White House Leadership Development Program team
completed the first three month module
and they just started the second three month module
so they did their trust building module
and now they're on
they've just kicked off in the communications module
and these are the foundational
so year one
um the third for year one is collaboration
uh and so that's very exciting
uh and then on the
I have other I have um
a law firm in process
I'm speaking with a couple of other law firms
Northwestern Mutual has completed the trust
and we're not queuing them up to
to move on to the communications module
so lots of good traction and
customers just so after you know
so long ideating
creating building
um getting to market
to actually be interacting with customers
and having data to see that it's working
and making an impact is just amazing
oh and can you tell our listeners a little bit about
how things even came about
like what is it
a little bit of your background that LED you into this
exciting space where you are right now
yeah so I started my career in consumer packaged goods
brand management
so that was like the Colgate Unilever
I also worked on it
on m and m's was actually my initial brand
um and I I worked
I have an international MBA
so I worked
I was able to work internationally in that field
lived in Europe for a number of years and
and finished at Unilever in a global role so
so did what I set out to do
wanted to do
and I made a big pivot
and transitioned over to the non profit sector
so and why did I do that
so a couple of reasons
one was for me personally
this voice was getting louder and louder in me
like what is the meaning
what am I doing with my talent
what am I actually contributing to
and does it have personal meaning for me
um and then also the corporate culture
like reckoning that for myself
there were parts of me
I left at the door
and I put on some kind of corporate armor
like lay armoring on myself
uh to perform and
function in those competitive environments
and so transition to nonprofit
and I landed
at an amazing nonprofit on the leadership teams called
the brain and Behavior Research Foundation
leads directly into what I'm doing today
so I Learned a tremendous amount about neuroscience
it's a philanthropic grant giving foundation
funds innovative neuroscientists
who need proof of concept funding before they
often go on to get
very large NIH grants
and they so I
my most important role
really was to translate the research
so philanthropist would give more money
they would understand
the impact of what they were actually funding
and in that process
I've Learned so much about the brain
and our potential as human beings
so neuroplasticity
that the brain is is
is changing
structurally and functionally throughout our lifetime
and that we can influence
how that's happening
what kind of networks are we
reinforcing or creating
um and what it takes for lasting behavior change
and I decided after I
I stayed for a number of years there
and then decided
I wanna take this back
to the corporate world
I have a lot of skin in the game in the corporate world
the corporate world
also corporate culture impacts
most of our systems
economic political
cultural socioeconomic
and sometimes it
it is not having a positive impact
and I you know
I think it can be
can be could get
could be a much more um
productive uh
positive impact in the world
and that that
it's just people inside
corporations
it's just human beings right
even if the legal system says corporations are people
they're not
it's human beings inside who are making the decisions
and contributing their talent
so I decide
you know I had
I had this idea that corporate culture
was this fixtatic thing
and I needed to remove myself
and just find a different fixtatic thing that
that was better
and it's not
none there is
there is no fixtatic thing
and I became a trainer in emotional intelligence
so I'm certified in a very well known program
did a lot of training at the
tech companies that you named at
at LinkedIn
and what was on Facebook
and Dropbox
and Uber and um
and then uh
kept bumping into a frustration on
the part of the buyers of those programs
who would say
we never know what actually happened
there's no data
so our people want this kind of upskilling
they know they need
emotional intelligence to be managers
to advance in their career
we read the research for willing to invest in it
we we do invest in this
we spend a lot of money on quotesoft
skills training
but we never know what actually happened
and so during Covid
um I decided
they're right
I'm gonna figure out how to solve for this
and that that's really
the biggest differentiate of awake teams is that we
we develop interpersonal skills
that is a training program
that's online
that's tech enabled
and over the course of those three months
we measure what's happening
what's happening with
the skills that
are being developed
and what's happening with team
performance
so every every month
there's a progress report
oh I love that
I love data
between you and me
and what I wanna
talk to before we dive into
the amazing um
work happening here
is that you mentioned that
you transitioned
and made a lot of changes right
so you went
out of corporate at first
you said like
I want to pursue something more
what advice would
you give to some people
who are thinking hey
I wanna do something different
like how did you honor
the right path
for yourself
because it looked like it
was so diverse
yeah I would say listen
listen to that voice
if something is nagging at you
