One Next Step: Management Tips & Tools for Small Business Owners

Kendra Lewis became a mom as a high school senior and faced many challenges early in her life. Pushing herself to rise above what others said, Kendra worked full time while going to night school. She faced homelessness and doubt. But Kendra eventually graduated with three degrees, created multiple businesses, and has worked for some of the largest Fortune 500 companies in the world. However, working for a Fortune company was not her dream. Her mission was to work with small businesses. She wanted to help entrepreneurs launch their ideas into the world – and that’s exactly what she’s doing today! Join us this episode as Kendra shares her passion to transform small businesses. Welcome to episode 27 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sometimes being pushed in a different direction can turn out to be the biggest blessing of our lives and careers. That’s exactly what happened to Steven Carse, one of the brains behind King of Pops – the delicious popsicles. King of Pops all started as a conversation in Central America. Over the years, that conversation and dream turned into a reality. Steven was laid off from his corporate job during the Great Recession so it was on to a new dream for him. A few months later, Steven’s brother left his job as a lawyer to join the family business. Now, not only does King of Pops want to provide good food, but Steven and his brother are relentless community supporters and strive to generate unexpected moments of happiness for everyone they encounter. Today Steven Carse joins us to talk about growing a business from the ground up. Welcome to episode 26 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At some point, you’re going to hopefully spend time and money building your organization’s brand (if you’re not already). However, in the beginning, more people will likely know you than those that know the name of your company. So your personal brand will probably carry more weight in your community or network than your business. How do you leverage that reality to support the growth of your business? In this episode, we’ll be joined by Kevin B. Jennings, a personal brand strategist and the CEO of Junction 32, a marketing services firm for small businesses. Specifically, we’ll talk about what a personal brand is, why it matters, and how it can help you gain more clients and better lead your team. Welcome to episode 25 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We want you to win in your organization. In order to win, you must work well with others who don’t think or process the way you do. And whether you are working from home or back in an office setting, the key is putting forth the effort to learn how to work better together, even if that is using helpful resources like the Enneagram.  It’s a challenging time with many organizations working remotely, which brings another challenging layer to team connectedness and understanding. In this episode, we’ll dive into a  discussion on how we learned to use our differences to our advantage. Welcome to episode 24 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Burnout is real, but it’s also misunderstood. Burnout comes from constant exposure to emotional and interpersonal stressors at work or at home, or even both! And who fits that bill? Hard working, high-achieving leaders like you, me and everyone listening to this podcast.  People who don’t care rarely get burned out. Joining us this week is Carey Nieuwhof, founder and CEO of Carey Nieuwhof Communications, which produces content and training resources for leaders. He will share wisdom gained from helping millions of leaders online and from his own experience understanding, avoiding, and battling back from burnout. Welcome to episode 23 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve all met people or heard stories of people who were the best in their field — earned lots of money, helped lots of people, and received lots of praise, but we later discover that their personal life was in shambles or they were burdened by depression. Every business leader listening to this podcast knows there is a psychological price associated with being in charge. Inc. Magazine once referred to as “the downside of being up.” Today, we’re going to learn tips and strategies to make sure your success at work adds to, not subtracts from, your life. We’ll be joined by Anthony Flynn – the founder of Amazing CEO and the CEO of The WorkFaith Connection. Anthony is talking with us about how to align your career with your life so it adds joy and fulfillment.  Welcome to episode 22 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we’re going to help you learn how to conduct a year-end review that focuses not just on financial performance but team performance and organizational culture. Experience doesn’t make you wiser. Evaluated experience makes you wiser. We’ll walk you through a few things you can do on your own or with your team to wrap up and review the year. Our goal with this episode is to help you maximize what you learn from this year, remind you of all that you accomplished, and give you something to go back and celebrate with your team.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At BELAY, our clients struggle with “finding the right people.” Being unable to find the right team member is one of the most common challenges business leaders have. Joining us in this episode is William Vanderbloemen, one of the best people to help because he knows how to get it right.  As the founder and CEO of Vanderbloemen Search Group, William and his team specialize in helping Christian organizations like churches, nonprofits, schools, and values-based businesses find executives to lead them. He will give us a peek into how top organizations promote their positions in a way that attracts top talent. Welcome to episode 20 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andy Stanley says, “Unexpressed gratitude feels like ingratitude to the ones for whom you are grateful.” I don’t think most of us are ungrateful for our teams. However, it’s common for leaders to struggle with remembering to show appreciation for their team when they see them every day.  In this episode, we’re going to help you better communicate your appreciation for your team even if you’re working remotely. What gets rewarded gets repeated in any organization, and remote teams are no different. Now more than ever, team members need to know their hard work is seen and valued.  Welcome to episode 19 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you have any desire to grow your business, you’ll eventually have to develop more people capable of supporting the organization. You’ll need people who can confidently and competently step into leadership roles. In this episode, we will help you get more out of your team by developing them as leaders and give you a tiny peek into BELAY’s approach to leadership development. Joining us to talk about this are the founders and chairs of BELAY, Bryan and Shannon Miles. We will be talking about how they grew a world class organization and stepped out of the day-to-day by trusting leaders and grooming them to run it all!  Welcome to episode 18 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.