Episode Transcript
[00:00:17] Speaker A: Welcome back to another episode of the Growth Focus Podcast where we bring together tech leaders from all across the globe to share their time, their insights and their expertise with us on what it's like to grow your and scale a tech business today. My name is Gary Lafty, your host and founder and CEO of the Growth Focus Partnerships where we work with tech leaders and founders on how to generate more revenue from the leads they already have. Now before we jump into this show today, I want to prerequisite this. I've been waiting for Reshma to come onto this show for quite some time now and because of her busy schedule, we've actually managed to nail her down in between her own podcast. So I can't wait to get straight into this. So without further ado, Rick Karishma, it's absolutely lovely to have you here today. Why don't you start off by just introducing yourselves, tell us who you are and what is it you actually do.
[00:01:08] Speaker B: Well, awesome. Well, thank you Gary. You know what, this is good. So I'm super glad to be here and excited to be on the podcast with you. I love talking. I've known you for years and one of the best things that I love just interacting with you is just the fact that we can talk business, we can talk personal and we get each other. So I'm really looking forward to today. But just a little more background on me. So I'm CEO of Frontier Technologies. I'm a second generation business owner. So my parents started the company Frontier technologies about almost 40 years ago and I joined the company 20 years ago right out of college. And my story is just really unique. I was going to be a nurse. I was actually going to go into being a nurse anesthetist. And so I was ready to go into an accelerated bachelor's program after I already finished my four year degree and my mom offered me an opportunity to come work at the business and I growing up just never thought I was going to be in the family business and I went okay. And my dad always said I was going to be that person who was going to take over. So I joined and then here we are 20 years later, so really excited to be here.
[00:02:14] Speaker A: Well, I can't wait to dive into that. And you know, and I'm so many stories we're going to pull apart and share with people. But before we do, Reshma, for people who are meeting you for the first time.
[00:02:24] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:02:25] Speaker A: Why don't you tell us who you are when you're not being CEO?
[00:02:29] Speaker B: Who am I when I'm not well, I love to travel, so one of my biggest things is traveling. So one of the cool things being a CEO and traveling around the world is you get to travel around the world, so your laptop comes everywhere, your phone comes everywhere, so you get to see some really cool parts of the world. Like earlier this year I was in India and we were there for work and I had some time to see some family and then I took a little trip over to the Maldives and I was like, oh, bucket list item. I'm all the way over here and I get to go. So traveling is fun. I want to experience it, even if it's for a day or two. It's just the moment for me and I'm super grateful for those opportunities. I also am an avid workout person, so I'm very into fitness and health and, and, and, and stuff. And I also love to have a nice good glass of wine. So, you know, the glass of wine comes with me everywhere.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: And lastly, as you said, we have, we have known each other for many, many years and, and, and we've been to many as well, haven't we? So, yeah, totally in sync with what you're saying about the traveling. But I want to ask you this question, a bit of an odd question. What's something people assume about you that couldn't, you know, I've known you for a while, as I said, well, what's something that people assume about you that couldn't be further from the truth?
[00:03:45] Speaker B: It's so funny. I think, I think it's like, it's, it's, I think it's.
My physical presence is one that I think people used to assume about me because when I walk in a room, I mean, I'm a six foot Indian woman, Gary. Like, I'm athletic and that's just my build, right? So I'm not a small lady. I don't have a small feet. Ask Heather, she can joke about it with us. And so, I mean, here I am and so I walk in the room and I own it and I'm really confident. I think people look at me and they go, wow, like, who's this tall person who thinks she knows it all? And she's just thinks she's like this type of person. And then when I start speaking to people, they go, wow, you really try to get to know me. You really want to understand my problems or my situation or one of those things. Like, I'm a really good listener. If you want to talk to me, I always talk to you. You can even ask like the Uber drivers, like, anywhere I go, I sit in the car, everybody wants to tell me their life story, and I go, okay, well, then that's my purpose in life. Like, my purpose here is to hear you. And if I can be that person for somebody, that I'm going to be that person. Because, like, one of the things that I talk a lot with my own accountability coach is like, what's my purpose and what's my vision? And that's part of it, right? So if I can make someone feel safer or heard in their own world, work, professional, personal, whatever it might be, that's what I want to do. So hopefully I answered that.