and you feel like
you have more
to contribute
and you your
your voice there's
there's a larger voice in
you that wants to be expressed
listen you know
listen to find good
people to talk to
find mentors
find good friends
find people whose
whose path or whose
way of being
whose expression
you you do um
perceive to be full
and authentic
talk to them
and start to get ideas
but give voice
to that voice inside you that's
that's nagging at
you saying hmm
there's more
there's more
for you to do here
there's more
for you to contribute
oh I love that
you know it's funny
I honor that also sense
not just the
sense of peace
because I'm
very familiar of
doing a lot
and feeling very
overwhelmed
like feeling
the stress of it
feeling the stress
like worry and fear
and right now
I'm doing something
very different
and it has its
own challenges
and demands
but I feel very at peace
and I know that
not everybody on my journey
can resonate with what I'm doing
cause it's so different than what it before
but internally
it maybe it's
not a voice
but it's that peace sense
that I am using as my compass as well
beautiful beautiful
yeah I I think
you might have the first
big transition
I mean really
my first big transition
was going and living
and working abroad
and really like
mastering a language
enough to hold
the same level
professional level and in
in the foreign language and um
assimilating
managing people
you know that
was really my first
big transition was
was that foreign land
you know how
how do I land
and how do I adapt here
and stayed in
number of years
um and then
the next one was
was leaving corporate
and moving to nonprofit
right and that
was more of
the meaning
um you know
the moving internationally too
is something I
really wanted to do and
and then this later
as I matured
it was more about
meaning when
what's my voice
what's my like
at the end of my life
if I say here's what I
did with my talent
is this enough
am I on the right path
um and then
then then latest is to
the startup world
this tech startup
because in order to do this
in a scalable way
um it's tech enabled so
so I now have a tech startup
and in this transition
I have to say like
peace is not
the overriding
my overriding experience
I'm just gonna
acknowledge that
and in each of those transitions
there is a there is a
like a fulfillment
and an aliveness that
always comes
forward for me
and like stretching
challenging
bringing me more alive
really feeling myself more
in the world
there's more of me showing up
through that
stretching and
the stretching
sometimes feels
like stretching
literally like
my skin is stretching
or my boundaries
are stretching
or what I think
I'm capable of
is stretching
and so peace is
not always my
overriding experience
on my side absolutely
and I think that
not the sense
that is always easy
like peaceful
like you know
among praying
but is that
that sense like
this is not um
I'm not hesitating about doing it
that it feels like
that what I'm doing is right
so that peace
in sense like hey
I feel like this is
the right path for me
and by honoring that
I feel that peace
and I'm curious
what would be some of
the biggest challenge
along the way
so what did
you have to face
and could you share
do you feel like it
was worth it for you
oh my gosh I mean
in in which
transition in this
I wish we were
just generally
as your entrepreneur
like finding your inner
entrepreneur
and like honoring that
what were some of
the biggest challenges
you had to overcome
whether it's mentally
or just you know
starting the business
logistically
and how do you feel about it
being you know
worth it now
at this point
yeah so so absolutely
completely worth it
I wouldn't I wouldn't give it up
for anything
I wouldn't take it back
I wouldn't change it
and it's so
much more of
my voice and me
is alive and in
the world and I
I I I'm always aware of that
that like I feel
like you know
everything I've done is on the table
especially now
and what I'm doing
is being used
in some way
and makes sense
everything I've
ever done in my life
makes sense in this
in this context
and gets used
like every lesson I've
ever Learned
um every time I've ever
any time I've
ever tripped
or fall fallen
um you know when I
I would say the um
the toughest thing is
um I would say
in the like
the first transitions were
like letting my
like giving
that voice that
nagging voice
there's more Laura
there's more here
there's more
for you to offer
there's more
for you to say
there's more
for you to experience
yourself being um
like getting past the the
my limiting beliefs
about hmm really
is that true
um can I do it
oh my gosh the
uncertainty
and and just
like daring
and deciding I'm worth
I'm worth it that
that honestly
was the biggest
oh yeah um the
biggest challenge
do you have any advice
for somebody
who is in that
was like oh
my gosh yes
I hear that
that sounds amazing
but I'm right there
in the moment
it's very uncomfortable
any advice for
those people
again find good people to talk to
find supports
um in my case
you know I I did personal development work
you know to just like figure out okay
if if there's more
what is it and what is it that's pushing me
uh so I I joined a very supportive meditation community
I was part of that for a long time
that was right
at the same time I was transitioning over to nonprofit
uh and you know
I Learned a lot too about what
what we humans are capable of in groups
when we share intentions with people and
and have this accountability mechanism
how much more becomes possible for us
in terms of behavior change and
