Ep. 70 The Stern Truth: How Resilience and Teamwork Drive Business Growth With Stephanie Lehr

Business ownership is a spectrum. A business owner and an entrepreneur are not the same. I drop these golden nuggets, and more, on Stephanie Lehr’s new podcast, The Stephanie Lehr Show (which is episode 70 of The Stern Truth.)

Stephanie is a relationship coach. In starting her new podcast, I had the honour of being her first guest. She and I get into a variety of topics. We even discuss how, during my leadership coach training, I really wasn’t leading at home and how it took me some time to realize that. 

We go over what happened during the pandemic when I was faced with the decision to keep my team or let them go. My leadership mindset is “these are my people,” so I kept them on. Thankfully, it worked out, since safety signage was a priority at that time.

I also get into the difference between being an entrepreneur and being a business owner. My friends, they are NOT the same thing. A lot of business owners are really buying themselves a job, and there is nothing wrong with that. But if you want to grow, you have to step into that ONtrepreneur mindset. Building something that lasts is the challenge.

Stephanie asked me about the best compliment I have ever received, and it has stayed with me ever since. A fellow coach told me, in front of a group, that I make people feel safe. Not impressive, not intimidating, not polished. Safe. As a coach, just as a person, that was a compliment I’ll always cherish.

Like the title of this episode says, it takes resilience, teamwork, and a community to make a business grow.

Join the ONtrepreneur Inner Circle if you’re looking for that kind of supportive community. https://marshallstern.net/landing/innercircle

Learn about Stephanie and her show here:
Instagram: @stephanielehrofficial
LinkedIn:  @stephanielehr
Website: stephanielehr.com

Subscribe to The Stern Truth Business Unfiltered so you never miss an episode and receive a FREE GIFT: http://www.thesterntruth.com/

Join my Business Inner Circle Community for free here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebusinessinnercirclegroup

Book your complimentary business blindspot assessment with me here: https://attractwell.com/MarshallStern/landing/breakthrough-session

I encourage you to reach out with feedback, topic suggestions, and share your own entrepreneurial challenges.

Get in touch in the comments or head to...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marshallstern/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarshallDStern
Email: marshall@marshallstern.net

Transcript

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[00:00:00] Marshall Stern: All right, my friends. So, you're in for a bit of a, a treat today. I mean, you're really in for a treat in all of our episodes, but it, lately I've been featured on more and more podcasts and this episode coming up, I am actually a guest on someone else's podcast and I'm honored because I'm actually the first guest that she's had as she launches her podcast, and I'm so excited to have you hear this because there are amazing golden nuggets.

[00:00:34] As you know, we like to share the Stern Truth. We're sharing it on Stephanie's podcast, and I'm reusing it with her permission on the Stern Truth because both Stephanie and myself drop, like – seriously grab that pad of paper and pen. I'm not even going to say anymore. Just have a listen to this episode and I would love your feedback.

[00:00:58] Enjoy.

[00:01:05] Hi, I'm Marshall Stern and I've spent over 35 years leading and growing multiple small businesses. I know firsthand the struggles of entrepreneurship, feeling isolated, lonely, overwhelmed, and feeling like you have to do it all by yourself. I've been through multiple recessions, and I have felt the highs and the lows.

[00:01:24] I've been there, and I get it. This podcast is here to change that. Every week I will bring you straight talking advice, real world strategies, and honest conversations about what it takes to succeed in business without the fluff, the gimmicks, or the sugar-coated. If you're ready to stop spinning your wheels and start making real progress, then you are in the right place.

[00:01:48] This is the Stern Truth.

[00:01:53] Stephanie Lehr: Today, I'm with Marshall Stern, and I have to say, recently, I had the great fortune of attending one of Marshall's Connect and Collaborate online business meetings through the Small Business Owners of BC and it was such a great group. I'd never been before. I was a virgin according to Marshall, and now I'm not.

[00:02:13] I'm pro. So I have to tell you on a personal note, Marshall made me feel safe, seen, and heard. I was able to introduce my business, introduce myself. Of course, I had questions, lots of questions, and he was asking me questions, listening intently, encouraging the others in the group to provide support and, also, some recommendations, which I really found helpful.

[00:02:37] And there was something someone said that I thought I hadn't thought about that before. So, I will certainly be back. Proud to have been at my very first meeting and I got a t-shirt for it. One of the things that I love about Marshall is that he has this ability to lead with generosity, wisdom, and truth.

[00:02:56] And quite frankly, he is an all-around nice guy. You can't meet a nicer guy, and he's a gem of a human. So, I'm so happy, Marshall, that you're here today to talk with us and please tell us a little bit more about yourself. 

[00:03:10] Marshall Stern: Well, thank you Stephanie for that introduction. I, I've been looking forward to this and thank you for having me.

[00:03:15] I'm a nice, generally all-around nice guy. You know, I'll take that now, but I know when, you know, as a, as a guy growing up, when you're a teenager, you don't want to be the nice guy. I known as a nice guy, but now, but now I'll take it. Now, I'll take it. 

[00:03:29] Stephanie Lehr: Yeah. 

[00:03:31] Marshall Stern: So, yeah, I am – been in business for, gosh, I’m aging, myself.

[00:03:36] Well, you can see by my hair over 35 years, multiple businesses. I sold the sign graphics company called Sandbox, which I sold almost now three years ago, which is amazing. Time flies, and I've been coaching and mentoring other business owners like yourself, like myself for 14 years now, and I just love, yeah, I just love connecting.

[00:03:55] I love helping business owners build a business that serves their life 

[00:04:00] Stephanie Lehr: Mm-hmm. Why do you do what you do? 

[00:04:01] Marshall Stern: Why do I do what I do? You know, I think it was always in me, but really I just, I feel like when I started out in business, there was so much that even though I grew up in an entrepreneurial family background,  and I had a business when I was 16 and different businesses through school, I found it was very lonely. 

[00:04:21] And I found that, even when I started my last business, which I sold a couple, almost about three years ago, just it was very, at times it felt isolating. I was the business owner. I was the leader, you know, the buck stops with you kind of thing. And I had a team, I had employees and there were ups and downs. I went through recessions and all that kind of stuff, and obviously the pandemic.