[00:05:07] Speaker A: No, that's brilliant. That's brilliant. Let's talk a little bit about. Well, before we actually dive into the business itself. As you said, you grew up around the family business.
It was. You were then invited to come into the business, as you said, what, 20 years ago you said.
[00:05:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:22] Speaker A: Leading up to that, you also said that you were gonna go and be a nurse. What was the.
When did you actually realize that, you know what, the family business isn't for me at that age.
I'm gonna go and do something different. And then what was the thing that turned you from nursing back into the business side again?
[00:05:39] Speaker B: Absolutely. You know what's funny? I have an older sister and she's five years older than me. And so as much as you know, to my dismay, I looked up to her a lot. I looked up to her and she was walking in the footsteps of biology and sciences and doctor of medical.
So in my natural. And tennis. Right. Because she was. She's a big tennis player still to this day. And I looked up to her and she's the reason why I thought it'd be really cool to be a doctor or. Or go into that medical field. Right. And then I thought about being a doctor and I went, oh, that's like more and more years of being in school and being dependent on my family and not having my independence financially that I was looking for right at a young age.
And then once college came, and then even like growing up in college and in high school, you know, my mom and dad were running the business at a smaller pace, but again, quick moving, like they were handling clients needs. And I would always help my parents with some E Commerce. We had some E Commerce sites set up for some of our health care clients. And I got a little taste of it, but I was really good because my mom would just say, can you just do this? This is. And like, literally in like 20 minutes, I'd be able to process orders, bill them, enter it in QuickBooks or whatever, whatever. I had to, and move on with my day, right? Like go out with my friends or go play tennis or go to the gym. And I never thought, and I don't think she ever thought that that was going to train me into or not train me, maybe give me that comfort or something. Like four years later, after I graduated college, oh, you're going to go into the family business. So, you know, the four years go on and literally I'm just sitting there in the car. That summer I graduated from college, I was teaching tennis, I was living in Texas with my sister, and I was like, I don't know if I want to go back to school. I said, okay, let me go do nursing. I got into an accelerated program, nurse anesthetist, which is a great program.
And she just sat down and she sat down with me in the car and said, are you sure you really want to do this? Do you want to give the business a shot? You can always go back to school, right? And I went, okay. But I went it, I know nothing about it. I know nothing about accounting. Oracle, like business objects at that time, like any of these big concepts. And then I went, all right, well, you know what, I want to go for it. It was like the first time I took a big leap of faith on me. I bet on myself and then look where I am now.
[00:08:02] Speaker A: Look where you are now. And that's what I want to start delving into those insights and the expertise you've gathered over the last couple of decades.
But before we do that, just very quickly tell us what about what does Frontier Technologies do, Who does IT serve and what problems do you solve for them?
[00:08:19] Speaker B: Yeah, sure. So Frontier Technologies, we're about a 40 year old IT infrastructure services company located in Wilmington, Delaware. That's where I was born and raised. And we serve the federal government and also private sector clients in the utility space. Healthcare, healthcare insurance and pharmaceuticals. And the solutions we're providing are all IT infrastructure solutions that are mission critical. So whatever we can do to support the data center infrastructure, whether we're looking at their security needs, maintenance, support needs, or even specific people. Right? You give us that Sal, that statement of work and then we're helping you understand what IT is, what the problem is and then how do we solve that? And that's one of the things that we just do well because we listen to our clients. And so I think that's been our biggest, like our biggest advantage over the past 20 years.
[00:09:12] Speaker A: Fantastic. So let's, let's dive into it. You've worked with many organizations from every size. As you said, it's been, you know, it's a second generation business, 40 years in the making.
You and the company have worked with organizations and businesses and companies of all sizes.
[00:09:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:27] Speaker A: What do you believe, in your opinion, separates the companies that continue to grow from those that just seem to keep getting stuck?
[00:09:39] Speaker B: I think.