and and moving past concepts we have of ourselves
whatever when I call limiting beliefs
I love that you know
it's funny I
I so aligned to that
and sometimes I think you've
just having one person in your life that you find
that you can share that who believes in you
who aligns to your journey is so powerful
so it doesn't always have to be you know
some big community could be whatever comes to you
and my coach
I recently started working have said this really
catchy thing
which I really like is that when the student is ready
the teacher appears yeah
I thought that was so beautiful
I know I've heard it before
but it's so beautiful
like when you
when life is ready for you to move on and you're ready
like something comes about
whether it's that teacher
you know formally or just things that come about and
share something insightful for you on your journey
wherever you're at
so that's really beautiful
and you were starting to talk about this exciting
times of awake teams
so here you are
you mentioned you're getting this feedback that hey
everything is great
but what the heck
we don't understand what's happening
so how did you decide to not just take that feedback
but then really
create something absolutely different and unique
like what was that process like
yeah so absolutely
so what I was doing prior to Covid was
that was completely different
it was more of a mindfulness based
um emotional intelligence workshop
like you know
one off workshops
uh that we're very popular
you know loved and
and what I'm doing now is very different
it's it's developing interpersonal skills
so how do we actually behave with each other
um I'm not tackling mindfulness
so many people are doing that so well
and I honestly wouldn't know how to measure it so
so what Awake Teams does is develop these
interpersonal behaviors
these interpersonal skills
that enable us to show up more fully
enable us to bring our voices
and we do it with the people that
who we who we interact with
who are on our team
and who were also
on the same road towards some objective
right as a team
there's something we need to accomplish together
so the the measurement aspect is what I was after
and so I I work with a brilliant data scientist
I have I got good advisors early on
I uh I wore
I did a tech accelerator program
because I didn't come from the startup world
didn't have a tech background
other than having done this
emotional intelligence training in the tech world
uh knowing it's
it's wanted and needed
that this is
the social and emotional skills are
are yeah there can
there can be a gap still
I still experience that
now that I'm actually in the tech world
I still experience that like
I feel like I'm up to good work
this is this is needed work um
and I did a tech accelerator program as
the first thing I did
so I guess that sort of my instinct is like
find some kind of community
get myself on a learning path and and
and start to validate
is this in reality what I think it is
right cause sometimes I have ideas about things
and then when I start to do them in reality it
it ends up my expectations don't quite meet
you know it's not the same thing
and so which is great right
you you still
an idea can be inspiration
um and then like
and find people to talk to
and then get out
and start to do something to test the hypothesis
like is this
it is is this
and what are the signals I'm getting back
you know it
does this seem to be sparking in a way
am I coming
alive and am I getting good signals back that that
that I'm onto something right
or good people are showing up
how do you follow that
is this similar to like market research
where you're doing surveys and interviews and
formal feedback
or is there another process that has worked
for you on this journey
oh yeah no no
no no nothing
so sophisticated or not
or nothing so um
as much as I like data too
it's more like life data
like get out and just start taking steps
towards something
I mean I remember when I transitioned to nonprofit
I started volunteer teaching
because I thought I was looking for
an education nonprofit
I ended up sort of getting into an education
it was more of a
you know neuroscience
mental health research foundation
but the the
translation of the research was educational
so I started volunteering
I did um I I
this amazing
I was a volunteer of Peace Games at a um
at a public school in Harlem
in New York City
and I did that for a year
I would go in once a week and uh
teach children
actually gave me a pre k class
so 3 and 4 adorable
how how to resolve conflict
have build a team
like how to learn to trust each other
it's very similar
to what are red teams does at the adult level
honestly so I mean
we're not using strictly at
games curriculum
but but that's a
concrete example of like
market research
you could say is like
find some volunteering opportunity while right
I was still doing work that I was getting paid for so
um I knew it was gonna take some time to find
the right place to land
and you know
switching sectors was not an immediate like
boom done um
so yeah finding
finding and then
paying attention like
is this bringing me more alive
is it landing well
what are the signals back
um and in the
startup case
it was like in the
tech accelerator
like you know
it was crazy intense uh
like really
one of the most challenging things I've done
and I stayed
in it because I kept like
just paying attention
week by week like well
I'm learning this is
this is good
and I had to do these pictures
and I was getting good
enough feedback to say yeah
