You're Responsible For The Skill On Your Team (But Not The Will) | Ep 251

Summary

Build with Leila Hormozi: Episode 251 - "You're Responsible For The Skill On Your Team (But Not The Will)"

Release Date: March 12, 2025
Host: Leila Hormozi
Title: You're Responsible For The Skill On Your Team (But Not The Will)

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Introduction

In Episode 251 of Build with Leila Hormozi, host Leila Hormozi delves deep into the crucial distinction between fostering skills within a team and managing their intrinsic motivation. The episode features insightful conversations with entrepreneurs facing scaling challenges, offering actionable strategies to build resilient, high-performing businesses. Leila emphasizes the importance of focusing on skill development while recognizing that motivation ultimately lies with each individual.

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Key Discussions

1. Responsibility for Skill vs. Will

Leila kicks off the episode by asserting a foundational principle in team management:

“You're responsible for skill. You're not responsible for will."
— Leila Hormozi [00:02]

She emphasizes that as a leader, her role is to ensure her team is well-trained and equipped with the necessary skills, but she cannot control their personal motivation or willingness to perform. This mindset shift is pivotal for sustainable business growth.

2. Brandon Dion: Scaling an Online Guitar School

Background:
Brandon Dion owns an online guitar school, generating $1.2 million in 2024, with aspirations to scale to $5-10 million.

Challenges & Insights:
Brandon sought advice on niching down, feeling confident in his target audience but noticing discrepancies in customer alignment.

“I discovered that I was in stage four of the roadmap... I don't do sales calls."
— Brandon Dion [00:40]

Leila's Advice:
Leila guided Brandon to refine his marketing strategies to attract more high lifetime value (LTV) customers while filtering out less ideal ones. She stressed the importance of clear messaging across all customer touchpoints to align with the ideal avatar, thereby enhancing business returns.

“If you only focused on getting more of the people who had the highest lifetime value, then you would get better returns on your business.”
— Leila Hormozi [02:03]

3. Alyssa Yahya London: Scaling to $10 Million

Background:
Alyssa Gibson runs a training program for multi-level marketers, achieving $1.75 million in revenue and aiming for $10 million.

Challenges & Insights:
Alyssa faces the dilemma of retaining top sales talent, strengthening her administrative team, and extending customer LTV without burning out her team or compromising her leadership style.

Leila's Advice:
Leila shared pivotal mindset shifts for Alyssa, including:

• Letting Go of Control:

  “You can have control or you can have growth, but you cannot have both.”
  — Leila Hormozi [08:05]

• Becoming a Master Trainer: Focus on training the team rather than micromanaging, viewing challenges as skill deficits rather than personal shortcomings.

• Transparency and Accountability: Communicate openly with the team about leadership challenges and encourage feedback to foster a culture of mutual growth.

“It's about a skill deficit rather than a problem with them.”
— Leila Hormozi [11:25]

4. Jen (Berkeley): Scaling a Toy Company

Background:
Jen leads a toy company generating $1 million annually, primarily through direct-to-consumer markets in Utah, and seeks to scale to $10 million.

Challenges & Insights:
Jen struggles with expanding beyond existing markets due to seasonal limitations and considers enhancing her online presence as a viable strategy.

“Doing more of what already works feels hard because everything is new.”
— Jen [28:47]

Leila's Advice:
Leila encouraged Jen to optimize and scale her current successful channels before venturing into new territories. She suggested:

• Maximizing Website and Social Media:
  Increase content output and explore additional platforms to drive traffic and sales without immediately expanding geographically.

• Testing Minimal Viable Strategies:
  Implement low-effort tests to validate new approaches before fully committing resources.

“You can test things in order of they will give you the highest return with the lowest effort.”
— Layla [30:10]

5. Emily Gibson: Overcoming a Hero Complex and Self-Sabotage

Background:
Emily Gibson manages contact center services for colleges, maintaining consistent $2 million sales but seeking a $21 million exit. She grapples with a hero complex and self-sabotaging behaviors during critical sales moments.

Challenges & Insights:
Emily exhibits procrastination in preparation, leading to last-minute efforts that either result in success or failure, impacting her leadership credibility.

“It's affecting my ability to coach. It's like, if I'm kind of all over the place, then, like, how can I coach you?”
— Emily Gibson [37:14]

Leila's Advice:
Leila provided Emily with strategies to break the cycle of self-sabotage:

• Accountability Partners:
  Engaging someone close to hold her accountable for preparations and processes.

• Addressing Underlying Issues:
  Understanding the emotional drivers behind self-sabotaging behaviors to create sustainable change.

• Immediate Action Plans:
  Encouraging Emily to implement actionable steps, such as involving her executive assistant (EA) in accountability measures.

“Figure out what's good about you doing this and what you're avoiding, then attack that.”
— Layla Hormozi [37:30]

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Key Insights and Strategies

• Focus on Skill Development:
  Leaders should prioritize training and equipping their teams with the necessary skills, recognizing that motivation hinges on individual willingness.

• Refine Target Audiences:
  Clearly defining and attracting high LTV customers can significantly enhance business profitability and reduce noise from less ideal clients.

• Let Go of Control for Growth:
  Scaling businesses often require leaders to relinquish micromanagement and foster a culture of empowerment and continuous learning within their teams.

• Optimize Existing Channels Before Expanding:
  Maximizing the potential of current successful sales channels can provide a stable foundation for future growth without the complexities of branching out prematurely.

• Implement Accountability Mechanisms:
  Establishing systems of accountability can help overcome self-sabotaging behaviors and ensure consistent performance and preparation.

