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Rick Smilow – Insights from Entrepreneurs at Westport Library 5.17.12
Between hearing Rick Smilow, president and principal owner of NYC’s Institute of Culinary Education (ICE), on Thursday night, then hosting a group of friends on Friday night over a potluck supper, the prevailing wisdom I heard was surprising when it came to employees.
Smilow was the second featured business owner in the Insights from Entrepreneurs series being put on by the Westport Library. NPR journalist Alison Freeland conducted another engaging interview, particularly because she had thrown away all the questions Rick had sent her to be asked.
The two covered what it takes to be an entrepreneur (by Smilow’s definition)– ability to change gears at least 10x per day, drive, energy, adrenaline, plus a good idea; his background at Nabisco and his choice of product category–culinary education; the collection of businesses he didn’t buy–a nail polish company, a hosiery company, a modeling school franchise; and the series of coincidences that led to his taking on ICE.
What I found most intriguing during the interview was the discussion around hiring and firing and the culture one creates in a company. He took ICE from 15 employees to 175. Mistakes were made along the way that led him to develop greater discernment around hiring. More than once this successful entrepreneur alluded to some roll-the-eyes experiences he’d had prior to finding his current CFO. “Don’t be so trusting,” he warned. Sometimes the people who appear to be the most honest turn out not to be. Smilow mentioned having a gut feeling early on and not trusting it because the guy seemed so good.
That’s where the discussion picked up at dinner on Friday night. I was talking about this topic with the men and women at the table, one of whom was recently hired at a company with a strong culture. He, too, was familiar with the proviso to beware the ideal employee.
Not being from a corporate environment I wanted to know more.
It seems that often a person performing at the highest level, and who appears to be the most loyal, trustworthy and reputable person, may be covering up less than ethical behavior. We know that life is complicated, so something that seems too good to be true often is. Someone covering up the minor inconveniences and mishaps of everyday life may have a competing agenda.
I’d love to hear your experience around this. It reminds me of the saying “the lady doth protest too much.” Who might need to be always demonstrating their loyalty, talent and commitment without the dailiness and humanness of being imperfect? Any gut reaction?
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Scarlett DeBease-My wardrobe and make-up consultant at 8am--pre-TEDx
I gave my TEDx talk my all on Saturday and I’m satisfied with my performance and also happy that it’s behind me now. It was an incredible opportunity to speak at such an extraordinarily well-executed event. Jeremey Donovan and his team did an outstanding job of coordinating nine speakers and all the logistics that went into creating a TEDx program–no small feat.
There was a timely essay in The New York Times Book Review yesterday by Susan Cain who gave her own TED talk in February about being an introvert–already an intriguing premise. Imagine being an introvert and having to present in front of 1500 people! Here’s a quote from that article describing how highly she regarded this opportunity:
The week before the conference, I canceled everything on my calendar other than bath time with my kids. Instead of writing and reading and working, I hired an acting coach, Jim, and rehearsed all day, every day, Monday through Saturday.
It served her well. Over two million people have watched the video of her speech The Power of Introverts. This makes me feel more secure in telling you how much I invested in my experience. I, too, hired a speech coach. I wanted to be sure that my talk was on point, that the order of my stories made sense, that I had the right images to accompany those stories, and that my gestures matched my words and conveyed my enthusiasm.
In addition, I hired someone to help me with my appearance on THE DAY. We met an hour before showtime for hair and make-up. I also made arrangements to have the event photographically documented. I saw this as a major opportunity and I did everything within my power to capitalize on its outcome.
This is also called risk-taking. There is no guarantee that I will get anything in return for my investment of time, energy, brain power and financial resources. That’s the nature of risks. But, I believe that I will and used every resource I had to achieve that. Time will tell.
One of the lessons I’ve learned is that even if this TEDx experience doesn’t become the turning point in my life that I optimistically wish for, the story of its unfolding will provide great material for whatever does show up for me next.
I have re-written my talk, rehearsed it ad nauseam, reviewed my slides, packed my make-up, tried on my outfit…again, meditated, visualized, FB’ed for support, been manicured and pedicured and am now awaiting THE BIG DAY.
Today is the day before the Stamford TEDx (rhymes with FedEx) event and I’m thoroughly ready to go on and do my thing. For the last two weeks, this has been the central focus of my thoughts. I’ve been speaking for over 15 years, but this opportunity feels like the biggest one ever because of the potential reach of the TED.com site.
I’m grateful to all of you who have been so supportive along the way. Your belief in me and your positive comments are carrying me through the pre-show jitters.
I’ll give you a full report early next week and post the video as soon as it becomes available.
Christina Frei and Me
I’ve just returned to my office after a networking coffee date with Christina Frei, and rather than being exhausted on a Friday afternoon following a busy week, I’m exhilarated.