And this is where we were, you mentioned it earlier. It's a lot of leadership and it's a lot of self actualization, self realization as a person, as an individual. You know, my company, we run very lean. So as a CEO, I wear many hats. I have a small team, a great team, but a small team. Right. So you have to divvy the task. But the one thing is as a leader, they're all looking at you. And so it's all about your mindset and it's all about that discipline, it's all about that attitude. And one of the things that I've recently.
And it all makes sense to me now because I now am able to step back and take a bigger picture of my life. And I really realized that like stoicism, which is like, you know, a mental perspective, a philosophy of life, really resonates with me because it's all about that. Equan. I can never say that word. Equanimity. Equanimity. Sorry, Equanimity.
And keeping an even keel. And I think that's what's one of the. And there's so many. Gary, we could go on and on and on, but I think that one is the biggest difference is that and discipline. I think those are the two things that really make the difference between companies that get stuck and companies that keep going and grow and are able to support people.
[00:10:55] Speaker A: Yeah, I think I'd agree with you there. There's this.
When it comes down to, you know, stuff that grow, there's got to be a process for. It hasn't. There's got to be an actual goal to aim for, making sure. I've said this many, many times, especially when you've got a team where they got like you, a very, very small, unique boutique team or a big corporate team. Everyone's gotta be in that same boat, rowing to that same destination.
[00:11:19] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:11:20] Speaker A: It's gotta be. So this is where we want to be and we're all going there just to have that smoothness of travel. Wouldn't you agree with that?
[00:11:28] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. You have to. And I think it's really important to have Those big goals, you know, when it's interesting, because when I started the business, I never thought of where it could be. I only dreamt of it. Right? And then only within. Like, you got to get knocked down. And recently I got, like, a year or two, I got knocked down.
And once you figure out how to get back up, you see the world completely differently. And when I say you see the world, you see your friendships, your personal relationships, everything differently with open eyes. And it's like you just started over. So you have no judgments. You're just like, okay, like, you're gonna do what works for you. I don't care about your opinion. I know it's gonna work for me because this is what I have in my mind, right? Like, my goals, what you just said, that's where I'm going.
So take it or leave it. Bye.
And you also learn to be unapologetic. And I think that's one of the biggest things that I've grown as well. Just this is what I'm gonna do.
[00:12:24] Speaker A: I think I agree with you absolutely there. You know, it's knowing what your goal is, being unapologetic to following your goal, and that is what makes that leader. And as you said, leadership is such a key thing. But you and I, I know you go to many, many events, many leadership events. You and I have met at those events. What is something you see leaders today worrying about that really isn't the problem that they really ought to be focused on when it comes to growing their business?
[00:12:50] Speaker B: That's a really, really good question.
That's a really good question.
And I'm trying to think. I have several different answers, and I think it just depends on perspectives, because again, when you're looking at leaders, you said this earlier. You could be leaning big teams, like corporate teams, right? Where you have people of 20, or for myself, I have a team of five. Right. And I think it's dependent on the type of team and the goals that you're trying to achieve. And I think that's what's holding some of the people back. Right? So some people. It's a cultural environment. For me, I want to create a culture environment, but I also need to make the team feel included and involved. And, of course, that's super important. But at the same time, you have to be able to delegate, and you have to trust. And I think that's one of the biggest things, and I can admit, as a CEO, I mean, I want to do like 8,000 things at once. But at some point, like, you've Just got to be like, no, I'm not good at this. And this is what you're going to do. No, like, this is where you're going to go. And if you want me to get. What. What did a client say to me? Gsd. And I hope I can say bad words on this, but it was really funny. He goes, you get shit done. And that's why I, like, Yeah. I think this is. This is why this relationship is going to work. And you just have to know where you're good and get your shit done.
[00:14:08] Speaker A: This is the key thing. We see this all the time, isn't it? Is that people get sidetracked. They have best intentions, best ideas. This is where we're going to go. And for some reason, they start worrying about what potentially other people are thinking, worrying about stuff that doesn't necessarily move the needle forward.
Almost like this shiny object screw. Oh. Like, for example, AI. We're in a world now. Oh, AI. Where. Shut up. And it's detracting from the actual purpose and scalability of that company.
