Empire Building

Here’s a sobering truth: one in three Americans have saved nothing for retirement and 56% of Americans have saved less than $10,000. Most of us want it all right now — and we’re not willing to give up the small pleasures today to have what we want in the future. Today, we’re going to talk about all the things every millionaire knows but the rest of us don’t really have a clue about.The Six Wealth-Building Habits:Say “no” to say “yes”Pay your investment fund firstFocus on net worth over incomeLearn the rules of moneyLearn how to leverage your money and timeLearn how to surround yourself with success.Resources:Read: "Set For Life"Read: "Rich Dad, Poor Dad"Read: "Tax Free Wealth"Read: “The Millionaire Real Estate Investor”Read: “HOLD”Connect on Instagram:Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevpVija Williams: @viavijaSarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsojiWendy Papasan: @wendypapasanEmpire Building is a production of Crate Media

This is Part 2 of our retention series, and we’re talking about what you can do in the first 90 days in order to retain your best talent.Last week, we talked about the importance of building a 30, 60, and 90-day plan for your new hires. But what do you do to create these plans? You want to break down into the operational tasks that you no longer want to be fulfilling in your business and give them a plan to conquer those tasks over the first 90 days.We also talk about the keys to retention: clarity of expectations, praising your employees in public while coaching in private, and the importance of buying into your employees goals.Connect on Instagram:Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevpVija Williams: @viavijaSarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsojiWendy Papasan: @wendypapasanEmpire Building is a production of Crate Media

Richard Branson famously said, “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.” So how do you create a business that employees love to work for?Employee retention is important for four key reasons: Cost, Momentum, Clients, and Culture.Today, we’re going to be discussing the importance of retention, what to do the first 90 days to ensure success, how to decide when it’s time to upgrade and how to do it, how to lead talented people who challenge you, and the importance of the right cultural fit.Connect on Instagram:Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevpVija Williams: @viavijaSarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsojiWendy Papasan: @wendypapasanEmpire Building is a production of Crate Media

You’re sitting in your office. It’s a busy week at work and you’re preparing for an important meeting. You receive word that two of your team members just submitted their two week notice. Your phone rings. It’s a client panicking about their social media campaign. A few minutes later, the phone rings again. It’s the nurse from your kid’s school, who got hurt on the playground. You look at the calendar for the rest of your week and you feel overwhelmed.What do most of us usually do in this scenario? We skip workouts and meals. We cancel our plans to go out with friends and family. A week goes by like this, then two weeks, then two months — and some of us spend years putting ourselves on the back burner.All of us have felt that overwhelm, and it took big wake-up calls to help us break the cycle. So, today, we’re going to share our stories — when we weren’t taking care of ourselves at all, how it affected our lives and businesses, and the incredible results we saw when we started prioritizing self-care.You CAN have it all — but only if you prioritize filling your cup up first.Resources:"Sleep Smarter: 21 Essential Strategies to Sleep Your Way to a Better Body, Better Health, and Bigger Success" by Shawn StevensonConnect on Instagram:Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevpVija Williams: @viavijaSarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsojiWendy Papasan: @wendypapasanEmpire Building is a production of Crate Media

Over the last two episodes, we’ve guided you through the first five steps of The Empire Building 8-Step Hiring Process. This week, we’re covering the last three phases of hiring, and as always, sharing stories about how we failed forward to become better versions of ourselves along the way.The Empire Building 8-Step Hiring Process:Step 1 - Job Fit VerificationStep 2 - Thought ProcessStep 3 - Life StoryStep 4 - Motivational interviewStep 5 - Group interviewStep 6 - ReferencesStep 7 - DefenseStep 8 - Expectations Dialogue and OfferConnect on Instagram:Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevpVija Williams: @viavijaSarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsojiWendy Papasan: @wendypapasanEmpire Building is a production of Crate Media

In the last episode, we shared the first three steps of the eight-step hiring process that has helped all four of us find the right people to grow our businesses. Today, we’re going to continue working through the process, sharing stories of our successes and, more importantly, failures along the way.The Empire Building 8-Step Hiring Process:Step 1 - Job Fit VerificationStep 2 - Thought ProcessStep 3 - Life StoryStep 4 - Motivational interviewStep 5 - Group interviewStep 6 - ReferencesStep 7 - DefenseStep 8 - Expectations Dialogue and OfferConnect on Instagram:Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevpVija Williams: @viavijaSarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsojiWendy Papasan: @wendypapasanEmpire Building is a production of Crate Media

We know that, if you’re listening to this, you have big dreams for yourself and for your organization. And if we take Oprah’s advice — and why wouldn’t we? — “it’s only when you make the process your goal that the big dream can follow.”So, over the next three episodes, we’ll be diving into the how—the process—of hiring talent.We know that hiring is one of the most difficult parts of running a business, but if you go about it the wrong way, you’re just going to create more problems for yourself in the long-run. So, we’re going to share some stories about what happened when we hired for the wrong reasons, how those experiences forced us to fail forward, and what it looks like to adopt the 8-step hiring process in your organization.The Empire Building 8-Step Hiring Process:Step 1 - Job Fit VerificationStep 2 - Thought ProcessStep 3 - Life StoryStep 4 - Motivational interviewStep 5 - Group interviewStep 6 - ReferencesStep 7 - DefenseStep 8 - Expectations Dialogue and OfferConnect on Instagram:Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevpVija Williams: @viavijaSarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsojiWendy Papasan: @wendypapasanEmpire Building is a production of Crate Media

Regardless of your industry, regardless of the size of your company, there’s one thing that’s going to make or break your business: hiring and training talent.Who you’re in business with matters. It’s that simple. Unfortunately, this is also where we make the most mistakes! So, we share tactics and exercises that you can use to evaluate yourself as a leader, evaluate who is on your team, and adopt a talent mindset.Connect on Instagram:Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevpVija Williams: @viavijaSarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsojiWendy Papasan: @wendypapasanEmpire Building is a production of Crate Media

How do you become the best version of yourself?A lot of people might say hard work discipline, and that’ll get you a good chunk of the way there — but, eventually, you’ll start to burn out and experience overwhelm.The answer is actually surprisingly simple, although it can be hard to make a practice of it: say NO!A lot of the time, it’s easier to say yes to something than to say no; saying no can take a lot of willpower, and we only have so much of it. But when we do that, when we say yes to something that isn’t a priority, it means we’re saying no to the ONE thing that matters most.So, in this episode, we share some tips and tactics you can use to start saying NO so that you can say YES to what matters most — because you deserve to be the best version of yourself!Connect on Instagram:Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevpVija Williams: @viavijaSarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsojiWendy Papasan: @wendypapasanEmpire Building is a production of Crate Media

In the last episode, we did a deep dive into the first step of the vision casting process: figuring out what you actually want. This week, we’ll be looking at how to build a business that helps you make this vision a reality.We will talk about questions you can ask to uncover your organizational mission, why vision is absolutely crucial in business, how to determine your mission as an organization, and the difference between your mission statement, vision, and values. You’ll also learn some tactical steps you can take to create vision and value as leaders within your organization.Connect on Instagram:Seychelle Van Poole: @seychellevpVija Williams: @viavijaSarah Reynolds: @sarahreynoldsojiWendy Papasan: @wendypapasanEmpire Building is a production of Crate Media