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Notable Quotes

• Leila Hormozi on Responsibility:

  “You're responsible to ensure that I have put every process in place. I’ve trained on everything. I have drilled people so they can have the skill.”
  [00:02]

• Brandon Dion on Team Dynamics:

  “It's only a problem if people buy and then have a very low lifetime value and complain.”
  [03:59]

• Leila on Leadership Mindset:

  “You can have control or you can have growth, but you cannot have both.”
  [08:05]

• Leila on Authentic Branding:

  “If you fake your brand and you fake who you are and you pretend to be more feminine or more masculine or more this, and then you end up having a business built off a brand that you don't even love, that would be a worse scenario.”
  [19:18]

• Emily Gibson on Self-Sabotage:

  “I'll get six really hot deals in the sales pipeline... but then I find myself doing things like preparing right before the call instead of being prepared early.”
  [34:47]

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Conclusion

Episode 251 of Build with Leila Hormozi offers a wealth of knowledge for entrepreneurs aiming to scale their businesses effectively. Leila underscores the significance of developing team skills while acknowledging the limits of influencing their motivation. Through real-life examples and strategic advice, listeners gain practical insights into refining target audiences, enhancing team training, and overcoming personal barriers to growth. This episode serves as a valuable guide for building resilient, scalable, and authentic businesses.

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Transcript

[Layla]

I would say this. You're responsible for skill. You're not responsible for will. And that's how I look at myself, is like, I'm responsible to ensure that I have put every process in place. I've trained on everything. I have drilled people so they can have the skill. Does that mean that I'm responsible to make sure that you want to get out of bed? I do this every morning. Fuck no. I don't have time for that shit. It's beyond the scope of my role. Could I, at this point in my career, probably, Do I want to do that? Fuck no. That's training as shit. Y'all know that with some of your clients, you're like, oh, my God, I know what I'm doing. I'm their fucking cheerleader. I'm their therapist. I'm there. No, that will drain the fuck out of you. Hi, Layla. Hi.

[Brandon Dion]

Nice to meet you. My name is Brandon Dion, and I own an online guitar school.

[Layla]

Oh, that's cool.

[Brandon Dion]

And in 2024, we did 1.2 mil. I would like to scale to 5 mil, 10 mil. And basically the reason I'm up here is you guys recently sent out the $100 million scaling roadmap. Right. So I checked that out. Thank you for making. Making it, by the way.

[Layla]

Of course.

[Brandon Dion]

So I discovered that I was in stage four.

[Layla]

Okay.

[Brandon Dion]

Of the roadmap, and you guys spoke about niching down. Right now I feel like I'm already pretty niched. My students tend to be adult men. They, like, they started guitar when they were, like, young, then they had to stop do life, career, kids, that kind of stuff, and then they get back into it. So my marketing, it speaks to that avatar, but I don't do sales calls. So, like, someone, if they want to enroll in my program, they'll just go to a checkout page and buy.

[Layla]

Yeah.

[Brandon Dion]

So I definitely get people that aren't that avatar. Yeah. So I was just wondering what your thoughts are on that.

[Layla]

Basically, how to get more of those people and how to get less of people who are not your avatar?

[Brandon Dion]

I guess so. And also, is it a problem that there are people that technically aren't my avatar, but they're still, like, going to the checkout page and, like, they want to learn guitar. Right. So.

[Layla]

Yeah. Well, I would say no business only has the exact perfect person ever. Right. Um, but when I. When I think about an avatar, I think of, like, are those the people that create the most that have the longest or I would say the highest lifetime value in the business for you?

[Brandon Dion]

I would say yes.

[Layla]

Okay. So that's what really, like, when we're talking about niching down. The reason that we talk about that in stage four is because what a lot of people don't realize is, like, they're letting in all these people into their business, right, as their customer. And what's happening is that they have a lot of people, or I would say, like, maybe it's somewhere like 30 to 40% of their customer base that those people are like the ideal avatar and they have a very long. They have a high lifetime value, Right. But then they have the other 60% or 50% who are all these people that create all the noise, and they also have the lowest lifetime value. And so when I'm. When we're talking about that, I'm basically like, get rid of these people that cause all the noise. They think they're like, no, but they're giving me money, but they're taking up so much mental bandwidth. They're sucking your soul and they're taking resources that it's like, okay, well, if you only focused on getting more of the people who had the highest lifetime value, then you would get better returns on your business. And so then the question is just how can you in your marketing call out the people who create the highest lifetime value? So if I were you, even though you're not, you don't have a sales call, you have all the ads that get them there. You have the copy on the landing page, you have the whole checkout process. You have the post, checkout, email, all those things where you can be talking about the ideal customer. Now the question of, is it a problem if other people buy? No, it's only a problem if people buy and then have a very low lifetime value and complain. So I would call that like a low return on basically, like, they are a very low return on your effort in terms of a business, right? Like, you get a very low return for those customers because you put in all this effort to do this thing, to deliver this product, and then they give you a low return because they have a very low lifetime value because they're shitty customers. And so it's really just like, get rid of the shitty customers at all costs. Typically, there's one type of customer that is. Will make up the majority of your best customers, and we want to just get more of them. So I look at it as, like, calling those people out. And when you call those people out, you naturally repel some of the shitty customers as well.

[Brandon Dion]

Yeah, no, that makes sense. I usually find with like the shitty customers. Yeah, they actually don't really consume the product. They don't actually require much time from like the instructors or anything. They just kind of ghost, um, or refund. But the refunds aren't really that bad. So I guess maybe they wouldn't be so much of a problem.

[Layla]

Perhaps. But wouldn't you rather fill those slots with better customers?

[Brandon Dion]

I would, but because there's no sales call, it's like there's no. I mean, they could buy and then we could get them on an onboarding call and say, actually, here's your money.