[00:14:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:38] Speaker A: And, you know, it's a crazy system that leaderships. That leaders find themselves in that position.
[00:14:44] Speaker B: I agree.
Because I think that. I think so. That's. And it's hard.
I wasn't in some of those positions like, earlier. You know, I got to watch my mom be a leader, and I would always give her my ideas and things. And I think the biggest frustrating thing is being in the second generation.
And again, working with my father, because my father was in the business, they always just did what they thought that was what they thought was best. But it was really interesting that once, I think as a leader, you have to really get your feet wet and be in every part of the business. You got to understand the pain points. And I know I say this because I say this to my mom all the time. Like, the pain points are just small business, like, people and cash flow. I mean, like, cash flow, you.
I think I've now just accepted that cash flow is just what it is. It's going to follow me whether it's like, you know, X amount of dollars or like a billion dollars. Right. I mean, my cash flow is always there. So I think I have. I have just learned to become more accepting of all the negatives. All not. Okay, let me rephrase. All the challenges, all the issues that could bear you down, but you can't let them bear you down. And that's where I go, okay, all right. And that's where stoicism comes from. Right. I mean, it's just like, okay, another challenge. And if you go look at all the different generals across the year, or if you even go back to Alexander the Great or any of these guys, all these people who survived, they overthrown challenges, right, in different survival modes, but they were able to work through it. And now I finally went, okay, I can survive through. It's all your mindset. So I think a lot of what we're saying, Gary, is like different ways of just getting through your mindset. Then you don't care what other people think.
[00:16:27] Speaker A: No, absolutely not. I think this is. This is one of the key things. And talk about lessons. You know, I listen to you talk there about the things I've learned here and the things. Because we've all learned as we go through business. You know, one of the things we talk about on this show a lot is obviously being an exit found, having sold my business. There are certain levels that you get to, like, breaking that glass ceiling is a mindset. Maybe you got breaking that million dollars for the first time. That's a mindset shift. But then what got you to a million is not going to get you to 3,5 million or to 10 million. There's a different mindset shift that gets you to that kind of lesson. So when it comes to lessons, Reshma, you've learned various things, but what lesson do you believe you've learned in growing a business that you only learn the hard way? The way that you say you're going to get your feet wet, you've got to get your hands dirty. And that's the only way to learn that about growing a business.
[00:17:15] Speaker B: I definitely think, I mean, I.
There's been a transition with the business in a positive way. Right. Like, parents are seeing where I'm going, seeing what I'm doing, seeing the potential, seeing how I can do this. Right? Like, I have the relationships. I'm able to talk technology. I'm able to bring in the right people for the conversations, right. If I'm not that person. And so that goes along that story that I was telling you. Okay, I never thought I was going to be in the business. All right? I went in and then I jumped in. And then one of. Another story of mine is I remember early on in my career, I misquoted something and I. The quote was 12 million per year. And I quoted them $1 million. Right? And I. I was so embarrassed. And I just remember looking at that and went, oh, my God, I can't believe I did that. Like, what's wrong with me? And instead of and again, I have my moment, like, you dumb idiot, you know, you self deprecate for like five minutes, but then you have to own the store. You own it, right? And I went to the client and I told them that. And that was like a moment of growth because you have to move forward. I told them, totally lost the client, never talked to me again. The different, the other people who I was working with on that job as well, like, never spoke to me again. But I learned from that. And when I did that, I went, okay, I need to do better with accounting, with finance, with looking at my numbers, always having someone second check validate my numbers. And I still do that to this day because these were big numbers. And then, and then moving forward, I started to take over the business. Mom and dad are seeing, okay, you know, daughter's getting this. We don't need to put pressure on her. She's got it. And then we had a big, like a payable last year, which was a lot of money. And it was like about almost like a million dollars, Gary. And where the money went, it just was used on different things at the end of the day. But I still was accountable for that money. And I had to figure it out. I went into my own pocket. I did it. I was to negotiate, you know, I was able to negotiate with the vendor on some payment terms, and I was able to do that because I had those relationships, but I owned it. And I think that was the biggest thing. And we got through the situation. And at that moment, that year made me grow so much. And I think that was my biggest learning. Like that, that was it. And then after that, like, the confidence, and I said, no, you're going to think big. You're going to get beyond that. Okay, you made a mistake. All right? You let go.