[00:04:41] And I just felt that there needs to be more, something more. And there's so much noise out there. There's so many so-called experts out there, Stephanie, that I've felt, it might sound woo-woo or whatever, but a calling. To make a difference. So I'm trying to cut through all the BS and just have people.

[00:05:00] Right. I don't, I always say I don't coach businesses per se. I coach the business owner, the leader, because it's all from the inside out. It starts with them. Sure, I go into systems and processes and I get, I work with all of that and their sales teams and their leadership team, but it starts with the business owner and, and I just love it.

[00:05:20] I just love seeing the transformation and love seeing the aha moments and love seeing people I help my clients see what they can't see and I love that. 

[00:05:30] Stephanie Lehr: Yeah, I love that you have this kind of innate calling. Obviously, you just said, Hey, like I grew up in an entrepreneurial family, so there's a lot of kind of modeling for you and to see, wow, that looks cool, like I want to do that too.

[00:05:44] Had you ever decided that you wanted to go into like a corporate job or like a regular job? Did that ever kind of come to you at all? 

[00:05:52] Marshall Stern: Uhhh –

[00:05:53] Stephanie Lehr: We're getting the heebie-jeebies all of a sudden. 

[00:05:55] Marshall Stern: Yeah. So I started – 

[00:05:56] Stephanie Lehr: Shake it off. Shake it off, Marshall. 

[00:05:58] Marshall Stern: So when I, so when I moved – I'm from Winnipeg. Because you said, I'm an all-around nice guy, so of course I'm from the prairies.

[00:06:05] When I moved out here, I went to BCIT. When I graduated, I wanted to be an ad guy. I was like, I grew up in this sort of the Thirtysomething. I don’t know if you remember the TV show, Thirtysomething? 

[00:06:14] Stephanie Lehr: Oh, yes, yes.

[00:06:14] Marshall Stern: I want, I wanted to be, I think his name was Michael. I wanted to be him except for the drama part.

[00:06:20] I didn't want that stuff, but I wanted to be the ad guy, but no one was hiring. It was 90 – 1990 when I graduated. 

[00:06:27] Stephanie Lehr: Yeah. 

[00:06:28] Marshall Stern: And no one was hiring. There was a recession, people were coming back up. All that agencies I ended up do through my practicum working for BC Lottery Corporation. So, I ended up staying there for four years or three, almost four years. Three years.

[00:06:40] Stephanie Lehr: Okay. 

[00:06:40] Marshall Stern: And I tried to climb the ladder, and it was, like, ick. 

[00:06:44] Stephanie Lehr: Yeah. 

[00:06:44] Marshall Stern: It was like – 

[00:06:45] Stephanie Lehr: It's pretty flat. It's pretty flat there, I would imagine. 

[00:06:47] Marshall Stern: Yeah. There were lifers, there were people there probably that still worked there that I worked with back 35 years ago. Yeah. And it was a great company, but it wasn't for me.

[00:06:59] I needed something more and to move ahead. It wasn't all about just skill and ability back then, right? There was more to it, and I'm not, not them just corporate, right? And bureaucracy. Also a crown corporation. I loved my time there and it really helped me understand people and business a little bit.

[00:07:19] Marketing, because I was in the marketing, sales department. I need something more. And, and I never won the lottery when I was there, so. I know. 

[00:07:28] Stephanie Lehr: Still crossing my fingers, Marshall. 

[00:07:30] Marshall Stern: So, so I realized corporate it had nothing to do with them. They were a great organization, so, you know, they really were, but it wasn't for me.

[00:07:36] I needed more and I needed to have control. I guess it was, came down to, Stephanie. I needed to have control over my own destiny. Right. And, and that's what I did. It wasn't easy. 

[00:07:45] Stephanie Lehr: That's, it's a great lesson, isn't it? You know, you don't 

[00:07:48] You wouldn't get that. I mean, you had to go through that experience to become where you are right now.

[00:07:54] So, there's nothing, there's nothing you would change, I'm sure. It's like you have to understand what you also don't like, I think to figure out, you know, that's not what I wanted to do, and that's okay. It's totally okay. 

[00:08:06] Marshall Stern: Yeah, exactly. Yep. 

[00:08:08] Stephanie Lehr: Yeah. What do you think people misunderstand about entrepreneurship?

[00:08:14] What do you think that's a big, a big misunderstanding that people have about that? Scary business. 

[00:08:19] Marshall Stern: That's a great question. I, I think people get confused with entrepreneurship and being a business owner, and they're not the same. They're not synonymous. They can be. You can be, definitely, an entrepreneur who owns a business, but you don't have to be. You can be an entrepreneur working in a corporation.

[00:08:35] Usually the don't last long because you – or if it's a startup, right? You're working for someone else, helping them get off. Entrepreneurs like to start things. Entrepreneurs have are freaking creative. They have ideas. They go, go, go, but they usually get bored, which is a challenge. So, it is challenging being an entrepreneur and a business owner.

[00:08:52] Business owner. We know what that is. A lot of business owners really aren't entrepreneurs. Okay. So, I think the challenging thing with, the most challenging thing with being an entrepreneur is staying power. You like to start things, but you don't like to necessarily finish them. 

[00:09:07] Stephanie Lehr: Okay. Tell me more about that.

[00:09:09] Marshall Stern: You just, you're, you're a starter. You have all these ideas, but once it's up and start, once it's up and running, yes, you can start other divisions, expansion, but once everything is going the way you had envisioned it, because it's all about the vision. You get bored and shiny object syndrome sets in. Right.

[00:09:28] And experts. You know, the online experts go there, we go here. Oh, I should do that. I should do that. And it's really, I, I think entrepreneurs, real entrepreneurs are never fully satisfied. 

[00:09:41] Stephanie Lehr: Yeah. Yeah. Is it, is it a – you mentioned the word control before. Is it control? And is it like creativity and not being able to have that kind of creative outlet?