I’m still marveling at how this whole afternoon materialized. I’d received an email from Christina a week or so ago with a perfectly articulated invitation to join her for coffee at 3:30pm on Friday at Coco Michelle–a coffee and chocolate boutique opposite the Westport train station.
I often advise my clients, and particularly my webinar participants, to reach out to their sphere of influence and meet regularly with people in that community for marketing their new ideas. Today, I was on the receiving end of exactly that kind of an invitation.
Christina and I go back a few years, having been matched up by a mutual friend who thought our interests aligned, which they did. Anyway, I wasn’t sure what Christina had in mind today, but her invitation for a coffee treat was irresistible.
When we met, and after we had ordered delicious coffee beverages, Christina asked if she might tell me about what she’s been up to since we’d last seen each other. I couldn’t wait to hear. She then began to tell me in a most entertaining and informative way about the book she’s written and how this will impact her career, not to mention education in this country.
I was breathless after hearing her story. She announced how ‘on fire’ she is because what she’s doing is a manifestation of what most inspires her–teaching young kids (middle school aged specifically) about our Founding Fathers–not your typical woman business owner’s profile. Her enthusiasm ignited mine, and we began brainstorming and sharing resources and next connections.
This is a powerful example of how to let people know about what you’re up to. Christina took a chance in reaching out and extending herself to me. She sent an attractive offer with a clear plan. She had an agenda which she stuck to. I was honored by the preparation she’d done and was excited to be in her presence.
She is speaking her idea and getting feedback. I’m one of many to whom she’ll repeat this exercise. She is a living example of how to do this right. The key ingredient is was something she expressed during our conversation–that she knows how on track she is because she is fueled by her own excitement.
Christina Frei is a role model of someone who has found her passion, is discovering how to make it marketable and is getting out into the world with her message. I know she’s going to find great success, and I couldn’t be happier to be a witness to her process.
Christina’s target market is middle schools in the US. If you know anyone who is as passionate as she is about educating this segment of our population, particularly around American history, please be in touch with me or Christina.
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My Speaker Look
Here’s one I’d never heard before.
As I’ve mentioned, I’m incredibly excited to be speaking at the Stamford TEDx event next month. I had a conference call with the organizer yesterday, and the question of attire came up.
Now, I’ve heard of casual, black tie, festive and business casual. But his dictum was completely new to me. “The speakers should be a half shade better than the audience.”
Huh?
I had to laugh because I sort of understood. Fortunately, he went on to explain that most of the attendees would be wearing jeans, so I’d want to be a step up from that. Certainly not business-y, but somewhere between ‘smart casual’ and streetwear.
You’ll have to watch the video in May to see my choice.
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I’m truly thrilled to announce that I’ve been invited to speak at the TEDx event in Stamford on Saturday, April 28. There are only 100 tickets available for this worthy program. Here’s a link for tickets which will go on sale this coming Monday. If you’ve ever watched a TED video, you know what an honor it is to be asked to deliver a talk through this organization.
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You’re probably thinking, what does this subject line have to do with entrepreneurship? But, the essence of this question arose yesterday when I received an email from one of my webinar participants inquiring why I’d combined my two groups in one private Facebook page. That is, the ones who’ve been in the program for 5 sessions with the newer students who are only up to Session 2.
In 1997, while attending my first ever NSA annual meeting in California, I attended a workshop where the speaker talked about his career development in terms I’d never heard. He knew that he was using high level language and explained, unapologetically, that his job as a motivational (and I use that term thoughtfully) speaker was “to keep the Toastmasters running after the caravan.”
That image became seared in my mind. Here were the paid professionals holding forth and allowing us newbies to press our faces up to the glass, to mix metaphors, and see what being a pro looked like. It felt aspirational. These NSA’ers had what I wanted, and by joining them and attending their meetings, I was going to learn what they knew.
It had me breathless in anticipation and effort to keep up with and master the arenas they were all playing in. I loved that I got to rub shoulders, listen in and ask questions of the pros. I’d much rather play in a tennis game with someone better than I am than someone not as good. Don’t we all want to up our game?
So it is with intention that I combined the two groups who are participating in my webinar. One group has had four more sessions than the other, are deeply engaged in comparing notes, sharing successes, products and resources with each other. It may be a stretch for those who are newer, but my objective is that it become an invitation as well as a temptation to grow and join the conversation.
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I’m thrilled to report that my first free webinar last week attracted over 50 participants and that every space available for my upcoming program sold.
In my own business and the businesses of my colleagues, and what I see in the world at large, we must keep trying out different offerings and seeing what works.
We’re throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. Boiling that water. Dropping in the pasta. Tossing it at the wall. Noticing what happens, then rinsing and repeating. This is the new normal.