Who cares what people think? And it was so hard for me to even tell you this story. And my team probably is like, oh, wow, she just said it. But the people around me, my accountability coach, my different warrior mastermind coaches around me are just like, no, I want to help other people. So I want people to know that, like, okay, I made that mistake. But you can grow from it. And as long as you believe in yourself and you can put yourself in some really cool situations, and I'm just so happy and excited and grateful.
[00:20:12] Speaker A: You know what? I love that about you. I've always loved your candor, Reshma.
But when you come out with something, like you said, when you own it, that is a growth area, because you can't grow when you're trying to suppress something and hide something and not be yourself. You just got to say, this is who I am. This is the mistake. All the learnings I've had from it, I own it now. Move forward and people will see you a lot differently. But you nailed it on the head there earlier. I'm going to just dial it back a little bit there. What you said was that that growth that came from the ownership came from the mistake. You know, we tend to see so much growth from people who own up to their mistakes. Well, first of all, they make the mistakes. That's the key thing. Life isn't perfect. We all know in business that it's not a linear line from A to Z. Right? It is a big, I always say it's a big bowl of spaghetti. We're trying to get from one end to the other end, you know, and see where it takes us in a bowl of spaghetti.
But growth can't come. Or growth is harder to come by when you are suppressing who you really are. You know, whether you know it or not, whether you understand it or not, whether you, whether you've experienced it or not. But once you come out, like you said, I share it, I owned it. And I came out with that.
That's what really helped me grow.
So what is one decision, and now this is a good question for you. What is one decision you've made as a leader that scared you at the time, that really went, am I doing the right thing? But actually turned out to be the right call.
[00:21:39] Speaker B: You know, it was really interesting. We're working, you know, my, one of my current clients now and we're working on opportunity. And it's actually, it was a pricing thing and I literally, the project say went from like an eight week to a four week initial project. And I was really concerned about the pricing and I, I was scared. Like, I even talked to my sales coach. Yeah, I have a sales coach. Because you know what, at the end of the day you can always be right. So I go through every scenario with my sales coach and I go, I said this, I did this. Yes. I'm dealing with like multimillion dollar deals. However, you still need to learn, right? So there's always a coaching, something's coachable. So anyway, I say that because I called him and I went, I was like, Bob, you're going to be. I went for it. I mean, I had the support of my team to tell me this, but I was scared because I went, I knew the project was going. Less time frame to achieve a Good result. Right. And that result meant like additional opportunities, additional support.
And I went for it. I went for this additional like, you know, a pricing in, increase in that because I felt like that's what, that's what the project needed. And I think that was like one of a big one, if that makes sense.
[00:22:55] Speaker A: I can clarify and I know it is great that have. I'm great to hear you have coaches because a masterminds and you know, this is, this is what I certainly see that really accelerates leaders and their leadership skills and their scalability of their company is when they seek external help. Because it is a lonely ship running your own company, you know, no matter how many people you've got in your team. But to see an external, get an external point of view that helps you personally, I think is. I think every entrepreneur should be doing it. Every business leader should have some form of an external coach or a mastermind or a group that they go to, to grow from that. So listen, when it comes to growing your business, Reshma, you know, you've been involved the last couple of decades. The company's like four decades long. Things change so quickly, especially in the tech world. You know, you, you literally had your previous podcast about this. Like you were saying earlier, we can't really have a podcast without at least mentioning AI. AI is one of those.
AI is everywhere, everywhere today. You know, some good, some bad.
As I say, crap in, crap out. But a lot of people are using it. Maybe not to the best way that they could use it, but things in how a business grows has changed dramatically.
What would you say worked brilliantly for your business five or maybe 10 years ago that doesn't work nearly as well today? And what is it? What have you done about that to help the growth of your company continue?