[00:09:54] Like once you've had the vision realized that it's like, I got to go the next thing? Is that what you're kind of saying there? 

[00:10:01] Marshall Stern: I think so. I mean, I think it's different for everyone and obviously in the end, I mean, it's just a label. So, everyone is different. And everyone has different challenges, but I think just overall in my own experience, I mean I am definitely an entrepreneur by spirit, but there are people out there, there are entrepreneurs out there who are much more, I'm an entrepreneur, but there are a lot of people out there who are really much more entrepreneurial.

[00:10:25] So there's probably a, a spectrum of entrepreneurship, right? I don't think it's, like, right everyone's the same. It's like anything else. I mean, although a business owner, you're a business owner, you own a business, okay. You can call yourself a business, but I think entrepreneurs, there's definitely a spectrum.

[00:10:37] There are some who are just so great at starting. They're so – they have those ideas, that have those passions, and then they have to pass it off to someone else and then move on to the next thing, and then the next thing. The next thing, right. I had my business for 29 years. That was part of the problem.

[00:10:51] So I started in a franchise. I signed company originally as a franchise. This is the, this is where the problem was. I was an entrepreneur. Majority of franchisees are not entrepreneurial. Majority of franchisees want to buy a system; they want to be in business for themselves. So, they have, maybe, maybe they're a two or three on an entrepreneurial scale.

[00:11:13] Okay. 

[00:11:14] Stephanie Lehr: They're buying themself a job. 

[00:11:16] Marshall Stern: They're buying themselves a job, or I mean, they might. Yeah. Or they'll have employees. But yeah, it's a system. And they're fine with that and they follow the system to a T. There's nothing wrong with that. I mean, if you own Subway franchises or McDonald's, like you can do really, really well, and a lot of them do grow.

[00:11:34] You can, that's the other thing, I think you can definitely grow in your, in your entrepreneurialism, whatever that would be,

[00:11:44] But I got bored and I pushed back because I, I was like a rogue franchisee. And, I want to do things my way. 

[00:11:53] Stephanie Lehr: Yes, yes. 

[00:11:55] Marshall Stern: And I didn't want to be in this box, and entrepreneurs can't be kept in a box. 

[00:11:59] Stephanie Lehr: So, it's like creating your own system. Like, you would love to create your own system, but because you are a franchisee, you've bought into someone's system and said, I'll do that.

[00:12:09] Right? And having your own creativity and adding your own ideas sometimes are not welcomed or they're not inspired. No one's, like, encouraging you to be doing that because hey, we have a system. Stick to it. You'll do well. 

[00:12:22] Marshall Stern: Yeah. I mean I was like, if you imagine, I can't even believe I did it now, but if you imagine, let's say I own a McDonald's.

[00:12:27] Can you imagine an owner, a franchisee of McDonald's? Because they're all franchise-based where I think most of them are changing their golden arches to like burgundy, because they didn't like the golden arch color. Right. Or changing it from the, you know, the roundy, you know, whatever, to, like, a totally different font and burgundy.

[00:12:46] That's what I did when I had the franchise. A few years in, I'd merged with another franchise. We merged together the same location, same company, same brand. We had two locations and we decided we hated the color scheme of the franchise we were a part of. So, we made a – it wasn't change, we didn't change the logo, per se.

[00:13:02] But we did a – I, I remember we did a sign out, out front with, it was supposed to be red and yellow and we changed it to like silver on black because we were in Yaletown. We had to be very Yaletown, you know, Yaletown, of course. Yeah. We had to be very fancy and very high-end, upper scale. So, we did like the silver logo in a black background, and we were ordered immediately to take it down.

[00:13:21] Stephanie Lehr: I guess so. And did you. 

[00:13:23] Marshall Stern: We had to, yes. 

[00:13:25] Stephanie Lehr: And did you say, well, that was a sign? 

[00:13:28] Marshall Stern: That, pardon the pun. Pardon the pun, yes. That was a sign and that's, that was the beginning of the end. 

[00:13:34] Stephanie Lehr: Yeah, I bet. Or the beginning. As it turns out. 

[00:13:38] Marshall Stern: I like that. That's the shift. Yes. 

[00:13:40] Stephanie Lehr: Every end has a beginning as well, which is so…

[00:13:44] Sometimes we have to remind ourselves about that. Because it's so devastating that I didn't expect that end. But there is always a beginning, isn't there? 

[00:13:52] Marshall Stern: Yeah. Well that was the, that was, that was, so that was 2004. So, it was 10 years, just over 10. 10 years and two months in, I left. We moved, we had to move, like, two miles to protect the innocent, change our name to protect the innocent, and open up Sandbox Signs and Graphics in Burnaby.

[00:14:10] My vision, my logo, our – my brand identity, what we wanted to build, what we wanted to get away from, and what we wanted to go to. And we were there from basically January 1st, 2005, until I sold it in June, 2023. So, 

[00:14:26] Stephanie Lehr: And was it as easy as you thought it could be, even having your own – ? 

[00:14:30] Marshall Stern: 100 percent hell no. 

[00:14:31] Stephanie Lehr: Yeah, I had a feeling, I had a feeling, it's like, what you thought would be easier, wasn't necessarily, I'm sure/ 

[00:14:39] Marshall Stern: It was easier because we, in the sense that we could have, we could step into our own brand, our own feeling, do what we wanted to do. And the franchising was part of, wasn't like really restrictive.

[00:14:50] It was restrictive in certain areas. Brand for sure. And marketing. Yes, but not the way, like we could do certain things ourselves. It wasn't like a McDonald's or Subway where, and that's what makes them so successful. It's like you go anywhere in the world and it's the same thing. 

[00:15:04] Stephanie Lehr: Consistent. 

[00:15:05] Marshall Stern: The systems right, and the processes, but it was, there was no – all of a sudden I had this, what I thought was no support.

[00:15:12] Right. Or a lack of support from the franchise because it really wasn't a lot. All of a sudden, I went to zero support. 

[00:15:17] Stephanie Lehr: Right, 

[00:15:18] Marshall Stern: Right. 