[Layla]

Yeah, no, I'm not telling you do that. I'm saying, like, just being more potent with your marketing. Who are you for and who are you not for? Like, if these people that are coming one, I will say this. Like, if you have customers that just like ghost, like, that is a. That's not good. So, like, no business wants that because those people are risk for your business. They're unknown risk. And they might not be risk today, but they could be risk in six months. Because lots of people who goes, guess what? They do, they charge back in 612 months. Right. And so, like, those are not. You don't want that either. So I'd say, like, that's not ideal. But what is ideal is just being very upfront about what it's going to take. So. So, like, for example, you know, when we had the company gym launch, we were like, the ideal gyms that we're looking for. You have at least three employees, you have minimum 30 customers, you have a location that you have signed a lease for, and you have a minimum of 1200 square feet. So we're calling out the people we want. Now, did we get people who were outside that qualification? Yes. But then what that meant is that when they're going through the sales process, it's like, okay, well, they understand this isn't perfectly made for them and that they're not the ideal person we're looking for. So what you can do in that, it's like that gets built into a landing page, that can get built into a vsl, that can get built into the marketing process rather than a sales process. Even, like the nurture, when someone opts into any of your advertising and you're nurturing them, continuously talking about who you're for and who you're not for.

[Brandon Dion]

Yeah, I do specifically call out, like, it's usually adult men still get women every now and then. So, like, not that we don't want them, but they're definitely not do you not want them?

[Layla]

I'm fucking with you. It's all good, all good. I don't give a shit.

[Brandon Dion]

But yeah, so I guess just maybe go harder with the detailed messaging.

[Layla]

Yeah, I mean, it's like, describe the pain. People cannot relate to the solution. They can relate to the pain. It's like, what are they wishing for? What are they wanting for? What is not fulfilled in their life that this learning guitar is gonna do for them? Because there's the external journey of like, you're gonna learn a skill of guitar, but then there's the internal journey of like, why? Why does anyone want to learn anything? Why does anyone wanna build a business? Why does beginning because of a feeling they think they're gonna achieve. If you look up the hero's journey and there's the external and there's the internal, that would be a fantastic thing for you to understand for advertising. Because I think the most compelling marketers understand how to express the internal journey in advertising to the customer that they're talking to. It's like, how did it feel? Right? So like I could tell you this. For example, okay, my top performing YouTube videos, they make me cringe by the way that they start, but they are me telling my stories of like how I felt. Like, have you ever woken up and just been like, how am I not where I'm supposed to be in life? How am I such a fucking deadbeat? Why am I such a piece of shit? Why am I not further in life? Why do I look so fat? Why am I so poor? Why am I? And have you ever felt really just depressed about that? Like, it's like putting yourself in their shoes. But anyways, that video, every video that I've started, like, that has been one of my top performing videos. Why? Because I'm talking about how it felt, not what it was. Like, it's like talking about the external circumstances, circumstance versus the internal circumstance. So I think look that up, understand the hero's journey because I think that would be really valuable, just make you a better advertiser. Because like, nobody wants to learn targets like, oh, it'd be a fun skill. It's like, yeah, there's a few people like that. But like most people, it's like there's something else that is going on where they feel unfulfilled, that they believe this will fill that void that's deep. Some real shit.

[Brandon Dion]

All right, cool. Thank you.

[Layla]

Absolutely.

[Emily Gibson]

Hi, Layla.

[Layla]

Hi.

[Alyssa Yahya London]

I. I'm Emily Gibson and I sell trainings to multi level marketers. So they actually make money and build a business. We do 1.75 revenue, and I would like to be at 10 million a year. And I already know what's stopping me because everyone was so amazing for the last two days. So I'm going to ask you more of a macro question.

[Layla]

Okay.

[Alyssa Yahya London]

As I scale past 1.75 million, what's the biggest mindset, shift and operational tweak I need to make to retain top sales talent, strengthen and lead my admin team and extend customer LTV while balancing my deep desire to pour into people, uphold my high perfectionist standards without coming off as bossy and unlikable because I'm trying to suppress my natural type A personality of more, more, more, burning everyone out.

[Layla]

So I understand that completely. But I will say this. Like, first off, I think the one phrase that I repeated to myself over and over and over again when I was in that phase of business was like, you can have control or you can have growth, but you cannot have both. And it's just the truth. And it's what I've seen time and over time again. And I think that what I didn't realize at that point that held me back from being a better leader for my team was that I was blind to all the mistakes that I made, but I saw all theirs very clearly.

[Alyssa Yahya London]

Yep.

[Layla]