you're onto something yeah
cause cause
you go through these
constant like
um can you continue in this
program or not
but every basically
every week until
you finish oh
I love the mixture of
reflecting on yourself
like what signal
are you getting inside
of yourself
because a lot of times we talk about it
just you know
just a data
but I think it's a
holistic picture
right where
you understand like
where's life guiding you
and it was appearing
how can you test
ideas that just
you'll write
kind of combined that with also said
the technical glitter
what is the technical
accelerator
could you share a little more
it sounds amazing
so what is that technical
the technical
accelerator
so you mention
I thought I didn't mention that
there's just like
technical courses
like to ramp up
your technical skills
but you're mentioning
there's also pitching
yes yes yes
so this was an
accelerator program
so it's a pre seed
what they call a pre seed
accelerator program
so kind of like
how I described those
the foundation grants
that were proof of concept
funding before
these neuroscientists went off
I'm going to get
bigger grants
so pre seed is when you really
all you had to have
was an idea on paper
and they give you an
entrepreneurial assessment
it's called
the Founder Institute
so it's an accelerator
program for 14 weeks
I believe and
80 of us started
20 of us finished
it's super intense
people either self select out
because they realize
along the way like
oh yeah okay
this isn't for me
or this isn't
this isn't right
and you have to do these
constant like
you know you
you have to give
you have to do
the work they
ask you to do
you have to keep
showing you
I've got the grit
yep I'm in I mean it
and you have to do these pitches
and you have to be rated
well enough
in order to be able to finish the
finish the accelerator
that's amazing
what is maybe
the top thing
you learn about your pitch
or strategy
on your pitch
through that
if you can check
oh my gosh I mean it
it because I
was so early it
it helped me create a pitch
it helped me create
awake teams
uh I mean really I'm
I'm so grateful that I
did that program
the the most significant thing for me
personally was
I was forced
talk about something before I
had it down
and that is so against my nature
so against all
the training I
had in my corporate life
like you don't present
until you know what it is
and you have 100
backups at least
to prove every point
and respond to
any question
and so I felt like I
was pushed all
the time like nope
you're not it's
you're not gonna
get it right
the way you're gonna
get it right is to
expose it to people
and learn to take in
the feedback
integrate what feels right
and then go out
and get more feedback
integrate what feels right
this continual
iterative process was
so powerful
for my personal development
because it's like this
constant edge of
vulnerability
like no it's
not perfect yet
I can't present it
and what ended up happening
I also like
as we went along
I had to do a
certain number of
high certain
high number
of potential
customer interviews
I had to find them
and sometimes under
really like
high time pressure you know
like within a few days and spin it around and um
and and pitch in that way to a potential customer
ask for inputted feedback
and that ended up creating what awake teams is that I
you know I had an idea on paper
and what's in market now with these customers
and the data is very different from what my initial
sketch idea was oh
that's amazing
question for you
I'm here so you said that about what
one fourth of the people succeeded through this course
just from your own speculation
like what do you think is
the difference between somebody who's
who continued and finished or somebody who dropped out
like was there something about I mean
I know I like grit and resilience and like
really believing in what you're doing
you know I really believe we need
we need these interpersonal skills
we need them in the world
we need like
I have skin in the game in the corporate world
and in organizational life
I spent many
many years and organizations right
so so I feel so strongly that I
I have something to bring here that isn't
there's a need in
the market that isn't currently being met
and that need is really
I believe very strongly that we need this now
and that you know
it's like this um
reservoir of energy that I have never
had access to before
you know I feel like when I went to the nonprofit
definitely absolutely the right choice for me
it was personally meaningful
complete very stimulating
and I had this whole new learning curve in neuroscience
and and the fulfilling
like feeling like wow
what I do really does matter to me personally that
that was a really important shift for me
and now it's just like times 10 because
cause it's mine
and I'm on that vulnerability edge all the time
um yeah and
and that belief that
I have something to offer here
and good people keep showing up
I keep getting good signals um
and the world needs it
I love that
and here's one thing I hear about
people who are starting this journey is they dread
showing themselves out there
they dread about starting to post
about what they're doing and you know
putting more of their skin
and kind of themselves through whatever
endeavor they're putting out into the world um
do you have any advice for those who just like oh no
I'm gonna have to put more of myself out there
what are you gonna think
anything you've Learned that could help them
um gosh you know I I um
I I walk that edge too of like when I do marketing and