[00:15:18] Stephanie Lehr: You had to rely on yourself and your partner. 

[00:15:20] Marshall Stern: Well, my partner had, I bought him out at that time. So, it was just, it was just me. 

[00:15:24] Stephanie Lehr: Just you. Just you. Okay.

[00:15:25] Marshall Stern: It was just me and my, just me and my, my eight staff, or seven staff members at the time.

[00:15:28] And, going to a whole new problem was, we went into a territory in Burnaby that we were never in because there was a franchise already. That we were part of that was in Burnaby, so we could never compete in Burnaby. So, we, all of a sudden, had zero clients. Not zero. We had some, but very little in Burnaby.

[00:15:46] So what did I do? I bought that Burnaby sign shop. Okay. So, so now six months into us moving to Burnaby. So now we had this, this, this presence in Burnaby. Yeah. And then 18 years later, I sold the business. 

[00:15:58] Stephanie Lehr: What was the biggest lesson that you got from that, having that business? 

[00:16:02] Marshall Stern: People. 

[00:16:02] Stephanie Lehr: I'm sure many, many lessons, but – 

[00:16:04] Marshall Stern: People.

[00:16:04] Yeah. But it was, it was – I’ll – Okay. Yeah. Many – I mean, like, how much time do I have resilience? I, I, okay. The first thing – 

[00:16:10] Stephanie Lehr: As much as you want.

[00:16:12] Marshall Stern: First thing for me. Like personally, I would say resilience. Okay. I mean, I went through still more recession, another recession. Then obviously we all did the pandemic.

[00:16:21] So I would say, resilience. Resilience and persistency, I would say. But overall, the number one, and I think the most important thing, any business leader. Business owner needs to be aware of is people. And I knew that before, but even more so. It was so much more important, especially going through recessions and then the pandemic where sign companies and companies all across the world were letting go, laying off employees.

[00:16:47] I remember when March 12 happened, or whatever it was, 2020. I remember coming home and my wife said, well, I was talking to her brother-in-law. And we just –you have to let them go. 

[00:17:01] Stephanie Lehr: Gosh, 

[00:17:02] Marshall Stern: We're you're shut down. We're shut -  because she worked in the company at that point. She never did before, but she worked in that company that, and I said, no, I'm not going to, these people, they, they, they have families.

[00:17:15] They're my people. One of them had been with me at that point since, you know, for 24 years, 23 years, and I said – plus this is not, this is temporary. Remember back then they kept saying two weeks. Two weeks. Two weeks. 

[00:17:30] Stephanie Lehr: Right, right. 

[00:17:31] Marshall Stern: But we also knew the government was talking about coming out with some sort of something support for small business or for business wage subsidy and all that.

[00:17:39] So I said, I can't, I'm not going to because I'll never get them back. And finding good people in this industry is really challenging. So I, I kept them and we worked. All through April, we wrapped up our jobs that we had. We never shut down. We were an essential service because, you know, we, we basically just cleaned up our place in the month of April and put wall wraps up and just really just, it was shorter days.

[00:18:06] Fridays were closed, but shorter days, Monday through Thursday, and then May, May 1st happened. And we, all of a sudden, were swamped with all these plexiglass shields and, and the graphics like keeps, you know, six feet apart the deck. And we went from our worst month in, at that point, 20 whatever years, 25 years t,o our busiest month ever for, for the one month because we were all the community centers, buildings and whatever.

[00:18:35] We were just swamped. 

[00:18:39] Stephanie Lehr: And you could never have foreseen that coming. I mean…

[00:18:42] Marshall Stern: Nobody could. 

[00:18:42] Stephanie Lehr: Plexiglass industry. 

[00:18:44] Marshall Stern: No. And we didn't even do that. 

[00:18:46] Stephanie Lehr: Yeah. So that's that pivot that you probably had to do and realize if we want business, we're going to have to do something we've never done before, which is scary.

[00:18:54] Marshall Stern: Yeah. So we had to again, be resilient. We had to be innovative. And I reached out to the Podiatrist Association and the Dental Association, and we ended up being, for those two associations, the go-to company for all of these desktop Plexiglas Shields, 

[00:19:12] Right? It was not a great thing. I mean, it just kept us busy a little bit.

[00:19:15] But honestly, like they weren't our ideal client. They never bought from us ever again after that. That's all they were bought. Because they don't really buy graphics. So maybe some decals for their front door to keep, you know, if you have this symptom, this symptom, go home. It was people. It was my people.

[00:19:31] It was all – so you asked that question. I think people are the number one most important, whether you have employees or not. You have to build a team. 

[00:19:40] Stephanie Lehr: Even if it's just a team of one, like other than yourself, 

[00:19:43] Marshall Stern: It could be team one. It could be just having someone like yourself on your team, a coach, a mentor, right?

[00:19:49] A bookkeeper, a, a virtual assistant. You need to have – we can't do it all by ourselves. We can't do it all. 

[00:19:56] Stephanie Lehr: No. It's that – it's the realization that if you want to scale, if you want to get to a next level, it's, you know, who do you have on the bus with you on that journey? Right. And it's understanding what your strengths are, I would imagine.

[00:20:09] And where you have some points of development, because we all do, or weaknesses, we from h hr, so we call it points of development, but you know, your weaknesses where you really needed to say, Hey, like, I'm not strong here. Who can I bring on the bus with me? And that's building team. 

[00:20:26] Marshall Stern: Building, building team.

[00:20:27] And you know what I always say? I, one thing I didn't say in my intro is I did write a book in 2009. I just didn't do much with it. I think I sold it to two people. My mom and yeah. And the ex. And an ex-girlfriend. 

[00:20:38] Stephanie Lehr: That's team. 

[00:20:39] Marshall Stern: That's a team, but it was called the Stern Truth On Growing Your Business in Any Economy.

[00:20:44] Stephanie Lehr: Okay. 

[00:20:45] Marshall Stern: Okay. Because I know 2008, everything was falling apart and it was like four, basically, like, four shifts, and one of them was four focuses and one of them was focus on your people. And I even, I said in the book, you know, when we and our people, meaning our people, I said in the book, our most important customer is our employees.