You know, I gave myself excuses, right? It's like, oh, well, I know why this happened. Because of this, this. And whenever they made mistakes, it was like, oh, you're stupid. Right. And so it was. That was the biggest mindset shift that I had to make, which was like, I have to not only allow and make space for my mistakes, but for my teams as well. For your sales team, for your admin team, for honestly, your entire team. That was one of the biggest unlocks that I had around that stage of growth. And I will say the second thing, which is around that stage, it is you're getting to the point where you can't do everything. And so what you have to do is you have to get really good at training. So. And it's not telling people what to do, but it's showing people what to do and then being okay with them to take it from there. And so, like, I shifted my focus from, like, okay, I do everything, I lead every department, I make every process. I do this to, like, how do I train everybody? How do I become the master trainer of my business? And that's really what I had to shift into to grow the business from, you know, 1 million to multiple tens of millions. And what that looked like Right. Is like, rather than doing the things, there was two main things I did differently, which was like, one, every Sunday, when I'm, like, prepping my week for the week ahead, or Saturday or whatever day it is, every single thing I wrote down, I made myself, I said, what are the one to three things that I do? Every other thing, I had to put a name next to it, and I made myself do it. I was like, who would grow if I gave them this task or this opportunity? Right? Or even who would grow if I gave them this problem? Right? Because even problems, sometimes we think, oh, I have to keep those. No. How are you going to grow your team if they don't solve the same problems that you've solved? Right? And so I realized that I had to put my team under the same conditions I had been under recently. And if I didn't put them under those conditions, then they would not shape themselves the way I had shaped myself. And we always have this special snowflake syndrome. Like, everybody likes to think this is how the human mind works, right? That we're all special, and we're all like, oh, it won't work for me. And so, like, I just realized, like, I'm not special special. And that's actually really amazing because that means that I. If I can just teach them how to do what I've done the same way I was taught, if I have the patience to do it, then they can do it too. And so I really think that that's the main thing for you to focus on right now is how do you become that master trainer for them and look at everything as a skill deficit rather than a problem with them. So, like, if somebody isn't closing sales, I'm not like, oh, fucking idiot. I'm like, what skill does he lack? Is it tonality? Is it pacing? Is it enthusiasm? Is it. He looks like a slob on the phone. Like, what is it that the skill that this person lacks? And that is the second piece that has helped me so much in becoming master trainer is like, it's not about the person. It's about a skill deficit. And so I think, like, what you have to do is level up to the degree where you're like, okay, I'm now training everybody. I need to know what is their biggest skill deficit? I talked to my team about this, which is like, what I want to understand. I was just interviewing someone yesterday for a new position. I was like, what I want to know is what is. You know, we talked about the constraint of your business. What's the constraint of you. What's your constraint? And what I mean by that is, what's your biggest skill deficit that I'm going to have to help you work on?

[Alyssa Yahya London]

Management.

[Layla]

Yeah, exactly. And I think, like, to the degree of trying to hold on for control, I think the best thing that I ever did was I was very upfront with my team about the fact that I was officially letting go of control. So what that did for me and what that's done for me at different times and I've made claims to my team is then I feel like now I have accountability. Right. Because we're not always going to have a mentor, a coach, or a boss. And in fact, nobody here is a boss. Right. And so who are you going to be accountable to? Well, if you tell your team, hey, you know what I'm going to work on is that I'm holding on too tight. I'm too much of a perfectionist. I'm trying to control everything too much. So here's what I'm going to do, and if you guys see that I'm not doing it, please, please give me feedback. And here's how you can give me feedback. Say these words to me. Send it in a slack message, Call me, whatever, whatever way you want to get it. I think that's the second piece you need, which is because you need that reinforcement, too. Like, one thing that I love is that my admin team, for example, they always know what I'm going through, what I'm working on, et cetera. And every time I do something that is in the direction of my growth, they always reinforce me. They're like, oh, my God, great job. I saw you did that. Blah, blah. It's like, well, they couldn't do that if I didn't let them in. I didn't tell them. Yeah, you know, and so I think, like, use your team as much as they use you, because that's going to help them become better, and it's going to help you become better.

[Alyssa Yahya London]

And how long do you give them before you realize they're just not going to develop it or they don't have the desire and it's just time to let them go and move on to someone else?

[Layla]

Well, I would say this. You're responsible for skill. You're not responsible for will. And that's how I look at myself, is like, I'm responsible to ensure that I have put every process in place, I've trained on everything. I. I have drilled people so that they can have the skill. Does that mean that I'M responsible to make sure that you want to get out of bed. I do this every morning. Fuck no. I don't have time for that shit. It's beyond the scope of my role. Could I at this point in my career, probably. Do I want to do that? Fuck no. That's training as shit. Like, y'all know that with some of your clients, you're like, oh my God, I know what I'm doing. I'm their fucking cheerleader. I'm their therapist. I'm there. No, that will drain the fuck out of you. So if you know that a process works because you've done it with one person, you've seen them go from not having the skill to having the skill, and then you do it with three other people. And so it's a total of four. And two of them get the skill and two of them don't. Why do the two that don't? And if they're doing it the same way, but you're just seeing, actually these ones are putting in the effort and these ones aren't. You let them know they're not putting in the effort. You ask them to put in the effort, and then you tell them what the consequences of not putting the effort in are. But if at the end of the day they still want to put in the effort, then you know, and that's, that's on you to message to the team what you want, what you don't want on the team. Yeah, I did an all hands, it was about three weeks ago, and I said, and I was very upfront, I was very aggressive on this one part where I was like, listen, if you want to work here, it's because our number one value proposition is growth. If you just want to check in, check out, if you just want to collect a paycheck, like, this is not the company for you. And I had in the back of my mind, like two people that I like, that's going to rub them the wrong way. And you know what happened? They quit right after that. It was amazing. I was like, fucking perfect. This has made my week. That's great right now. My whole team knows that. But. And so, like, I think when you're talking about training people, when you're talking about giving them the skills, tell them, I can give you the skill, I can't give you the will. You've got to figure that out. And if you don't have that figured out, you can go work somewhere we don't need so much. Okay.

[Alyssa Yahya London]

Thank you.

[Layla]

Of course.

[Berkeley]

Hi, Layla. My name Is Alyssa Yahya London. I'm a member of the Tlingit tribe of Alaska. And this relates to my question. So I've built a business because of my personal brand of being a former Miss Alaska. And my platform at Miss USA was being. Having. Being about showcasing the vitality of Indigenous culture. We're on the Paiute, Southern Paiute lands right now. So that led to becoming an NBC correspondent specializing on Native American affairs. And so then all of my clients that. So this part of my business, the revenue of coaching executives who are largely Native American.

[Layla]

Okay, got it on. I was like, who are your clients? I'm trying to put it together of all this. Okay.