When money was more plentiful, there were resources to try everything. But now, everyone is more conservative, so businesses are out there looking for the sweet spot for their audience.
Groupon is an example. A woman in the business-building course I took last spring offered her services at a fraction of their cost using that method. She got dozens of takers to try out her feng shui talents. Whether or not they ‘stuck’ as real clients at full fee was yet to be seen.
My son told me that Bonobos, a retail clothing site he loves, offers deals on twitter for limited time periods.
My sponsors for last week’s lunch talk experimented in their contract with me so that the risk was divided up amongst all of us. It paid off, and we all walked away satisfied. This is an era of experimentation, re-creation and re-defining success.
I’m still offering 1:1 coaching, Mastermind Groups, my Remarkable Women’s Network events and speaking engagements. Using the metaphor of the slot machine, these are coming up with two dollar signs and a cherry. The results of my first webinar offer created the ding-ding-ding jackpot I’d been striving for. I’ll continue to have the other pieces of my business model, but my attention will be on expanding the webinar classes in the near future.
“I suck at advertising,” was one of Drew Lamm’s opening lines last night to the group of assembled women. I could tell this was going to be a special event by the energy outside her purple front door. Women were pulling their cars onto Drew’s quaint, narrow street in the village of Rowayton and bustling up the purple stairs into her home. I overheard excited chatter among classmates seeing each other again after having shared intimate thoughts they’d written under the gentle, constructive guidance of their teacher Drew.
My thought after experiencing this special night was that she advertises extremely well. Word of mouth had filled the room. There is no finer testimonial than bodies filling seats, worthy readings and hearty applause. I’m not even in the market for a writing class and I wanted to sign up!
It was a grown up recital, much like those old piano class days, of students demonstrating their talents for the assembled masses. Drew gave an admittedly extemporaneous opening modeling her belief that when you’re in the company of creative women and the space is safe, the muses will inform you as they certainly did Drew. She spoke eloquently from the heart about the sacredness of the practice she preaches. One by one, her disciples read their drafts to us, smiling at the unexpected laughter they engendered, touched by the applause when they completed their reading.
“You’re hearing rough,” Drew explained, but it hardly felt so. These were wonderfully tender, meaningful and well-crafted essays and poems by a disparate group of women.The topics ranged from collecting lightning bugs to breastfeeding to cursing matriarchs to what to be buried in (naked on satin sheets was the request). Drew had promised a break during the readings, but read the mood of the room and kept the pace going. We were enthralled. An intermission would have disrupted the flow.
Drew made a gentle pitch at the end of the program for her upcoming workshops offered this summer. Based on the obvious success, support and affection that happens in this kind of environment, I don’t think she’ll have any trouble filling her sessions. For more information, visit her website.
Her house is eclectic and she invited us to visit her particularly magical bathroom located behind the star/beaded curtains. I was intrigued and captured a few images. The one above is the mirror in that room. There are many inspiring quotes hanging framed on the walls there. This was my favorite. It’s hard to read, so here’s the translation: There are two things in the world–life and death. ‘Art’ is life. ‘Not Art’ is death. ~Stuart Davis
I had the privilege of speaking for the Litchfield County Women’s Network last Wednesday night, one of those pouring rainy nights we seem to have had so many of lately. I was a tad grumpy coming in after a long drive, but the mood of the room and the warmth of the members soon parted the clouds in my brain.
Although her business is graphic design, President Chana Monahan is a Toastmasters-trained powerhouse, leading her network through dinner and the best self-introductory ice-breaker I’ve seen. As part of each woman’s 60-second ‘hello,’ we were asked to identify a significant historic moment from our childhood in addition to announcing who we were and what we did in our businesses. I heard everything from the arrival of the Beatles to Kennedy’s assassination to the invention and acquisition of Cabbage Patch Kids. The mood was light, congenial and more revealing than any sound bites on self-proclaimed business acumen. My recalling the world-changing invention of Ford’s Model T got some interesting looks. (I used to be the youngest in the room–What happened?)
After dinner I gave my talk on having A Million Dollar Presence on a Zero Dollar Budget, which I subtitle, How I Got on the Today Show. It was followed by a lively Q+A and discussion. During my book signing I met many of the women, packed up and drove home in more rain.
Not two days later I received a personal, handwritten note from Chana thanking me for my contribution to her group. My talk was pro bono – I do one per quarter – so Chana was expressing her deep appreciation for my time. Enclosed was a $100 Shell gas gift card. What a brilliant gift! In this day and age, if you drive a car, the escalating cost of fueling it has become a major consideration. This was the perfect gesture and will be gratefully used, with Chana and LCBW in mind, when I fill my tank (at least once!).