[00:24:30] Speaker B: So I'm just going to talk about a trend. I don't know if this exactly answers your question, but it's something that I saw where the industry is today right then and where it was going. But when I started, when I joined the business, managed services was really becoming big and paying this monthly cost and this monthly fee, right? And it was a really hard adoptable con. It was a hard, adaptable concept for my clients to understand because my clients were dealing with bigger budgets, right? So for them they go, why do I need to pay a thousand a month when I could pay whatever, a million and just call it a day? And we just move on with that concept. So it was interesting because it was an. And I think it varied again because my clients were More enterprise side. So size and budgets were different. So it made a little bit more sense. But it's funny how it's evolved because now everything is a pay per month pay as you go. It's like it completely has shifted in that model. And I look at it and it's probably more of something that I think was a trend that we have missed. My mom was on top of it because my mom saw that happening back then as she saw things happening even earlier with the industry when we were doing a lot more staffing opportunities and different things.
So that's one trend that I think we missed that could have benefited us, but it didn't.
So that managed services has changed a lot. Just the way that you support your clients is really different compared to what it is.
[00:25:56] Speaker A: Are you utilizing AI at all yet in your business?
[00:26:00] Speaker B: We have as much. I don't want, to my dismay, like my team is really good. They all love using Claude and Copilot and ChatGPT. They're all, what's the Google one? What's the Google one defend. No, what's Google Gemini?
[00:26:15] Speaker A: Right.
[00:26:15] Speaker B: And all these different technologies. And I am now starting to get used to it because again, I'm coming from the school of like the old thought of, oh, like you're going to write your email, you're going to write your proposal, you're going to just do these things. And then now like my team just comes back and just like different iterations of everything and summaries of the notes and like the takeaways and all these different ways of using AI. So I think AI has helped us in that way in terms of our sales conversations, our delivery deliverables. What are next steps? Right? Because you can't leave a sales meeting without a next step. Right. You know that as much as me.
And it produces all of that for us. And I think that's a great way of using AI. So I've used it in that sense. I have not seen it help me much in like finance and accounting and I would love to hear different ways.
I guess in HR it helps too, right? It helps with the books and different, I mean, sorry, not the books like your employee policies and things, but I think from a sales process we use AI and I think they use it a lot more than I would anticipate. But it's working so it helps.
[00:27:18] Speaker A: Well, it's this way. So listen, I'm going to talk about your team a little bit here because I always thought, I like to ask you this question. So if I was to Interview your team without you in the room. Okay.
Just me sitting down with them. What would you, what would they say is your biggest strength as a leader? What would they say? Not you. What would they say?
[00:27:37] Speaker B: I think one of my biggest strengths that they would say, well, I want to make. I'll make a funny joke afterwards. So I would say discipline and just a focus. The positivity and getting shit done. I just, that's just me. I just, I get it done. You tell me the problem, I'm going to fix it. You tell me this, I'm going to call the person, I'm going to reach out to the person. I just want to get things done, to move it along. And I think that's what my team really values with me. Because if you ask me to do something, I'm not going to sit there because it just irks the crap out of me. So I go, no, let's get it done. So I believe that. I would love to ask my team if you can let me. I would love to ask them because they're sitting behind me right now. So. But David, what would you say a quality about me getting like if I wasn't in the room as a leadership quality, just out of curiosity, or organized. Okay, Organized and inspiring and that's really sweet as well.
[00:28:33] Speaker A: You did tell them this if you weren't in the room, right?
[00:28:36] Speaker B: Yeah, if I wasn't in the room. Well, here's the thing. If I wasn't in the room, I know what he would say.
He's so used to my ADD conversation. So that's funny. We literally were just talking about on the podcast before Gary. It's like squirrel. What? And like they'll ask me a question. I'm like, wait, what, David? And I'll just like completely just. I just go off. But it's fun.
We have a good banter and you gotta keep it fun. It's hard, right? You know, it's hard working business. You sold business. I'm hoping to sell a few one day right in my life. So.
Yeah.
[00:29:08] Speaker A: Well, listen, if we were having. Let's, let's change track just a little bit as we bring this to an end. I can't believe my time has gone. It's gone so quickly. Yeah. If we were having this conversation, let's say three years from now, okay, we're sitting down, we're having the exact same conversation.
