Managing Projects vs Leading People | Episode 115

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

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

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that you are wise enough to want more.

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

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Let's have a conversation.

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This sounds great.

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Thank you so much for

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having me here, Isabel.

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

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

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our customers in a different way.

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And so for me, that was such a bonus.

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And then later Maryanne came on my serial entrepreneur summit in

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2021 and shared a lot of wisdom.

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So it's good to reconnect with you.

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

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

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

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our business entrepreneurial experience in traditionally male businesses.

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Marianne is in the automotive space.

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

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

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entrepreneur champion that you are today.

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

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grew up in the construction space.

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

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admired and respected these people.

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They were, to me, the fixers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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We opened up our shop and that was in 1999.

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

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That was something that I believed.

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So I wanted to get really involved with associations and training

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to learn and I was like a sponge.

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

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

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transferable to help me run a business.

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Lessons that I learned in the construction space were really

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transferable to the automotive space.

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Some of the issues were still the same.

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Hiring, customer service, all of that.

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

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

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of women in the automotive industry.

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there was a great opportunity for women.

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

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recent episode of the podcast.

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

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

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the lifetime experience.

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

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

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are just like incredible vault of wisdom.

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

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Yes, we're celebrating

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25

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years this year.

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Oh, congratulations!

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

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

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

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

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big box kind of mentality, right?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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perception of the skilled trades.

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

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

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We couldn't have done it without them.

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

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stay current, was really key.

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

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

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

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of getting stuck in them.

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

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through those types of things.

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

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my system, what worked for us.

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

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

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

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The idea is to help them get more, right?

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

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

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But also have a rewarding life.

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Don't sacrifice your life for your business.

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

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me to work with because we're aligned.

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We want the same things.

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

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those clients, those shop owners.

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Thank you.

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

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

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

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

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I really appreciate you doing that.

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

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

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

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through good times and bad times.

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Yeah, being a practitioner definitely has an advantage because

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you're very relatable to people.

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You understand.

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

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

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

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

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

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a lot of ways and have a strong role.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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There's an opening.

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There's an opportunity for them.

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This is especially true in small business, right?

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Every single skill set is required.

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

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

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

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

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

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supportive, collaborative group.

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

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

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that you were able to develop a team.

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

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

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and really see where are the problems.

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I know that you hold some events, for.

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

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The 3 Day Weekend

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is actually a program.

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

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

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

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

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Is that what you need to do?

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

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

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

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Every single automotive shop is not exactly the same.

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

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

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

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life that you're in as well, right?

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That's so important.

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

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At their stage of business and their stage of life.

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

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the needs will change, right?

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And we customize that.

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So that's really the idea.

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I do lives every week, at 2 p.

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m.

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on Tuesdays, Eastern.

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time They're quick..

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They're called business leadership in 15 minutes.

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

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

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

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

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

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I like to say more and different.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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We still have to be the leaders of the business.

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

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

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of and it's individualized.

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And I love that because the idea.

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Of course, a business needs to be profitable.

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we all know that.

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

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so we don't burn ourselves out.

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

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so we still love what we do.

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

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

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So that, yes, exactly what you were saying.

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

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

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I

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

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

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

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

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

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

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change something, expand something.

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

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to go and just have a great time, right?

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Or maybe there's a health concern.

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that you need to devote more attention to.

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

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stage, personal interests.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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you're there for work as well.

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

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So I agree.

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

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

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and you feel that it's rewarding.

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Yeah, I'm a hundred percent with you.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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360 check and saying, no, this is good.

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It's exactly where it should be right now.

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

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

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I want to scale up.

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

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This is the time to consider selling.

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or transferring ownership.

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Ultimately it's all about transforming your relationship with your

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

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

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

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

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I couldn't agree more.

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

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

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And that.

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

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something separate from themselves.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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I'm not suggesting that.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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coaching that goes along with it.

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

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

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

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So that's huge.

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

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to be caught up in the day to day.

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

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and I saw it in small business as well.

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

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confusing leadership and is

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management.

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

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in place, Managers are really responsible for the outcome.

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

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

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And so they are looking for that outcome.

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Leaders are responsible for the people.

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That's the biggest difference.

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

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say that they're managing people.

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We don't manage people, we lead people.

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

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bulb moment and they understand that!

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

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

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

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leader, you're helping your team grow.

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What is it that makes them tick?

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What motivates them?

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It's going to be different.

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What are their circumstances?