and when I don't and mostly it's
it's bandwidth
it's priority
it's my how do I prioritize my time um and so
so as far as like creating your own personal brand
I don't think I have a
lot of advice or recommendation to give on that
um as far as like just daring
just start to take steps and you're gonna just I hope
hope you know
you pay attention
what is this doing for me
am I feeling more alive
more energized
more of my voices here or
or is this maybe not right
was that too far
is this now overwhelming
or is less of my voice here
we so just but just start
like start to step out
start to do something
and you know
I did that accelerator program that pushed me like
you have to do this many customer interviews
by this date
and we need to see it
you know we're gonna like validate that they happened
and you're gonna write up summaries
and I was willing
you know so that's another thing
I was willing because I believe in what I'm doing
I also am stubborn
and I was like
you're not gonna intimidate me
I'm gonna finish this thing
I love it and so then you finish the program
what do you do next from that
now you feel confident
you have pitch
you potentially have customers
how do you then create the concept you know
it's one thing to feel good about this is happening
this is interesting
what do you do now to create this
so so that's where the
the muscle this grit muscle
that was actually built over that 14 week program
when every week
I would come back to myself and I would be like
why am I doing this
this is really kind of crazy like
and I and the answer kept being yes
like do this next week like yeah
I was learning so much
and so something happened over those 14 weeks
every week coming back like
why am I doing this
is this worth it
um you know
and what are this
how am I feeling
and what are the signals
and and I got a muscle was developed that I
you just I just keep doing that I
you just keep doing that you
you know you
if you don't know how to do something
find somebody who doesn't ask and
and then try
and then start to do it
and stay really open to feedback stay
stay really open to learning and that
I don't know
just like grit
grit and willingness and
and this um
I think in any big transition
it's also you you
you have to be willing to relinquish sort of the expert
stance I mean
you wanna bring your confidence and your strength and
if you're transitioning into something new by default
you're not an expert on all of it and
and that can be a really uncomfortable place
and so much as possible there
when we allow ourselves
not to know everything
you know like oh
I'm not gonna have the perfect presentation
I'm not gonna be able to tell this customer
exactly what my product is and how it
how it does it
now it's amazing
and then people's like voices actually get included
and it becomes so much bigger because those
people actually are able to help
because I'm not sort of like armored
like I know
I know how to do this
and I know I'm supposed to
and I've got it here it is
it's like oh
I have this idea
and here's what I think
and I'm willing to do this to find out
and what do you think
and then people really chime in
uh I love it
I love all of this kind of
I just see this journey unfold
and thank you so much for sharing just like the
the ins and outs and the full process for you
and now say
you feel comfortable
how did you track this amazing talent
like this team
so you don't go
you don't just have a concept
but you now you actually have a
physical you know
program that people can experience
how did that happen yeah
so so getting a product to market is quite a journey
so I'm I'm bootstrapping
and so you know
people have different pathways in the startup world
and so I didn't have a lot of funding to just go out
and hire a team
an amazing team
and so I I you know
I I found really good advisors
that was actually
I had to do that before the accelerate
in order to complete the accelerator program
I wouldn't have known to do that
so I needed education
I really did
how does one build a startup
how does one manifest an idea um
and then like
and then it's a long slog
I mean that
it's you know
it's a long process
and that continual like
why am I doing this
is this right
am I expressing more
what are the signals back
it's constant
it really is
yeah and how did you find your
like their technical team
so you said you might have this amazing
which was actually
how did you find those people
who now are just working with you to build this and
like make it
a thing yeah
so what that's
so that's still a work in progress
so so today
I mentioned I
I work with a brilliant data scientist
I also have worked with PhD students
one of those PhD
she's now a full PhD
she's graduated and
um and they
you know on a
on a part time
contractor basis is the way that this has worked
and so I currently am recruiting
and I and Anya
you helped me
you helped me redraft that job description
which is now amazing
like you brought it to life with your language
and so I've been experimenting
you know I had a big customer deadline
so I also I was
they were happening in parallel I I was
um I posted for uh
founding engineer role
right now that I have traction
I've got Marky customers I
um now is the time that I really can um
write for equity
uh because now there's
there's demonstration
the company is really worth something
don't you don't have to just trust me
like there proof
there's some proof in the pudding
right product
market fit um
right there
some bright proof of concept
and so I got amazing candidates