[Berkeley]

So the. So the. So what is stopping me is I spend a lot of my time being the brand that does the things that causes the credibility to be able to then sell the executive of why I can help them prep for their media interviews. I am represented by United Talent Agency. So I'm prepping myself next week to go do a keynote in Canada for the Indigenous tourist conference. And so then that's how I substantiate to the tour guides that I'm selling, why I can be the intermediary between the tribe and the tour guide, our operator, for how we're going to create their narrative for what they're going to message to their end user, which is the tourist. So it's all related to my ability to do narrative formation around Indigenous storytelling, which has taken me from, you know, producing content for NBC, messaging it on pageant stages, or helping a tribal executive.

[Layla]

Yeah.

[Berkeley]

So my revenue for that part of my business with the tri, with the tribal executives, it's like 250k. But I'm also then having to put in time to do the one on ones. And my fear is I can't train someone else up as a coach because of my background of what I'm selling. So maybe I'm the. I perceive myself as the special snowflake that your husband was talking about.

[Layla]

Did he say it too?

[Berkeley]

So stopping me is like, think how do I hire other people to scale me? And then this is the real question I wanted to ask you. The reason I'm here is because there's not that many women in the marketplace that actually lead with their femininity, but also come across as strong and competent in business and in watching your content. That's how I perceive you. And thank you. I just wanted to know how you manage that in a very masculine world of, like, entrepreneurship and business and still, like, glean respect and like, have how you've made that choice with your brand, to be feminine and still be able to be successful and strong.

[Layla]

Very sweet. You know, it's interesting. When I first started making content, people were really, really mean, and I didn't expect it. I expected. I was like, maybe some. And I was like, damn, that was more than I thought. And I'll be really real with you. Like, the first year, so it was probably, you know, four years ago. It, like, really. It got. It got to me in that it bothered me emotionally. It did not change my behavior, right? Like, I kept making content. I would, like, grit my teeth through making it, knowing what people were going to say. It was really interesting for me because I think there was a lot of stuff that making content, putting my brand out there exposed to me, which was a lot of, like, really poor beliefs about myself and about, like, being a woman in business that I didn't realize that I'd had for so long. Like, for example, when I first started making content, like, I wore nothing but a turtleneck ever, right? Like, I was just, like, terrified of even. Like, I remember my creative director was like, maybe you could show your arms. And I was like, jesus. Like, I'm just so afraid people are gonna, like, objectify me. And it was. It was not because I was afraid of that. I was like, whatever happens on the street, but, like, it was more like, I want people to hear what I'm saying. Not like, okay, like, yes, I'm a girl, but, like, hear what I'm saying. It's fucking. It's gonna fucking work, right? And I just wanted that desperately. But what I realized is that in trying to avoid people saying anything about me, I actually created this facade of myself that it wasn't me. And so. And then I got hate for that. I got hate for being robotic. I got hate for the way that I dressed. I got hate for the fact that I wasn't fashionable. I got hate for all these things because that weren't actually me. And when that happened, I was like, well, fuck this. I was like, I'm getting shit on constantly for somebody that I'm not even. And once that happened, I had this realization in my mind. I was like, you know what? Fuck it. People are gonna hate me no matter what the fuck I do. Wear jewelry, don't wear jewelry. Wear designer, don't wear designer. Wear makeup, don't wear makeup. Have a nose job. Don't have a nose job. Like, I don't give a right. Like, show your boobs. Don't show your boobs. You know what I mean? Like, it's like, oh, my God, it's the end of the world. And so I was just like, I'm just gonna do whatever I wanna do. Who am I? And as soon as I did that, ironically, my content started taking off. Not because of what I changed, but because of my confidence. Because I realized, like, I was finally able to be myself. And even if I was hated for myself, I was okay with that. And I've just come to this place where, like, I promise you, there are YouTube shorts out there that have millions of views fucking destroying me. I see them and now I look at it and I'm like, but that's me. Like, it's for who I am, and that's okay. And what I've realized is that in trying to please everybody, like, am I masculine? Am I feminine? Am I this? I'm like, well, one, I'm weird. Maybe you're a little weird, too. I'm a little weird. I'm. Sometimes I'm super masculine. Cause I'm like, in business. Business. Sometimes I'm super feminine. Like, people would be, like, unrecognizable, right? And it's like, so what? It's me. I don't care what anybody else to say about it. And, like, if people don't like me and I don't get a huge brand because of it, so what? There's other ways to grow a business. You know that there would be 10 other ways that you could grow the business that you have that don't rely on your brand. But would be the worst thing is that if you fake your brand and you fake who you are and you pretend to be more feminine or more masculine or more this, and then you end up having a business built off a brand that you don't even love. And that every time you do something, every time you speak, you feel like it's not who you are. That would be a worse scenario. And so I think I just have played it out enough times to say, like, that's a life I don't want. If I can't be myself in my content, if I can't be myself with my team, if I can't be myself with my friends, with my family, then I don't want that life. And in terms of, like, the masculine, feminine, I don't even think about it. I think that I watch my content sometimes. Sometimes, like, damn, I seem like a fucking bitch. And then sometimes I watch it, I'm like, I seem like a soft ninny. And then I'm like, whatever. I don't know. It's how I was feeling that day. Right. It just is what it is. And if people want to perceive it one way, then like, that's their problem and not mine. I don't know if that helps, but it's just like complete acceptance.

[Berkeley]

So you're not like conscious about the choices you're making with your outfit in order to the outcome that you're looking for in business. The reason why I'm asking is since my clientele, I mean, if you just think about the percentage of CEOs, whether they're male or female, it skews male. And then in the Native American community, it's very male dominated.

[Layla]

Yeah.

[Berkeley]

So majority of my clients have all been men. And so it's always top of mind. How do I dress and present in a way that is appropriate and reason why we are meeting. And so again, one reason I watch your content is to, is to look for that.