[00:21:01] It's our people. So, for your listeners, if they're, if they have people, if they have employees, coworkers, that's the most important. You take care of them. If you're a leader in a company or if it's your company, if you take care of your people, they will take care of your people. 

[00:21:17] Stephanie Lehr: Absolutely. How did you take care of your people?

[00:21:20] Marshall Stern: I didn't lay them off. When the going came went rough. Right. I connected with, I really – it's one thing I can actually honestly say. Because I am trained as a leadership coach. I don't talk about that until I'm working with a client. Then I'll bring it up. I'm, I call myself like a leadership coach in disguise.

[00:21:38] Okay. Because a lot of, you know, in the corporate world, if I was to work with executives, that's a hundred percent. I'd be like, Hey, I'm an executive leadership coach. Yes, small business – 

[00:21:47] Stephanie Lehr: But the label matters on that way.

[00:21:49] Marshall Stern:. Label matters. Small business owners, just, like,  whatever. I don't need a leadership coach.

[00:21:52] That's for executives, that's for CEOs, C-Suite, right? I connected with them. Now, it doesn't matter if you have eight employees, one employee, or a hundred or 500 employees. There are ways to connect with them, and I was curious about them. I constantly, not like constantly throughout the day, like nagging them, but I would always, how's your weekend?

[00:22:12] How's your wife? How's the kids? That sort of thing. They knew that. They knew they had a good with me. My wife used to work in banking, one of the big banks, and she never – so before she came to work for me, she would always say to me, treat you. They run all over, like they walk all over you. You treat them way too well.

[00:22:28] That would never happen in banking. You're exactly right. It wouldn't. That's why my production manager stayed with me for 26 years and other ones stayed with me 15 years. The turnover in banking is totally different. 

[00:22:42] Stephanie Lehr: Absolutely. Absolutely 

[00:22:44] Marshall Stern: Right. 

[00:22:45] Stephanie Lehr: Keeping your people and then currently, what are you working on right now?

[00:22:51] Marshall Stern: Always, always, always, if you're not growing, you're not growing. Right. It’s the opposite. 

[00:22:54] Stephanie Lehr: Because you're entrepreneurial. So, I know you're onto something else. I know you're you. You've got some creativity going on here. So, what do you let to now? 

[00:23:02] Marshall Stern: Well, so I, as you know, so I've recently launched, well not, it's actually a year ago now.

[00:23:07] I launched my podcast, the Stern Truth. Thank you, Business Unfiltered. So, congratulations to you. This is awesome. So that's, I’m continuing to grow that. I just recently launched. A group for leaders and business owners called the ONtrepreneur Inner Circle, which is a weekly, it's like a sounding board, virtual.

[00:23:23] So, you come in and similar type of like room to what you were at the Connect. You mentioned the Connect and Collaborate, but this is, like, structured but loosely structured, if I may say. But it's all about accountability, support, coaching, guidance, talking about the, the Stern Truth about being a leader and owning a business, running a business.

[00:23:40] And I'm just, yeah, I'm working on a few other things that will be announced shortly. 

[00:23:47] Stephanie Lehr: Okay. Well stay tuned for that. 

[00:23:50] Marshall Stern: Stay tuned for that. 

[00:23:51] Stephanie Lehr: Well, I love that you have the connection groups because I think you mentioned earlier, when we first started that, you know, you're alone or you may not have the backing of your partner, or you have different visions and possibly there's that loneliness.

[00:24:07] And so certainly that will help the people that you're working with not feel like they're alone, number one, and that they also have connections with the other folks in the room and that they're very. More similar than different is what I would suggest. Do you find that with your clients that they seem to have more similarities than differences?

[00:24:25] Marshall Stern: It's interesting you say that. So, so, yes. I've had some people say to me, because I've had other, I had a Momentum. It was my last group that I had. We ran it for a couple of years and it was two times a month. This one's a little bit more structured. It's weekly. I talked to people about approach them, come check it out as a guest and say, oh, well, let's say they're a bookkeeper.

[00:24:43] Do you have any other bookkeepers in? I say, okay, well, no. Or there might be one. Well, I prefer to have a more industry, like, I'd like to join a group if it's just all bookkeepers or all. Digital marketers, right. Industry specific. 

[00:24:56] Stephanie Lehr: Mm-hmm. 

[00:24:57] Marshall Stern: Because we have the same struggles and my – I push back saying, you know what, we all have the same and there's a benefit to being part of an industry focus group and there's benefit to not.

[00:25:08] Because the problem with these in industry specific groups is everyone thinks the same way. 

[00:25:13] Everyone has a sort of the same lens. Like if you're a –

[00:25:16] Stephanie Lehr: It could be a danger for that for sure. 

[00:25:18] Marshall Stern: Right. So there's a benefit and a danger. Our group, it's people, it's majority are people in the B2B space, but we have a guy who has a renovation company, and he adds so much value to the group.

[00:25:30] So the power of an inner circle is the power of the members, and I'm very specific and selective as who I allow it. And he is totally different than the rest of the members, but he brings so much value if you just listen to him. He's so growth oriented. Business is business. 

[00:25:48] Stephanie Lehr: Absolutely. And people, no matter what industry you're in.

[00:25:51] You're bound to have a lesson for somebody. It's like they're possibly going to encounter that or they've already, they're encountering it and it's just a breath of fresh air to hear someone about their struggles that they're overcoming. Right. I think that,  hat makes a lot of sense to kind of hear no matter what industry. What do you find, Marshall, is like the biggest mistake that your clients are making?

[00:26:14] Marshall Stern: Well, they're not making them anymore because they're my clients. However, right? 

[00:26:18] Stephanie Lehr: From the beginning though. 

[00:26:19] Marshall Stern: From the beginning. Okay. I'm kidding though. 

[00:26:21] Stephanie Lehr: Before and after. 

[00:26:22] Marshall Stern: I am actually quite humble, so, I hope they're not making them now, but before what I see people making, okay. I have to, I guess as a caveat, okay, I'll put this into a perspective.