What would have had need to have happened to your company or to you for you to turn around in three years time with me and say, do you Know what? Those have been the best three years of my business.
[00:29:34] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
I think I'm already on that journey now, Gary, and I'm really, really excited for where three years are going to take us.
The people that we work with really trust us, I think, because they see that vulnerability. They see that I own it. I walk in a room, I remember, and I hope I'm answering the questions, but I'm just giving you examples. Like, I was getting ready, you know, know, to go to a. Go to a lunch meeting, one with a client, and I was nervous because the team started spitting all this technical jargon to me. And I go, guys, and I started getting really nervous. And then all of a sudden I said to myself, no, I'm going to walk in the room and I'm going to just be me, and I'm going to just lay it out from the beginning that this is the parameters of the conversation and this is what I can do within the conversation. And then if you need more from me, then I'll get back to you. And so I think that's, like, one of the. One of the things I do. The other thing that I do that I've been taught for my, you know, my accountability coaches is I get to meetings early, I try to walk in the room, I try to get my, like, bearing of the surroundings, like, and I try to own it. So, like, when I'm in there and I'm talking to my client, when they finally get in there, I'm comfortable, I'm not nervous. And, like, that's one thing. We had a call today, too, and I was sitting there, I'm like, do I need. I know this is being recorded, but do I need to take a shot? Like, do I need to do something just to relax? And I went, no, I got it. Like, I'm just going to be me, me. Isn't that amazing when you just say, just be yourself?
[00:31:07] Speaker A: Well, can I dive a little bit deeper into that? Because, you know, I know over the years, you've done a lot of public speaking. You've gone out there and put yourself forward as the authority within your field. You've done webinars, you've done lives and whatnot.
What advice would you give to leaders? I mean, bearing in mind who this particular audience is? Our particular audiences are tech founders or MSPs, they're VARs, and they're not exactly known for being in the spotlight or being comfortable in the spotlight. You deliberately then put yourself in the spotlight. What advice would you give these. These leaders there in Order to help them get past this nervousness and to, well, yeah, just to help them take the, you know, push themselves forward to become an authority in their field.
[00:31:52] Speaker B: I think the biggest thing that I've learned is like sharing my stories with you today. It was so hard to cultivate just some of the stories that I shared with you. You have so many experiences that you, that you go through. And I think one of the things as a leader that you need to remember is you have stories like what you went through matters and what you went through, you should tell other people. I never thought there was value in any of the experiences that I've gone through. And then once you figure out again, like how to, you know, speak your story and tell your story and what your points of saying it, you realize that there's value. Like for example, the one that I told you where I misquoted something, right. When it was 12 million, or I quoted a million when it was 12, people called me and they went, that was really meaningful. I don't go on LinkedIn, I don't go on these different things to look at that. But when I saw that story, you made me feel better. Thank you. Because I mess up in my business and my first instinct is to run away, to like cover it up, to do this. And they went, no, Reshma owned it, like, and she was, okay, look at where she is today. Like, So I think that's a big thing. So it's just, it's just knowing that you have value in what you're telling and it's all that power of this story. Now again, I've been coached on a lot of this because you have to be taught that that's true. You have to be taught and reminded that you believe in yourself. But no one's forcing you to drink the Kool Aid, right? Like, I'm drinking it because I go, oh, wow, look at how easy it is if you just believe in yourself, in me, in you, like, that's it.
[00:33:30] Speaker A: Yeah. I think this is the key thing. It's one of those, this is what I've been saying for many, many years, not with my guests here, but with my clients, is that especially in tech, we tend to be service led or product led first.
[00:33:41] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:33:42] Speaker A: Actually it's you, what you bring to the table, your, you, your stories and your authenticity, which is again, what we seem to be lacking in today's environment is authenticity. And your story is as authentic as they come.
[00:33:57] Speaker B: Correct a hundred and thousand percent. I mean, there's like two things that I want to say and use this, you know, Gary, if you think it makes sense. But I feel like it's extremely relevant with my journey and where I'm going now. And it probably could make sense to different leaders. But the one thing is, and I talk about this with my team all the time.