[Layla]

And I would say this, right? Like, I've never been the type of person that's like, all right, let's show some skin. So like, that's just not me. I've always been a little more conservative. And if I do, then people lose their minds. And so like, I will say this, like the way that somebody dresses, I think says what they want people to pay attention to, whether it be a man or a woman. And so like, if somebody wants to, if a guy wants to show off their arms, then they're alex gonna wear a beater. Right. If I wanted people to stare at my boobs, I would wear a really low shirt right now. But I don't. I want people to hear what I'm saying. And so like, for me, I do have a filter of like, what do I want people to pay attention to? For example, like sometimes when I'm like in a really serious mood, I just, I'm like all black, like long black pants, long black turtleneck, everything. Because I'm just like focus on my face. And that's what I think with, I don't think with what are they going to think about me for wearing this like Dolce and Gabbana dress or this, that or whatever. Because some of the fashion choices that you might want to make might be in that way. Now I will say there's trade offs, which is if you wear a low top in front of a bunch of men.

[Berkeley]

No, this, it's really not about that. It's more like, look, your, your manicure is perfect, your hair is perfect, your makeup is perfect, those Are all choices you're consciously making for how you want to present yourself and in. It's also the. It's a part of your branding that makes you more feminine looking in the way that. And so I was just wondering how you. If those are like conscious choices that you have made over time and just looking at your content, I feel like there's been a development. And so I was wondering why.

[Layla]

Yeah, because I have finally found people who come to my headquarters and do it while I'm in meetings. Like legit. So like, I'll be honest. Like, my nails, I used to have to drive there and I was like, fuck that. I'm not doing that. And so until I found someone, I put a nail thing on there. I take my. I have like certain meetings I take during nails every three or four weeks I do that. I have my hair and makeup people that come here and I take meetings while I'm on with them and I trust them. So like if they hear something, I know they're not going to go like blab to somebody. But since this is I found a.

[Berkeley]

Stylist growth workshop, then are these choices tied to business growth at all?

[Layla]

What do you mean?

[Berkeley]

Well, I know there's Mrs. Majority Male Room, but just talking to some of the women that I've met here, particularly Allison, we make choices partly based off of, you know what we're going to wear it in order to help our businesses grow too. And so I was just wondering how much thought you had actually put into. No, no thought into it.

[Layla]

No, I just like think about like what would look cute.

[Berkeley]

Okay. Well, I guess I'm like way overthinking.

[Layla]

Like I actually today I was like, this is a little casual. I was like, oh, I liked it though.

[Berkeley]

Yeah. Okay.

[Layla]

You already beautiful. Very well put together. Like thank you. You too. I mean like this is.

[Berkeley]

But the. So then I guess transitioning off that question since we're not what's stopping me to scaling beyond myself since the way that I created this business was based off of my personal brand. Still maintain that in order to have the credibility in the other part of my business, which is external communications coaching or exec comms.

[Layla]

So I think this is for everybody here who feels like they are the face of their business and also feels like they have to fulfill on that because it's typically tied to the same one, which is there are certain problems or certain situations that get better with time and there's certain that get worse the longer that you delay bringing somebody else in or building a team. To deliver on your behalf, the harder it's going to be. So every day that you wait, it becomes harder. And so in these situations, I am a fan of sacrificing a little bit of growth in the short term because it's going to make everything so much fucking easier in the long term. The reality is, is that you probably have to bring in a team of people who each specialize in one piece of the executive coaching. It's probably not that you're going to find somebody, one person who can do what you've been doing, but you might find three, and you might have to start with two, you might have to start with one plus you. But here's what you do. You break the unicorn into the parts like we talked about, and then you have to edify because the reality is, is that you get to transfer authority to your team. That's what everyone here, that's the missing piece in so many, is that they're like, I'm amazing. I've done all this stuff now work with my team, I don't know who the fuck are they? And then everyone's like, okay, who the fuck is this person that you put me with and why should I listen to them? They're just like a talking mouthpiece. And so if you can transfer the authority to people that you bring on your team and you can edify them in a way like you have really nice clean visuals on your website with their backgrounds and what they've done and their bios. And then when somebody comes on with you, you send them, there's a video that they get about the teammate they're gonna meet with, not about just you. And maybe it's actually you talking about the teammate they're gonna meet with and then it's you saying, oh, gosh, you want work with me? Oh, man. Yeah, you wouldn't want that because I could only do a 15 minute call because, you know, I'm busy doing these things. And so, you know, Gary over here, Gary has 90 minutes to give calls. And Gary's so much better because Gary has been doing this for years with one on one. He's amazing. In fact, I still go to Gary when I need to talk about some things. You see what I'm saying? But the thing is, is like, it's not going to get easier with time. It's only going to get harder if you don't do it now. And so it is the special snowflake thing. And I would just, I would argue for anybody in who is facing that it's like do it sooner, not later.

[Berkeley]

Thanks, Leila.

[Layla]

Of course.

[Jen]

Hi, my name is Berkeley, I sell. We own a toy company. We sell toys and we sell direct to consumer. We do a million dollars and I would like to be at $10 million. And the thing that's stopping us, we talked a lot about like the more better new concept over the workshop and with that I just have a question because the thing that's holding us back is to do more of the thing that's already working for us is markets. We do markets like pop ups all around Utah, which is where we're based and we do those and that's 80% of our revenue for last year. But we did like 500 last year. There's not really more markets in Utah or driving distance that makes sense for us to do. To do more of that we'd have to almost do something new and try something and go to other states. And so doing more of what already works feels hard because doing more of that is something new. Doing more of the website is something new, which is like something we started but is slowly growing and then like starting anything else like B2B is new. Every avenue that we pick is new. So my question is how do we do more of the thing that already works when everything is new but just because of the like the time of year January, February and March, April is really slow for markets. There's just no markets. They don't do them at the start of the year. So like to make money and like increase revenue, every option feels like jumping into something new.