[00:26:34] There's nothing wrong with people who are, let's say again, let's, I'll use the bookkeeper. Let's say you're a bookkeeper for a company and decide, I'm tired of working for them. I want to have my own gig. So, you become a bookkeeper and you're doing the books. And that's what you do. You get some clients, you're full, but you're not really into – you don't really care about growing that.

[00:26:49] You just want to have a full plate, and that's fine. You buy yourself a job. Nothing wrong with that. I'm not talking about these people. People who want to grow their business. Biggest challenge, biggest mistake I see them make is that they limit themselves by trying to do everything themselves. They get stuck in that bookkeeper who wants to just have a job.

[00:27:09] They get stuck, what I call the employee mindset or even the operator, business operator mindset, or we talked about this earlier, the franchisee mindset, which is a business operator and employee mindset where you're stuck doing it all yourself. Think, even if you're in corporate, right? Corporate's not my really, my thing people are, my thing is you think I can do it better?

[00:27:35] I could do it faster. Why am I going to spend time training someone new when I, I could just do it by the time I've trained them. It's been, it's done. But now that's prevented you from actually building your business and most of the activities that you're working on, which I think is what happens with small business owners is it drains them the activities, the administrative, it could be social media activities that are draining them, really hold them back from growing their business.

[00:28:00] And if they would just be a little bit more entrepreneurial, be a little bit more visionary, which is what I call the entrepreneur, O-N. Right. 

[00:28:10] Stephanie Lehr: I like that. 

[00:28:11] Marshall Stern: Then it's about investing. It's about invest – taking a leap of faith, investing. Bring on a virtual assistant or an employee, bring on a coach or a mentor to help you bring on people on your team so that you can actually build a business instead of a busyness.

[00:28:29] Stephanie Lehr: And isn't that a self-care piece as well? I mean – 

[00:28:33] Marshall Stern: a hundred percent. Because if you're doing –  

[00:28:34] Stephanie Lehr: I can imagine all the hats, I mean, they're up top, up past the ceiling, you know, I mean, that's a lot of stress on people, I would think. For sure. And so –  

[00:28:43] Marshall Stern: Yeah. 

[00:28:43] Stephanie Lehr: taking a leap of faith and, and you know, investing in someone and vetting them out as you feel comfortable doing and having them on your team, I think makes a lot of sense. 

[00:28:52] Marshall Stern: Well, it allows you, it allows you to grow, it allows you to do the things that really, like my podcast would've never,  would've never happened if it wasn't for me bringing people on my team to help me with it. 

[00:29:02] Stephanie Lehr: Oh. Mm-hmm. 

[00:29:04] Marshall Stern: Right, because I had a podcast 10 or 11 years ago, and I only lasted like 20 episodes because I just got tired of doing it all myself.

[00:29:11] And it's really not a lot of work. It's just work. And it was work that was taking me away from what I really wanted to do. And so, this time, this time around, I knew what was holding me back from launching. I want to launch it, relaunched it for three years. It was that I didn't have that team, so I, I hired the team.

[00:29:28] When you go talking about the, like the self-care is huge. That's why my, like my one-to-one program is called Business and Life Mastery because it's all about both, not balance, not work-life balance, because there's no work-life balance on a given day. You know that. 

[00:29:43] Stephanie Lehr: No, there isn't. I, I call it harmony, like – 

[00:29:47] Marshall Stern: I love that.

[00:29:47] Stephanie Lehr: Harmony.

[00:29:49] Marshall Stern: Yes. I love that. I mean, at the end of the month, at the end of your life for sure, you want that balance or the harmony. But in any given day it's not, it's not feasible. But I work with a lot of, I work with a lot of women who have kids, younger kids, like a young family, and they have the struggle of the juggle and it’s real.

[00:30:04] And they're trying to build this business to. They're trying to build their career, like as a leader in a corporation, maybe. Oh, and then they have this, these little ones, or they have aging parents. 

[00:30:13] Stephanie Lehr: Yes. Yes. 

[00:30:13] Marshall Stern: Right. 

[00:30:14] Stephanie Lehr: The sandwich generation. Right. 

[00:30:16] Marshall Stern: Absolutely. 

[00:30:16] Stephanie Lehr: Taking care of kids, taking care of the elderly folks.

[00:30:19] I mean, that's a lot. 

[00:30:20] Marshall Stern: It's a lot. And taking care of the business. And yet who? Who's number three on that list? Or number four? Because then they got their significant other somewhere in there. 

[00:30:28] Stephanie Lehr: I was going to say, what the heck? Where's the partner in all of this? 

[00:30:33] Marshall Stern: Yeah. So one thing I'm really big into is, yeah, that self care, taking the time, even if it's 10 minutes at a time, in between, you can do it, right?

[00:30:43] Stephanie Lehr: Absolutely, absolutely.

[00:30:45] Marshall Stern: And you need to do it. 

[00:30:46] Stephanie Lehr: Yeah. I want to go back to something that you've just said about the partner and as, as you know, as a relationship strategist working with women and couples, I'm noticing a lot of disconnection when we've got an entrepreneurial woman or man,  and they're trying to build their business.

[00:31:04] They're trying to be successful. But what I'm noticing from the folks that I'm working with is that, you know, the connection at home is absolutely, well, non-existent. Like, they just don't make that a priority. Have you noticed that with the folks that you're working with as well? Like, there, it just seems to be.

[00:31:22] You know, a lot of conflict is happening with folks now because they're trying to aspire, get their goals, build their business, and they just don't have that same support or connection at home at this point. Have you noticed that as well? 

[00:31:36] Marshall Stern: I have both professionally and personally. So, I have a friend of mine who, him and his wife were lawyers and they were on the corporate ladder.

[00:31:43] He really was early on. This is again in the nineties, and he just put everything into his job and he ended up. Losing his marriage because of it. 

[00:31:51] Stephanie Lehr: Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:31:52] Marshall Stern: And even though she also was a lawyer, but the relationship was more important to her, eventually having family was more important to her. Now both of them moved on.