In technology, you talk about being a CEO and it being lonely. And I don't want to go on the whole woman thing, but only thing I wanted to say was when I was growing up, for the 15 years in the industry, being a woman in the room, like, the woman in the room, I'm the only woman. Do I even belong in this room? Now all of a sudden, I said to them, like a couple months ago, I go, no, no, that whole narrative is changed. Like, no, I am supposed to be in that room. Everybody's telling me to be in that room. They're calling me to be in that room because I'm supposed to be in that room. Not woman or man, because I'm supposed to. So it's a belief system that I want to enforce, right? Whether man, woman, whatever.
You know it, you know your stuff, you know your value, you know what you're trying to support and solve for your client, then you're supposed to be in that room. And that's one of the biggest things that I've overcome that I think is really important. And I really think it's all about. The second piece is manifestation and how you believe your. How you believe in yourself, how you envision yourself. Where do you want to be in the three years of five years, the things that you've just spoken about?
And it's really cool, like, how it actually comes to fruition. Like, it's just, it's just, it's so cool. And like, I'm just so happy. And I tell this, I told my mom yesterday, I called her and I said, mom, like, I'm actually, like sitting in a position where I have a great team around me and they're solving the problems. And then they look at me as CEO and go, well, what do you think?
It's so cool. Like, it's so empowering, Gary. Like, you finally, like, elevate yourself, but you have to believe in yourself and you have to go through rock bottom, right? Like, how are you going to pay a million dollar bill? Like, how are you going to tell the client that you mess up on a big quote, right? Like, you have to start there and then it just goes forward, the momentum. So I had to share that with you because it's no I loved it. So happy and excited. I just have to share it with you.
[00:36:05] Speaker A: Listen, we could talk for hours.
Oh, we obviously have done in the past, but we could keep on going on. Perhaps we have to do a part two.
[00:36:11] Speaker B: Yeah, love to.
[00:36:13] Speaker A: If there was one thing to wrap this up, if there was one piece of advice or an insight that you would want to share with another tech leader or a leader or a founder or a CEO that's listening or watching this when it comes to the growth of their business moving forward that they could probably take for Q3 and Q4, what would it be and why?
[00:36:38] Speaker B: I would say, let's think.
You gotta bet on yourself. You gotta bet on yourself. So if, you know, Q1 and Q2 maybe didn't work out as well for you, and you thought revenue was gonna be, you know, X and ended up Y, you still got. You gotta bet on yourself. And that's the thing. So if you think that your solution is worth that hundred thousand to that 10 million or whatever that dollar amount is right within your tech business, bet on yourself. Because you know what? What if you just come up a little bit short? That was a really cool bet. And I think that's the biggest thing that I would tell people.
[00:37:13] Speaker A: I love that. I love that. Well, Reshma, thank you very much for joining us. If people wanted to get a hold of you, potentially work with you, what's the best way they can do that?
[00:37:22] Speaker B: Absolutely, I would love. We always are looking for followers on our tipsy technologists. Please check us out. We're on Spotify, we're on Apple, and we're on YouTube. You can always go to our website FT tiusa.com and. Or you can always find me on LinkedIn. I think it's Reshmamoorthy. I think at LinkedIn, I'm not sure, but maybe you can drop it in there, but you can find us there. And please reach out. We're always open and willing. We want to network, we want to hear from you, we want to hear your story.
[00:37:50] Speaker A: You're brilliant. I'll make sure that the team puts those links into the show notes for you. So all that remains me. Say, Rish, but thank you very much for your time. Thank you for your insight and thank you for your candor because I think a lot of people will be shaking, you know, nodding their heads and agreeing and smiling with you there.
[00:38:05] Speaker B: Yeah. All right. I appreciate the opportunity. Thanks, my friend.
[00:38:08] Speaker A: Not at all. And thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for joining us for yet another episode of the Growth Focus podcast. And as per usual, if Reshma has said anything that lighted a fire or lit a light bulb for you, you thought, oh my God, that was really interesting. Please make sure you like it. Make sure you comment so that other people can see what you've taken on board. And perhaps they can use it as well. So until the next time, work hard, but more importantly, be profitable. Have fun and we'll see you on the next episode. Bye. Bye.