[Layla]

Yeah, it is one. I think that I just want to say like I like your line of thinking because you're like, I've thought about this and like I actually can't do more of the thing. Like I'm in 500 markets. So that's great. Because what we say is when you can't do more of the same thing, then it is time to look at doing something new. I think the caveat is this is a lot of people think, okay, I gotta do something new and I have no idea if it's gonna work. And that we don't wanna just like pivot the company to do something new and be like we're doing this, like we wanna figure out what's a test that we can run, like what's the minimum viable test that we can do to verify if this new path would work for us. And so from what you're saying, it sounds like what might make the most sense is trying either. I would not, I don't know the B2B. But like that. Let's put that out the window because that's a different customer. But like staying on the same customer, looking at either the website or going to a different state for the markets. That sounds like, okay, how could we test either one of those things to know which one is going to work and have. I would say, like, this will work with the lowest effort. Because really, when I'm thinking about, like, okay, what do I. How do I want to test things? I want to test things in order of they will give me the highest return with the lowest effort. Because business is complicated enough trying to make things complex. Any idea that comes up that's complex or that changes who your target audience is out the fucking window for me, because I'm like, that's basically another business. So I would say starting with markets and website. Of those two, how could we test those?

[Jen]

So testing website would just be like putting more marketing into that. That would feel easier and more doable than like getting a whole nother hub in another state. Even though that's the thing that brought in more revenue.

[Layla]

Well, you wouldn't have to get a whole nother hub. How could you test it if you had to test it in seven days?

[Jen]

Like, send a pallet over to another state and just get someone there to go do some markets.

[Layla]

Exactly.

[Jen]

But our problem is that there's no markets for the first of the year still till, like, April. So that's not able to, like, we can't test that in any states. I. They just, they don't. People don't really do markets at that time of the year.

[Layla]

That's good to know. So then you can do the website test first.

[Jen]

Try that first and then test the other one when it's time.

[Layla]

I think that you have time. So it's like, okay, let's do the website test. Let's break that down to a few different ways that we can test it. Because the reality is this, of course that works. It's just, are you going to execute right? Seriously, it's like, for everything people, like, will this strategy work? I'm like, I don't know. Will you do it right? You know what I mean? Like, yeah. It's like everything in business, it's like, it all will work. It's just like, can you do the steps correctly? So I think you have a good amount of time. You have what, three months?

[Jen]

Yeah, three months.

[Layla]

You can test. When you say website, what do you mean? Like running Facebook ads to a website.

[Jen]

Right now, our website is all funneled from our Instagram. We have about 100,000 followers on Instagram and it's all organic. So it's not anything that we've paid for. It's just organic growth.

[Layla]

Okay. With our customers. And then do you sell the toys on the website?

[Jen]

Yeah, our website. Just our.

[Layla]

What percentage of sales is that creating right now?

[Jen]

70% because of the time of year it was 30% in like November, December. So it's a huge flip.

[Layla]

Dude, what the fuck? Why'd you bring up the markets? Now I'm mad. I'm like, no, no, fuck that. Let's stay on the website. Because it's not like people in fucking new. You're only. And those sales are. They're not coming from just Utah, right?

[Jen]

No, but it's a lot lower right now than it was before. It's like a very slow period for us.

[Layla]

That's fine. That's still significant though. I'm thinking you're going to tell me like 5% or something. No, that's really good. Okay, so then the question is, what are you doing right now for organic? Because that's what's driving to the website.

[Jen]

For or just for the website for Instagram.

[Layla]

Instagram drives traffic to the website.

[Jen]

I am just doing a post every day just from what I know, showing our product and just showing like, could you do two? Yeah. That's what I've learned from this workshop is the most that I just need to put out more content every day.

[Layla]

Yeah. I mean I would say like, let's start doing two and then let's see. Do we want to take on another platform? Honestly, that's what I would do if I were you. I think that's. And I think you could probably have those so like eventually you can have equal revenue from both once they stabilize in, you know, a couple, maybe two years.

[Jen]

Okay. So even though it is something more new with the website just because that.

[Layla]

Is a different way of acquiring customers. Yes, but you've already been doing it. You already know it works. It's less risky now you're just doing more social media posting, which also helps the markets. So like that's a flywheel. I don't see that as like, oh, you're doing two things that compete with each other. You're doing two things that make each other better.

[Jen]

Okay.

[Layla]

You get content from the markets, right?

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Layla]

You get content there that you can put on Instagram. You also then get people from Instagram that then buy on the website. So like I. This all is a self fulfilling Flywheel. I like it.

[Jen]

Okay, so it's not anything new because we were kind of doing it. It's just doing more of that thing that we were doing less of before.

[Layla]

Yes. You're not doing much volume at all. So, like, post twice a day. Try a different platform even. But, like, I really. I think that's the way to go.

[Jen]

Awesome. Okay. Thank you so much.

[Layla]

Of course.

[Emily Gibson]

My name's Jen. Good. And I'm going to talk about, like, the most painful, uncomfortable thing that I haven't really talked through out loud before because I think that my growth is on the other side of it. It might not actually be very painful, but it feels, like, uncomfortable to talk about. We sell contact center services to colleges that have leads but aren't growing prospective students. Last three years, I've hit 20. Or I've hit $2 million in sales every year for the last three years in 2024. So last year we had 100% client retention and we've been averaging like three to four new clients a year. So, like, pretty flatlined. I am going to build to a $21 million exit, but what's stopping me is me. I think that it's like a cycle, like these two things bouncing back and forth where I have a hero complex mixed with, like, getting stuck in self sabotage. So an example of how this plays out is I'll get six really hot deals in the sales pipeline. Like, you can tell, like, you're at like, 80%. I'd give it like 80%. It's going to close. And I find myself doing things like preparing right before the call instead of being prepared early or waiting until right before the call to send an sow, or promising I'll send it tomorrow and sending it the just, like, the next day makes me feel better. And so, like, it's causing this, like, rebound effect for me.