[00:31:59] They've both gotten married, both have kids and they're both very happy. So, everything worked out. But it doesn't always, and yeah, a hundred percent, like it's, it's one of the things I do with my client, my private clients, is when every session with accountability, they have to like, what are the action steps you're going to do in the next week or the next two weeks?

[00:32:18] If they have a significant other, one of them is always right, not every single week, but they know early on they have to be accountable to, whether it's date, night spending, whatever it is, time. Same thing if they have kids and for themselves as well. 

[00:32:34] Stephanie Lehr: Just making sure that, you know what, we're not just all business.

[00:32:39] It's really quite personal too, isn't it? And making sure that the kids, the family because why are we building businesses? Isn't it for families? Isn't it for our partners, isn't it? For a better life isn't for legacy. When you think about it, and what a shame if that doesn't come across to your family that like they're always working.

[00:32:59] It's not about us, it's always about them and they're never here. It's really to make sure that connection. I love that you do that with your clients. 

[00:33:07] Marshall Stern: Well, none of them. So here's one golden nugget I like to call it. I'd like to give your listeners and I, I really want them to hear this one because I went through this.

[00:33:15] When I trained to be a leadership coach, which was in 2011, okay. I was like drinking the Kool-Aid. This was my, like, my kids were young, but this was, I was all about this, and I thought I was like, I, I was reading it, I was digesting. It's all I ever talked about. And I remember being out for dinner. I remember being at, it's not there anymore.

[00:33:36] The milestones, I don't remember the one on Cambie and Broadway, 8th, or whatever, upstairs, and I remember with my wife and my two young kids and my wife, I remember her saying something to the effect of you're being a leader for all these other people. Because – I was starting to coach at that time and bringing leadership into my sign company, she said, you're not being a leader for your family anymore.

[00:33:57] And I was like, one of the things I was always proud of was being all hands-on deck. I'm the dad, you know, my mom used to like, your father never changed diapers. And then, you know, I would, my wife would be out and my mom would call and say, whatcha doing? Oh, I'm just hanging out with the kids. You know, my wife went out.

[00:34:12] She goes, oh, you're babysitting. Not babysitting. They're my kids. But that was a different generation. So I always took pride in being present, but all of a sudden, I wasn't. And I didn't know that. 

[00:34:22] And I fought back on that. I said, what are you talking about? Because I was so deep into it, it took about six months until I realized she was right.

[00:34:32] Little, just a tip, for all of you listening. If your significant other, your partner is telling you something, saying that you're not being present or they're not getting this from you – one thing about being a leader, Stephanie, and I know you know this, one of the biggest, I think, characteristics of a really good leader is being able to look at themselves in the mirror and take accountability and own it.

[00:34:53] Just slow down and let's listen to what they're saying. I know when, you know when we're in the heat of the moment we're in something, we're like, they say love is blind, so you fall in love with whatever it is. It's like everything else is like, that's all you see. Listen. Listen to the people around you.

[00:35:07] Listen to the closest people around you. Sometimes not always. Sometimes they're onto something and they usually, it's usually always onto something, whether it's to the degree they're saying, just step back and analyze. 

[00:35:20] Stephanie Lehr: Just being curious about what does that person, who loves me the most in the world, what are they actually telling me here at this point?

[00:35:28] Marshall Stern: Whether it's, whether it's – because it's not your reality, but it is theirs.

[00:35:31] Stephanie Lehr: Right? 

[00:35:32] Marshall Stern: And I knew, you know more than anyone being a relationship coach, right? It is theirs. So, they're obviously not getting something from you or your kids aren't getting something from you. So ,don't say, I don’t know what you're talking about.

[00:35:41] You're crazy. Like, you know, they're obviously feeling it. So, it is reality. It's just not yours. But it has now become your reality because it's their reality. And it's the same thing with leaders, business owners with their people. And it's the same thing. I can go even further on, that's for another episode with your clients.

[00:35:56] Like, come on. Listen to your people. 

[00:35:58] Stephanie Lehr: Because it's all about how do you make people feel when they're in your presence, right? And I think that's, no matter what you say, it's really about what is that feeling. I think that's really important to, to consider. I have a question for you. What is the best compliment that you have ever received?

[00:36:16] And I'm sure you've received many, but I'm just curious about one that really stands out for you. 

[00:36:20] Marshall Stern: So. About – I've heard it since I've had some really nice testimonials, which is like, oh my God, I just like, make me want to cry. I would say the one that really grabbed me, and it's been said since in different variations.

[00:36:33] I was in a, and this was from another coach, so I meant even more. 

[00:36:37] Stephanie Lehr: Yeah. 

[00:36:38] Marshall Stern: I was in a program coaching, marketing coaching program years ago, about four or five years ago, and one of the women said, and I was the only guy, I was the only dude in this program. It was like me and 15 other women love it. And she, and she said, you know Marshall, you know what I love about you?

[00:36:51] She's in front of the group, right? It was on Zoom. And I said, what's that? She goes – and this is, this is fine. This is full circle, Stephanie, because you came on, you said that. I'm such an all-around nice guy. I'm a nice guy. I wouldn't have liked you –

[00:37:02] Stephanie Lehr: You are! 

[00:37:02] Marshall Stern: I wouldn't have wanted to hear, I wouldn't have wanted to hear this when I'm like, 17.

[00:37:06] Lemme just say this. She's – this, what this person said. She said, you're safe. And I went, what do you mean by that? And she said, you know, there are a lot of people out there, not just men, predominantly men. She said men, but men and women coaches, all these experts out there or whatever, you, it's not relatable, not you can't resonate with them.

[00:37:24] You don't feel like you're going to open up to them. She said, whenever you're in the room, I just feel safe with you. I feel like I can tell you anything, and that really changed, not changed the way I coached, but, really, I guess added to it. It was a big insight. Like, I was giving out this feeling, this confidence feeling, or this, I don't know, this feeling of just I, I guess the all around nice guy thing, but safe.

[00:37:51] And that's something that I think as a coach, as a mentor, people want. Is, you know, even if you're, if you're like a therapist, same thing. They, they want to know that they're safe with you. Right. And that's why like the ONtrepreneur Inner Circle is a safe space, connect and collaborate as you were at the other day, which we do once a month.