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

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going to be able to support them.

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

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

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That

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

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

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

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I love that.

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Thank you so much.

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

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maybe they own an automotive business?

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

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

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

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Yes, it does.

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Business is business.

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

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

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the sales, and you have the marketing.

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

Isabel: 00:23:04

pillars, every business has those.

Isabel: 00:23:07

A lot of time, owners tend to complicate it.

Isabel: 00:23:10

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

Isabel: 00:23:15

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

Isabel: 00:23:21

that I go to that are in that space.

Isabel: 00:23:24

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

Isabel: 00:23:28

businesses as well.

Isabel: 00:23:29

Okay.

Isabel: 00:23:30

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

Isabel: 00:23:35

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

Isabel: 00:23:42

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

Isabel: 00:23:48

blogs and her company information there.

Isabel: 00:23:51

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

Isabel: 00:23:56

It's a pleasure.

Isabel: 00:23:58

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

Isabel: 00:24:05

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

Isabel: 00:24:12

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

Isabel: 00:24:17

A lot of times people are resistant to make change.

Isabel: 00:24:21

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

Isabel: 00:24:26

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

Isabel: 00:24:31

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

Isabel: 00:24:35

need, different things like that.

Isabel: 00:24:37

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

Isabel: 00:24:40

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

Isabel: 00:24:47

here's the thing that I realize.

Isabel: 00:24:49

You get to keep them.

Isabel: 00:24:51

You own them.

Isabel: 00:24:54

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

Isabel: 00:24:59

that car, that analogy that you gave.

Isabel: 00:25:02

Take a look in that mirror, right?

Isabel: 00:25:04

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

Isabel: 00:25:07

Don't get stuck there or stay stuck there.

Isabel: 00:25:10

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

Isabel: 00:25:15

I so love that.

Isabel: 00:25:17

You're absolutely right.

Isabel: 00:25:19

Okay.

Isabel: 00:25:19

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

Isabel: 00:25:24

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

Isabel: 00:25:29

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

Isabel: 00:25:36

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

Isabel: 00:25:40

there, in a healthy, enjoyable way?"

Isabel: 00:25:45

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

Isabel: 00:25:53

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

Isabel: 00:25:57

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

Isabel: 00:26:03

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

Isabel: 00:26:10

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

Isabel: 00:26:16

love to sing with the radio on.

Isabel: 00:26:19

I absolutely love it!

Isabel: 00:26:22

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

Isabel: 00:26:27

doing errands and things like that.

Isabel: 00:26:29

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

Isabel: 00:26:32

and pumps me up and fuels me.

Isabel: 00:26:34

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

Isabel: 00:26:38

with many, if any people.

Isabel: 00:26:41

Have you got any recommendations for me to add?

Isabel: 00:26:44

Oh my

Isabel: 00:26:44

gosh, there's so many.

Isabel: 00:26:46

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

Isabel: 00:26:52

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

Isabel: 00:26:58

I think you touched on the magic formula!

Isabel: 00:27:01

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

Isabel: 00:27:05

proud to say I'll be 70 very soon.

Isabel: 00:27:07

Good for you.

Isabel: 00:27:09

70 years.

Isabel: 00:27:09

Yes,

Isabel: 00:27:09

It is such an exciting time of my life.

Isabel: 00:27:13

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

Isabel: 00:27:18

It was joyful, wonderful, freeing.

Isabel: 00:27:22

We released a lot of tension and emotion.

Isabel: 00:27:25

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

Isabel: 00:27:29

out by sweating to the oldies, right?

Isabel: 00:27:31

Exactly.

Isabel: 00:27:32

It's just fun.

Isabel: 00:27:34

Yeah.

Isabel: 00:27:34

Our dear departed Richard Simmons, sweating to the oldies.

Isabel: 00:27:39

That was his theme, right?

Isabel: 00:27:40

All right.

Isabel: 00:27:41

Thank you so much.

Isabel: 00:27:41

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

Isabel: 00:27:47

I am very grateful for your time today.

Isabel: 00:27:49

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

Isabel: 00:27:56

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

Isabel: 00:28:01

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

Isabel: 00:28:06

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

Isabel: 00:28:12

I can ask her when she comes back.

Isabel: 00:28:15

for her next interview on the show.

Isabel: 00:28:18

Thank you so much, Isabel.

Isabel: 00:28:20

All right.

Isabel: 00:28:20

Thank you.

Isabel: 00:28:21

See you soon.