and then I've been experimenting
I've been doing like a series of experiments
as I also had to deliver um
an important customer deadline
and so I did one experiment
it wasn't the right bit
and now I'm um
and now I'm talking to candidates again and
you know experiment
experiment experiment
listen to the signals and
itery so I'm
so I'm still actually looking for that founding
engineer role
oh this is perfect timing
when this goes out in the world
you know check out
reach out to learn
maybe there's an opportunity here for
you still to be part of this amazing venture
and a listing
we know we talk so much about the journey
thank you for being so authentic
I think an important takeaway from that
too is that
you have to test things out it that
and that also includes
the people that are working with you
you know too often
we either just say
say I'm gonna do it all by myself
you know and
sometimes that's possible
sometimes it's not
but it's also good to have an open mind
that somebody may
not work out
but you're always learning something about it
I'm sure that even
though this
wasn't the right match
you learn something about what would be a better
fit for this
opportunity right
so coming up with it
like not defeated
and not you know
too positive
having that balanced
approach of like
always learning is gonna be
very helpful
and empowering
and so I'm excited
for whoever comes next to help
empower this
um this team
and one thing I want to also give spaces to understand
how the heck
do you measure
have data around our team
performance
like how the heck does
awake team measure this growth
process yeah so
so in each three
month module
we develop and name five specific
skills so that
that's really
important in learning actually
like to say
emotional intelligence isn't
isn't enough
um but so we name five
specific skills
and though that's what we're developing over
the course of three months
three months is long
enough for behavior change right
it's a minimum
but it is long
enough for it to create
good new habit
especially when we're in our team
environment
held accountable
um and we get data to
to measure how we're doing
we get feedback
uh and so those
five specific skills
because these
are interpersonal right
we're in the social
emotional realm
trust building
communication
collaboration
they only make sense
with from the perspective of the other
because I'm building trust
like I may think I'm awesome
and I get to
say that you know
I get to rate myself
um and what
really matters is these people who
with whom I need to build trust
how what do they say
how often did they
see me demonstrating these behaviors
so we use team member
anonymous assessment
so the people
you're on the learning journey with right
separate from
performance management
performance
appraisal separate
it's not a 3
60 it's like
on this learning journey
data is a part of
the learning model
and so we I get
we assess ourselves on
the five skills each month
and then we assess
each other and
and then we have a proprietary
algorithm that does two things
so it generates a progress report
each team has their
own baseline
and then every
month we redo
that assessment
so you so there
end up being four data points in each three
month module
because there's a kickoff
beginning of month 2
beginning of month 3
and a clues
and so from
the baseline
for each team
you see what's happening with the skills
and then each team member
anonymously
get some of their
own individual data
so they can
see all right
where do I need to double down
like or where
is there really a gap
between where
I thought I
was awesome
and wait a minute
you know maybe
maybe I should
talk to my colleagues
and ask for some
some more specific feedback
so I understand
and you also
our algorithm
that assigns
a personalized learning
sequence of bite size learning
each week so
so you come together as a team
synchronously
it's bound in time
it's not on demand
and not in that way
it's it's you've
committed these team session
days for them
that's synchronous
and then in between those
monthly synchronous sessions
you receive every week
a micro module of five minute
eye size learning
and each team member
gets the order
they need the most
based on that data
and then the team
performance
is the team
rating the team
across five
performance metrics
that we define
very specifically
and it's all research backed
right like these are
the these are
the skills that build trust
and so it's a research back curriculum
and then these are the
performance
metrics that
that link to that
that link to these
interpersonal skills
and so similarly
from each team's baseline
you see every month
what's happening
wow I love it
Dark Images
gets excited about all those
reflection points
how personal it is
how measurable it is
and are there
any core parts of
the curriculum that
really make impact
so when you're thinking about
he says research based
what are maybe some
core principles
that are research based
that are making impact
in this space
you know we pull from a lot of different research
so there's there's neuroscience right
that just the fact of neuroplasticity and that that
is happening with this capacity of our brain to rewire
that we're not
right and we
we have influence over that
based on environments we choose to put ourselves in
based on behavior
because it's it's um
it's not a closed loop our brain
it's also based on how we're behaving
and what kind of environments we're acting in
uh so so that's sort of the basis of it
the behavior change is possible