[00:38:11] Our next one's March 19th. It's a safe space. I'll not allow any BS.

[00:38:19] It's not there to like get referrals and it's not there. Right. It's just safe. I want people to feel safe because we all know like just in this world there's so, even more so as we record this, so much things that are unsafe. 

[00:38:32] Stephanie Lehr: Yes, yes. 

[00:38:34] Marshall Stern: But that's, that was it. I swear I told you I was going to go on, on a rant, but that's, no, I love it.

[00:38:39] She said that and I've had that back in different testimonials and Google reviews over the years in different ways. But that would probably be the the… yeah, that that hit home. 

[00:38:48] Stephanie Lehr: Yeah. I think that, that is the ultimate compliment. When someone feels that they can be vulnerable in your presence and that you are not going to be judgy about it, you're going to have them feel like they've been seen and heard.

[00:39:04] I think that is the ultimate compliment, and I'm not surprised that you have that running theme. I think that's amazing. 

[00:39:09] Marshall Stern: Thank you. Yeah. Especially being a guy, right? I mean, you don't get it. So I think that's what made it even more special. And that's what she was saying and she was, yeah. 

[00:39:21] Stephanie Lehr: That's so great.

[00:39:22] So what are you currently, can you give us an idea about what you're currently working on right now that you're really excited about? I know you have some upcoming things, but some things that we should be knowing that's upcoming. We talked about connect and collaborate will be coming up March 19th.

[00:39:37] Marshall Stern: Mm-hmm. 

[00:39:37] Stephanie Lehr: Which is amazing. And what other things are you looking at promoting or anything like that? 

[00:39:42] Marshall Stern: Really the, it's, well, here's the thing. I mean, it depends on where, for your listeners, where they're at. You know, in business, in their career, the ONtrepreneur Inner Circle is a really good room and it's a safe room.

[00:39:54] So if they're, if you're a business owner or you're a leader of an, in an organization, not of, or it could be of, or in an organization, you can come, just reach out to me. You can come as a guest, check it out. That's a paid group, right? It's nominal, but it's, it's – augh, can’t speak today – Connect and Collaborate, completely free.

[00:40:10] We do that once a month. So definitely check that out. And if you're just, I'd be happy to offer a session with someone if, if they're like stuck in a certain area in their business that if they have a business or they're a leader in their, in a, in a company and they just, have something called a blind spot assessment.

[00:40:28] So I guess I can offer that. 

[00:40:29] Stephanie Lehr: Okay. 

[00:40:30] Marshall Stern: It, it's basically just getting on a Zoom call and just going through basically how you show up every day as a leader, the activities you're working on and where the gap might be. And I'd be more than happy to offer that. Those are, those are things I'm, I'm always working on these.

[00:40:48] ONtrepreneur Inner Circle will get full probably in the next month or so. 

[00:40:52] Stephanie Lehr: Okay. 

[00:40:53] Marshall Stern: If it gets to that point, maybe I’ll open up a second group, ongoing, but, you know, one or two guests each week just to check it out. So that, that's, that's basically what I have right now. 

[00:41:06] Stephanie Lehr: Yeah. Well, that seems like a lot and I, I appreciate your generosity in offering the folks how to connect with you and maybe what is the best way to connect with you? 

[00:41:16] Marshall Stern: They can go on LinkedIn at Marshall Stern Instagram – LinkedIn's a good, a great place. You can also just email me good old way, marshall@marshallstern.net. So it's dot net, it's two Ls in Marshall and it's dot net. And also the, the podcast. Listen to the podcast just like this one. The Stern Truth Business Unfiltered. But it's marshall@marshallstern.net, not .com because that's some comedian in Chicago and – 

[00:41:38] Stephanie Lehr: That's somebody else.

[00:41:39] Marshall Stern: I'm sure he is a nice guy. He seems nice, I'm sure, but he's got the.com so, it's the wrong one, so it's dot net. I'm also going to be doing some upcoming webinar each month. I do usually a webinar on different things to help, help you in your business. 

[00:41:52] Stephanie Lehr: That's great. And you have a website as well. 

[00:41:53] Marshall Stern: marshallstern.net. Not com.

[00:41:55] Stephanie Lehr: Yes! 

[00:41:56] Marshall Stern: If you want to hire a comedian in Chicago, dot com. If you want to hire or talk to a coach anywhere, because I work at anywhere pretty much. 

[00:42:05] Stephanie Lehr: And you're just as funny. 

[00:42:06] Marshall Stern: No, I don’t know if I'm as funny. Can, can I tell a dad joke then? See if – 

[00:42:11] Stephanie Lehr: Yes, of course. 

[00:42:11] Marshall Stern: Okay. Okay. What did, what did the zero say to the eight?

[00:42:14] Stephanie Lehr: I don't know. 

[00:42:15] Marshall Stern: Nice belt. 

[00:42:16] Stephanie Lehr: Oh my goodness. Yep. That's a dad joke. That is a dad joke. So maybe. The other website for the comedian. 

[00:42:25] Marshall Stern: Fair. Touche. 

[00:42:26] Stephanie Lehr: Well, I really appreciate your humor and just the wealth of wisdom that you've provided today. I really appreciate that you were here, Marshall, and I just want to wish you all the best.

[00:42:37] You are such a nice guy and you are brilliant to work with, so I appreciate you being here today. 

[00:42:44] Marshall Stern: Thank you received, and I appreciate him back at you. 

[00:42:47] Stephanie Lehr: Thank you. Thank you.

[00:42:51] Marshall Stern: Thank you so much for tuning in to the Stern Truth. If you found today's episode helpful, we would love to hear from you. Please like, share, and leave us a review. Also, if you'd like to be a guest in an upcoming episode or join us in one of our Moment Accountability Group sessions, simply email me to marshall@marshallstern.net.

[00:43:11] That's marshall@marshallstern.net. And don't forget to hit the subscribe button so you never miss an episode. Until next time, keep pushing forward and leading with confidence.