[Layla]

Mm.

[Emily Gibson]

And on the hero complex side, it's like, no matter what, I always pull through a win when I need to. So, like, if you told me I had $5,000 left in my bank account, we would be at like 50,000 the next day. Like, I liked to come from behind and I don't know, maybe addicted to crisis or the grind. That's where I'm at. So I guess the help I'm looking for is like, how can I resolve it? And, like, does that sound like something that is real and that it sounds normal? Normal?

[Layla]

Oh, lots of people do this. 100%. Yeah. So, like, please don't feel weird about it because, like, I see it all the time. Because here's the thing, if you don't prepare ahead of time, you don't feel nervous ahead of time.

[Emily Gibson]

Yeah, that's true.

[Layla]

That's why people do that. Because then you get to skip all the anticipatory anxiety. Because a lot of people, if they prepare ahead of time and then they don't do well, well, what does that mean about me? Like, I prepared and I still fucking suck. You know what I mean? Versus you're like, I only had 20 minutes right before the call. Of course it sucked. You know, but then if you pull it off, you're like, wow, I'm amazing. I don't even need to prepare for calls. I don't even need to prepare. Yes, I've seen it many times before. And so I think, here's the thing. It doesn't really matter why you do it. It doesn't even really matter what it is, like, for real. It doesn't matter. Self stop. Like, I actually don't find those things to be useful. Labels. Like, it just, it doesn't matter. I think all that matters is what can we do differently so that this doesn't happen in the future? Now, in a lot of those scenarios, like, I think that what I've seen is when somebody has somebody close in proximity in the that can be their accountability partner. That person can ensure that they do things ahead of time, that they prepare, that they do all those kind of things and hold them accountable for it. And I think sometimes, like, having a little bit of the public shame if you don't do things isn't bad if it gets you to act in a way that's better for you long term. Now I will ask you, if you were not getting in your own way, what would you do differently when you go back home?

[Emily Gibson]

I probably wouldn't get so pissed at me. My EA when she calls me out for, like, not doing things on time. I don't know, like, build processes that allow me to realize, like, because I'm adhd, it's like the time didn't exist.

[Layla]

Okay, let me ask you something. Every time people do something that even they think is bad for themselves, there's something that's good. So what's good about you doing this?

[Emily Gibson]

About doing those things when I get back?

[Layla]

Yeah, what's good? Where do you. How do you benefit from this?

[Emily Gibson]

It probably increases my expectations and makes me seem like a more real leader because I'm not making excuses for the things that I'm not doing. They're seeing me level up.

[Layla]

So you Feel like it makes you look more heroic.

[Emily Gibson]

I think it allows me to hold them accountable when they don't do the thing that the business needs. Because right now I feel, like, fake when I try to hold them accountable for not doing the thing. So it affects my ability to coach. It's like, if I. If I'm kind of all over the place, then, like, how can I coach you?

[Layla]

Here's the thing that I figured out, which is what's worked for me and what's worked for a lot of people that I've worked with is like, you have to figure out everyone's like, why do I do this to myself? I sabotage or I do this thing that it just fucks me up every time. And I don't understand, why am I eating the cake? And I'm fat, right? And it's like, there's something you're getting from it that you don't want to talk about or maybe you don't even know what. Why is it, you know, like, I worked. I was a personal trainer for many years, right? Why is it that they just couldn't stop eating the cake? Right. It's like, half the time it was nothing about the cake. It was. Because when they're eating cake, they don't have to feel. Think about the fact that they're alone.

[Emily Gibson]

Yeah.

[Layla]

And then it's like, oh, I'm actually alone. I have nothing to do but eat cake. That's fucking sad.

[Emily Gibson]

Yeah.

[Layla]

And you know what? I don't actually like being by myself because I suck. That's what it was actually doing, is helping them avoid that. And so I think what you have to figure out is, like, what does it help you avoid? Then you can figure out, okay, the reason that you only want to figure that out is because then you can go say, okay, how do I get myself to do it once? I'm not asking you to commit to whatever it is you need to do, but I am asking you to figure out how can you get yourself to do it once.

[Emily Gibson]

Do you think you need to, like. Yeah, and it's spotty, you know, Like. Like, it's usually only when, like, things are going really well that I do this to myself.

[Layla]

Like, okay, let's stop talking about that, though.

[Emily Gibson]

Yeah.

[Layla]

Because also, like, you were talking about, like, I do this every time I. You're literally, like, speaking it into life. Like, you're good. You're literally, like, I always like that shit. The past is like a figment of your imagination. We don't need to talk about that. You know what I'm saying?

[Emily Gibson]

Yeah.

[Layla]

Like, I have kept myself in cycles. I did. For many years of my life, and the only way I got out of them is I was just like. That cannot exist. I cannot reference the past anymore. But, like, let's talk about what are we going to do instead? What are you going to do instead?

[Emily Gibson]

Like, build out a process before meeting that my EA holds me accountable to. To make sure that I'm always prepared in advance.

[Layla]

Amazing. Do you have her number? Yes. Can you text her right now and say that you're going to do this?

[Emily Gibson]

My phone just died.

[Layla]

What's her number? Somebody gets this woman a charger and by the end, let's have a text message out.

[Emily Gibson]

Yeah.

[Layla]

You need to, like, this conversation needs to go into action now.

[Emily Gibson]

Yeah.

[Layla]

So, like, I. Fuck yeah. Let's go.

[Emily Gibson]

Thank you.

[Layla]

Yes.

[Emily Gibson]

Thank you.