and then we pull a lot from social psychology
so there's a social
social psychologist on the team
and also industrial organizational psychology
and it varies on the skill in the practice
because it's a very application based program and the
the applications that the practices
the X interactive exercises are also research backed
amazing I love all of it
and when you saw at the beginning
I think you were mentioning
there was some kind of White House training right
is that is right
yes yes yes
so yes just a question
how the heck are
is you getting all this attention is just starting
and I'm just like so proud of the recognition that
you've already received
and I'm excited for us ahead
how the heck did all of this happen already
this will share like how you and thank you
thank you because I guess maybe it's to any founder
I was like gosh
I'm not far enough fast enough
so thank you for that
you're doing amazing
there's a huge pat on the back right there
uh thank you
thank you yes
yes so you know
it's it's hard work honestly
like business to business sales
so so I'm the chief salesperson
you know the chief most persons
right because I
I work primarily with contractors still
um and so I said
I've found sales coaches
I've gotten right
I do I'm what I was
I'm like blah blah blah
I'm kidding
but as soon as I start to say sales coaches
and it's need to be sales is challenging uh
even though I am a former professional marketing person
right I know a lot about brand management I know
and consumer package goes as particularly competitive
you have essentially
the same products out in the marketplace
and you're working really hard to strategically
and creatively differentiate them
and so it's actually very sophisticated work
uh that kind of marketing
and you know
and also managing profit law statements
so financial document
and so you know I
I have marketing expertise
so that's what I mean to say
and sales is very different
and so I've gotten a couple of sales coaches
there is a science to business to business sales
and so how I can say
I can say I mean
there's validation for the need for sure
right that there is an unmet
unmet need in the marketplace
so there's a recognition that
we need more of these interpersonal
skills that our teams are either
either they're not productive
they're not as productive as they used to be
or they're not producing enough
or they're not simply not cohesive
like our people been working remotely and hybrid and
and they're not as connected as they used to be
and they're not innovating as much
so those are the key triggers are like
there's a recognition that
productivity
this sense of cohesion and endormental health
and innovation are down
and somebody in the leadership eyes into
conch like proactively developing interpersonal skills
and that team will work right
like interpersonal skills is a solution
so you find those people and you
you just persist right
you find those people
you you identify a target market
you do experiments
is this the right sector
is this the right market
is this the right title of person that I'm going after
you do you leave enough time for each experiment
and then you dig in
every time you learn
you just lean in
where there's positive feedback
where the signals are coming back strongly lean in
and that's how it happened
like there's no magic wand
there's no it
it's you know
you do that
and then in certain places
the timing is right
the budget is there
the need is great enough and boom
it happens right
and and it really is a numbers game sales
it's like you have to be talking to enough people
um that the
the conversion rate
um that just said
it ends up working uh
I love that
and um okay
so now we have all this experience
and you share a little bit about the BB process
and one thing it does make me
reflect on is my time at medicine
before I started all of this
I was at meta
and I was working remotely for three years
and I could definitely see how
although I was really grateful for that opportunity
you definitely feel that change of pace
I can have on your dynamics
a team when you are remote
so I love that
there's a tool from the employee side
but I could also see just what a value
add that would be for an employer
to share that they are doing this work
especially as the layoffs are looming
the morale is low
there so many stressors have happened
throughout Covid and what not
so I love that there's this tool
both from the employ perspective
to give them a sense of hope
no matter what they're doing
you know remote or not remote
that there are things they can do to connect
and also from employer standpoint
that there's things they can do to help
really bring some morale boost
kind of sense of connection
so love that
and speaking of that
are there any results that
you feel comfortable or can share
like this is
you know a transformation
um that maybe
speaks to the results that could
be possible
what so what I can say is that in
in each three month module
we're seeing a 15%
improvement in performance
so that's from baseline
uh the the skills are getting acquired
so right cause we see it
we measure and I would say
qualitatively
it's proving to be
a really good support for
connection and challenging interpersonal dynamics
so you know
that that's more qualitative
when I do my monthly checking calls with customers
right that the feedback that I'm getting
like with one thing is we see the data
and like okay
it's having
you know it
it it works
it's having a hit
um and it's like qualitatively supporting this
this sense of being more connected and
and getting to know people
outside of the transaction
of work right
like we're there to
to accomplish a goal
we need the transaction of business
or the transaction of right
getting stuff done and
and we like to do that as humans
generally speaking
we like to contribute
get things done
collaborate um
and we also
have this chance to connect with each other
outside of that kind of transaction
um and that's proving really enriching
I think that's where the deep connections happen
especially if you change jobs
you will remember the times that you spent
not just doing work
but like how you interacted outside of that
so love that
we're focusing on that
you know even while
you are connecting those
people in the
day to the task
I'm sure that
you will work better together
if you understand each other
better as humans
and also find
ways to show
up more authentically
and on that
kind of wrap up note
I'm curious
what are you most
excited about
for what's ahead for you
and everything
what I'm most
excited about is
is continuing to
to continuing to grow
continuing to develop
to develop more of these three
month modules
right and and
getting feedback
still from customers
and then deciding okay
which which one's next
what what's the
next best three
month module
oh you know
within this
this domain of trust
communication
collaboration
continuing to grow
getting getting a more
substantial team in place
uh right cause they're
they're are equally
important it's
it's like that
the you know
inside signal that
that you noted earlier
it's like the
the inside and
the outside
and it's sort of like that
I feel like that
in the business
like the inside is like
the team like who
who am I collaborating with and what
what kind of aliveness and
energy is that bringing
um and then what is
the need that we're meeting
and how do we go
meet more how
how do we scale this
and really make more of an impact
I'm excited
for what's ahead of you
I'm sure there'll be a lot more accolades
I'm just looking
forward to seeing you
because you've
shared so much
personal growth
like knowledge is just now
your business growth
is your personal growth
and you dedicate so much time
energy and effort
to be resilient
to be good and
here you can
people can just sense your
kind human energy too
you know like
here you are
making all this happen
you mentioned
growing in sales
and people have this cause
there's like
if you're sales
you like salesy
you know you have a certain look
and feel to you
and there's nothing like that
so I'm here
very happy they were challenging these misconceptions
of what this whole process
can look like
so thank you so much
for showing
authentically
sharing your
key learnings
you know the challenge is
along the way
um is there anything
you want to
add before we wrap up
with three rapid fire
questions now
you've done an awesome job
Anya really
thank you yeah
thank you for creating the space
congratulations on
your own transition
and daring to
get your voice
out into the World War
my experience
like it's working
and it's a great voice to have
out more in the world
thank you Laura
I'm grateful that we're connected
okay let's jump into
the three rapid fire questions
just short response of what
first thing that comes to mind
so uh let's start with
favorite piece of sales advice
it's a science
ha ha ha like keep keep adding track count experiment
learn that it it's a science like it's numbers okay
uh one book that every entrepreneur should read
um that's a hard one
because I actually think you have to get out and do
so that that's a hard one
I mean I have read a bunch of books and that it's not
what sticks with me is like the most powerful thing
it's the get out and do and
and let yourself be on that vulnerable edge
ask for feedback
I love it I think that's even better answers
that's even better okay
last but not least in the positive sense
going off track is
daring to find your own way
find your way
let let trust the voice stare to take the step
become who you are
that's a saying from Pablo Picasso become who you are
and we know him pretty well
so it probably
probably makes sense to listen to that
well thank you so much
you were amazing
I appreciate your inspiration
I also wouldn't
just take some space to also do a quick shout out to
the nonprofit ready to empower
which supports women worldwide
um they are now celebrating the 10 year anniversary
and they're raising $50,000 by December 8th
so if to all of our listeners who feel inspired
who wanna make a little difference in the world
and have some generous feel right now
I would so appreciate if you check the link below
and dedicate whatever feels right in your heart
um to this cause
so thank you
and tell us also
thank you just for investing your time
to listen to this episode
I hope you found some inspiration
wherever you are in your journey
there are so many takeaways
and the biggest thing is listen to your gut
trust that inner voice
amazing things can happen
and sure it won't be easy
but it seems like it's gonna be quite worth it
ever Laura's journey and learn
any final words for our audience
just dare right
we've we've only got one time around
as far as we know life
like let's let like live
live and do do I mean
and then my slant on that is
let's be the best humans we can be
let's let's just see what are what are we capable of
I love it okay friends
that's it for us
and as always
let's take over the world together
right off track
thank you for checking us out
bye Laura great speaking to you bye
thanks Sonia